The Purusha Sukta ─Part I

Spring 2009 The Purusha Sukta ─Part I Zachary F. Lansdowne Abstract vealed and who gave expression to it as the hymn on the Supreme Purusha.” 2 he Purusha Sukta is an ancient Hindu T hymn that celebrates the sacrifice of a The Purusha Sukta is a small hymn, with only God-like entity called “Purusha,” and it is still sixteen verses, and is written in the oldest form regularly chanted during Hindu worship. Mod- of Sanskrit that has been preserved. Some of ern scholars, however, find this hymn to be its words have multiple meanings, and some obscure. This article gives a theosophical in- may have had meanings that were lost during terpretation, showing that Purusha corresponds the intervening years. Its language is ritualistic to the concept of the Planetary Logos. Part I of and may seem archaic. Moreover, this hymn this article covers verses 1 through 10, and Part may have a hidden, or esoteric, significance II covers verses 11 through 16. that was concealed behind its ritualistic language. Background For these reasons, modern scholars generally he Rig Veda, the oldest text in Hinduism, find the Purusha Sukta to be obscure. For ex- is a collection of 1,028 Sanskrit hymns ample, John Muir refers to it as, “Another im- T portant, but in many places obscure, hymn of and is often dated between 1700–1100 BCE. 3 The earliest version of the Purusha Sukta is in the Rig Veda.” Zenaide Ragozin writes, “The hymn, as a whole, is exceedingly obscure and the Rig Veda, but subsequent versions of this 4 hymn appear elsewhere with some modifica- of entirely mystical import.” One verse, which tions and redactions. It is one of the few hymns characterizes something as both the parent and in the Rig Veda still being used in contempo- progeny of something else, is called “a crypto- 5 rary Hinduism, as reported by the President of gram” by Rein Fernhout. Another verse seems the Ramakrishna Mission at Chennai, India: to describe a paradoxical situation in which a “This Sukta finds a place even today in the sacrifice has the same subject and object, so worship of a deity, in a temple or at home, in Steven Rosen asks, “Was the confusion that the daily parayana [chanting], in establishing naturally bursts forth from this paradox meant to be like a Zen koan , a mystical riddle, or is it the sacred fire for a Vedic ritual, in various 6 rituals, and even in the cremation of a dead a product of the Vedas’ incomprehensibility?” 1 body.” On the other hand, Helena Blavatsky, co- According to the Hindu tradition, the Purusha founder of the Theosophical Society, states Sukta was written down by an ancient scribe that this hymn has a coherent esoteric mean- known as Narayana. Swami Krishnananda, the General Secretary of The Divine Life Society, reports on this somewhat mythical origin: About the Author “The Seer (Rishi) of the Sukta is Narayana, the greatest of sages ever known, who is rightly Zachary F. Lansdowne, Ph.D., who served as proclaimed in the Bhagavata [Purana] as the President of the Theosophical Society in Boston, only person whose mind cannot be disturbed has been a frequent contributor to The Esoteric Quarterly . His book The Revelation of Saint John , by desire and, as the Mahabharata says, whose which provides a verse-by-verse analysis of the power not even all the gods can ever imagine. entire Revelation , was reviewed in the Fall 2006 Such is the Rishi to whom the Sukta was re- issue. He can be reached at [email protected]. Copyright © The Esoteric Quarterly, 2009 15 The Esoteric Quarterly ing: “It is those scholars only who will master tween Purusha, or the Planetary Logos, and the secret meaning of the Purushasukta, who human beings. may hope to understand how harmonious are 1. Thousand-headed is Purusa, thousand- its teachings and how corroborative of the Eso- eyed, thousand-footed. Having covered teric Doctrines. One must study in all the ab- the earth on all sides, he stood above it struseness of their metaphysical meaning the the width of ten fingers. relations therein between the (Heavenly) Man ‘Purusha,’ sacrificed for the production of the The Planetary Logos, whose body incor- Universe and all in it, and the terrestrial mortal porates all human beings, expresses Him- man.” 7 self through the planet Earth but tran- scends it. Blavatsky continues: “Hence in the Purusha Sukta of the Rig Veda, the mother fount and Sri V. Sundar provides a slightly different source of all subsequent religions, it is stated translation for the last phrase in the verse: “He allegorically that ‘the thousand-headed Pu- stands beyond the count of ten fingers.” The rusha’ was slaughtered at the foundation of ten fingers in this phrase are the fingers of hu- the World, that from his remains the Uni- man hands. Sundar explains this symbol: verse might arise. This is nothing more nor “They are the basis of count, of all mathemat- less than the foundation—the seed, truly—of ics, of all the logic and science built on the later many-formed symbol in various mathematics. However, they are all limited religions, including Christianity, of the sacri- when it comes to analyzing Purusha. He is ficial lamb. For it is a play upon the words. transcendent, and beyond such limited under- ‘Aja’ (Purusha), ‘the unborn’ or eternal standing.” 10 Spirit, means also ‘lamb’ in Sanskrit. Spirit disappears—dies, metaphorically—the more Who or what is Purusha (or Purusa) in this it gets involved in matter, and hence the sac- hymn? The Sanskrit word Purusha can be rifice of the ‘unborn,’ or the ‘lamb.’” 8 translated as man, soul, or spirit. The Purusha Sukta in its earliest version, which appears in Blavatsky never published a detailed commen- the Rig Veda, does not call Purusha by any tary on the Purusha Sukta. In fact, to our name other than Purusha and so it is not clear knowledge, the two paragraphs given above what this word actually denotes. Blavatsky, constitute most of her published comments on however, offers this clue: “In these Hymns, the this hymn. Alice Bailey, a later theosophical ‘Heavenly Man’ is called purusha .” 11 So, who author, wrote a great deal on subjects related to or what is the Heavenly Man? the Purusha Sukta but did not write anything explicitly about this hymn. Bailey uses the terms “Heavenly Man” and “Planetary Logos,”12 and also the plural forms In what follows, the English translation of each “Heavenly Men” and “Planetary Logoi,” as verse of the Purusha Sukta (as found in the Rig synonyms. She says, “Human beings are the Veda) by Michael Myers, a Professor of the 13 9 cells in the body of a Heavenly Man.” She Philosophy of Religion, is given in bold, fol- also speaks of “the planet Earth, through which lowed by an interpretation of that verse in ital- our Planetary Logos expresses Himself,” 14 and ics showing that Purusha corresponds to the goes on to say, “A Heavenly Man has His concept of the Planetary Logos. The subse- source outside the solar system.” 15 Thus, Bai- quent theosophical commentary, including a ley’s descriptions of the Planetary Logos are detailed analysis of the symbols in the verse, is consistent with how the first verse describes based primarily on the writings of Blavatsky Purusha. The commentary that follows shows and Bailey. that interpreting Purusha as the Planetary Lo- gos also yields a coherent treatment for the Purusha subsequent verses. he first five verses provide us with a de- 2. Only Purusa is all this, that which has T tailed description of the relationship be- been and that which is to be. He is the 16 Copyright © The Esoteric Quarterly , 2009 Spring 2009 lord of the immortals, who grow by cycle of rebirth comes to an end. We take these means of [ritual] food. liberated human beings to be the “immortals” because they are no longer born into mortal The Planetary Logos is the prototype for physical bodies. Theosophy uses the terms human beings, the model for their past “spiritual kingdom” and “Hierarchy” to denote development and future attainment. He is them. the lord of the spiritual kingdom and achieves as human beings sacrifice their The verse designates the Planetary Logos as own limited ideals and pride. “the lord of the immortals.” The Planetary Lo- gos could be regarded in such a way because A prototype can be defined as an original the spiritual kingdom endeavors to carry out model after which similar things are patterned. the will of the Planetary Logos, as Bailey ex- This definition allows the model and similar plains: “The Chohans of the Hierarchy now on things to have different dimensions. We inter- Earth … work consciously carrying out the pret the first sentence to mean that the Plane- Will of the Planetary Logos in the planet, but tary Logos is the proto- even They are as yet far type for each human Approxim ately eighteen mi l- from appreciating fully being even though they the Will and purpose of have vastly different lion years ago occurred a the Logos as He works dimensions. Genesis great event that signified, through the system. 1:27 states: “So God among other things, the fol- Glimpses They may get created man in his own and an idea of the gen- image, in the image of lowing developments: The eral plan, but the details God created he him.” 16 Planetary Logos of our Earth are as yet unrecogniz- This quotation supports able.” 19 Here, the our interpretation be- scheme, one of the Seven “Chohans” denote the cause the Planetary Lo- Spirits before the throne, presiding officers of the gos could be regarded took physical incarnation … spiritual kingdom.

Load more