________________
PURUSHA SUKTHAM
the basis of speech. Hence the interpreters suggest that this was really not a real yajna, but an imaginary mental visualization.
The traditional Indian explanation of the numbers are: The seven enclosing sticks (without the trees how can there be sticks?)
refer to the 5 elements: earth, water, fire, wind, and sky - plus day and night. Twenty-one fuel sticks (?) refer
to the 5 sense organs - eye, nose, mouth, ear and skin-, plus 5 vital breaths = prANa, a-pA-na, vyA-na, u-dA-na, and sa-mA-na plus 5 organs of work - hands, legs, genitals, two excretory organs plus 4 feelings of the mind a-nta H-ka-ra-Nam
plus 2 dha-rma and a-dha-rma. Obviously this is a labored explanation for lack of direct explanation using allegory. The imagery itself does not point to these even as symbols.
Human sacrifice performed by Mayan priests
From Encyclopaedia Mythica (page 3)
555
