Puruṣa
mythological figure · 3 works · 5 mentions · 10 anchored passages
also in the atlas: Puruṣa the idea
he of a thousand selves · the Person · the man · the primeval god · the unborn one
in the texts
Atharvaveda (Paippalāda)
The thousand-limbed cosmic being whose sacrificial dismemberment produces the world and social classes.
When they stretched out the Puruṣa, into how many parts did they divide him?
They sprinkled with the rains that sacrifice, that Puruṣa born in the beginning;
thrice seven were the kindling sticks made ready, when the gods, performing the sacrifice, bound the Puruṣa as the sacrificial beast.
Rigveda
The primordial cosmic being sacrificed by the gods to produce the universe, the Vedas, and the four social orders.
When the gods, with the Puruṣa as their oblation, spread out the sacrifice — spring was the melted butter, summer was the firewood, and autumn was the offering.
This Puruṣa is indeed all this world — what has been and what shall be.
When they divided the Puruṣa, into how many parts did they arrange him?
Yājñavalkya Smṛti
The cosmic Person of a thousand forms from whose body the four varṇas and the elements of the universe emerge; identified with the supreme Self.
That same supreme `Puruṣa` is both without beginning and with a beginning;
He of a thousand selves, the primeval god whom I have described to you— from his mouth, arms, thighs, and feet arose the `*varṇa*`s, in their respective order.
Having cast aside the net of delusion, the Person who is seen here, with a thousand hands, feet, and eyes, with the splendor of the sun, the thousand-fold one— // Yj_3.