________________
PURUSHA SUKTHAM
Verse 8
THEY SACRIFICED THE PURUSHA
tam yajnam barhishi prokshan | purusham jAtam agrata: | tena devA ayajanta | sAdhyA RshayaS ca ye || 8 ||
As the sacrifice on the Yajña they besprinkled the Purusha, born in the beginning and put him on the sacrificial bed of straw. With him the Devas performed the Yajña along with Saadhyas (other Devas) and the Sages.
Here is the Purusha himself was bound as the beast of sacrifice. This beast has to be sanctificed, on a sacred bed of straw, with holy water. The word barhis indicates this straw. According to the Yogaratna, virAt, barhis and prakriti are synonyms. In this sense, all of nature is the stage for this sacrifice, and Purusha the sacrifice to be offered. He was firstborn and foremost of creation. The word sAdhyA: according to Ranganathamuni includes all devas, RSHis, suras, and dwellers of Vaikuntha.
Bhagavata Purana II,.6,15 -26 gives a detailed explanation of this passage. There Brahma says:
"When I was produced, from the lotus that sprung from the navel of that great being, I found no materials for sacrifice except the members of Purusha. Among them were the victims, the sacrificial posts, the Kusa grass; they formed the sacrificial ground, and the seasons with their various qualities. The utensils, the grains, the verses of the Rifh, the Yajush, and the Samn, the functions of the four priests, the names of the rites, the texts, the gifts, the vows, the list of deities, the ritual rules, the designs, the forms, the arragments, the meditations, the expiation, the dedication, all these
556
