Veda and Vedic Literature

Select Papers from the Panel

on
“Veda and Vedic Literature”
at
th
the 16 World Sanskrit Conference
(28 June - 2 July 2015) Bangkok, Thailand

Sanskrit Studies Centre,

Silpakorn University, Bangkok, Thailand

Edited by
Hans Henrich Hock

DK Publishers Distributors Pvt. Ltd.

First Published : 2016

© SSC, Silpakorn University

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 Preface

The Veda Section was one of the most active of the 16th World Sanskrit
Conference sections, with a total of 34 accepted contributions in the General
Sessions, of which 29 were presented. In addition, the Veda Section for the
first time hosted a special Panel on “Vrātya culture in Vedic sources”.
Presenters came from Australia, Belgium, Canada, Croatia, France,
Germany, India, Japan, Poland, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the
United States, with the largest contingent (12) being from India, followed by
Japan (7) and the United States (7).

The success of the Conference and of the Veda Section is attributable to the
excellent work of the Organizing Committee, especially of Dr. Amarjiva
Lochan who time and again sprang into action to smooth out any problems
that would arise, as well as of my fellow Convenors of the Veda Section,
Professor Shrikant Bahulkar and Dr. Bhagyalata Pataskar. The Panel on
“Vrātya culture in Vedic sources”, specifically, would not have been
possible without the outstanding work of Dr. Tiziana Pontillo and Dr.
Moreno Dore, from the proposal stage to the final editing of the
proceedings.

The present volume contains select papers by authors who presented their
contributions at the Conference. Regretfully, several authors had
committed to publishing their contributions elsewhere or were not able to
meet the final submission deadline, and their papers had to be omitted.
Even so, the resulting volume represents a broad cross-section of the issues
and topics that were presented and discussed at the Conference.

Publication of this volume and of the companion volume on “Vrātya culture

in Vedic sources” has been made possible by a grant from the Government
of India, which is hereby gratefully acknowledged.
 Contents
Introductiion vii
Hans Henrich Hock
Language, text, and interpretation
1. The history of Vedic prefix-verb compound accentuation revisited 1
Hans Henrich Hock
2. Ṛgvedic verses interpreted in the Maitrāyaṇī Saṁhitā 17
Nirmala R. Kulkarni
3. Transitive nouns and adjectives in Rg
̣ vedic Sanskrit 25
John J. Lowe
4. Reassessing Varuṇa's name 53
Georges-Jean Pinault
5. The origin and growth of the 'Horse as the World' 73
Textual sources of Bṛhadāraṇyaka-Upaniṣad 1.1
Hideki Teshima
6. Ṛgvedic and Atharvavedic adjectives in -ayitnú- and 95
-ayiṣṇú-, and kraviṣṇú- 'devouring flesh'
Elizabeth Tucker
Ritual, literature, philosophy, and Vedic tradition
7. The tradition of the Atharvaveda in Maharashtra 113
Shrikant S. Bahulkar
8. Jyaiṣṭhya and kāniṣṭhya in Vedic society 127
Mugdha Gadgil
9. On the process that precedes the piling of the new āhavanīya 143
Atsuko Izawa
10. Puruṣa-Nārāyaṇa and Uttara-Nārāyaṇa: Their impact on the 159
development of Viṣṇuism and Hinduism
Mislav Ježic
11. The continuity of the Vedic tradition: Atharvaveda 2.1 and 181
the Ṛgveda
Joanna Jurewicz
12. A study of the abhīvartamaṇi in the Atharva Veda 199
Mrunal Suhas Patki
13. Exploring “impossible authors” 209
Caley Charles Smith
 Puruṣa-Nārāyaṇa and Uttara-Nārāyaṇa
Their impact on the development of Viṣṇuism
and Hinduism

Mislav Ježic
Zagreb University

Introductory remarks

In his paper, presented at the Fifth Dubrovnik International Conference on

the Sanskrit Epics and Purāṇas (DICSEP 5), Horst Brinkhaus (In Press)
provides a comparative concordance of parallel cosmogonic passages in the
Mahābhārata, Harivaṃśa, Manusmṛti, and several Purāṇas, partly
expanding upon Vedic speculations, and partly introducing new views that
more or less correspond to the conceptual apparatus of the later classical
Sāṃkhya. The starting point is the double cosmogonic report in Harivaṃśa
1.15-28. It is apparent that the dual presentation of creation is presented in
two introductions (HV 1.15-16 and 20-22), showing that the two expositions
had not yet been unified.

The first exposition in the text as preserved states, close to the spirit of
Sāṃkhya, albeit in a theistic variant, that the first non-manifest cause, both
being and non-being, are pradhāna and puruṣa wherefrom the Lord created
All; that Lord is the Creator Brahmā, nārāyaṇaparāyaṇa 'whose highest
refuge is Nārāyaṇa'; ahaṃkāra 'ego' was then born from the mahat 'the great
being', from which the bhūtāni 'elements' were born, and from which in turn
all kinds of beings were born. This is the sargaḥ sanātanaḥ 'continuous
creation' (17-19).

The second exposition follows elements of the Vedic mythical tradition:

tataḥ (CE: viṣṇuḥ) svayaṃbhūr bhagavān sisṛkṣur vividhāḥ prajāḥ /

apa eva sasarjādau tāsu vīryam avāsṛjat //23//
āpo nārā iti proktā nāmnā pūrvam iti śrutiḥ /
ayanaṃ tasya tāḥ pūrvaṃ tena nārāyaṇaḥ smṛtaḥ //24//
hiraṇyavarṇam abhavat tad aṇḍam udakeśayam /
tatra jajñe svayaṃ brahmā svayaṃbhūr iti naḥ śrutam //25//
hiraṇyagarbho bhagavān uṣitvā parivatsaram /
160 Veda and Vedic Literature

tad aṇḍam akarod dvaidhaṃ divaṃ bhuvam athāpi ca //26//

tayoḥ śakalayor madhyam ākāśam akarot prabhuḥ /
apsu pāriplavāṃ pṛthvīm diśaśca daśadhā dadhe //27//
tatra kālaṃ mano vācaṃ kāmaṃ krodham atho ratim /
sasarja sṛṣṭiṃ tadrūpaṃ sraṣṭum icchan prajāpatiḥ* (v. l. prajāpatim) //28//

'23. Then (CE: Viṣṇu), the self-existent Bhagavān (Wealth-Bestower),

desiring to create offspring of different kinds, created (poured out) the
Waters in the beginning and poured out his virility (semen) into them.
24. The Waters were first called nārāḥ by name, so says the Śruti.
They were his first sojourn (course), therefore he is remembered as
Nārāyaṇa.1 25. That Egg lying (floating) on the Water was of golden hue.
The self-existent Brahman himself was born in it — thus we have heard.
26. The Bhagavān Hiraṇyagarbha, having stayed there for a year,
divided that Egg in two: into Heaven and Earth. 27. The Preexistent
(Prabhu) made the middle of these two pieces space (ether, atmosphere),
the Earth he let float on the Waters, and he made the directions tenfold.
28. He created (poured out) there such creation: time, mind, speech,
desire, anger, and pleasure, when the Lord of offspring wanted to create
(v. l. wanting to create a Prajāpati ʻLord of offspringʼ).'

Horst Brinkhaus shows how these two versions of creation (the proto-
Sāṃkhya and the traditional one which is basically Vedic) were simply
juxtaposed in the Harivaṃśa, and how they were combined in the
Manusmṛti and the Purāṇas 'into one comprehensive cosmogonic act'. Thus
he makes it clear that 'the Harivaṃśa was the model for all parallel Purāṇic
versions of the Pañcalakṣaṇa section'. He also stresses that the innovation in
the Harivaṃśa is that Brahmā no longer stands at the beginning of creation,
but Nārāyaṇa.

Who is this Nārāyaṇa?

The Brāhmaṇa viewpoint

In Śatapathabrāhmaṇa 13.6.2.[12], where the Puruṣamedha is expounded

upon, we read:
1
The name is interpreted here in HV 1.24 as a name of Bhagavān (just as in Manusmṛti 1.10
where it is interpreted as a name of Nara whose sons are the Waters called Nārāḥ) because the
Waters were his first ayana 'path, course, sojourn' (and this Nara-Nārāyaṇa is identified in
Manu 1.11 with the Male, Puruṣa, who is called Brahmā in the world). Of course, Nārāḥ are
intruders in this etymology.
Puruṣa-Nārāyaṇa and Uttara-Nārāyaṇa 161

niyuktān puruṣān brahmā dakṣiṇataḥ puruṣeṇa nārāyaṇenābhiṣṭauti

sahasraśīrṣā puruṣaḥ sahasrākṣaḥ sahasrapādity etena ṣoḍaśarcena
ṣoḍaśakalam vā idaṃ sarvaṃ sarvam puruṣamedhaḥ sarvasyāptyai
sarvasyāvaruddhyā itthamasītthamasīty upastauty evainam etan mahayaty
evātho yathaiṣa tathainam etad āha / tatparyagnikṛtāḥ paśavo babhūvur
asañjñaptāḥ 2
'By means of the Puruṣa Nārāyaṇa (litany), the Brahman priest (seated)
to the right (south) of them, praises the men bound (to the stakes) with
this sixteen-versed (hymn RS 10.90, VS 31.1-16) “The thousand-headed
Puruṣa, thousand-eyed, thousand-footed ...” Thus (he does) for the
obtainment and the securing of everything, for everything here consists
of sixteen parts, and the Puruṣamedha is everything: in thus saying, “So
and so thou art, so and so thou art”, he praises and thereby indeed
magnifies him (Puruṣa); but he also thereby speaks of him, such as he is.
Now, the victims had had the fire carried round them, but they were not
yet slaughtered.' 3

In the continuation we learn that the human victims in the Puruṣamedha

will not be sacrificed because otherwise 'man would eat man'. The
accompanying offerings and animal sacrifices are made and the dakṣinās
are distributed: If a Brāhmaṇa performs the sacrifice, he should bestow all
his property because Puruṣamedha is everything. Then ŚB 13.6.2.[20]
continues:

athātmann agnī samārohya uttaranārāyaṇenādityam upasthāyānapekṣamāṇo

'raṇyam abhipreyāt tadeva manuṣyebhas tiro bhavati / yadyu grāme vivatsed
araṇyor agnī samārohyottaranārāyaṇenaivādityam upasthāya gṛheṣu
pratyavasyed atha tān yajñakratūn āhareta yān abhyāpnuyāt / 4

'And having taken up the two fires within his own self, and worshipped
the Sun with the Uttara-Nārāyaṇa (litany, viz. VS 31.17-22), let him
betake himself to the forest without looking round; and that (place),
indeed, is apart from men. But should he wish to live in the village, let
him take up again the two fires in the churning-sticks, and having
worshipped the Sun with the Uttara-Nārāyaṇa (litany) let him dwell at
his home, and let him offer such sacrifices as he may be able to afford.' 5

2
Weber 1855: 999-1000.
3
Eggeling 1900: 5. 410.
4
Weber 1855: 1000.
5
Eggeling 1900: 5. 412-413.
162 Veda and Vedic Literature

Thus, the Puruṣasūkta (RS 10.90, VS 31.1-16) is called Puruṣa-Nārāyaṇa in

the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, and its expansion, the Vājasaneyi-Saṃhitā (VS
31.17-22), is called Uttara-Nārāyaṇa. The former is recited at the beginning
of a Puruṣamedha, and the latter after its completion.

In the Sarvāṇukramaṇī the ṛṣi of RS 10.90 is named Nārāyaṇa. Just as Puruṣa

means 'Man, Male', like Nara, so Nārāyaṇa is a patronymic derived from
Nara, as e. g. Āśvalāyana is a patronymic derived from Aśvala, Kāṇvāyana
from Kaṇva, etc., -āyana being a secondary suffix for patronymics added to a
vṛddhi form of a name. Nārāyaṇa thus means 'son or offspring of Nara, or of
(the primordial) Man'.

Later Indian (epico-purāṇic) etymological explanations, as mentioned

above, refer to this derivation, but for mythological purposes push the
expression nārāḥ – in the (postulated) meaning of 'Waters' – into the
etymology, in order to say that (the primordial) Puruṣa or Nara, or Brahmā,
or Viṣṇu (a variant reading in HV 1.23), first dwelled in the Waters.

In the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, Puruṣa-Nārāyaṇa is the person who wished to

surpass all beings and who therefore beheld this five-days' sacrifice, the
Puruṣamedha. This is a sacrificial performance with twenty-three dīkṣās,
twelve upasads, and five sutyās. Because of the five sutyās (Soma-days) it is
called pañcarātra.

All of the names mentioned will play important roles in later Brahmanism,
especially in Viṣṇuism.

Puruṣa-Nārāyaṇa: RS 10.90 and its Vedic variants (especially VS 31.1-16)

First, we can observe the Puruṣa-sūkta, the Puruṣa-Nārāyaṇa, as the Śatapatha

Brāhmaṇa calls it. It is an exceptionally important hymn, occurring in
different variants in several Vedic texts, of various śākhās: 6

Ṛksaṃhitā 10. 90
Sāmasaṃhitā, Āraṇya(ka)ṃ kāṇḍam 4.3-7 (617-621)
Vājasaneyisaṃhitā: Mādhyaṃdinasaṃhitā 31*, Kāṇvasaṃhitā 35*
Taittirīya Āraṇyaka 3. 12*

6
An asterisk (*) marks texts that contain the Uttaranārāyaṇa.
Puruṣa-Nārāyaṇa and Uttara-Nārāyaṇa 163

Atharvasaṃhitā Śaunakīya 19.6

Atharvasaṃhitā Paippalāda 9.5
Ṛcakas (supplementary collections of ṛcs) of the Kāṭhakas of Kashmir

The Puruṣasūkta was adopted in the yajurvedic tradition gradually: first in

the Śuklayajurveda, then in the Kṛṣṇayajurveda: in the Taittirīya tradition in
the Āraṇyaka, and in the Kāṭhaka tradition only in the Ṛcakas.

Śatapatha-brāhmaṇa 13.6.2.12 can be cited as a testimonium. When

describing the Puruṣamedha, it refers to the Puruṣanārāyaṇa of 16 verses
and to the *Uttaranārāyaṇa.

The Puruṣasūkta / Puruṣanārāyaṇa is also mentioned in the following post-

Vedic texts (Vedāṅgas and Dharmaśāstras):

Āpastamba-Śrautasūtra; Śāṅkhāyaṇa-Śrautasūtra; Kātyāyana-

Śrautasūtra; Mānava-Śrautasūtra, Vaitāna-Śrautasūtra 37.19, 26
Baudhāyana-Dharmasūtra
Yājñavalkya-Dharma-Śāstra 3.305; Vṛddha-Harīta-Saṃhitā (VHDh)
8.39, Bṛhat-Parāśara-Saṃhitā (BṛhPDh)

In Ṛgvidhāna 3.40.6 (153-230, especially 217), a late text of the Ṛgvedic

tradition, possibly from the 5th to 3rd century BC, the muttering of the
Puruṣasūkta is clearly connected with meditation on Nārāyaṇa, who abides
in the orb of the Sun, who has a golden hue and holds a conch shell and a
discus (dhṛtaśaṅkhacakraḥ), and who is also called Hari and Viṣṇu; this
meditation leads to the abode of the everlasting Viṣṇu. (The identification of
Puruṣa with Nārāyaṇa and Viṣṇu is here presupposed as universally
accepted. The present article traces the genesis of this notion.)

The relatively oldest and provably most original form of the Puruṣasūkta is
preserved, as is to be expected, in RS 10.90: 7

sahásraśīrṣā púruṣaḥ sahasrākṣáḥ sahásrapāt /

sá bhūḿ iṃ viśváto vṛtvā́ áty atiṣṭhad daśāṅgulám //1//
púruṣa evédáṃ sárvaṃ yád bhūtáṃ yác ca bháviyam /
utāḿ ṛtatvásyéśāno yád ánnenātiróhati //2//

7
Citations from the Ṛksaṃhitā follow the metrically restored version of van Nooten &
Holland 1994.
164 Veda and Vedic Literature

etµvān asya mahimµ áto jyµyāṃś ca p½ruṣaḥ /

pµdo 'sya víśvā bhūtµni tripµd asyāmÏtaṃ diví //3//
tripµd ūrdhvá úd ait púruṣaḥ pµdo 'syehµbhavat púnaḥ /
táto víśvaṅ ví akrāmat sāśanānaśané abhí //4//
tásmād virµḷ ajāyata virµjo ádhi p½ruṣaḥ /
sá jātó áty aricyata paścµd bh½mim átho puráḥ //5//
'1. Thousand-headed is Puruṣa, thousand-eyed, thousand-footed. He
covered the Earth on all sides and stood above it the space of ten fingers.
2. Puruṣa alone is all this, what has been and what is to be, and he is the
lord of immortality while he grows further (beyond death) by means of
food.
3. Such is his magnitude, and greater than this is Puruṣa: a quarter (a
step) of him is all beings, three quarters (three steps) of him the immortal
in heaven.
4. Puruṣa went three steps (three quarters) upward, but one step
(quarter) of his happened (stayed) here below (on the Earth). From that
he strode in all directions into what eats and does not eat.
5. From that Virāj (the shining expanse) was born. From Virāj Puruṣa
(the starry sky). When he was born, he extended beyond the Earth,
behind (to the West) and also in front (to the East).’

yát púruṣeṇa havíṣā devµ yajñám átanvata /

vasantó asyāsīd µjyaṃ grīṣmá idhmáḥ śarád dhavíḥ //6//
táṃ yajñám barhíṣi praúkṣan púruṣaṃ jātám agratáḥ /
téna devµ ayajanta sādhiyµ Æṣayaś ca yé //7//
tásmād yajñµt sarvahútaḥ sámbhṛtam pṛṣadājiyám /
paś½n tµṃś cakre vāyavyµn āraṇyµn grāmiyµś ca yé //8//
tásmād yajñµt sarvahúta Æcaḥ sµmāni jajñire /
chándāṃsi jajñire tásmād yájus tásmād ajāyata //9//
tásmād áśvā ajāyanta yé ké ca ubhayµdataḥ /
gµvo ha jajñire tásmāt tásmāj jātµ ajāváyaḥ //10//
'6. When with Puruṣa as libation the celestials spread (offered) a
sacrifice, the spring was its clarified butter, the summer the fuel, the
autumn the libation.
7. A sacrifice on the sacred grass they sprinkled him, Puruṣa, who was
born from the primordial (time/principle). With him the celestials
sacrificed, the Sādhyas (those to be attained) and the (seven) seers.
8. From that sacrifice, a total libation, was the spotted clarified butter
brought together; it made the animals: those of the air, of the forest, and
of the village.
Puruṣa-Nārāyaṇa and Uttara-Nārāyaṇa 165

9. From that sacrifice, a total libation, the (recited) Hymns and the (sung)
Chants were born; the metres were born from it; the (prose) Sacrificial
Formula from it was born.
10. From it the horses were born, and whatsoever has incisor teeth in
both jaws (like hoofed animals: mules, hinnies, and donkeys). The cows
were born from it. From it were born the goats and sheep.'

yát púruṣaṃ ví ádadhuḥ katidhµ ví akalpayan /

múkhaṃ kím asya kaú bāh½ kā́ ūr½ pād́ ā ucyete //11//
brāhmaṇò 'sya múkham āsīd bāh½ rājaníyaḥ kṛtáḥ /
ūr½ tád asya yád vaíśyaḥ padbhyµṃ śūdró ajāyata //12//
candrámā mánaso jātáś cákṣoḥ s½ryo ajāyata /
múkhād índraś ca agníś ca prāṇµd vāyúr ajāyata //13//
nµbhyā āsīd antárikṣaṃ śīrṣṇó dyaúḥ sám avartata /
padbhyµm bh½mir díśaḥ śrótrāt táthā lokā akalpayan //14//
saptµsyāsan paridháyas tríḥ saptá samídhaḥ kṛtµḥ /
devµ yád yajñáṃ tanvānµ ábadhnan púruṣam paśúm //15//
'11. When they portioned out Puruṣa, in how many ways did they
distribute (conceive, imagine) him? What is his mouth called, what are
his arms, what are his thighs, what are his feet called?
12. His mouth was the Brāhmaṇa, his arms were made the Rājanya, his
thighs were there wherefrom8 the Vaiśya (was born), from his feet the
Śūdra was born.
13. The Moon from his mind was born; from his eye the Sun was born;
from his mouth both Indra and Agni; from his breath the Wind was
born.
14. From his navel was the Atmosphere; from his head the Heaven
evolved; from his feet the Earth; the directions from his ear. Thus they
fashioned (conceived, imagined) the worlds.
15. Seven were his sacrificial sticks; thrice seven fuel faggots were made,
when the celestials, spreading (offering) the sacrifice, tied Puruṣa as
their victim.'

yajñéna yajñám ayajanta devµs tµni dhármāṇi prathamµṇi āsan /

té ha nµkam mahimµnaḥ sacanta yátra p½rve sādhiyµḥ sánti devµḥ //16//
8
Apparent syntactical incongruence: ūr½ tád asya yád vaíśyaḥ, instead of ūrū́ tµv asya yó vaíśyaḥ;
but we must assume (in accordance with the previous stanza 11, and with the syntax of this
stanza: Ablative – Nominative – ajāyata) that tat and yat are here used adverbially for ūr½ tátra
asya yátaḥ vaíśyaḥ ... ajāyata. See Renou 1961: 500 (§ 369, “accord”, sāmānādhikaraṇya);
Delbrück 1888: 565 (§279); Speijer 1886: 18 (§27.1); Speijer 1896: 30 (§95b).
166 Veda and Vedic Literature

'16. The celestials sacrificed with the sacrifice to the sacrifice

(worshipped the worship with the worship). These were the primeval
rites (laws). These magnitudes followed (reached/searched) the
firmament where the first (preceding, eastern) celestial Sādhyas
(celestials to be attained) are.'

The text and translation need some comments.

What are the three steps that Puruṣa strode? To answer this question, we
should solve the riddles: Who is the Puruṣa, Man/Male, who covered the
Earth on all sides and stood above it the space of ten fingers (whatever this
enigmatic measurement may mean), and who is sahásraśīrṣā sahasrākṣáḥ
sahásrapāt 'thousand-headed, thousand-eyed, thousand-footed' ? Maybe it
is easiest to guess who is thousand-eyed: it is the Greek ouranós asteróeis 'the
starry sky'. Now, śīrṣán in the compound triśīrṣán has a meaning similar to
mūrdhán in the expression mūrdhā́ divó 'the head of the sky', i. e. the Sun. If
there were two heads, one could think of the Sun and the Moon; if there are a
thousand heads, what could they be but the stars in the sky again? And a
thousand feet or footsteps? The Moon stops in different days and different
phases in different nakṣatras: so they can be understood as his footsteps; the
Sun does the same, but it cannot be seen by day, it can only be calculated or
worked out: it steps in the same footsteps as the full Moon, which is in
opposition to the Sun, exactly in the opposite time of the year. Thus the stars
(or any marks of position) can also be understood as the footsteps of the
Moon and (possibly) of the Sun. If Puruṣa — who is obviously not a man like
us — is the starry Sky, then it is clear why he covers the Earth on all sides
and surpasses her at a certain distance! The last stanza 16 fully confirms this
interpretation by explicitly introducing the firmament (nµka), its
magnitudes (mahimán), and the celestials who dwell there. We may add
that, being the Sky, Puruṣa is also understood as the Universe, the Cosmos,
the being comprising all the three worlds. It is worth stressing that he is
conceived as a sensible and intelligent being because he has sight cákṣus,
hearing śrótra, and mind mánas (st. 13 and 14), and his intelligent nature
must be the reason why the Universe is called Puruṣa ʻManʼ.

The expression tripµd in stanzas 3 and 4, on the other hand, makes sense if it
refers to the three steps or traces of the Sun in the Sky. In my opinion it can
refer only to the four seasonal turning points of the Sun: the winter solstice,
Puruṣa-Nārāyaṇa and Uttara-Nārāyaṇa 167

the vernal equinox, the summer solstice, and the autumnal equinox, of
which the two equinoxes represent the same (middle) height of the solar
orbit, the winter solstice represents the lowest height, and the summer
solstice the highest height. Therefore the four seasonal turning points in
time can be reduced to three positions of the solar orbit in space, or three
celestial heights, or magnitudes (mahimán) of the firmament (nµka, stanza
16). They are again metaphorically or imaginatively described in the poetry
of Vedic seers as the 'three steps (or footsteps, or quarters)' of Puruṣa/the
Sky/the cosmic being: the winter solstice point is one step above the Earth
(which is the starting point, the first footstep or first quarter of Puruṣa), the
equinoxes are two steps, and the summer solstice three steps above the
Earth (the highest step or footstep of Puruṣa). This general idea, as will be
shown later, was well known to the Vedic seers before the period of the 10th
maṇḍala.

Concerning the expression táṃ yajñám barhíṣi praúkṣan púruṣaṃ jātám agratáḥ
'a sacrifice on the sacred grass they sprinkled him, Puruṣa, who was born
from the primordial' (stanza 7), the question can be raised whether what is
being referred to here is primordial time or the primordial principle,
because the expression is elliptical. At this point we can simply say that
Puruṣa, the Sky, is the firstborn being in some sense.

The spatial extension of Puruṣa is hinted at in stanzas 1, 3 and 4, where he is

described as encompassing the whole Earth and surpassing her, comprising
all the mortal beings on Earth, that are only one quarter of himself, and
having three more (immortal) steps or quarters (spheres) in the sky.
Immortal is, according to some Upaniṣads (Kauṣītaki, Chāndogya,
Bṛhadāraṇyaka-Upaniṣad), what is above the orbit (sphere) of the Moon, or
what reaches the sphere of the Sun. (As this notion has parallels in Hellenic
tradition, it might be of older origin and not an Upaniṣadic innovation.)

The temporal extension of Puruṣa is hinted at in stanza 2, where he is said to

be all this (on Earth), 'what has been and what is to be', and at the same time
he is said to be 'the lord of immortality' (in the Sky). This is further
elaborated upon in stanza 6, where it is said that at the sacrifice of Puruṣa
'the spring was its clarified butter, the summer the fuel, the autumn the
libation.' The three seasons mentioned imply that at the moment of the
formulation cited (and probably in the region where it was formulated) the
168 Veda and Vedic Literature

Indo-Aryans had a calendar that distinguished between 4 (and not 5 or 6)

seasons of the year, like ours. That is, there is no separate rainy season
between the summer and autumn, and the autumn seems to be a period of
rains (havis 'libation'). On the other hand, we have a complementary
enumeration of seasons in RS 10.161.4: śatžm ... śarždaḥ ... hemantµn ...
vasantµn 'hundred ... autumns ... winters ... springs' (implying the ascending
series of winter solstice, vernal equinox and summer solstice and thereby a
long life), which, together with our passage, closes the cycle of four seasons
(and does not mention e.g. śiśira). The four seasons correspond to the four
seasonal turning points when they start, and indirectly to the “three
steps/footsteps“ of Puruṣa, especially if the moments when spring,
summer, and autumn stop are taken into account (summer solstice,
autumnal equinox, and winter solstice, implying the descending series and
thereby the sacrifice of Puruṣa). Thus Puruṣa comprises the yearly cycle
which is repeated eternally, and therefore comprises the entirety of time as
well.

If we pay attention to the structure of RS 10.90, we shall see that there are 3
groups of 5 stanzas each (in anuṣṭubh) which represent smaller
compositional units, and a concluding stanza 16 in a different metre
(triṣṭubh). We shall also notice that the second and third group are more
closely connected and, after the exposition on the greatness and extent of
Puruṣa in the first group, they describe the 'sacrifice of Puruṣa' and the
production or 'birth' of different parts of time (seasons) and different parts
of the universe (the three worlds) and, between these two, the birth of
different species of animals, social classes of men, and genres of Vedic texts,
all originating from Puruṣa, i. e. from his sacrifice. This observation is
confirmed by the repetition of the formula from the first part of stanza 6 in
the second part of stanza 15 in chiastic order: st. 6ab : yát púruṣeṇa havíṣā devµ
yajñám átanvata and st. 15cd : devµ yád yajñáṃ tanvānµ ábadhnan púruṣam
paśúm, which frame stanzas 6 to 15 as a higher unit.

This compositional device can help us solve the key riddle in stanza 15ab :
saptµsyāsan paridháyas tríḥ saptá samídhaḥ kṛtµḥ 'Seven were his sacrificial
sticks; thrice seven fuel faggots were made'. What is three is mentioned
immediately after 6ab, in 6cd, namely the three seasons cited, and what is
seven is mentioned immediately before 15ab, in stanza 14, namely the three
worlds (Sky, Atmosphere, Earth) and (four) directions of space (East, South,
Puruṣa-Nārāyaṇa and Uttara-Nārāyaṇa 169

West, North). The three worlds and the four directions are the seven
parídhayaḥ 'sacrificial sticks' because they serve to 'spread the sacrifice': the
directions spread the cosmic being that is serving as the sacrifice
horizontally (in two dimensions) and the three worlds, vertically (in the
third dimension, along the metaphorical body of the standing Puruṣa, here
as the axis mundi). Stylistically, samídhaḥ 'fuel faggots' are reminiscent of
idhmáḥ 'fuel' in stanza 6 (cryptophony + figura etymologica), and thus
confirm that the two passages might be connected. Actually, only three
seasons are enumerated for stylistic reasons (allusion), to remind us of the
three footsteps of Puruṣa, which turn the seven parídhayaḥ into thrice seven
(twenty-one) samídhaḥ, implying thereby that this tri-dimensional universe
expands from the lowest position of the solar orbit, through the middle, to
the highest position, and vice versa, and that thereby the intensity of the
insolation of the Earth changes by agency of these 'fuel faggots' (something
like insolation parameters). This dynamic conception of the
universe/Puruṣa and its changing space in proportion to solar energy (the
way it is experienced from the earthly, geocentric perspective), as the Vedic
seers formulated it, may impress us even today if we can grasp what they
had in mind and how they expressed it.

The comparison of the text with other cited Vedic variants of the
Puruṣasūkta/Puruṣanārāyaṇa will not be elaborated upon here because it is
the topic of another paper, but it can be briefly remarked that the Ṛksaṃhitā
variant proved to be the most original in all the cases of variant readings.9
The most significant difference is to be found in the Vājasaneyisaṃhitā (M
31, K 35) where six stanzas are added to the sūkta. They must be younger
and partly intended as a commentary; however, this commentary is very
valuable and partly reliable, as will be shown below.

Before turning our attention to the Vājasaneyisaṃhitā, there is one

important aspect of the concept of Puruṣa that should be understood in the
context of the Ṛksaṃhitā. The names of Puruṣa, Nara and Nārāyaṇa, play an
9
A problem, however, remains. From variant readings in the RS (13cd múkhād índraśca
agníśca prāṇµd vāyúr ajāyata) and VS (12cd śrótrād vāyúśca prāṇáśca múkhād agnír ajāyata) the
dubious content of RS 10.90.13c could be tentatively emended:
candrámā mánaso jātáś cákṣoḥ s½ryo ajāyata /
* múkhād agnír ajāyata prāṇµd vāyúr ajāyata //13//
However, this emendation is formally and metrically rather unsatisfactory. Other
emendations can be imagined, e. g. múkhaṃ tád asya yád agníh, which would be metrically
acceptable.
170 Veda and Vedic Literature

important role in later Viṣṇuism. There are good reasons for this
development in the Vedic texts themselves. This development had already
begun in the Ṛksaṃhitā and it continued in the Yajuḥsaṃhitā. To start, we
can compare the Puruṣasūkta RS 10.90.3-4 with the Viṣṇusūkta RS 1.154.1
and 3:

RS 10, 90 RS 1, 154
etµvān asya mahimµ víṣṇor nú kaṃ vīríyāṇi prá vocaṃ
áto jyµyāṃś ca p½ruṣaḥ / yáḥ pµrthivāni vimamé rájāṃsi /
pµdo 'sya víśvā bhūtµni yó áskabhāyad úttaraṃ sadhásthaṃ
tripµd asyāmÆtaṃ diví //3// vicakramāṇás tredhórugāyáḥ //1//

tripµd ūrdhvá úd ait púruṣaḥ prá víṣṇave śūṣám etu mánma

pµdo 'syehµbhavat púnaḥ / girikṣíta urugāyµya vÆṣṇe |
táto víśvaṅ ví akrāmat yá idáṃ dīrgháṃ práyataṃ sadhástham
sāśanānaśané abhí //4// éko vimamé tribhír ít padébhiḥ //3// 10

Viṣṇu's name should be derived from vi 'apart, away' + snu/sānu 'back,

ridge, summit':11 He is the celestial whose back is far away, high above, with
a backbone that is lifted up high, like a wild male mountain animal (not
necessarily a bull, rather a deer or a fearsome beast, mṛgó ná bhīmáḥ ...
giriṣṭháḥ, stanza 2) ready to jump high. He has supported Earth and Heaven
in a threefold position (stanza 4), he has propped up the upper 'gathering-
place' (stanza 1): that is the place where pious men rejoice (after their death,
stanza 5), the highest step of Viṣṇu which shines brightly down (stanza 6). It
is obviously in heaven: Viṣṇu is the god of the Sky whose backbone is highly
raised. What is the backbone? If mūrdhµ divó 'the head of the Sky' is the Sun,
the backbone is what follows after the head: the traversed path, or orbit of
the Sun! It can be raised like that of a mṛgó bhīmáḥ 'a fearsome beast' (st. 2).
10
Translation by Macdonell (1917: 31-34): '1. I will now proclaim the heroic powers of Viṣṇu,
who has measured out the terrestrial regions; who established the upper gathering-place,
having, wide-paced, strode out triply. 3. Let my inspiring hymn go forth for Viṣṇu, the
mountain-dwelling wide-pacing bull, who alone with but three steps has measured out this
long far-extended gathering-place.' Jamison and Brereton (2014: 1.331), translate more
freely: '1. Now shall I proclaim the heroic deeds of Viṣṇu, who measured out the earthly
realms, who propped up the higher seat, having stridden out three times, the wide-ranging
one. 3. Let my fortifying thought go forth to Viṣṇu, the mountain-dwelling, wide-ranging
bull, who alone with just three steps measured out this dwelling place here, long and
extended.'
11
It is certainly not etymologically derived from viś, as the Indian tradition suggests. There is
no reason why śn would be changed into ṣṇ; the group śn is acceptable in Sanskrit and does
not change, cf. praśna, pṛśni, ni-śnath, etc.
Puruṣa-Nārāyaṇa and Uttara-Nārāyaṇa 171

The body of a beast is horizontal: tiryañc, therefore its back — in contrast to a

man's — can be higher in that position than its head. And the three steps of
Viṣṇu must originally have been meant as the three positions of the Sun's
orbit in the sky: at winter solstice, vernal and autumnal equinox, and
summer solstice.12 The Sun's orbit determines the height of the firmament.
(Beyond it are the heavens.) The highest step is the position at the summer
solstice, at the end of the uttarāyaṇa, the Sun's progress to the north.

Thus, Puruṣa is basically the same as Viṣṇu, that is to say, the Sky (or
Universe, the Cosmos seen from the earthly perspective). Both stride out
three steps upwards. That is why Viṣṇu is tri-vikrama, and why Puruṣa tripµd
½rdhvá úd ait... táto víśvaṅ ví akrāmat. Therefore it was possible and more
natural than Indologists usually imagine - for those who saw the meaning
behind the riddle, who understood the brahmodyas - to connect Puruṣa-
Nārāyaṇa with Viṣṇu. (The basic idea, as shown, was already well known to
Vedic seers before the period of the 10th maṇḍala, and was expressed even
more vividly.)

Uttara-Nārāyaṇa: VS M 31.17-22, K 35.17-22 (TA 13.1-6)

Now we should take a look at the Uttara-Nārāyaṇa.

VS Kāṇva: 35.17-22 (1-6 [2]) = Mādhyaṃdina 31.17-22

adbhyáḥ sámbhṛtaḥ pṛthivyaí rásāc ca viśvákarmaṇaḥ sámavartatµgre

tásya tváṣṭā vidádhad rūpám eti tán mártyasya devatvám ājµnam ágre //17//
'17. Gathered from the Waters and from the juice of the Earth, he
(Puruṣa) came into being, (evolved) from Viśvakarman (Creator of all,
One whose work is the Universe) in the beginning (primordial moment
of time). Tvaṣṭar moves on, distributing / articulating his form. That is
the celestial nature of a mortal, his origin in the beginning (primordial
time/primordial principle).’

védāhám etám púruṣaṃ mahµntam ādityávarṇaü támasā parástāt /

́ yaḥ pánthā vidyaté 'yanāya //18// 13
tám evá viditvµti mṛtyúm eti nān
12
Other interpretations, not necessary to mention here, can be found in texts and secondary
literature, e. g. Gonda 1954: 55-72.
13
Cf. BhG 8.9 kavim purāṇam anuśāsitāram aṇor aṇīyāṃsam anusmared yaḥ / sarvasya dhātāram
acintya-rūpam ādityavarṇaṃ tamasaḥ parastāt = ŚvU 3.8 and 6.15; BhG 11.38 ādidevaḥ puruùaḥ
purāṇaḥ
172 Veda and Vedic Literature

'18. I know that great/mighty Puruṣa, whose colour is like the Sun
beyond the darkness. Only after knowing him one transcends death.
There in no other path to follow.'

prajµpatiś carati gárbhe antár ájayamāno bahudhµ ví jāyate /

tásya yóniṃ pári paśyanti dh·rās tásmin ha tasthur bhúvanāni víśvā //19//
'19. Prajāpati, 'Lord of Offspring', moves into an embryo; although he
undergoes no birth, he is born in many forms. The wise discern his
womb. In it all the worlds/beings are contained.'

yó devébhya ātápati yó devµnāṃ puróhitaḥ

p½rvo yó devébhyo jāt¢ námo rucµya brµhmaye //29//
'20. I bow to him who gives heat to the celestials, who is put in front (as a
priest?) of the celestials, who was born ere the celestials, to the bright
offspring of Brahman.'

rucáṃ brāhmáṃ janáyanto devµ ágre tád abruvan /

yás tvaiváṃ brµhmaṇo vidyµt tásya devµ asan váśe //21//
'21. The celestials, giving birth to the bright son of Brahman, said this to
him: The Brāhmaṇa who will know you thus, he will have the celestials
in his power.'

śr·ś ca lakṣm·ś ca pátnyāv ahorātré parśvé nákṣatrāṇi rūpám aśv¡nau vyµttam /

iṣṇánn iṣāṇāmúm ma iṣāṇa sarvalokáṃ ma iṣāṇa //22//
'22. Śrī and Lakṣmī (Beauty and Fortune) are your consorts. Day and
Night are your (two) sides. Your form are the constellations. The Aśvins
are your jaws. When discharging, grant me the yonder world, grant me
every world, grant me!'

This extension of the text in the VS (and TA), the Uttaranārāyaṇa (as termed
by the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa), first, explains the expression púruṣaṃ jātám
agratáḥ by viśvákarmaṇaḥ sámavartatµgre / tásya tváṣṭā vidádhad rūpám eti tán
mártyasya devatvám ājµnam ágre (agra is a marker in the text). This means that
Puruṣa is not the primeval being, or the primeval principle, but, although he
is the all-encompassing being, he is born from the primeval being (the
primeval principle, his origin, ágra), that is the Creator himself, in the
beginning (primeval time, ágra). Stylistically, agra-táḥ seems to be a
condensed formula for the fuller expression found here: viśvákarman-aḥ ...
ágr-e. This is why agra has a double meaning here.
Puruṣa-Nārāyaṇa and Uttara-Nārāyaṇa 173

In addition, the verb sám avartata 'evolved' is the same as in RS 10, 90.14
śīrṣṇó dyaúḥ sám avartata 'from his head the Heaven evolved', discretely
implying the revolution of the Sky and the relatedness of Puruṣa (VS M
31.17, K 35.17) to Dyaus, the Sky (Puruṣa is the Sky as all-encompassing
being, but, when the three worlds are distinguished, he is the Universe
comprising all three worlds). His origin or father is, we are told in the
Uttaranārāyaṇa, God Creator: Carver/Carpenter (Tvaṣṭar), or All-
maker/One whose work is the Universe (Viśvakarman)! Tvaṣṭar is a variant
(without r) of his older (Indo-Iranian) name, more concrete and picturesque
(in Avestan Θwōrәštar), while Viśvakarman is his younger (Indo-Aryan)
name, more precise and abstract. The third name of the Creator is Prajāpati
'Lord of Offspring', 'Father', and the fourth, implied in the Uttaranārāyaṇa,
is Brahmā 'Brahman Priest among the celestials/the Knower or Possessor of
the holy Word Brahman (n.)'. Puruṣa is the divine Son of the Creator.
Therefore he is said to be 'gathered from the Waters and from the juice of the
Earth' by the Creator of All, he is called an 'embryo' of the Lord of Offspring,
and 'Offspring of Brahman' or 'Son of Brahman' (Brāhmi, Brāhma). (That
may be the reason why the name Nārāyaṇa was found to fit him somewhere
in the times of the Brāhmaṇas and Upaniṣads, assuming that the name Nara
may have possibly originally referred to the Creator.)

The Puruṣanārāyaṇa describes how everything has been born or produced

from Puruṣa, but the way it was produced is understood as sacrifice. The
son of the Creator is sacrificed for the life of the world, for the further
differentiation and creation of all constituents of the world and the creatures
in it. This is a very old and extremely influential theological world-view
documented in the Ṛksaṃhitā. As Puruṣa encompasses everything, and
everything is born out of him, he can be sacrificed only to himself, as stanza
16 states. An aspect of it mentioned in stanzas 2 and 4 is food and eating
(anna, aśana): Every creature that eats food is a part of Puruṣa to which
another part of Puruṣa is sacrificed (by celestials) as food. These primeval
laws (dhármāṇi prathamµni) are, as stanza 16 implies, determined by the
revolution of the firmament, and its rising and lowering according to the
given magnitudes, where the Sun must, in due order, attain different
celestials (asterisms) on his path through the Sky.

Finally, stanza 22 clearly shows that in the Uttaranārāyaṇa (in the VS and the
TA) not only Viṣṇu, but even the consorts of Viṣṇu, Śrī and Lakṣmī (here
174 Veda and Vedic Literature

taken as different, in dual: pátnyau, possibly understood as Uṣas and Rātrī),

were already included in the Vaiṣṇava reception and interpretation of the
concept of Puruṣa. Therefore it is no wonder that elements of this Vedic
conception of Puruṣa were later easily included in Brahmanical, especially
Vaiṣṇava texts.

Upaniṣadic viewpoint : Aitareya-upaniṣad 1 and Mahānārāyaṇa-

upaniṣad (TA 8-9) 235-243 etc.

Aitareya-Upaniṣad 1.1-3 gives a variant of the Puruṣa myth: The Creator,

here Ātman, fashions the Puruṣa from (the mud taken out of) the Waters,
and then broods him like an egg. That is the prototype of Brahmā's egg in the
epic and Purāṇic versions.

Nārāyaṇa the thousand-headed (sahasraśīrṣan) etc. is identified in the

Mahānārāyaṇa-Upaniṣad 235-243 ff with the cosmic Puruṣa. This means
that the Puruṣa here has been given the name Nārāyaṇa:

235. sahasraśīrṣaṃ devaṃ / viśvākṣaṃ viśvaśaṃbhuvam /

236. viśvaṃ nārāyaṇaṃ devam / akṣaraṃ paramaṃ padam /
237. viśvataḥ paramaṃ nityaṃ / viśvaṃ nārāyaṇaṃ harim /
238. viśvam eva-idaṃ puruṣas / tad viśvam upajīvati /
239. patiṃ viśvasya-ātmeśvaraṃ / śāśvataṃ śivam acyutam /
340. nārāyaṇaṃ mahājñeyaṃ / viśvātmānaṃ parāyaṇam /
'(Let us invoke...)
235 ... the thousand-headed celestial/with eyes on everything,
beneficent to all; 236. the Universe, the celestial Nārāyaṇa; the
imperishable syllable, the highest word, 237. higher than
everything, eternal, the Universe, Nārāyaṇa, Hari (the Golden one).
238. Puruṣa is this whole world. Therefore everything lives due to …
239. … the Lord of the Universe, the Ruler of the Self, the Eternal,
Gracious and Unshakable one, 340. Nārāyaṇa, to be known as
Mighty, the Self of everybody, who is the highest refuge (or goal).

A glance at the Mahābhārata, its khila, and the Purāṇas

The Nārāyaṇīya section of the Mahābhārata (12.321-339) narrates the visit of

the divine messenger Nārada to the sages Nara and Nārāyaṇa in
Badarāśrama in the Himālayas, and his journey — by their instruction — to
the northern island of Śvetadvīpa where white people of diamond bodies
Puruṣa-Nārāyaṇa and Uttara-Nārāyaṇa 175

and alert intellect live, who constantly have Nārāyaṇa alone on their mind
(ekāntin). Nārada himself experiences a vision of Nārāyaṇa as Omniform
(All-Colouring, Viśvarūpa), who teaches him, among other things, that
Vāsudeva is the Self (ātman), Saṃkarṣaṇa is the soul (jīva), Pradyumna is the
mind (manas), and Aniruddha is the ego (ahaṃkāra) of all beings (MBh
326.31-39). This instruction is called the great Upaniṣad which became
Sāṃkhya and Yoga and received the name of Pāñcarātra.

In his article, as presented at DICSEP 5, Brinkhaus shows how the

Manusmṛti and purāṇic versions of cosmogony depend on the versions in
Mahābhārata 12.224-225 and Harivaṃśa 1.15-28. The purāṇic versions
closest to the Mahābhārata and Harivaṃśa versions are those in the
Brahmāṇḍa- and Vāyupurāṇa; the Mārkaṇḍeyapurāṇa depends on them;
and the cosmogonic report in the Viṣṇupurāṇa depends largely on the
Mārkaṇḍeya report.

At the beginning of this paper it was shown how the mythological

cosmogonic passage in the Harivaṃśa uses elements of the Vedic tradition,
especially of the Puruṣa myth, and juxtaposes upon it a proto-Sāṃkhya
version of 'continuous creation'.

In another article, presented at DICSEP 1, Brinkhaus (1999: 35-48)

investigates the genesis of the trimūrti doctrine, and discovers that,
according to Kirfel's Purāṇa Pañcalakṣaṇa, of the four groups of texts I, IIA,
IIB, and III (identified by correspondences among them), group I knows of
Brahmā-Nārāyaṇa (Harivaṃśa), group IIA differentiates between Brahmā
and Puruṣa-Nārāyaṇa (Mārkaṇḍeyapurāṇa), group IIB introduces the
concept of tryavasthā (Brahmā-Kāla-Puruṣa) (Vāyupurāṇa,
Brahmāṇḍapurāṇa, Liṅgapurāṇa), and group III knows already of the
trimūrti (Brahmā-Viṣṇu-Śiva) (Matsyapurāṇa). Even in this respect, the
concepts of Puruṣa and Nārāyaṇa, inherited from Vedic texts, play a crucial
role.

A Glance at the Pāñcarātra saṃhitās

In the Tantras, different cosmogonical traditions are hierarchically ordered:

The Tantric theological concepts are used to present the first stage of
creation, śuddhasṛṣṭi 'the pure creation', the Sāṃkhya elements are used in a
Tantric elaboration to present the second creation, miśrasṛṣṭi 'the mixed
176 Veda and Vedic Literature

creation', and the Vedic mythic elements in Purāṇic garb are used, first, to
partly present the second stage, and, thereafter, to present the third stage of
creation, aśuddhasṛṣṭi 'impure creation'. The following table shows the
notions in the Vaiṣṇava Pāñcarātra Tantric tradition: 14
1. śuddhasṛṣṭi
Nārāyaṇa vs. Lakṣmī (śakti 'power')
4 vyūhas 'transpositions, vs. 6 guṇas 'excellences' of the
manifestations’ Pāñcarātra school
Vāsudeva all six guṇas (unmanifested)
Saṃkarṣaṇa bala (in sṛṣṭi) & jñāna (in mukti)
Pradyumna aiśvarya (in sṛṣṭi) & vīrya (in mukti)
Anirudda śakti (in sṛṣṭi) & tejas (in mukti)
2. miśrasṛṣṭi
kūṭastha puruṣa 'Puruṣa standing vs. māyāśakti, kāla, niyati 'the power
at the top' of manifestation or illusion, time
(samasta-puruṣa 'universal and necessity'
Puruṣa') (like 6 kañcukas 'corselets' in Śivism)
4 x 2 Manus (man and woman) puruṣa vs. prakṛti > pariṇāma
are born from his mouth, arms, 'evolution' of the tattvas from the
thighs and feet: a Brāhmaṇa, buddhi 'consciousness, intellect' and
Kṣatriya, Vaiśya, and Śūdra pair ahaṃkāra 'ego' to the mahābhūtāni
of progenitors of the varṇas 15 'elements', roughly following
Sāṃkhya teaching
3. aśuddhasṛṣṭi
Brahmā vs. brahmāṇḍa 'the cosmic Egg'
Creation of the worlds from the
elements according to the Purāṇic
cosmogony and cosmology
(deriving from the Vedic ones)
and of all the beings in the world

14
Schrader 1911: 31-107.
15
Here it is obvious how the Vedic model of the creation from the cosmic Puruṣa influenced
the transformation of the Sāṃkhya psychology into cosmology
Puruṣa-Nārāyaṇa and Uttara-Nārāyaṇa 177

Very similar schemes are used in other Brahmanical (Hindu) Tantric

traditions: the Śaiva and Śākta traditions.16

Conclusion

Horst Brinkhaus shows in his articles, which motivated this paper, how the
Harivaṃśa, the Manusmṛti, and the Purāṇas link a new Proto-Sāṃkhya
conception of cosmogony with the old mythical Vedic ideas of cosmogony,
especially those linked with the notions of Puruṣa and Nārāyaṇa.

This paper pays attention to the Vedic origins of these notions of the
macrocosmic person, or Macrocosm/Universe as a Puruṣa 'Man, Person',
who was born from or fashioned by the Creator in the beginning, and from
whom everything else was born. Gradually, Nārāyaṇa 'The Son of Man',
was identified with him. The aim of the paper is to shed more light on the
origins of these very influential Vedic notions, their original meaning, and
their later Vedic and post-Vedic development.

During this development these notions have undergone transformations,

but have remained recognizable in the epic and Purāṇic combination with
the Proto-Sāṃkhya ideas, which used to be put forward in the descriptions
of cosmogony, before the Vedic ones, as Brinkhaus, among others, has
nicely shown.

A similar process continued in the Tantric texts of all denominations,

Vaiṣnava, Śaiva, and Śākta, where the cosmogony was further elaborated
upon, and received a new set of Tantric concepts, which became the
theological superstructure of the Sāṃkhya notions. The new Tantric
concepts were given precedence over the Sāṃkhya ones, and the new
tripartite scheme of cosmogony emerged, where the Tantric theology
described the first, divine phase of cosmogony (from the viewpoint of the
absolute), the śuddhasṛṣṭi; the Sāṃkhya lore served to describe the second,
more or less internalized, psychological phase of cosmogony (largely from
the viewpoint of the subject), the miśrasṛṣṭi; and the greatly transformed, but
recognizable, Vedic model was given the last and final place and served to
describe partly the second, and thereafter the third, material phase of
cosmogony (from the viewpoint of and with respect to the objective world),
the aśuddhasṛṣṭi.
16
See e.g. Mahadevan 1974: 261-357.
178 Veda and Vedic Literature

However, the intuitions of the Vedic sages, and their spiritual ancestors
from a time beyond memory, and their mighty and enigmatic, but highly
structured and elaborate images of the Universe as an all-encompassing
macrocosmic Being or Person, Puruṣa, Son or Offspring of the Creator, from
whom everything else was born, remained the moving force behind the
transformation of the proto-Sāṃkhya psychology into a cosmogony, and
behind the Tantric and all subsequent cosmogonic and cosmological
speculations in India ever after.

Abbreviations

BdP : Brāhmāṇḍapurāṇa
CE : Critical Edition
DICSEP : Dubrovnik International Conference on the Sanskrit Epics and
Purāṇas
HV : Harivaṃśa
K : Kāṇva
LP : Liṅgapurāṇa
M : Mādhyaṃdina
MarkP : Mārkaṇḍeyapurāṇa
MatsyaP : Matsyapurāṇa
MBh : Mahābhārata
RS : Ṛksaṃhitā
ŚB : Śatapathabrāhmaṇa
ŚS : Śrautasūtra(s)
VāP : Vāyupurāṇa
VS : Vājasaneyisaṃhitā

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