Sri Raghavendra Swami's commentary on the Purusha Sukta

P8 !%VIF/9 !+.+ !5Y0+ !;" " There's hardly a Hindu who hasn't heard of Purusha Sukta. There's hardly any Brahmin who does not recite Purusha Sukta during his daily oblations (sandhyAvandana). !" Let's see in detail the commentary on the Purusha Sukta with the light shown by our Mantralaya mahaprabhugalu, Sri Raghavendra Tirtha Sripadangalvaru. Purusha Sukta is a great seminal sukta because it ascertains that Being who is responsible for bestowing on us the Parama Purushartha called Moksha. But who is this Purusha? Is He another being like us or is He infinitely different from us? For one to understand who this Purusha is, one has to refer other Vedic texts to ascertain. Hence Sri Rayaru quotes a lot of Sruti and Smriti verses and finally affirms that Purusha is none other than Lord Vishnu/Narayana. " !" There are certain slight changes to a few words and a couple of verses are interchanged between the Rg Vedic and Yajur Vedic versions of Purusha Sukta. But the import, content and intent of Purusha Sukta however remains the same irrespective of the changes to the words and swapping of the verses. Let's take verse by verse and understand the context, meaning and import of the Sukta as a whole. " !"" The first verse reads thus: " !" ,2 /$/? Q8H9 ST15 /$I?&A5 /$/?Da " " /" YN2 P0@35 4)B@ <3>K1;a !G2R'2 Om sahasra sIrshA purushaha sahasrAkshah sahasrapAt ! "sa bhUmim vishvatO vritvA atyatishthat dashAngulam ! !" "The Lord Vishnu residing in everybody (as antaryAmi) possesses thousands of heads, thousands of eyes and thousands of legs. He has pervaded everywhere and is Infinitely Superior even to Goddess Lakshmi who is the presiding deity of earth". " !" So, what is meant by Purusha? Is it just a Man or a Cosmic Man or something else? Some have identified Purusha to a jiva while some have identified Him as a Cosmic Man. But the context and even the superficial meaning of the whole Sukta does no where give even an iota of hint that Purusha of Purusha Sukta is a jiva. As regards the Cosmic Man, it can be Hiranyagarbha or even Brahma. In the Veda, Hiranyagarbha is also identified as a Purusha. And as the adhipati for Brahmanda, Brahma is also known as Purusha. Hence it has to be settle first as to what is meant by Purusha first and only then one can proceed. Hence Rayaru first addresses this. He quotes a Sruti verse which says " XU9 SO 065 " which means "the One who resides in jiva's body and jiva's heart". Rayaru also quotes a couple of more Srutis " -.5 -._8 $O5 ST15 " and " ST`8 $\7 CF6+5 ". Now Rayaru quotes the Brahmasutra i.2.26 (vaisvAnarAdhikarana) " ST1P"(M Z7*(L86[ " and says that the author of Brahmasutras, Lord Vedavyasa, too references the Purusha Sukta and establishes the word "Purusha" as denoting the Supreme Lord. So we have Sruti vakyas ascertaining Purusha as the Supreme Lord and we also have the support of Brahmasutra, an aptavAkya, as it has been ascertained by an apta, Lord Himself. " !" Now the apparent meaning of " /$I? Q8H9ST15 /$I?&A5 /$/?Da " would mean that "Purusha has 1000 heads, 1000 eyes and 1000 legs". But in the case of God, everything is Infinite and hence he is <*23 R+ -OX+9 . The Taittirya Upanishad says " /3>2 J*2 <*232 Y?$=" which is an unequivocally assertation that God is Infinite. Naturally, if one aspect of God is Infinite, every other attribute/aspect will also be infinite. So, how to reconcile the 1000 hands of Purusha Sukta with the other Srutis which say that He is Infinite. All his attributes are infinite in measure and hence He is Svatantra. Everything and everyone other than Him are limited in nature and there is no other being in the entire cosmos who possessed anything in infinite measure. The next highest in the cosmological gradation ( B.3(> ) is Goddess Lakshmi. She has attributes in highest measure compared to anyone below her in the hierarchy but even She is not equal to Lord Vishnu because Lord Vishnu is Infinitely superior to Goddess Lakshmi too. Unlike other Vedantins who resort to "liberty of imagination" ( &'pramAna and substantiate. This is one of the core reasons why Sriman Madhvacharya's Dvaita Shastra is unopposed till date while every other philosophy has been shown of defects and inconsistencies. Hence, going by Dvaita tradition of reconciling "apparently conflicting" Sruti vakyas using another Sruti vakya, Rayaru quotes a Sruti which reads " <*23 Q8195 <*23 EV <*2^8 $O5 " and says that the /$/? (numeral 1000) should be construed as <*23 (Infinite). " !" The word YN2 has been used in the mantra above. On the lines of Isavasya Upanishad mantra " 6K:2 %#3>2 %#a " where the word " %#a " refers to prAkriti, here the word YN2 also refers to prAkriti. Thus the second line of the mantra contextually implies that Lord Vishnu is free from the body made of panchabhUtas. In the phrase " !G2R' (3>K1;a " the word " !0 " should be construed as /492 on the authority of the Sruti which says " !]K /492". Hence the phrase will mean that Lord Vishnu is superior to Goddess Lakshmi who herself has transcended the time and space and that's because Lord has even the prAkriti under His eternal control. In the phrase " YN2 P0@35 4)B@ !G2R' (3>K1;a ", 4)B@ means pervasion. And we have already seen in the definition of the word Purusha that He resides in jiva's heart. Hence the phrase will here mean that Lord Vishnu pervades this jagat" as well as the 10-angulam hearts of jivas. " " The second mantra of the Sukta reads thus: " !" purusha EvEdam sarvam yadbhUtam yacchabhavyam ! utAmrtatvavasyEshAnoyayadannEnAtirOhati " !" Rayaru say thus: " !" "Whatever was in the past, whatever is present and whatever that will be in the future will be pervaded by the that Purusha who is also known as nArAyanA. He is the Controller of those in samsAra and those who are muktAs". !" !" In the previous mantra, we have seen that Purusha is none but nArAyanA Himself. We have also seen how nArAyanA is the Controller and is infinitely superior to the presiding deity of earth, Goddess Lakshmi. This mantra glorifies nArAyanA as the Controller of everything and everyone. !" !" Let's now dwell into more detail about the various words in the mantra and what do they signify. " !" purusha EvEdam sarvam ! means that ! all these things are deponent on purusha. This mantra does not mean that "purusha is all this everything" ! which mistakenly looks like purporting advaita. Hence Sri Raghavendra Swamiji quotes a smriti passage "yadadHInA yasya sattA tattadityEva bHanyatE " to corroborate his commentary. ! The above smriti passage says that "If the entities are dependent on or controlled by somebody else then there cannot be any identity between the controller and the controlled". The usage of purusha EvEdam sarvam ! is similar to the usage of the maxim "rAjAh rAshtram " (the kingdom is the under the control of the king). " !" Interestingly Srimad Bhagawata further amplifies the above reasoning. The mantra idam hi viswam bHagavAnivEtaro yatO jagat sthAna nirOdha sambhavah says that since God is the Creator of the Universe, it is customary to convey that "Universe is God". So, in this context where the Purusha Sukta is saying that "purusha is all this" it should be construed the way Bhagawata conveys. " !" Even in the sakhAntara brAhmanA too it is said "purusha EvEdam sarvamiti purushENaivEdam sarvam vyAptam" which too conveys subtly that all this is pervaded by that purusha more or less in the same words as that of Purusha Sukta . " !" In explaining the phrase yadbHUtam yacchabhavyam Sri Rayaru cites the explanation given in the NyayaSudha of Sri Tikacharya for the Brahmasutra "patyAdi shabdebhyah " which denotes that the word "pati" refer to Brahman. yaDannEna refers to the samsari jivas. !" !" Now Rayaru explains the word utAmrttvasaya . "uta" means "Api" which translates to "too". This word explains that not just those in samsara, even muktAs (amrta) too are under the sway of God. Being the Controller of muktAs is also an attribute of God. The pramAnAs like " muktAnAm paramA gatih " (of vishnusahasranAma), " amratasya esa setuh " (of Katha Upanishad) and " muktOpasrpya vyapadEsAt " (Brahmasutra i.3.2) establish beyond doubt that" God is the controller of the muktAs too and hence this Purusha Sukta mantra. " !" #)616+M/ !.Y5.)9>/6/RM& !,WI3+ !!" ,6*9M/ !Y1O6 !-W)6Y+ !YQ,6*6M/6G:)U!Y*Y1 !" !" EtAvAnasya mahimAtOjyAyAmsca pUrushah ! pAdosyavishwA bHUtani tripAdAsyAmrtam divi $! !" Rayaru explains that we should realise that Lord Narayana is great not just by the possession of the thousands of heads, legs etc, He is superior even from the Prakriti which is different from Himself or His attributes, i.e., to say that we should realise God as distinct from the material world that we live and experience. If we were to see God's !svarUpa !of !jnAna !and !Ananda !as four aspects, only one aspect of it is possessed by the entire !jIva !community !while other three aspects of Him namely Narayana, Vasudeva and Vaikuntha are situated in the three !lOkAs !known as !sVetadIpa, !anantAsana !and !vaikuntha. !" !" The word EtAvAn ( #)616+ ) is used as some sort of a comparative term to signify that Lord's superiority is not just limited to the possession of several heads (first mantra) and being the Controller of !muktAs !and !amuktAs !(second mantra), rather He is Superior in other ways too. " !" Rayaru says that in the word !Y1O6 !-W)6Y+ !the word !Y1O6 !should be construed as !Y1O6Y+ !(prathamA $vibhakti !or nominative case) using the Paninian Sutra !7.1.39 !(denoting the usage of a Vedic irregularity popularly known by the example of !sUpAm suluk ). That will make the phrase !Y1O6Y+ !-W)6Y+ !as the "jIvas !in the entire Universe". " !" We have seen above in the explanation of the word EtAvAn ( #)616+ ) that God is Superior in other ways too. Now comes the question as to what is that? The word !pAdosyA (,6*9M/ )!gives the answer. If we were to take the Lord's !jnAnAnanda svarUpa !into four aspects, the entire !jIva !population of this cosmos has one part. Given this, it can be seen that Lord's !jnAnAnanda !is four times superior to that of the entire !jIvas !put together. But as we know Lord is Infinitely superior but why does this mantra say that God is four times superior? It should be noted that this example (of four times superiority) is mentioned only to convey the "superiority" and !not !the actual measure of it (four times). It is only for the understanding of laymen like us. Even the word jnAnAnanda !is used only for our understanding only and it is not to convey that His !jnAnAnanda !and our !jnAnAnanda !are the same. !! His attributes are Infinite and super-sensual unlike ours. " !" The word !YQ,6) !(tripAt ) being a Vedic usage is denoted here in singular despite the plural denotation of the word. This word signifies that the aspects of Narayana, Vaikuntha and Vasudeva of the Lord are located in the !dyulOka. (The usage of Vaikuntha here refers to an aspect of the Lord as different from the "location" !vaikuntha !where this aspect of God resides). The !dyulOka !here represents the Bhuh, Bhuvah and Suvah. The !dyulOkas !are the ones that are above the !antariksha !which itself is located 1 lac yojanAs !above. Hence the !lOkAs !which are lacs and lacs !yojanAs !above the earth like !svEtadIpa, !anantAsana !are known as dyulOkas. And !vaikuntha !being above even the !satyalOka !is no doubt a!dyulOka. In these three !dyulOkas, the aspect called Narayana resides in !svEtadIpa, Vasudeva in !anantAsana !and Vaikuntha in !vaikuntha. " !" The !jIvas !possess only an infinitesimal amount of !similarity !with the Lord and hence the entire !jIva !population is known as bHinnapAda !or !bHinnAmsa . The aspects of Narayana, Vasudeva and Vaikuntha therefore are the svarUpamsas (as explained in Srimad Acharya's commentary on !chhAndOgya Up .). " !" The word !YQ,6) !(tripAt ) is used even in the Srimad Bhagawata Purana in Skanda 3, Adhyaya 19, mantra 22 - !sudar (an 'stra )bhagav 'npr 'yu *kta dayita )$ trip 't!- to refer !Lord Vishnu. This adhyAya narrates the incident of the slaying of demon !hiranyAksha by Lord Vishnu with His Sudarsana Chakra. Here the word !YQ,6) !is used to refer to none other than Lord Vishnu. Hence on the same lines, we must construe the usage of this word in the Purusha Sukta also as referring to none other than Lord Vishnu. !" !" This also signifies another fact (that Srimad Acharya has pointed out) that to understand certain Vedic words, their purport and the meaning, we can refer to the !Puranas !because Puranas are nothing but the detailed and critical explanation of the !Vedas. chhAndOgya Up !vii.1.2. rightly says that !itihAsa purAnas !are nothing but the fifth- Veda ! Y)564 !,V06(R !,N.U!J*6+R !(itihAsa purAnAm panchamam vEdAnAm ). " " The next mantra of the Sukta reads thus: " !" 7@0,6AB1T !*S?,VI3+ ,6*9MH56-1) ,V++!" ))9Y1O': K/<6.?462+6+2C U7- " !" tripAdUrdhva udaithpurushah pAdOsyEhAbhavat punah ! tatOvishwaj vyakrAmatsAsanAnasanE abhi ! !" In the previous mantras we have seen how Purusha Sukta extols Lord Narayana as the one who is the Controller of the amuktAs and muktAs too. We have also seen how Lord is Superior even to the entire jIva community which, put together, shares only an iota of His bliss (jnAnAnanda). Also we have seen how one aspect of Him is present in the jIvas while another three of His aspects reside in sVetadIpa, anantAsana and vaikuntha. This mantra shows that apart from those three amsAs, Lord's another amsa is located in vaIsvAnara lOka and dhruva lOka (near the indralOka of mEru-sUryamandala) which is the abode of those who become jnAnIs gradually (like vAnaprasthAs, brahmachArIs, grihastAs and yatIs ). Hence this Lord is who is resplendent in the various places within the svEtadIpa has pervaded everything and He has pervaded the dEvas, rsIs and all other sentient and insentient entities. " !" In the last mantra, in the word bhinnapAda, the term pAda is used only notionally. However in this mantra, the word pAda is used in its primary denotation to indicate the rUpa of the Lord. " !" The word Y*Y1 (divi) in the previous mantra needs to be imported here as Y*1+ (divah) by adhyAhAra. ! (adhyAhAra is the process of importing word(s) to make the sentence meaningful. In this case, the word is imported from the previous mantra. Usually this kind of adhyAhAra is performed to show the continuity of thought). Thus the context becomes Y*1+ "B1T. The words tripAt, divah Urdvah tell that the Lord is resplendent in the three worlds (svEtdIpa, anantAsana and vaikuntha) which are themselves external and different to the worlds of prithvi and antariksha. " !" It should be noted that Veda Suktas have generally several meanings based on the canons of the interpretation. Also, Sri Madhvacharya has remarked that Vedas have at least 3 different interpretations: " !" Adibhautika - concerned with the physical world " Adidaivika - concerned with the presiding deity which controls the manifestation " Adhyatmika - concerned with the Supreme Brahman !" !" In the explanation of the Purusha Sukta mantra above we have seen one adhibhautika meaning. One other meaning can also be explained. !" !" The connotation of dyulOka also applies to mEru mountain on prithivi, ! to sUryamandala in AkAsa and to Indra's kingdom in svarga. Hence when the word Y*1+ of the above mantra is applied to mEru mountain, the mantra will now mean that the Lord residing in svEtadIpa is superior to this dyulOka also. !" !" Ample support to the above interpretation of the Purusha Sukta comes from none other than Sri Badarayana from his Brahmasutra i.1.27 upadEsabhEdannEti chEt naubhayAsminnApyAvirOdhAt . In explaining this sutra, Sri Madhvacharya references two mantras from the Chandogya Up. iii.12.6 and iii.13.7. !" !" The Cha.Up. iii.12.6 reads thus: tAvAnasyamahimA tatOjyAyAmsca pUrushah pAdosya sarvAbhUtAni tripAdAsyAmrtam divIti which is in close resemblance with the Purusha Sukta. The mantra means: "Such is His greatness, yeah, the Lord is greater. All souls constitute one quarter of Him. His immortal three quarters are in heaven". !" !" The Cha. Up. iii.13.7 talks about a "Light" that shines above the heaven, in the world higher than those of Brahma, higher than all, beyond which there are no higher worlds. That is verily the same Light which is in the heart of man. !" !" In the Cha.Up. iii.12.6 the text says "His three immortal feet are in heaven" while in the very next khanda of Cha. Up, in iii.13.7 the text says "above the heaven". The saptami vibhakti or locative case-ending (divi) is in the first mantra and the panchami vibhakti or the ablative case-ending is in the second mantra (divah). Hence it might appear that two different things are being spoken of in these two mantras. Rejecting this view, the sutrakAra Sri Badarayana says that there is no contradiction between these two texts and they both refer to Supreme Lord only because the two different case endings are often used in the Sacred literature to express the meaning of the ablative also and also the two texts refer to different views of the sub-division of the regions of the Universe into three and seven. !" !" Hence the ruling from the Brahmasutras also go on to support the view that Lord is greater "than the dyulOka or the heavens in this Purusha Sukta mantra. " "The fifth mantra of the Purusha Sukta goes thus: " tasmAdvirAlajAta virAjo adhi pUrushah ! sajAtoatyaryichyata" paschAdbhUmi athOpurah ! Rayaru says thus on this mantra: from the Great Purusha, the golden hued and effulgent brahmAnda came into being. Pervading this brahmAnda, the virAta nAmaka chaturmukha Brahma dEvaru was born. Brahma dEvaru was also born from the lotus navel of the Supreme Lord. Hence the Purusha nAmaka Vishnu is more perfect and more superior to chaturmukha brahma. And chaturmukha brahma being born twice from the Supreme Lord "is hence superior to whatever is born after him like earth, rudra dEvaru etc. " It is to be noted that Srimad Acharya also says to the same effect in the Bhagawata Tatparya and Rayaru's commentary on this Purusha Sukta mantra resonates Srimad "Acharya's words in true spirit. " It should also be noted that whenever words like aja (meaning "born") is meant, it should be understood that it "came into being" and not as born de novo i.e., non-existent before. In Dvaita philosophy it is to be noted that only a jada can come out of a jada as a material modification and NEVER a chetana from a jada or a jada from a chetana or a chetana from a chetana. The conscious entity chetana is subtle and eternal and is NEVER born de novo" from anything else. " "The next mantra of the sUkta is: " yatpurushEna havishA dEva yajnamatanvatA ! "vasantO asyAsIdAjyam grIshma idhmah sharaddhavih ! Rayaru says thus: when all the dEvatAs meditated on Lord Vishnu as a mAnasa yajna with chaturmukha brahma being thought of as a pasu/cow, for such a mAnasa yajna the Spring season (vasanta rtu) became sacrificial ghee, the summer season (grIshma rtu) became the fuel (sacrificial wooden sticks that get burnt) and the autumn season (sharadh rtu) became the havis ." " A mAnasa yajna is a real yajna performed in the mind with all the yajna accessories being summoned to the mind and are offered mentally. A question might arise as to why the dEvatAs had to do a mAnasa yajna when the yajna accessories are generally available. It is to be noted that this yajna happened when the chaturmukha brahma and other dEvatAs came into being there was no yajna accessories, in the sense that they were yet to get created in the brahmAnda. So it is to be construed that the mAnasa yajna is a kind of praying to the Lord to create the yajna accessories. " " "The next mantra of the sUkta reads thus: " saptasyAsan paridhayaha trissapta samidhah kritAh ! "dEvA yadyajnam tanvAnaha abadhnan purusham pashum ! Rayaru says: when the dEvatAs while performing the mAnasa yajna assuming chaturmukha brahma as the cow and tied to the sacrificial yApa sthambha the seven metres/ chandas like gAyatri etc became the 7 paridhIs, the 12 months, 5 seasons, 3 "lOkAs and the sUrya became the 21 samidhAs. " It is to be noted that in the yajurvEda this mantra occurs as the 7th rk while in rgvEda this is the 15th rk. Since the context here is that of mAnasa yajna and since the current rk also speaks of mAnasa yajna, the context of the mantra takes priority over the order of the "occurrence of the mantra and hence Rayaru's commentary of this mantra here. " paridhi means a kAshta boundary to protect the yajna from the rAkshsAs who come to destroy the yajna. The ahvanIyagni has 3 paridhis, the northern quarter has 3 paridhis while the eastern direction has sUrya himself as the paridhi because the sun who rises in the east protects the yajna himself against the rAkshsAs from that quarter. In all there are "7 paridhIs. " "The next mantra reads thus: " tayyajnam barhishipraUkshan purusham jAtamagratah ! "tEna dEva Ayajantaha sAdhyA rishayashchayE ! Rayaru says: the dEvatAs, the sAdhUs and the rsIs offered sacrifices of chaturmukha "brahma and prayed the yajna nAmaka Vishnu through him. " These mantrAs concerning the mAnasa yajna also gives a different connotation involving rudra dEvaru. The current rk itself can be interpreted in such a way that chaturmukha brahma himself meditated on the Lord through rudra dEvaru as the pasu. In the mantra virAjo adhi pUrushah it can be interpreted that rudra dEvaru who is superior to many dEvatAs is born as the eldest son of chaturmukha brahma. In the mantra yatpurushEna havishA dEva yajna it can be interpreted that brahma and other dEvatAs prayed to Lord Vishnu with rudra dEvaru as the pasu etc. To sum it up, it should be understood that in a yajna, chaturmukha brahma is the yajamAna, rudra is the pasu purusha, the dEvatAs are "the rtviks. " "The next mantra of the Sukta is: " tasmAd yajnAt sarvahutah sambhritam vrishadAjyam ! "pashUmtashchakrE vAyAvyAnAranyAn gramAschayE ! " Rayaru says: it is because of the same object of mAnasa yajna, the same Supreme Lord and the yajna nAmaka paramAtma that the sacrificial Ajya used in the yajna got created. It is the same yajna nAmaka paramAtma who created the white hued cows, the deer of the "wild and the horses. " It should be noted that it is remarked earlier that the objective of mAnasa yajna with the mental accessories is to please the Lord to create the physical counterparts of those "accessories. In this mantra it is said that the Lord indeed created the yajna accessories. " "The next mantra Of the Sukta is: " tasmAd yajnAt sarvahutaha richassAmaAni jagnirE ! chandhAmsi" jagnirE tasmAt yajus tasmAd ajAyata ! Rayaru says: it is from that Being the yajna nAmaka paramAtma who is glorified by all that the Rk, Yajus and Sama Veda and the metres/chandas like gAyatri got revealed from His "utterances. " The words jagnirE, ajAyata etc mean "born of/born from". Now the Vedas etc are eternal and apaurushEya, in the sense they were not born or created anew and is not authored by a human or dive agency. Hence Rayaru quotes that the Vedas and chandas were revealed by the God through his utterances. Though God reveals them, He is not their creator. They were coexistent with God Himself from times immemorial. But these entities being jada themselves (despite being eternal) has to depend on God for their very existence, being and becoming. This process of "creating" eternal entities is known as parAdhIna visEsa "avApti and is on of the four types of srshtIs or creations. ! There is a pramAna vAkya which says that when it is mentioned that Vedas were created or Vedas were born, it should be understood that either the revelation of the Vedas is meant or the birth of the avAntarAbhmAni dEvata of the Vedas, chandas etc. is meant. Lakshmi Devi is the abhimAni or the presiding deity of the Vedas. Since Lakshmi Devi is the eternal consort of the Lord and is with the Lord even during the mahApralaya and since the is no "birth" as such for her, the "birth" here should be construed as that of the avAntarAbhimAni dEvatAs. For gAyatri and brhati chandas Lakshmi, Saraswati, Bharati and Garuda are the presiding deities. For anustubh chandas it is Saraswati while for "tristubh chandas it is Shachi Devi. " "Te next mantra in the Sukta is: " tasmAdashvA ajAyamta ye ke chObhayA datah ! "gavO ha jagnirE tasmAt tasmAd jnAta ajAvayah ! " Rayaru says: it is from that yajna nAmaka paramAtma that the yajna accessories like the horses were born. It is from that paramAtma that the mules, cows and the sheep were "born. " Though in the earlier mantras the creation of the accessories for general sacrifices is mentioned, in this mantra the creation of accessories required for the asvamEdha sacrifice "is mentioned. " This mantra extols that the Supreme Purusha is the Independent Cause of everything and hence the word tasmAd has been used extensively. The letter ha has been used as a mark "of exclamation or significance. " " The next mantra of the Sukta is: " " yatpurusham vyadadhuhu kadhitA vyakalpayan ! mukham" kimasya kau bahU kavurU padAvuchyatE ! " Rayaru says: When the dEvatAs prayed the Supreme Lord during the mAnasa yajna, what did they think of the Lord? What was born of His Mighty Face, what is born of His Mighty "Hands, what is born of His Mighty Thighs and what is born of His Mighty Legs? " It is to be noted here that while elsewhere it is mentioned of the creation of the external accessories required for a yajna, it is to explain the origins of various entities from the "various parts of the Lord that these questions get posed here. " "The next mantra of the Sukta is: " brahmanoOya mukhamAsIt bahU rajanyah kritah ! UrU" tadasya yadvaishya pabhyAm shUdrO ajAyata ! " Rayaru says: from the face of that Parama Purusha was born brahma, the presiding deity of the Brahmin caste. From the hands of that Parama Purusha was born vAyu, the presiding deity if the Kshatriyas caste. From the thighs of that Parama Purusha was born nAsikya vAyu, the presiding deity of the Vysya caste. From the legs of that Parama "Purusha was born he Nirruti, the presiding deity of the Shudra caste. " A point to note here is that the word padbhyAm is in ablative case or panchami vibhakti. The panchami vibhakti denotes the source (point of origin of a thing) or the cause (of something) or it can even denote the time (of origin or action or movement). Since the word padbhyAm denoting the legs of the Lord is in ablative case, the words denoting face, "hands and thighs should also be taken as being in the ablative case itself. " There is a pramAna vAkya that says: the parts of the Lord from where the dEvatAs or the lOkAs were born, they end up having called by the same names of the respective dEvata "or the lOka. " "The next mantra of the Sukta is: " chandramA manasO jAtaha chakshO suryO ajAyata ! "mukhAd indrashchagnishcha prAnAdvAyur ajAyata ! " Rayaru says: from this Purusha's mind is born the moon, from the eyes was born the sun, "from the face were born indra and agni and from His breath was born the Mukhya Prana. " In the previous mantra the creation of the presiding deities of the 4 castes was mentioned while here the creation of other deities like indra, etc is mentioned. In the phrase "prAnAdvAyur, the pravaha vAyu's creation can also be inferred. " "The next mantra of the Sukta is: " nabhyAsId antariksham shIrshnO dyauh samavartata ! padbhyAm bhUmirdishah shrOtrAt tath lokAm akalpayan ! " Rayaru says: from the navel of this Purusha was born the antariksha lOka and it presiding deity. From the head of the Purusha was born the svarga lOka and it's presiding deity. From the ears of the Purusha was born the directions and their presiding deities. And this "Purusha did create several other lOkAs and presiding deities. " While in the previous mantra the creation of dEvatAs was mentioned, in this mantra the creation of various lOkAs is mentioned. It can be interpreted that the explanation for lOkAm akalpayat is made in the nAbhyA asId. In that case, the word dyu should be construed as the lOkAs above the svarga and the word bhUmi can be construed as the "lOkAs below it. " The next mantra in the Rg Veda is already interpreted above in the context of the mAnasa "yajna. Hence comes the last mantra: " yajnEna yajnamayajanta devAmtAni dharmAni pradhamAnyAsan ! "te ha nAkam mahimanah sacantayatra pUrvE sAdhyAh santi dEvAha " The manushyAs eligible for the dEva padavi prayed the Lord by means of the yajna - both by the mind and by the karmas. They became dEvAs and excelled in their perfection and effulgence and performed the acts suitable for the dEvAs like bestowing rains etc. After spending the devoted time for the dEva padavi, they accompanied the released souls of the previous kalpAs in the mukti lOka. It is summarised here that the dEvAs performed the "yajna and attained the purushArtha. " P8 -60)80.( .V=/E6(D)%T) P8 $XL(6,T(.M)V" !" Regards " "Mohan Suswaram " P.S: All omissions and commissions are completely mine.