in the sky is three quarters of him. 4. With three quarters Purusha mounted upwards. A quarter of him again was produced here below. He then became diffused everywhere among things animate and inanimate. 5. From him Viraj was born, and from Virāj, Purusha.649 As

the womb; though unseen, he is born in many forms. With the half he produced the whole world; but the [other] half of him, what sign is there of it ?" Compare also A.V. x. 7, 8, 9, which, as well as portions of A.V. x. 8, will be found quoted and translated further on, in the subsection on Skambha.

549 The commentator on the Vaj. San. (where, as I have said, this hymn is also found) explains this reciprocal generation of Viraj from Purusha, and again of Purusha from Viraj, by saying, in conformity with Vedantic principles, that Virāj in the form of the mundane egg sprang from Adi-Purusha (primeval Purusha), who then entered into this egg, which he animates as its vital soul or divine principle (tataḥ | tasmad ādipurushād Virāṭ brahmānḍa-deho 'jāyata | . . . . tam eva deham adhikaranam kṛitvā Purushas taddehābhimānī ekaḥ eva pumān ajāyata | sarvavedānta-vedyaḥ Paramātmā sva-māyayā Virāḍ-deham brahmāṇḍa-rūpam sṛishļvā tatrā jīvarūpena praviśya brahmāṇḍābhimānī devatātmā jīvo 'bhavad ity arthaḥ). According to Manu, i. 8-11 (see the 1st vol. of this Work, pp. 35 f.) the supreme Deity first created the waters, in which he placed an egg, from which again he himself was born as Brahmā, also called Nārāyaṇa. This male (Purusha), created by the eternal, imperceptible, first Cause, is, as verse 11 repeats, called Brahmā. Brahmā by his own thought split the egg (verse 12). After various other details regarding the creation, the writer goes on to say (verse 32) that Brahmă divided his own body into two halves, of which one became a male (Purusha), and the other a female, in whom he produced Virāj. This male (Purusha) Viraj again creates Manu himself (verse 33). We here see that the word male, or Purusha, is applied by Manu to three beings-viz., first, to Brahmā (verse 11); second, to the male formed by Brahma from the half of his own body (verse 32); and thirdly, to Viraj, whom Brahma, or his male half, produced from the female who was made out of the other half of his body (see also Wilson's Vishnu Purana, p. 105, note, in Dr. Hall's edition). Another explanation of the verse is, however, to be obtained by comparing the similar passage in R.V. x. 72, 4: "Daksha sprang from Aditi, and Aditi from Daksha" (quoted above, p. 48), together with the observation of Yāska (Nirukta, xi. 23, also quoted above in page 50), that this startling declaration may be explicable on the ground that these two deities had the same origin, or, in conformity with a characteristic of their divine nature, may have been produced from each other, and have derived their substance from each other. (See also Nirukta, vii. 4, quoted above, p. 350, where the author repeats the same idea regarding the nature of the gods). Compare also A.V. xiii. 4, 29 ff., where Indra is said to be produced from a great many different phenomena or elements, and they reciprocally from him (sa vai ahno ajāyata tasmād ahar ajayata). The S'atap. Br. (xiii. 6, 1, 2) understands Virāj in the passage before us to signify not any male power, but the metre of that name: "The Viraj has forty syllables. Hence he (Purusha) obtains the Viraj, according to the text, 'From him sprang Viraj, and from Viraj Purusha." This is that Virāj. From this Viraj, therefore, it is that he begets Purusha the sacrifice." Viraj occurs again in the R.V. ix. 96, 18, and x. 130, 5, as feminine and as the name of a metre. It is also found in x. 159, 3, and x. 166, 1, as well as in i. 188, 5, where it is an

66

soon as born he extended beyond the earth, both behind and before. 550 6. When the gods offered up Purusha as a sacrifice, the spring was its clarified butter, summer its fuel, and autumn the [accompanying] adjective. In the A.V. it is of frequent occurrence, and sometimes is an epithet, and sometimes denotes the metre of that name. Thus in ix. 2, 5 (compare Vāj. Sanh. 17, 3, and S'atap. Br. ix. 2, 1, 19), it is said, "That daughter of thine, o Kama, is called the Cow, she whom sages denominate Vach Viraj" (see below, the subsection on Kāma, and Ind. Stud. ix. 478; compare R.V. viii. 90, 16: vachovidam Vācham .... devim devebhyaḥ pary eyushim gām | "The goddess Vach.... the cow, who has come from the gods"). Again in viii. 9, 1: vatsau Virājaḥ salilād udaitām | 2. Vatsaḥ kamadugho Virājaḥ |.......... 7. Virājam āhur brahmaṇaḥ pitaram tām no vi dhehi yatidhā sakhibhyaḥ | 8. Yām prachyutām anu yajnāḥ prachyavante upatishṭkante upatishṭhamānām | yasyāḥ vrate prasave yaksham ejati sā Virāḍ ṛishayaḥ parame vyoman | 9. Aprānā eti pṛāṇena prāṇatīnām Virāṭ Svarājam abhyeti paśchāt | “The two calves of Viraj rose out of the water. 2.... The desire-bestowing calf of Virāj.” It is shortly afterwards (verse 7) strangely said that Viraj, though spoken of in the feminine gender, is the "father of brahman," whether that mean the deity or devotion. They say that Viraj is the father of devotion. Bring her to us thy friends in as many forms (as thou canst). 8. She whom, when she advances, sacrifices follow, and stand still when she stands; she, by whose will and energy the living being moves, is Viraj in the highest heaven. 9. Without breath, she moves by the breath of breathing females. Viraj follows after Svaraj," etc. The calf of Viraj is mentioned again in xiii. 1, 33. In viii. 10, 1, it is said of her: Vīrāḍ vai idam agre āsīt tasyāḥ jātāyāḥ sarvam abibhed "iyam eva idam bhavishyati” iti | 2. Sã udakrāmat sā gārhapatye vyakrāmat | gṛihamedhī grihapatir bhavati yaḥ evam̃ veda | "Viraj was formerly all this [universe]. Everything was afraid of her when she was born, lest she herself should become this. 2. She ascended. She entered the Garhapatya fire. He who knows this becomes master of a house," etc. And in ix. 10, 24, we read: Virāḍ vāg virāṭ prithivī virāḍ antariksham virāṭ prajāpatiḥ | virāñ mrityuḥ ṣādhyānām adhirājo babhūva, etc. "Viraj is Vach, is the earth, and the air, is Prajapati, is Death, the ruler of the Sadhyas," etc. S'atap. Br. xiii. 2, 5, 3: Prajapatir Virajam asṛijat sā’smāt sṛishṭā pārāchy ait | sā 'svam medhyam prāvisat | "Prajapati created Virāj. She being produced from him went away and entered into the sacrificial horse." In reading these passages we should bear in mind the great power attributed by the Vedic writers to hymns and metres. See Weber's Ind. Stud. viii. 8-12; and vol. iii. of this Work, pp. 275 ff. On the virtues of the Viraj in particular, see Weber, as above, pp. 56 ff. In the following texts the word may be a masculine name or an epithet: A.V. xi. 5, 16. "The achārya is a brahmacharin; the brahmacharin is Prajapati. Prajapati shines (vi rājati). He became the resplendent, powerful Indra." So also in iv. 11, 7; xiii. 3, 5; xi. 5, 7; and viii. 5, 10, where Viraj precedes or follows the words Prajapati and Parameshthin. In xi. 4, 12, Virāj is identified with Prāna. In the Brihad Ār. Up. Virāj is called the wife of Purusha. (See p. 217 of Dr. Röer's translation. In R.V. x. 159, 3 (atho me duhitā virāṭ), and x. 166, 1 (virājam gopatim gavām), the word seems to be an epithet.

550 In the Bhagavata Purāna, ii. 6, 15 ff., the preceding verses of our hymn are paraphrased as follows: sarvam Purushaḥ evedam bhūtam bhavyam bhavach cha yat | tenedam āvṛitam viśvam vitastim adhitishṭhati | 16. Svadhishthyam pratapan Prāno

arms;

oblation. 7. This victim, Purusha born in the beginning, they immolated on the sacrificial grass; with him as their offering, the gods, Sadhyas, and Rishis sacrificed. 8. From that universal oblation were produced curds and clarified butter. He (Purusha) formed those aerial creatures, and the animals, both wild and tame. 9. From that universal sacrifice sprang the hymns called Rich and Saman, the metres, and the Yajush. 10. From it were produced horses, and all animals with two rows of teeth, cows, goats, and sheep. 11. When they divided Purusha, into how many parts did they distribute him? What was his mouth? What were his arms? What were called his thighs and feet? 12. The Brahman was his mouth; 551 the Rajanya became his the Vaisya was his thighs; the Sūdra sprang from his feet. 13. The moon was produced from his soul; the sun from his eye; Indra and Agni from his mouth; and Vayu from his breath. 14. From his navel came the atmosphere; from his head arose the sky; from his feet came the earth; from his ear the four quarters: so they formed the worlds. 15. When the gods, in performing their sacrifice, vahiś cha pratapaty asau | evam Virājam pratapams tapaty antar vahiḥ pumān | 17. So 'mritasyābhayasyeśo martyam annam yad atyagāt | mahimaisho tato brahman Purushasya duratyayaḥ | 18. Pādeshu sarva-bhūtāni Pumsaḥ sthitipado viduḥ | amṛitam kshemam abhayam trimūrdhno'dhāyi mūrdhasu | 19. Pādās' trayo vahiś chāsann aprajānām ye āśramāḥ | antas trilokyās tv aparo grihamedho'vṛihad-vrataḥ | 20. Sṛitī vichakrame vishvañ sāśanānaśane ubhe | yad avidyā cha vidyā cha Purushas tubhayāśrayaḥ | 21. Yasmād aṇḍam Virāḍ jajne bhūtendriya-gunātmakaḥ | taddravyam atyagād viśvam gobhiḥ sūryaḥ ivātapan | 15. “Purusha himself is all this which has been, shall be, and is. By him this universe is enveloped, and yet he occupies but a span. 16. That Prāna [explained by the commentator as the sun], while kindling his own sphere, kindles also that which is without it. So, too, Purusha, while kindling Viraj, kindles whatever is within and without him. 17. He is the lord of immortality and security, since he has transcended mortal nutriment. Hence, o Brahman, this greatness of Purusha is unsurpassable.. 18. The wise know all things to exist in the feet [or quarters] of Purusha, who has the worlds for feet [or quarters]: immortality, blessedness, and security, abide in the heads of the three-headed. 19. Three quarters, viz., the abodes of ascetics, are beyond the three worlds; while the remaining quarter, the abode of householders who have not adopted a life of celibacy, is within them. 20. Purusha has traversed both the two separate paths, that of enjoyment and abstinence, that is, of ignorance and knowledge; for he is the receptacle of both. 21. From him was produced an egg, consisting of the elements and senses and three qualities. Purusha penetrated through its entire substance, as the sun warms with his rays." There is a good deal about Purusha in the Brihad Aranyaka Upanishad. pp. 217, 220-228, 233, 250, 252, 267, of Dr. Roer's English translation.

See

651 Kaushitakī Brāhmaṇa Upanishad, ii. 9, quoted in the 4th vol. of this work, p. 10, note.

bound Purusha as a victim, there were seven pieces of wood laid for him round the fire, and thrice seven pieces of fuel employed. 16. With sacrifice the gods worshipped the Sacrifice. These were the first institutions. These great beings attained to the heaven where the gods, the ancient Sadhyas, reside." 662

There are two other hymns of the Rig-veda besides the Purusha Sūkta in which the Deity is represented as either the agent, the object, or the subject of sacrifice. In x. 81, 5, Viśvakarman is said to sacrifice himself, or to himself; and in verse 6, to offer up heaven and earth. And in x. 130 (where, in verse 2, Puman may be equivalent to Purusha), it is said (verse 3) either that the gods sacrificed to the [supreme] god, or that they offered him up. 553

In the Nirukta, x. 26,554 a legend, having reference to R.V. x. 81, is quoted to the effect that Viśvakarman, the son of Bhuvana, first of all offered up all worlds in a sarvamedha, and ended by sacrificing himself. And in the Satap. Br. xiii. 7, 1, 1, the same thing is related of the self-existent Brahma himself, who, finding that he could not by austere fervour attain to the infinitude which he desired, re

552 This verse is = i. 164, 50, where see Sayana's interpretation and Mahīdhara's on Vaj. S. 31, 16; also Nir. 12, 41.

553 The rendering in these passages depends on the exact sense assigned to the word yaj. See the 4th vol. of this Work, pp. 7-9. The Taitt. Sanh. Asht, vi. p. 41 of India Office MS., says: Yajnena vai Prajāpatiḥ prajāḥ asṛijata | “Prajāpati created living beings by sacrifice." In the Taitt. Br. 3, 9, 22, 1, it is said: "The gods slaughtered father Prajapati as a victim. They then fasted, saying: In the morning we shall offer sacrifice."" Prajāpatim vai devāḥ pitaram pasum bhūtam medhāya ālabhanta | tam ālabhya upāvasan | prātar yashṭāshmahe iti.

55 Vol. iv. of this work, p. 7; see also p. 309; and Mahābhārata S'antip., verse 241: visvarupo Mahadevaḥ sarvamedhe mahāmakhe | juhāva sarva-bhūtāni tathaivāmānam ātmanā "The omniform Mahadeva sacrificed all creatures in a great all-oblation, and then offered himself by himself." In the S'atap. Br. xi. 1, 8, 2, it is said that " Prajapati gave himself to the gods, and became their sacrifice. For sacrifice is the food of the gods. He then created sacrifice as his own image (or counterpart). Hence they say that 'Prajapati is sacrifice;' for he created it as his own image" (tebhyaḥ Prajapatir ātmānam pradadau | Yajno ha eshām āsa | Yajno hi devānām annam | 3. Sa devebhyaḥ ātmānam pradāya atha etam ātmanaḥ pratimām asṛijata yad yajnam | tāsmād āhuḥ “Prajāpatir yajnaḥ” iti | atmano hy etam pratimām asṛijata). In the M. Bh. S'antip. 9616, also, it is said that Prajapati formed the sacrificial victims, and sacrifice itself, and with it worship'ped the gods. The S'atap. Br. says, elsewhere, xiv. 3, 2, 1, "This which is sacrifice is the soul of all beings and of all gods" (sarveshām vai esha bhūtānāṁ sarveshām devānām ātmā yad yajnaḥ).

solved to offer up himself in created things, and created things in himself, and having done this, attained to pre-eminence, self-effulgence, and supreme dominion (see the 4th vol. of this work, p. 25). It is evident that the author of this passage had not attained to that clear conception of the self-sufficiency and omnipotence of a selfexistent Being which later Indian writers acquired.555

In the hymn before us the gods are distinctly said (in verses 6, 7, and 15) to have offered up Purusha himself as a victim. And in the Bhagavata Purāna, ii. 6, 21-26,556 which is a paraphrase of this passage, Brahma is made to say that he derived the materials of sacrifice from Purusha's members, and immolated that being, the lord himself.

It is not very easy to seize the precise idea which is expressed in the latter part of this singular hymn, the Purusha Sūkta. It was evidently produced at a period when the ceremonial of sacrifice had become largly developed, when great virtue was supposed to reside in its proper celebration, and when a mystical meaning had come to be attached to the various materials and instruments of the ritual as well as to the different members of the victim. Penetrated with a sense of the sanctity and efficacy of the rite, and familiar with all its details, the priestly poet, to whom we owe the hymn, has thought it no profanity to represent the supreme Purusha himself as forming the victim, whose immolation by the agency of the gods gave birth, by its transcendent power, to the visible universe and all its inhabitants.55

The two following verses in the Vājasaneyi Sanhita refer to Purusha: xxxi. 18 (= Svetāśvatara Upanishad, iii. 8): vedāham etam Purusham mahāntam aditya-varnam tamasaḥ parastat | tam eva viditva 'ti mrityum eti nānyaḥ panthāḥ vidyate ayanāya | "I know this great Purusha, resplendent as the sun, above the darkness. It is by knowing him 555 The word svayambhu does not, however, always signify self-existence in the absolute sense. Thus Kasyapa is in A.V. xix. 53, 10, called svayambhu, and is yet said to have sprung from Kala (time). (See the subsection on Kala, further on.) 556 See the 4th vol. of this Work, p. 9.

657 Dr. Haug, when treating of the importance attached to sacrifice by the Brahmans, remarks (Pref. to Ait. Ar. p. 73): "The creation of the world itself was even regarded as the fruit of a sacrifice performed by the Supreme Being." If the learned author here refers to the Purusha Sukta it would have been more exact to say that the creation was regarded as the fruit of an immolation of the Supreme Being. But. his remark may be justified by the other passages I have cited.