Sri Purusha Suktam
Translation with Commentary
by
Prof.M.M.Ninan

Introduction

The Purusha Suktham occurs in the tenth mandala of Rig Veda.  The Rig Veda texts are a collection of the work of generations of poets, and priests extending over many centuries. Books II to VII  are considered as the work of a single seer and/or tradition (just as the early Jewish prophetic schools), and so are called "family books”.   The hymns in books I and X are composed by different families or schools.   Books II to VII are the oldest. Book X is the most recent and is written as late as the fourth century AD. Earlier portions of Rig Veda were written down in Vedic  (Indo–Euorpean, Avestan) language only by the second century BC even though it might have been in existence and use in fragments much earlier.  But Mandala I and X were written probably only by the fourth century AD.  All of these were modified in time by those who retold the hymns or rewritten them with additions, interpolations and embellishments. Thus we should expect redactions and interpolations to help later religious movements or for sheer poetic presentation.   They were not considered sacred scriptures until as late as the sixth century AD.  They were essentially used in sacrifices and yajnas.  The language, style and content of Rig Veda X are totally distinct from the rest of the Rig Vedic hymns which are addressed to forces of nature.   Thus, in the Rig Veda, there are eight Vasus (Elements), twelve Âdityas (Suns), eleven Rudras (Fierce forms), among other minor gods.   Tenth mandala introduces four new gods.

·        Manas (Thought), prominent concept, deified in 10.58

·        Dakshina (Reward), prominent concept, deified in 10.107

·        Jnanam (Knowledge), prominent concept, deified in 10.71

·        Purusha ("Cosmic Man" of the Purusha sukta 10.90)

All these four concepts are totally alien to the pre-christian part of the Rig Veda.   The concept of Purusha stands apart from the others even among the four. 

Vedic religion did not have a concept of a Supreme God who was the creator of the universe and who is immanent and yet transcends his creation.  Iswara, Maheswara, Parameswara, and other epithets denoting a Supreme Being do not occur in the pre-christian part of Rig Veda. 

Purusha Suktham in its original form as it appears in the Rig Veda X does not call Purusha by any other name other than Purusha.  All other appellation as to who this Purusha is the imagination and inklings of the later interpreters. If there was another person in the Rig Veda who could be equated with this Purusha, it would have been obviously done assuming that it as the work of one single seer.  Though the original Purusha suktha mantra occurs in Rig Veda, it also occurs in Vajaneya Samhitha of Shukla Yajur Veda, Taiteeriya Samhitha of Krishna Yajurveda and also with slight differences in Sama Veda as well as Atharva Veda.

Historically these mantras were in existence in a scattered manner probably written down individually by the purohits who used these mantras in their yajnas (sacrifices).  They were collected, divided and edited according to tradition by Veda Vyasa.  The name simply means editor of Vedas. Many great sages have given details of how this great Suthra should be used in Fire Sacrifices and many sages have written commentaries on Purusha Suktham.

The currently available text has 24 mantras or stanzas. The first 18 mantras are called by later Hindu interpreters as Prathama anuvAkam (which consists of the sixteen stanzas of Rg Vedic Suktam) and the rest as Uttara anuvAkam -six stanzas - or Vaishnavanuvaka being the interpolation by the Vaishnavites. It is also called Purva Narayana and Uttara Narayana following the meaning of Narayana as Form of Man.  These second part is known as 'Vishnu Suktam'.   It is in these later interpretations and appendations that later Hindu gods have come to be associated with the Purusha.  Nowhere within the original Purusha Suktham is any reference to Vishnu or any other Hindu god.  In order to bring in Vishnu, the uttara Narayana part is added later to the mantra by  the Vaishnavites, where in the twenty fourth verse Purusha is referred to as the spouse of Lakshmi. Here is the verse,

hrishcha te lakshmishcha patnyau
ahoratre parshve
nakshatrani rupam
ashvinau vyattam

  The goddesses Hri (modesty) and Sri (Lakshmi, wealth) are your wives. Day and night are your  limbs. The stars are your form. The Ashvins are your opened mouth.   Even here Vishnu is not directly named.  If only we know the Purana Story which were built later in the centuries could we associate the name Vishnu.  Otherwise it can just be interpreted as the consort of modesty and wealth. I assume therefore that these were added sometime in the sixth or seventh centuries.

It is certain that the current form of  Purusha suktha underwent drastic interpolations and redactions.  To identify them is a difficult problem.  However a simpler comparative study of the various versions as they appear in the various Vedas, aranyakas and Upanishads will help tremendously.

There is some perceptible difference of order in mantras found in Rg Veda and the Taittiriya Aranyaka.  
The first 6 mantras are identical in both Yajur Veda and Rig Veda.
The 7th and 18th of Yajurvedic mantras are  found as the 15th and 16th in Rg Veda.
The 17th and 18th mantras of Yajurveda are not found in Rg Vedic reading at all.
The hymns of Purusha Sukta RV X.90 (Anushtubh 1-15, Trishtubh 16)  is repeated in the Atharvaveda (19.6), the Samaveda (6.4), the Yajurveda (VS 31.1-16), the Taittiriya Aranyaka (3.12,13).  
 The Atharvan Veda Saunakiya tradition  has the following order of Rig Veda verses: 1-4-3-2-11-12-13-14-5-6-7-10-9-8-15
The Atharvan Veda Paippalad tradition has 14 Rig Veda verses, excluding 7-8.
The Shukla Yajur Veda has this sequence: 1-2-3-4-5-8-9-10-7-11-12-13-14-6-15
Taittiriys Aranyaka has this sequence: 1-2-3-4-5-6-15-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14
The Sama Veda Naigeya 33-37 has only the first five in a slightly different sequence: [1-4-[2ab3cd]-3ab2cd]-5]
The later interpolations and interpretations are reflected in the Bhagavata (2.5.35 to 2.6.1-29) and in the Mahabharata (Moksadharma parva 351 and 352).
It is commented upon in the Shatapatha Brahmana, the Taittiriya Brahmana, the Shvetashvatara Upanishad and the Mudgala Upanishad.

 Thus we can really vouch only for the first five mantras as the original mantras and the others were probably added later.  A casual look at the verses 6 -11 onward will immediately make us aware of the difference in the tone and theology. Most commentators had difficulty in explaining them since the yajna described uses the objects derived from the creation before the object itself was created.

 

Thus for simple logical reason only the first 5 verses can be considered to form part of the original Purusha Suktha. And these have a definite Christian theology which came into the Indian sub-continent by the first century AD with the advent of St.Thomas the disciple of Jesus.  Thomas’ first converts were Jewish and Jewish mysticism known as Kaballa is reflected in the Purusha Suktha.  Kaballah considers the cosmos as a man with four dimensions of existence – Divine, Spiritual, Mental and Material.  Early Christians presented Jesus as this cosmic Man who pervaded all cosmos.  One of the titles of Jesus was “Son of Man” or in Indian terminology Narayana  or Purushotama (Great Man).

The Purusha Suktha therefore contains various layers of historical development. 
The first innermost layer was the Thomasian layer following the teachings of St.Thomas during his twenty year ministry in India.  This was augumented by the Judao-Christian mysticism of Kaballa. These essentially fall within the first five verses. However following the ministry of  Manichaen, whose ministry covered all over India starting from the North to the South, we see another layer, the Gnostic layer,  where the gods and seers become the creators of the lower worlds. Later layers come in simply as an attempt to introduce Vishnavism into the Purusha Suktham which must have come very recently after Vaishnavism became popular. It may have been just a few interpolations within the old document also.  Most of the apparent difficulties which commentators struggle will disappear as we see this historical realiy.  Interpolations makes it difficult to exactly pin point which layer belongs to which period and which portions of a documents are redactions and interpolation. As you go through this commentary you will be able to make your own judgement.