Purusha Suktam
॥ श्री पुरुषसूक्तम् ॥
What is the Purusha Suktam?
Purusha Suktam is a sixteen-verse Vedic hymn from the Rigveda that describes the cosmic Purusha offering Himself in a primordial sacrifice, out of which the whole universe, including the Vedas themselves, is said to arise.
One of the oldest and most chanted hymns of the Rigveda, the Purusha Suktam paints the universe itself as the body of a single cosmic being who gave Himself up in the first sacrifice. Vaishnavas recite it as a hymn to Narayana; it is also part of the daily abhishekam liturgy in temples across India.
Purusha Suktam Lyrics (Sanskrit & English)
Roman transliteration is shown first with the Devanagari beneath. Tap 'Meaning' under any verse for a plain-English explanation.
sahasraśīrṣā puruṣaḥ sahasrākṣaḥ sahasrapāt |
sa bhūmiṁ viśvato vṛtvā’tyatiṣṭhaddaśāṅgulam
सहस्रशीर्षा पुरुषः सहस्राक्षः सहस्रपात् ।
स भूमिं विश्वतो वृत्वात्यतिष्ठद्दशाङ्गुलम्
Meaning
The cosmic Purusha has a thousand heads, a thousand eyes and a thousand feet. He covers the whole universe on every side and still extends ten fingers' breadth beyond it, for He is not bound by space.
puruṣa evedaṁ sarvaṁ yadbhūtaṁ yacca bhavyam |
utāmṛtatvasyeśāno yadannenātirohati
पुरुष एवेदं सर्वं यद्भूतं यच्च भव्यम् ।
उतामृतत्वस्येशानो यदन्नेनातिरोहति
Meaning
Everything that exists, whatever has already come to be and whatever is still to come, is this Purusha alone. He is the Lord of immortality, and He also appears as the world that is sustained through food.
etāvānasya mahimāto jyāyāṁśca pūruṣaḥ |
pādo’sya viśvā bhūtāni tripādasyāmṛtaṁ divi
एतावानस्य महिमातो ज्यायाँश्च पूरुषः ।
पादोऽस्य विश्वा भूतानि त्रिपादस्यामृतं दिवि
Meaning
Great as this seems, the Purusha is greater still. All created beings, everything we can see, form only one quarter of Him. The other three quarters remain imperishable, beyond this world.
tripādūrdhva udaitpuruṣaḥ pādo’syehābhavatpunaḥ |
tato viṣvaṅvyakrāmatsāśanānaśane abhi
त्रिपादूर्ध्व उदैत्पुरुषः पादोऽस्येहाभवत्पुनः ।
ततो विष्वङ्व्यक्रामत्साशनानशने अभि
Meaning
With three quarters of Himself the Purusha rose above; the remaining quarter appeared again here. From that one quarter He spread out in every direction, into things that eat and things that do not.
tasmādvirāḍajāyata virājo adhi pūruṣaḥ |
sa jāto atyaricyata paścādbhūmimatho puraḥ
तस्माद्विराडजायत विराजो अधि पूरुषः ।
स जातो अत्यरिच्यत पश्चाद्भूमिमथो पुरः
Meaning
From the Purusha came Viraj, the vast cosmic form, and from Viraj came the Purusha again, now active within creation. Once born, He extended Himself further and brought forth the earth and the bodies of living beings.
yatpuruṣeṇa haviṣā devā yajñamatanvata |
vasanto asyāsīdājyaṁ grīṣma idhmaḥ śaraddhaviḥ
यत्पुरुषेण हविषा देवा यज्ञमतन्वत ।
वसँतो अस्यासीदाज्यं ग्रीष्म इध्मः शरद्धविः
Meaning
When the gods performed the great sacrifice with the Purusha as the offering, spring was its clarified butter, summer its firewood, and autumn its oblation.
saptāsyāsanparidhayastriḥ sapta samidhaḥ kṛtāḥ |
devā yadyajñaṁ tanvānā abadhnanpuruṣe paśum
सप्तास्यासन्परिधयस्त्रिः सप्त समिधः कृताः ।
देवा यद्यज्ञं तन्वाना अबध्नन्पुरुषं पशुम्
Meaning
That sacrifice had seven enclosing rails and thrice-seven pieces of sacred fuel. As the gods carried out the rite, they bound the Purusha as the sacrificial victim.
taṁ yajñaṁ barhiṣi praukṣanpuruṣaṁ jātamagrataḥ |
tena devā ayajanta sādhyā ṛṣayaśca ye
तं यज्ञं बर्हिषि प्रौक्षन्पुरुषं जातमग्रतः ।
तेन देवा अयजन्त साध्या ऋषयश्च ये
Meaning
They sprinkled the Purusha, born at the very beginning, upon the sacred grass. Through Him as the offering, the gods, the Sadhyas and the sages performed their worship.
tasmādyajñātsarvahutaḥ sambhr̥taṁ pr̥ṣadājyam |
paśūntāँścakre vāyavyānāraṇyāngrāmyāśca ye
तस्माद्यज्ञात्सर्वहुतः सम्भृतं पृषदाज्यम् ।
पशून्ताँश्चक्रे वायव्यानारण्यान्ग्राम्याश्च ये
Meaning
From that all-encompassing sacrifice came curds blended with ghee, and from it were shaped the creatures of the air, the forest and the village.
tasmādyajñātsarvahuta r̥caḥ sāmāni jajñire |
chandāँsi jajñire tasmādyajustasmādajāyata
तस्माद्यज्ञात्सर्वहुत ऋचः सामानि जज्ञिरे ।
छन्दाँसि जज्ञिरे तस्माद्यजुस्तस्मादजायत
Meaning
From that same great sacrifice arose the Rig and Sama verses. The Vedic metres were born from it too, and the Yajus formula came from it as well.
tasmādaśvā ajāyanta ye ke cobhayādataḥ |
gāvo ha jajñire tasmāttasmājjātā ajāvayaḥ
तस्मादश्वा अजायन्त ये के चोभयादतः ।
गावो ह जज्ञिरे तस्मात्तस्माज्जाता अजावयः
Meaning
From it were born the horses, and every creature with teeth in both jaws. From it came the cattle, and from it the goats and sheep.
yatpuruṣaṁ vyadadhuḥ katidhā vyakalpayan |
mukhaṁ kimasya kau bāhū kā ūrū pādā ucyete
यत्पुरुषं व्यदधुः कतिधा व्यकल्पयन् ।
मुखं किमस्य कौ बाहू का ऊरू पादा उच्येते
Meaning
When they divided the Purusha, into how many parts did they arrange Him? What became His mouth, what His arms, what His thighs, and what do they call His feet?
brāhmaṇo’sya mukhamāsīdbāhū rājanyaḥ kr̥taḥ |
ūrū tadasya yadvaiśyaḥ padbhyāṁ śūdro ajāyata
ब्राह्मणोऽस्य मुखमासीद्बाहू राजन्यः कृतः ।
ऊरू तदस्य यद्वैश्यः पद्भ्याम् शूद्रो अजायत
Meaning
The Brahmin was His mouth, the ruler and warrior were shaped from His arms, the trader and farmer came from His thighs, and from His feet the labourer was born. All are limbs of the one Purusha, none apart from Him.
candramā manaso jātaścakṣoḥ sūryo ajāyata |
mukhādindraścāgniśca prāṇādvāyurajāyata
चन्द्रमा मनसो जातश्चक्षोः सूर्यो अजायत ।
मुखादिन्द्रश्चाग्निश्च प्राणाद्वायुरजायत
Meaning
The moon arose from His mind, the sun from His eye. Indra and Agni came from His mouth, and Vayu, the wind, from His breath.
nābhyā āsīdantarikṣaṁ śīrṣṇo dyauḥ samavartata |
padbhyāṁ bhūmirdiśaḥ śrotrāttathā lokāँ akalpayan
नाभ्या आसीदन्तरिक्षं शीर्ष्णो द्यौः समवर्तत ।
पद्भ्यां भूमिर्दिशः श्रोत्रात्तथा लोकाँ अकल्पयन्
Meaning
From His navel came the mid-region of the sky, from His head the heavens took shape. From His feet came the earth, and from His ears the four directions; in this way the worlds were set in order.
yajñena yajñamayajanta devāstāni dharmāṇi prathamānyāsan |
te ha nākaṁ mahimānaḥ sacante yatra pūrve sādhyāḥ santi devāḥ
यज्ञेन यज्ञमयजन्त देवास्तानि धर्माणि प्रथमान्यासन् ।
ते ह नाकं महिमानः सचन्ते यत्र पूर्वे साध्याः सन्ति देवाः
Meaning
Through sacrifice the gods worshipped the Sacrifice itself, and these became the first sacred laws. Those who attained that greatness reached the highest heaven, where the ancient Sadhya gods dwell.
Closing Invocation
Om Shanti Shanti Shanti
ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः
Meaning
Om. Peace, peace, peace.
What Does the Purusha Suktam Mean?
At its center is a single, startling idea: the entire universe, past, present and everything still to come, is one being seen from the outside. The hymn calls this being Purusha, literally ‘the person’, and gives Him a thousand heads and a thousand eyes not because the number is literal but because it points to something without edge or count. Three quarters of Him remain beyond what any eye can see; only one quarter shows up as the world we live in.
The middle verses turn this cosmic figure into an offering. The gods perform a yajna, a sacrifice, with the Purusha Himself as the oblation, and from that single act everything else is said to follow: the seasons, the Vedic hymns and metres, the animals of field and forest, even the different callings that make up a working society. Read this way, verses twelve and thirteen are not a ranking of people but a picture of one body where the mouth needs the arms and the arms need the feet, each part sacred because it belongs to the same whole.
The closing verses bring the circle back to where it started: the gods reach their sacrifice, and through it the first Dharma, the first pattern of right order, comes into being. Chanting the Suktam is a way of remembering that the world was never separate from its source, and that whatever role a person plays in it, they remain part of one living body.
How Do You Chant the Purusha Suktam?
- Bathe and dress simply – wear clean, comfortable clothes before you begin
- Sit facing east or north – choose a clean mat and a settled, upright posture
- Mind the Vedic accents – this is a Vedic chant with fixed pitch marks (udatta, anudatta, svarita); listen closely to a trained reciter until the rhythm feels natural before chanting alone
- Hold the image in mind – picture the Purusha's form stretching through the whole universe, holding sun, moon, earth and stars within Himself
What Are the Benefits of Chanting the Purusha Suktam?
Tradition credits this hymn with effects that reach from the inner life outward to the home and community.
- A felt sense of unity: reciters describe it easing the sense of separateness between the self and the wider world
- Calm and steadiness: regular chanting is said to settle a restless or anxious mind
- Support for prosperity: it is a standard part of homas and pujas performed for health, family and steady work
- A cleansed atmosphere: the sound itself, chanted correctly, is held to clear the space around the reciter
Where Does the Purusha Suktam Come From?
The Purusha Suktam belongs to the tenth Mandala of the Rigveda, hymn ninety, making it one of the later additions to that collection and, at the same time, one of its most far-reaching. The same sixteen verses were carried into the other three Vedas as well, appearing with small variations in the Yajurveda, Samaveda and Atharvaveda, which is part of why it became such a fixture of everyday temple worship rather than staying tied to one ritual school.
Vaishnava commentators read the Purusha of this hymn as Narayana, the source from which the universe unfolds and into which it is gathered back; other schools of thought, working from the same verses, describe Him as Brahman without attributes. Both readings sit on the same text because the hymn itself never narrows the cosmic being to a single form. It is counted among the five suktams, the Pancha Suktam, that a priest recites in sequence during a full abhishekam, alongside hymns such as the Sri Suktam and Vishnu Suktam.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can anyone recite the Purusha Suktam?
Yes. It carries no restriction on who may chant or listen to it with devotion. Because it is a Vedic mantra with fixed pitch accents, getting the pronunciation right takes practice, so many people start by listening closely to a trained reciter before attempting it themselves.
Who is the Purusha described in this hymn?
Purusha means the supreme being, the person behind and within the universe. Vaishnava tradition identifies Him with Vishnu or Narayana. Other schools read the same figure as Brahman, the formless reality beyond any single name.
Do verses 12 and 13 support caste discrimination?
No. Those two verses describe society as one body, where the mouth, arms, thighs and feet are all parts of the same Purusha. The point of the image is interdependence: every part is necessary and every part is sacred, not that one part outranks another.
Why does the hymn say Purusha has a thousand heads and eyes?
A thousand here stands for a number beyond counting, not a literal figure. It signals that the Purusha is present in every being at once and is not limited to any one form or place.
Why is the Purusha Suktam recited during abhishekam?
The hymn describes the Purusha's own act of self-offering and the ordering of the universe that follows from it. Reciting it while bathing a deity's image is meant to carry that same purifying, world-ordering energy into the water and into the space around the ritual.
Is the Purusha Suktam one of the Pancha Suktam?
Yes. It is recited alongside four other hymns, commonly the Sri, Bhu, Nila and Vishnu Suktams, as part of the standard Pancha Suktam sequence chanted during a full Vaishnava abhishekam.
॥ ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय ॥