Purusa Sukta

UpasanaYoga.org
पुरुष-सूक्तम्
Puruṣa Sūkta
English translation by A.K. Aruna

पूर्व-नारायणम् – From Narāyaṇa, 1st Part उत्तर-नारायणम् – From Narāyaṇa, 2nd Part

Format by A.K. Aruna, 2017 ver.4.0: UpasanaYoga. If downloaded, requires installed Devanāgarī Siddhanta1.ttf font, downloadable from UpasanaYoga. If run from UpasanaYoga website, it alternatively can use online Web Font. Any Devanāgarī in parentheses () is an alternate reading of text in Red. Top button "Collapse all panels" contracts the view in which individual items can be re-expanded, or again the top button "Restore all panels" reloads page to original view.
Puruṣa Sūktam appearing in each of the Vedas is here shown from Kṛṣṇa-Yajur-Veda in its Taittirīya-Āraṇyaka version. Text and svara markings are per Mantrapushpam published by Ramakrishna Math.

by A.K. Aruna
First Update to HTML Jan 2018 with Creative Commons International License:
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/, or click the following logo:

Here chanted slowly by Narasimha Bhatta (net access to YouTube required):
Puruṣa Suktam chanting from net

or from my pc: Narasimha Bhatta chanting

Or, direct link to the audio here from website.

ओं, तच् छं॒ योर् आवृ॑णीमहे। गा॒तुं य॒ज्ञाय॑। गा॒तुं य॒ज्ञ-प॑तये। दैवी᳚ स्व्-अ॒स्तिर् अ॑स्तु नः। स्व्-अ॒स्ति मानु॑षेभ्यः। ऊ॒र्ध्वं जि॑गातु भेष॒जम्। शं नो॑ अस्तु द्वि॒-पदे᳚। शं चतु॑ष्-पदे। ओं शान्तिः॒ शान्तिः॒ शान्तिः॑॥

Om; tad, śam, yos (or śaṃyu, vocative), ā-√vṛ. Gātum (√gai, infinitive), yajña. Gātum, yajña-pati. Daivī, su-asti, √as, asmad. Su-asti, mānuṣa. Ūrdhvam, √gā, bheṣaja. Śam, asmad, √as, dvi-pad. Śam, catur-pad. Om, śānti, śānti, śānti.

Om. We ask that which is peace (śam) and health (yos) (Or, we ask O benevolent one, śamyu, this): for ritual to chant, for the Lord of ritual to chant. May well-being of the Deity (Nature’s elements) be ours. May there be well-being (within) for all mankind. May our crops grow tall. May there be peace among the two-legged, and peace among the four-legged (our herds). Om, Peace. Peace, Peace (within, around, and heavenly).

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Om; sahasra-śīras, puruṣa. sahasra-akṣa, sahasra-pād.
tad, bhūmi, viśvatas, vṛtvā. ati-sthā, daśa-aṅgula.

The Puruṣa (Cosmic Person) has thousands of (i.e, countless, as all) heads, thousands of eyes, thousands of feet. Spread all over the universe, it extends further by ten fingers (by any numbers 0 to 9 can show, or in ten directions: the eight compass directions, up and down).

puruṣa, eva, idam, sarva. yad, bhūta, yad, ca, bhavya.
uta, a-mṛtatva, īśāna. yad, anna, ati-√ruh.

The Puruṣa is all this (universe), whatever was and will be. It is the Lord of immortality, and in the form of food it is that which (perennially) nourishes (the universe).

etāvat, idam, mahiman. atas, vyāyas, ca, pūruṣa.
pāda, idam, viśva, bhūta. tri-pād, idam, a-mṛta, dyu.

Its greatness is greater than all ‘this’ (that any words can indicate). Therefore, it is superior (and elder, to all this). All these (temporal) beings here are but one-quarter (one leg) of this one. The immortality in heaven is its other three-quarters (three legs).

tri-pād, ūrdhva, ud-√i, puruṣa. pāda, idam, iha, ā-bhava (=ā-sarga, or =√bhū Vedic for ‘ā-bhav-at’), punar.
tatas, viṣvac, vi-√kram. sa-aśana-an-aśana, abhi.

The three-quarter Puruṣa appeared above; its one-quarter appeared here again and again (as the cyclic, temporal creation). By that (one-quarter) is pervaded all that needs food and does not need food (the inanimate).

tad, virāj, √jan. virāj, adhi, pūruṣa.
tad, jāta, ati-√ric. paścāt, bhūmi, ath-u, puras.

From that (Puruṣa) was born (manifested) Virāṭ (the shining manifestion to our senses and mind). From out of this Virāṭ, that Pūruṣa (the Cosmic Person) gave rise to Earth and then (Or, westward) again as all this.

yad, puruṣa, havis. deva, yajña, √tan.
vasanta, idam, √as, ājya. grīṣma, idhma, śarad, havis.

With this Puruṣa as (sacrificial) fire, the deities mentally performed the yajña (ritual), of which the brilliant spring was the warmed clarified butter, the hot summer was the kindling, and the harvest fall was the grain offering.

saptan, idam, √as, paridhi. tri, saptan, samidh, kṛta.
deva, yad, yajña, tanvāna. √bandh, puruṣa, paśu.

Seven were its (the ritual’s) outer boundaries. Twenty-one were its kindling sticks. There, the deities mentally performed the ritual which bound the Puruṣa as its paśu (offered life and wealth).

tad, yajña, barhis, pra-√ukṣ. puruṣa, jāta, agratas.
tad, deva, √yaj. sādhya, ṛṣi, ca, yad.

Sprinking (blessed water from) the sacrificial grass into that yajña (fire), the first of the Puruṣa was born as the (natural) deities, the accomplished ones (sādhyas), and the ṛṣis (the Veda singers, passing down this wisdom).

tad, yajña, sarva-hut. saṃbhuta, pṛṣat, ājya.
paśu, tad, √kṛ, vāyavya. āraṇya, grāmya, ca, yad.

From that ritual everything is offered. The dripping clarified butter was collected and formed into the creatures that belong in the air, and those that belong in the forests and those in the villages.

tad, yajña, sarva-hut. ṛc, sāman, √jan.
chandas, √jan, tad. yajus, tad, √jan.

From that ritual everything is offered. The chanted (Ṛks) and the sung (Sāmans) hymns were born. From that the Veda meters were born, and from that the Yajur-Veda was born.

tad, aśva, √jan. yad, kim, ca, ubhayā-dat.
go, ha, √jan, tad. tad, jāta, aja-avi.

From that were born horses and those animals with both (upper and lower) set of teeth. From that were born cows, goats, and sheep (with only a lower set of teeth).

yad, puruṣa, vi-√dhā. kati-dhā, vi-√kḷp?
mukha, kim, idam, kim, bāhu? kim, ūru, pāda, √vac?

They (the deities) divided up this Pusuṣa. How many limbs did they envision? What did they call its mouth? What its arms? What its thighs? What its feet?

brāhmaṇa, idam, mukha, √as. bāhu, rājanya, kṛta.
ūru, tad, idam, yad, vaiśya. pad, śūdra, √jan.

Its mouth (they called) the priests (Brāhmaṇas), the arms the administers (Rājanya), the thighs the merchants (Vaiśya), and the feet the cleaners (Śūdras) (–All four essential for a robust society).

candras, manas, jāta. cakṣu, sūrya, √jan.
mukha, indra, ca, agni, ca. prāṇa, vāyu, √jan.

The moon was born from its mind. The sun was born from its eyes. Lord Indra and fire was born from its mouth. Wind (Vāyu) was born from its life-energy (prāṇa).

nābhi, √as, antar-ikṣa. śīrṣan, dyu, sam-√vṛt.
pad, bhūmi, diś, śrotra. tathā, loka, √kḷp.

From its navel came the mid-atmosphere (between Heaven and Earth). From its head came Heaven (dyu). From its feet the Earth, and from its ears the directions (diś, space). In that way, was fashioned the worlds (here, above, and in-between).

√vid, asmad, etad, puruṣa, mahat. āditya-varṇa, tamas, tu, pāre.
sarva, rūpa, vicitya, dhīra. nāman, kṛtvā, abhivadat, yad, √ās.

I know this Puruṣa as vast, who shines as the sun, beyond the darkness. As intelligence beholding all forms and naming them, it abides addressing them.

dātṛ, purastāt, yad, ud-ā-√hṛ. śakra, pravidvas, pradiś, catasṛ.
tad, evam, vidvas, a-mṛta, iha, √bhū. na, anya, panthan, ayana, √vid.

The wise one who knows in this way (in the first person as this timeless conscious being) that creator (Dhātṛ) – who was said to exist even before (all this), whom the mighty (Śakra, Lord Indra) knew in all four directions – becomes here itself this same Immortal. There is no other means (panthan) for reaching (immortality, than knowing this Puruṣa, SvetU.3.8).

yajña, yajña, √yaj, deva. tad, dharma, prathama, √as.
tad, ha, na-a-ka, mahiman, √sac. yatra, pūrva, sādhya, √as, deva.

The deities who (mentally) performed this yajña in this way became the first dharmas (upholders of the Lord’s order, as the Lord’s deities, Or their acts became the first acts of Dharma). Those who (now) follow (this meditation yajña) become great and (reach) Nākam (afflicition-free heaven), where the accomplished Sādhyas of old and the deities dwell (But only that much, not oneness with the Puruṣa itself).

Om, namas, nārāyaṇa.

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ap, sambhūta, pṛthivī, rasa, ca. visva-karman, sam-√vṛt, adhi.
tad, tvaṣṭhṛ, vidadhat, rūpa, √i. tad, puruṣa, viśva, ā-jāna, agre.

From these (same subtle) waters and the essence of earth (BrhU.2.5.1) were formed the universal effects above (i.e., as it is here, so there in the other worlds). The (intelligent) creator (Tṛṣṭhṛ) having fashioned it, this form (presently) appears (i.e., as it was, so it is now). That universal (form) is the birth (manifestation) of the Puruṣa from the very beginning.

√vid, asmad, etad, puruṣa, mahat. āditya-varṇa, tamas, parastāt.
tad, evam, vidvas, a-mṛta, iha, √bhū. na, anya, panthan, √vid, ayana.

I know this Puruṣa as vast, who shines as the sun, beyond the darkness (PurSuk.16). The wise one who knows in this way that creator (Puruṣa as Tṛṣṭhṛ) becomes here itself this same Immortal. There is no other means (panthan) for reaching (immortality, than knowing this Puruṣa, PurSuk.17).

prajā-pati, √car, garbha, antar. a-jāyamāna, bahudhā, vi-√jan.
tad, dhīra, pari-√jñā, yoni. marīci, pada, √iṣ, vedhas.

The Lord of creatures (Prajā-pati) itself moves within (every) womb. Without itself being born, it appears as the variety (here). Those who make (best) use of their intellect know that birthplace (yoni). Those who pay homage to this abode (pada) of the Marīcis (the Prajā-patis), they seek (this abode).

yad, deva, ā-√tap. Yad, deva, puras-hita.
purva, yad, deva, jāta. Namas, ruca, brāhmī.

Salutations to that shinning vast womb (Brāhmī, BhG.2.72), which inspired the meditation of the deities, who was placed at the head of the deities, and who was born (was manifest) before the deities.

ruca, brahma, janayat. deva, agre, tad, √brū.
yad, yuṣmad, evam, brāhmaṇa, √vid. tad, deva, √as (Vedic for ‘ā-s-an’), vaśa.

Having given rise to this pertaining to Brahman (i.e., the Vedas), it presented (those Vedas) in the beginning to the deities. The Brāhmaṇa (anyone who is dedicated to the Veda teaching, likewise) has the deities under his or her control.

hrī, ca, tad, lakṣmī, ca, patnī. ahar-rātra, pārśva.
nakṣatra, rūpa. aśvin, vyātta.
iṣṭha, √man (iṣ-Aorist stem in 9th class Imperative Vedic). adas, √man. sarva, √man.

Hrī (Divine Modesty) and Lakṣmī (Divine Wealth) are (Your) wives (our protecting partners). The Day and Night are (Your) sides (right and left). The stars are (Your) form. The (dawn and the healing) Aśvin twins are (Your) open mouth. Please approve (for us) what is desired. Please approve (for us) that (which is away from us). Please approve (for us) everything.

Om, śānti, śānti, śānti.

Om, Peace (within, ādhyātmamika, myself). Peace (around, ādhi-bhautika, in the environment), Peace (heavenly, ādhi-daivika, in the unmanifest karma order).

॥इति पुरुष-सूक्तं समाप्तम्॥