Dear Sir,
I am willing for a moment to grant you the point that you make that
the phrase does not appear in the Rg Veda mandala. If we go into a
discussion on the authenticity of certain Vedic passages, then there
will be no end to the controversy. SO let us leave it there for the
time being and approach the subject in another way.
>From a careful reading of the 'sUkta', one can glean several
implicit expressions and idioms which are very strongly redolent of
Vishnu.
Take for example, the very first opening line
"sahasrasheershA pUrushah:....."
The purusha here is described first and foremost as He who
is "thousand headed". This is a rather literary form of Vedic
expression to convey the fact that the Supreme Purusha is
an "immeasurable, infinite" entity i.e. "He Hath no Beginning, no
End". He is "Viswam".
Now in most purAnic texts, one will find the expression "sahasra"
(meaning "1000" which again is Vedic shorthand for "infinite") is
almost always associated with Vishnu only. The Vishnu Sahasranamam
(which too begins with the expression "vishvam
vishnurvashatkAro'"...) is the easily the most egregious
confirmation of the fact that Vishnu is the personified equivalent
of the 1000-headed Supreme Purusha -- i.e. "sahasraseersha
purushah:".
Likewise take another phrase in the 'sukta', for example:
"tripadAsya'amrutam divi..."
Here again the word "tripada" is a complete and unmistakable clue to
the real identity of who the Supreme Purusha is. The literal meaning
of the word "tripada" means "three-footed". ("dvipada" means two-
footed and "chatushpadE" means 4-legged or 4-footed). IN all of
puranic literature Vishnu is celebrated as "trivikrama" -- the Lord
who with 3 strides simply enveloped the worlds --- one step for this
world, the second for the worlds of the gods and with the third
stride of His, there remained simply no worlds left to be tread!
It is this "tripada" description of Vishnu which is also echoed in
other Vedic passages where there is another synonym used commonly to
describe Vishnu specifically as "urukkrama"
"...sham no vishnur-urukkramah:..." (shAnti pAta)
"...vishnOr'urugaayO vichakramE...!" (vishnu-sukta)
The word "urukramah" and "tripada" in the Vedic context clearly
refer to one identity only --- unmistakably Vishnu.
Again in the Suktam, towards the end, there is the reference to the
Supreme Purusha having brought forth all Creation through a great
Cosmic Sacrifice ("yagnyEna yagnyamaya jantadEvAh..." etc).
The reference to "yagnya" is a clear and unmistakable reference to
Vishnu because we see in all of puranic literature that Vishnu
is "yagnya" and "yagnya" is Vishnu ("yagnyO'vai vishnu"!). The Deity
that is worshipped through all "yagnyas" is ultimately Vishnu only.
It is Vishnu who is the ultimate "yagnya karta". This is also
indicated in the Vishnu Sahasranamam where Vishnu is hailed
variously as "yagnya-krut", "yagnya-bhuk" etc. The two are
inseparable and identical.
The logical conclusion therefore is that since the Supreme Purusha
brought forth all of Creation through an act of "yagnya" and since
Vishnu is the Lord of all "yagnyAs", He Himself was indeed the
author of the very first primordial sacrifice spoken of by the
Purusha Sukta. Hence Vishnu Himself verily is Purusha.
There is a plethora of learned commentaries, both traditional and
contemporary, on the identity of Vishnu as the Supreme Purusha about
which the "purusha sukta" sings. This matter is well beyond the
shadow of a doubt. I urge you to refer to such sources and satisfy
yourself.
Hope my explanations above are of some use to you.
Thanks and regards,
Sudarshan
--- In Oppiliappan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "kgjagan21" <kgjagan21@...>
wrote:
>
>
> Dear Sri Sudarshan,
>
> The richa that you are refering to is NOT found in the 10th
mandala -
> 90th sukta of the Rig Veda. It is not found in other vedas that
> house the purusa sukta.
>
> Rgds,
>
> Jagan
>
> --- In Oppiliappan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "Sudarshan K Madabushi"
> <mksudarshan2002@> wrote:
> >
> >
> > Towards the end of the sukta passage there is the unmistakable
> > reference to Vishnu:
> >
> > "hreeshchatE lakshmeescha patnyow...."
> >
> > The Deity of this sukta is hailed as "Lakshmi's spouse!" i.e.
> Vishnu.
> >
> > Regds,
> > dAsan,
> > Sudarshan
> >
> >
> >
> > --- In Oppiliappan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, K G Jagannathan <kgjagan21@>
> > wrote:
> > >
> > > Dear members,
> > >
> > > I have been going through various occurences of the purusha
> > sUkta. I notice that the viRata pUrusha or parama purusha as
> praised
> > in the purusha sUkta is not neccesarily grouped under Vishnu.
> > >
> > > I do not find direct refernces to Vishnu in the purusha
sUkta,
> > in any of it's occurences or recensions.
> > >
> > > On what basis then is Vishnu identified as the parama
purusha
> of
> > the sUkta?
> > >
> > > Regards,
> > >
> > > Jagan
> > >
> > >
> > > ---------------------------------
> > > Yahoo! India Answers: Share what you know. Learn something
new.
> > Click here
> > >
> > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> > >
> >
>
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