Puruṣa-sūkta

views updated

Puruṣa-sūkta. The famous creation hymn of Ṛg Veda 10. 90, attributed to Nārāyaṇa. This hymn celebrates puruṣa (Skt., ‘person’) as the primordial Cosmic Man. The hymn represents the earliest myth of secondary creation. The sacrifice of Puruṣa by the gods becomes a model for all Vedic sacrifice, generating the metres and hymns of the Veda, animal life, and the socio-economic divisions of humankind.

More From encyclopedia.com