Containing 16 sacred Sanskrit shlokas with multi-author commentaries and translations.
स॒हस्र॑शीर्षा॒ पुरु॑षः सहस्रा॒क्षः स॒हस्र॑पात् स भूमिं॑ वि॒श्वतो॑ वृ॒त्वात्य॑तिष्ठद्दशाङ्गु॒लम्
"A THOUSAND heads hath Purusha, a thousand eyes, a thousand feet. On every side pervading earth he fills a space ten fingers wide."
पुरु॑ष ए॒वेदं सर्वं॒ यद्भू॒तं यच्च॒ भव्य॑म् उ॒तामृ॑त॒त्वस्येशा॑नो॒ यदन्ने॑नाति॒रोह॑ति
"This Purusha is all that yet hath been and all that is to be; The Lord of Immortality which waxes greater still by food."
ए॒तावा॑नस्य महि॒मातो॒ ज्यायाँ॑श्च॒ पूरु॑षः पादो॑ऽस्य॒ विश्वा॑ भू॒तानि॑ त्रि॒पाद॑स्या॒मृतं॑ दि॒वि
"So mighty is his greatness; yea, greater than this is Purusha. All creatures are one-fourth of him, three-fourths eternal life in heaven."
त्रि॒पादू॒र्ध्व उदै॒त्पुरु॑षः॒ पादो॑ऽस्ये॒हाभ॑व॒त्पुनः॑ ततो॒ विष्व॒ङ्व्य॑क्रामत्साशनानश॒ने अ॒भि
"With three-fourths Purusha went up: onefourth of him again was here. Thence he strode out to every side over what cats not and what cats."
तस्मा॑द्वि॒राळ॑जायत वि॒राजो॒ अधि॒ पूरु॑षः स जा॒तो अत्य॑रिच्यत प॒श्चाद्भूमि॒मथो॑ पु॒रः
"From him Virâj was born; again Purusha from Virâj was born. As soon as he was born he spread eastward and westward o'er the earth."
यत्पुरु॑षेण ह॒विषा॑ दे॒वा य॒ज्ञमत॑न्वत व॒स॒न्तो अ॑स्यासी॒दाज्यं॑ ग्री॒ष्म इ॒ध्मः श॒रद्ध॒विः
"When Gods prepared the sacrifice with Purusha as their offering, Its oil was spring, the holy gift was autumn; summer was the wood."
तं य॒ज्ञं ब॒र्हिषि॒ प्रौक्ष॒न्पुरु॑षं जा॒तम॑ग्र॒तः तेन॑ दे॒वा अ॑यजन्त सा॒ध्या ऋष॑यश्च॒ ये
"They balmed as victim on the grass Purusha born in earliest time. With him the Deities and all Sâdhyas and R̥ishis sacrificed."
तस्मा॑द्य॒ज्ञात्स॑र्व॒हुतः॒ सम्भृ॑तं पृषदा॒ज्यम् प॒शून्ताँश्च॑क्रे वाय॒व्या॑नार॒ण्यान्ग्रा॒म्याश्च॒ ये
"From that great general sacrifice the dripping fat was gathered up. He formed the creatures of-the air, and animals both wild and tame."
तस्मा॑द्य॒ज्ञात्स॑र्व॒हुत॒ ऋचः॒ सामा॑नि जज्ञिरे छन्दां॑सि जज्ञिरे॒ तस्मा॒द्यजु॒स्तस्मा॑दजायत
"From that great general sacrifice R̥ichas and Sâma-hymns were born: Therefrom were spells and charms produced; the Yajus had its birth from it."
तस्मा॒दश्वा॑ अजायन्त॒ ये के चो॑भ॒याद॑तः गावो॑ ह जज्ञिरे॒ तस्मा॒त्तस्मा॑ज्जा॒ता अ॑जा॒वयः॑
"From it were horses born, from it all cattle with two rows of teeth: From it were generated kine, from it the goats and sheep were born."
यत्पुरु॑षं॒ व्यद॑धुः कति॒धा व्य॑कल्पयन् मुखं॒ किम॑स्य॒ कौ बा॒हू का ऊ॒रू पादा॑ उच्येते
"When they divided Purusha how many portions did they make? What do they call his mouth, his arms? What do they call his thighs and feet?"
ब्रा॒ह्म॒णो॑ऽस्य॒ मुख॑मासीद्बा॒हू रा॑ज॒न्यः॑ कृ॒तः ऊ॒रू तद॑स्य॒ यद्वैश्यः॑ प॒द्भ्यां शू॒द्रो अ॑जायत
"The Brâhman was his mouth, of both his arms was the Râjanya made. His thighs became the Vaiṣya, from his feet the Ṣûdra was produced."
च॒न्द्रमा॒ मन॑सो जा॒तश्चक्षोः॒ सूर्यो॑ अजायत मुखा॒दिन्द्र॑श्चा॒ग्निश्च॑ प्रा॒णाद्वा॒युर॑जायत
"The Moon was gendered from his mind, and from his eye the Sun had birth; Indra and Agni from his mouth were born, and Vâyu from his breath."
नाभ्या॑ आसीद॒न्तरि॑क्षं शी॒र्ष्णो द्यौः सम॑वर्तत प॒द्भ्यां भूमि॒र्दिशः॒ श्रोत्रा॒त्तथा॑ लो॒काँ अ॑कल्पयन्
"Forth from his navel came mid-air the sky was fashioned from his head Earth from his feet, and from his car the regions. Thus they formed the worlds."
स॒प्तास्या॑सन्परि॒धय॒स्त्रिः स॒प्त स॒मिधः॑ कृ॒ताः दे॒वा यद्य॒ज्ञं त॑न्वा॒ना अब॑ध्न॒न्पुरु॑षं प॒शुम्
"Seven fencing-sticks had he, thrice seven layers of fuel were prepared, When the Gods, offering sacrifice, bound, as their victim, Purusha."
य॒ज्ञेन॑ य॒ज्ञम॑यजन्त दे॒वास्तानि॒ धर्मा॑णि प्रथ॒मान्या॑सन् ते ह॒ नाकं॑ महि॒मानः॑ सचन्त॒ यत्र॒ पूर्वे॑ सा॒ध्याः सन्ति॑ दे॒वाः
"Gods, sacrificing, sacrificed the victim these were the carliest holy ordinances. The Mighty Ones attained the height of heaven, there where the Sâdhyas, Gods of old, are dwelling."