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PURUSHA SUKTHAM
the name Vishnu.
Otherwise it can just be interpreted as the consort of modesty and wealth. I assume therefore that these were added sometime in the sixth or seventh centuries.
It is certain that the current form of Purusha suktha underwent drastic interpolations and redactions. To identify them is a difficult problem. However a simpler comparative study of the various versions as they appear in the various Vedas, aranyakas and Upanishads will help tremendously.
There is some perceptible difference of order in mantras found in Rg Veda and the Taittiriya Aranyaka. The first 6 mantras are identical in both Yajur Veda and Rig Veda.
The 7th and 18th of Yajurvedic mantras are found as the 15th and 16th in Rg Veda. The 17th and 18th mantras of Yajurveda are not found in Rg Vedic reading at all.
The hymns of Purusha Sukta RV X.90 (Anushtubh 1-15, Trishtubh 16) is repeated in the Atharvaveda (19.6), the Samaveda (6.4), the Yajurveda (VS 31.1-16), the Taittiriya Aranyaka (3.12,13).
The Atharvan Veda Saunakiya tradition has the following order of Rig Veda verses: 1-4-3-2-11-1213-14-5-6-7-10-9-8-15
The Atharvan Veda Paippalad tradition has 14 Rig Veda verses, excluding 7-8.
The Shukla Yajur Veda has this sequence: 1-2-3-4-5-8-9-10-7-11-12-13-14-6-15 Taittiriys Aranyaka has this sequence: 1-2-3-4-5-6-15-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14
The Sama Veda Naigeya 33-37 has only the first five in a slightly different sequence: [1-4-[2ab3cd]3ab2cd]-5]
The later interpolations and interpretations are reflected in the Bhagavata (2.5.35 to 2.6.1-29) and in the Mahabharata (Moksadharma parva 351 and 352).
It is commented upon in the Shatapatha Brahmana, the Taittiriya Brahmana, the Shvetashvatara Upanishad and the Mudgala Upanishad.
Thus we can really vouch only for the first five mantras as the original mantras and the others were probably added later. A casual look at the verses 6 -11 onward will immediately make us aware of the difference in the tone and theology. Most commentators had difficulty in explaining them since the yajna described uses the objects derived from the creation before the object itself was created.
Thus for simple logical reason only the first 5 verses can be considered to form part of the original Purusha Suktha. And these have a definite Christian theology which came into the Indian subcontinent by the first century AD with the advent of St. Thomas the disciple of Jesus. Thomas' first converts were Jewish and Jewish mysticism known as Kaballa is reflected in the Purusha Suktha. Kaballah considers the cosmos as a man with four dimensions of existence - Divine, Spiritual, Mental
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