Atharvaveda 19.6
Atharvavedasaṃhitā 19.6
- Language
- Sanskrit
19.6.1
sahásrabāhuḥ púruṣaḥ sahasrākṣáḥ sahásrapāt |
sá bhū́miṃ viśváto vr̥tvā́ty átiṣṭhad daśāṅgulám ||1||
Thousand-armed is Purusha, thousand-eyed, thousand-footed; he, covering the earth entirely, exceeded it by ten fingers' breadth.
19.6.2
tribhíḥ padbhír dyā́m arohat pā́d asyehā́bhavat púnaḥ |
táthā vy àkrāmad víṣvaṅ aśanānaśané ánu ||2||
With three feet he ascended the sky; a foot of him, again, was here; so he strode out asunder, after eating and non-eating.
19.6.3
tā́vanto asya mahimā́nas táto jyā́yāṃś ca pū́ruṣaḥ |
pā́do 'sya víśvā bhūtā́ni tripā́d asyāmŕ̥taṃ diví ||3||
So many are his greatnesses; and Purusha is superior (jyā́jān) to that; a foot of him is all beings (bhūtá); three feet of him are what is immortal in the sky.
19.6.4
púruṣa evédáṃ sárvaṃ yád bhūtáṃ yác ca bhāvyàm |
utā́mr̥tatvásyeśvaró yád anyénā́bhavat sahá ||4||
Purusha is just this all, what is and what is to be; also [is he] lord (īçvará) of immortality, which was together with another.
19.6.5
yát púruṣaṃ vy ádadhuḥ katidhā́ vy àkalpayan |
múkhaṃ kím asya kím bāhū́ kím ūrū́ pā́dā ucyate ||5||
When they separated (vi-dhā) Purusha, in how many parts did they distribute (vi-kḷp) him? what was his face? what his (two) arms? what are called his (two) thighs [and] feet?
19.6.6
brāhmaṇó 'sya múkham āsīd bāhū́ rājanyò 'bhavat |
mádhyaṃ tád asya yád váiśyaḥ padbhyā́ṃ śūdró ajāyata ||6||
The Brahman was his face; the Kshatriya (rājanyà) became his (two) arms; the Vāiçya [was] his middle; from his (two) feet was born the Çūdra.
19.6.7
candrámā mánaso jātáś cákṣoḥ sū́ryo ajāyata |
múkhād índraś cāgníś ca prāṇā́d vāyúr ajāyata ||7||
The moon [is] born from his mind; from his eye the sun was born; from his mouth both Indra and Agni; from his breath Vāyu was born.
19.6.8
nā́bhyā āsīd antárikṣaṃ śīrṣṇó dyáuḥ sám avartata |
padbhyā́ṃ bhū́mir díśaḥ śrótrāt táthā lokā́m̐ akalpayan ||8||
From his navel was the atmosphere; from his head the sky came into being (sam-vṛt); from his (two) feet the earth, the quarters from his ear (çrótra): so shaped they the worlds.
19.6.9
virā́ḍ ágre sám abhavad virā́jo ádhi pū́ruṣaḥ |
sá jātó áty aricyata paścā́d bhū́mim átho puráḥ ||9||
Virāj in the beginning came into being (sam-bhū); out of Virāj, Purusha; it, when born, exceeded the earth behind, also in front.
19.6.10
yát púruṣeṇa havíṣā devā́ yajñám átanvata |
vasantó asyāsīd ā́jyaṃ grīṣmá idhmáḥ śarád dhavíḥ ||10||
When, with Purusha as oblation, the gods extended the sacrifice, spring was its sacrificial butter, summer its fuel, autumn its oblation.
19.6.11
táṃ yajñáṃ prāvŕ̥ṣā práukṣan púruṣaṃ jātám agraśáḥ |
téna devā́ ayajanta sādhyā́ vásavaś ca yé ||11||
They sprinkled with the early rain (prāvṛ́ṣ) that sacrifice, Purusha, born in the beginning; therewith the gods sacrificed, the Perfectibles (sādhyá) and they that are Vasus.
19.6.12
tásmād áśvā ajāyanta yé ca ké cobhayā́dataḥ |
gā́vo ha jajñire tásmāt tásmāj jātā́ ajāváyaḥ ||12||
From that were born horses, and whatever [animals] have teeth in both jaws; kine were born from that; from that [are] born goats and sheep.
19.6.13
tásmād yajñā́t sarvahúta ŕ̥caḥ sā́māni jajñire |
chándo ha jajñire tásmād yájus tásmād ajāyata ||13||
From that all-sacrificing sacrifice were born the verses (ṛ́c), the chants (sā́man); meter ⌊sic!⌋ were born from that; sacrificial formula was born from that.
19.6.14
tásmād yajñā́t sarvahútaḥ sáṃbhr̥taṃ pr̥ṣadājyám |
paśū́ṃs tā́ṃś cakre vāyavyā̀n āraṇyā́ grāmyā́ś ca yé ||14||
From that all-sacrificing sacrifice was collected the speckled butter (pṛṣadājyá); it made those cattle belonging to Vāyu—those that are of the forest and of the village.
19.6.15
saptā́syāsan paridháyas tríḥ saptá samídhaḥ kr̥tā́ḥ |
devā́ yád yajñáṃ tanvānā́ ábadhnan púruṣaṃ paśúm ||15||
Seven were made its enclosing sticks (paridhí), thrice seven its pieces of fuel, when the gods, extending the sacrifice, bound Purusha as victim.
19.6.16
mūrdhnó devásya br̥ható aṃśávaḥ saptá saptatī́ḥ |
rā́jñaḥ sómasyājāyanta jātásya púruṣād ádhi ||16||
Seven times seventy rays (aṅçú) were born from the head of the great god, of king Soma, when born out of Purusha.
Translations (2)
- Atharva-Veda Saṃhitā (HOS 7–8) — William Dwight Whitney 1905, English
- The Hymns of the Atharvaveda — Ralph T. H. Griffith 1895, English
Commentaries (2)
- Atharvavedabhāṣya (Sāyaṇa) — Sāyaṇa, Sanskrit
- Atharvavedasaṃhitābhāṣya — Mādhavācārya, Sanskrit
Linked texts (12)
- Atharvaveda — Sanskrit
- A Vedic Concordance — Maurice Bloomfield, English
- Puruṣasūktādi — Sanskrit
- Aṅgirasī — Sanskrit
- Vedārthaprakāśa (Mādhavācārya alias Sāyaṇācārya) — Mādhavācārya alias Sāyaṇācārya, Sanskrit
- Original Sanskrit Texts on the Origin and History of the People of India, their Religion and Institutions — John Muir, English
- Sarvadevapratiṣṭhāprakāśa — Sanskrit
- Altindische Grammatik — Jacob Wackernagel & Albert Debrunner, German
- Vedic Index of Names and Subjects — Arthur A. Macdonell & A. Berriedale Keith, English
- History of Indian Medicine, containing Notices, Biographical and Bibliographical, of the Āyurvedic Physicians and their Works on Medicine — Girindranath Mukhopadhyaya, English
- Śūdras in Ancient India: A Social History of the Lower Order down to circa A.D. 600 — R. S. Sharma, English
- Studies in the Epics and Purāṇas — A. D. Pusalker, English