It is also found in the Shukla Yajurveda Samhita 30.1-16 and Atharva Veda Samhita 19.6. This Suktam appears in different Vedas with slight variations.
It gives a description of the spiritual unity of the universe. It presents the nature of Purusha, or the cosmic being, as both immanent in the manifested world and yet transcendent to it. From this being, the Sukta holds, the original creative will (identified with Viswakarma, Hiranyagarbha or Prajapati) proceeds which causes the projection of the universe in space and time. The Purusha Sukta, in the seventh verse, hints at the organic connectedness of the various classes of society.
The Purusha is defined in verses 2 to 5 of the Sukta. He is described as a being who pervades everything conscious and unconscious universally.
This Suktam starts with the description of Purusha–
The Purusha has thousand heads,
He has thousand eyes,
He has thousand feet,
He is spread all over the universe,
And is beyond the count with ten fingers.
All manifestations, in past, present and future, is held to be the Purusha alone. It is also proclaimed that he transcends his creation. The immanence of the Purusha in manifestation and yet his transcendence of it is similar to the viewpoint held by panentheists. Finally, his glory is held to be even greater than the portrayal in this Sukta.
Verses 5-15 hold the creation of the Rig Veda. Creation is described to have started with the origination of Virat, or the cosmic body from the Purusha. In Virat, omnipresent intelligence manifests itself which causes the appearance of diversity. In the verses following, it is held that Purusha through a sacrifice of himself, brings forth the avian, forest-dwelling and domestic animals, the three Vedas, the metres (of the mantras). Then follows a verse which states that from his mouth, arms, thighs, feet the four varnas (categories) are born. This four varna-related verse is controversial and is believed by many scholars, such as Max Müller, to be a corruption and a medieval or modern era insertion into the text.
After the verse, the Sukta states that the moon takes birth from the Purusha's mind and the sun from his eyes. Indra and Agni descend from his mouth and from his vital breath, air is born. The firmament comes from his navel, the heavens from his head, the earth from his feet and quarters of space from his ears. Through this creation, underlying unity of human, cosmic and divine realities is espoused, for all are seen arising out of same original reality, the Purusha.
The Purusha Sukta holds that the world is created by and out of a Yajna or exchange of the Purusha. All forms of existence are held to be grounded in this primordial yajna. In the seventeenth verse, the concept of Yajna itself is held to have arisen out of this original sacrifice. In the final verses, yajna is extolled as the primordial energy ground for all existence.
Who is this Purusha?
It is none other than Shri Vishnu only.
The Purusha Sukta itself has answers to this. In the second Anuvāka, it states –
Hreescha the lakshmischa patnyou
~Hree and Lakshmi are your wives
According to Srī Sukta and Bhu Suktam, it is confirmed that Shri Devi (Mata Lakshmi) and Bhu devi are the consorts of Srīman Nārāyana only.
In the Nārāyana Suktam, Nārāyana is said to be the Purusha.
The highest of all, the eternal, this very universe is Narayana, the destroyer of sins, the Purusha, upon whom the universe and all this subsists.
This fact is also established in Srīmad Vyāsa Māhābhārata.
Brahmaji declares to Shiva who exactly this Purusha is:
The truth is that he who is the Supreme Soul is always divested of attributes. He is Narayana. He is the universal soul, and he is the one Purusha. [Section CCCLII of Shāntī Parva]
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