Rigveda 10.90

10.90.1

स॒हस्र॑शीर्षा॒ पुरु॑षः सहस्रा॒क्षः स॒हस्र॑पात् | स भूमिं॑ वि॒श्वतो॑ वृ॒त्वाऽत्य॑तिष्ठद्दशाङ्गु॒लम् ||

A THOUSAND heads hath Puruṣa, a thousand eyes, a thousand feet. On every side pervading earth he fills a space ten fingers wide.

10.90.2

पुरु॑ष ए॒वेदं सर्वं॒ यद्भू॒तं यच्च॒ भव्य॑म् | उ॒तामृ॑त॒त्वस्येशा॑नो॒ यदन्ने॑नाति॒रोह॑ति ||

This Puruṣa is all that yet hath been and all that is to be; The Lord of Immortality which waxes greater still by food.

10.90.3

ए॒तावा॑नस्य महि॒माऽतो॒ ज्यायाँ॑श्च॒ पूरु॑षः | पादो॑ऽस्य॒ विश्वा॑ भू॒तानि॑ त्रि॒पाद॑स्या॒मृतं॑ दि॒वि ||

So mighty is his greatness; yea, greater than this is Puruṣa. All creatures are one-fourth of him, three-fourths eternal life in heaven.

10.90.4

त्रि॒पादू॒र्ध्व उदै॒त्पुरु॑ष॒: पादो॑ऽस्ये॒हाभ॑व॒त्पुन॑: | ततो॒ विष्व॒ङ्व्य॑क्रामत्साशनानश॒ने अ॒भि ||

With three-fourths Puruṣa went up: one-fourth of him again was here. Thence he strode out to every side over what cats not and what cats.

10.90.5

तस्मा॑द्वि॒राळ॑जायत वि॒राजो॒ अधि॒ पूरु॑षः | स जा॒तो अत्य॑रिच्यत प॒श्चाद्भूमि॒मथो॑ पु॒रः ||

From him Virāj was born; again Puruṣa from Virāj was born. As soon as he was born he spread eastward and westward o’er the earth.

10.90.6

यत्पुरु॑षेण ह॒विषा॑ दे॒वा य॒ज्ञमत॑न्वत | व॒स॒न्तो अ॑स्यासी॒दाज्यं॑ ग्री॒ष्म इ॒ध्मः श॒रद्ध॒विः ||

When Gods prepared the sacrifice with Puruṣa as their offering, Its oil was spring, the holy gift was autumn; summer was the wood.

10.90.7

तं य॒ज्ञं ब॒र्हिषि॒ प्रौक्ष॒न्पुरु॑षं जा॒तम॑ग्र॒तः | तेन॑ दे॒वा अ॑यजन्त सा॒ध्या ऋष॑यश्च॒ ये ||

They balmed as victim on the grass Puruṣa born in earliest time. With him the Deities and all Sādhyas and Ṛṣis sacrificed.

10.90.8

तस्मा॑द्य॒ज्ञात्स॑र्व॒हुत॒: 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.

10.90.9

तस्मा॑द्य॒ज्ञात्स॑र्व॒हुत॒ ऋच॒: सामा॑नि जज्ञिरे | छन्दां॑सि जज्ञिरे॒ तस्मा॒द्यजु॒स्तस्मा॑दजायत ||

From that great general sacrifice Ṛcas and Sāma-hymns were born: Therefrom were spells and charms produced; the Yajus had its birth from it.

10.90.10

तस्मा॒दश्वा॑ अजायन्त॒ ये के चो॑भ॒याद॑तः | गावो॑ ह जज्ञिरे॒ तस्मा॒त्तस्मा॑ज्जा॒ता अ॑जा॒वय॑: ||

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.

10.90.11

यत्पुरु॑षं॒ व्यद॑धुः कति॒धा व्य॑कल्पयन् | मुखं॒ किम॑स्य॒ कौ बा॒हू का ऊ॒रू पादा॑ उच्येते ||

When they divided Puruṣa how many portions did they make? What do they call his mouth, his arms? What do they call his thighs and feet?

10.90.12

ब्रा॒ह्म॒णो॑ऽस्य॒ मुख॑मासीद्बा॒हू रा॑ज॒न्य॑: कृ॒तः | ऊ॒रू तद॑स्य॒ यद्वैश्य॑: प॒द्भ्यां शू॒द्रो अ॑जायत ||

The Brahman was his mouth, of both his arms was the Rājanya made. His thighs became the Vaiśya, from his feet the Śūdra was produced.

10.90.13

च॒न्द्रमा॒ मन॑सो जा॒तश्चक्षो॒: 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 Vāyu from his breath.

10.90.14

नाभ्या॑ आसीद॒न्तरि॑क्षं शी॒र्ष्णो द्यौः सम॑वर्तत | प॒द्भ्यां भूमि॒र्दिश॒: 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.

10.90.15

स॒प्तास्या॑सन्परि॒धय॒स्त्रिः स॒प्त स॒मिध॑: 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, Puruṣa.

10.90.16

य॒ज्ञेन॑ य॒ज्ञम॑यजन्त दे॒वास्तानि॒ धर्मा॑णि प्रथ॒मान्या॑सन् | ते ह॒ नाकं॑ महि॒मान॑: सचन्त॒ यत्र॒ पूर्वे॑ सा॒ध्याः सन्ति॑ दे॒वाः ||

Gods, sacrificing, sacrificed the victim these were the earliest holy ordinances. The Mighty Ones attained the height of heaven, there where the Sādhyas, Gods of old, are dwelling.