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Oppiliappan List Archive: Message 00033 May 2006

 
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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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