Atharva Veda · 515 of 724

HYMN VI

The purusha-Sūkta, on the mystical Sacrifice of Purusha 1. Purusha hath a thousand arms, a thousand eyes, a thousand feet.   On every side pervading earth he fills a space ten fingers wide. 2. He with three quarters rose to heaven here reappeared a fourth    of him.   Thence he strode forth on every side to all that eats not and that    eats. 3. So mighty is his grandeur, yea, greater than this is Purusha.   All creatures are one-fourth of him, three-fourths what dieth    not in heaven. 4. Purusha is in truth this All, what hath been and what yet shall;    be   Lord, too, of immortality—and what hath grown with some-    what else. 5. When they divided Purusha how many portions did they make?   What was his mouth? what were his arms? what are the names    of thighs and feet? 6. The Brāhman was his mouth, of both his arms was the Rājanya    made.   His waist became the Vaisya, from his feet the Sūdra was    produced. 7. The Moon was gendered from his mind, and from his eye the   Sun had birth.   Indra and Agni from his mouth were born and Vāyu from his    breath. 8. Forth from his navel come mid-air; the sky was fashioned from    his head.   Earth from his feet, and from his ear the regions. Thus they    formed the worlds. 9. In the beginning rose Virāj: Purusha from Virāj was born.   As soon as he was born he spread westward and eastward o’er    the earth. 10. When Gods performed the sacrifice with Purusha as their    offering.   Spring was the butter, summer was the fuel, autumn was the    gift. 11. That sacrifice, first-born Purusha, they hallowed with the sprink-    led Rains.   The Deities, the Sādhyas, all the Vasus sacrificed with him. 12. From it were horses born, from it all creatures with two rows of    teeth.   From it were generated kine, from it were goats and sheep    produced. 13. From that great general sacrifice Richas and Sāma hymns were    born;   Therefrom the metres were produced: the Yajus had its birth    from it. 14. From that great general sacrifice the dripping fat was gathered up:   It formed the creatures fleet as wind, and animals both wild and    tame. 15. Seven fencing-logs had he, thrice seven layers of fuel were    prepared.   When, offering sacrifice, the Gods bound as their victim Purusha. 16. Forth from head of the high God seven-and-seventy bright    beams.   Sprang into being, of the King Soma produced from Purusha.

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