Who is the deity of the Purusha Suktam?

 The deity of Purusha Suktam is none other than Shri Hari Vishnu. We shall see what the scriptures say and also see why some other deities are praised with Purusha Sukta.

नमस्ते वासुदेवाय नमः सङ्‌कर्षणाय च ।
प्रद्युम्नायनिरुद्धाय सात्वतां पतये नमः ॥

Obeisances to You, Lord of the Sātvatas, and to Your forms of Vāsudeva, Saṅkarṣaṇa, Pradyumna and Aniruddha.

First, the Sruti itself explains the meaning of Purusha Sukta and also clears doubts regarding the identity of Purusha Sukta's deity. The first Khanda of the Mudgala Upanishad says

Hence the first three Mantras of Purusha Sukta talk about the Sarvavyapakatva(omnipresence), Sarvajnatva(omniscience) [Regarding him being everything that existed, exists and will exist] and Sarvasaktimatva(omnipotence) [He having the characteristic of giving Moksha]. Hence the Mudgala Upanishad's explanation of Purusha Sukta establishes Narayana as the Param Brahma and says that the next mantra talks about his Chaturvyuhas(namely Vasudeva, Sankarshana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha).

The last chapter of the Mudgala Upanishad says

Hence the correct explanation of Purusha Sukta must not be preached to the ones who are not Vaishnavas.

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Now, what about the Puranic statements of Purusha Sukta being used in Shiva's worship and Shiva's matching descriptions with the Purusha?

This can be explained as well. The Linga Purana says

प्रत्येकमश्वमेधस्य यज्ञस्य सममुच्यते ।
य एकः पुरुषः श्रेष्ठः परमात्मा जनार्दनः ।। (Linga Purana 2.1.7)

The remembrance of Nārāyaṇa, his worship, the devoted obeisance to him—every one of these holy rites is on a par with the horse-sacrifice. Janārdana alone is that excellent Puruṣa who is the Paramātma.

Hence Vishnu alone is the Maha Purusha. We have an explanation regarding Shiva and even Brahma sometimes being attributed the characteristics of the supreme purusha.

In the same manner in which the many Purushas are said to have one origin in the Supreme Purusha, it may be said that this entire universe is identical with that one Purusha of superior attributes. I shall explain this now, after bowing to my preceptor Vyasa, that foremost of Rishis, who is conversant with the soul, endued with penances, self-restrained, and worthy of reverent worship. The Purusha Sukta, O king, occurs in all the Vedas. It is well known to be identical with Rita and Truth.

-Mahabharata, Santi Parva, Chapter 351

Hence many Purushas are born from the Maha Purusha and that's why they can be identical with him as they have him as their soul. Now who is this Maha Purusha? Brahma explains this to Shiva in the next chapter.

Some persons possessed of learning speak of him as the supreme soul. Others regarded him as the one soul. A third class of learned men describe him as the soul. 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. He is never affected by the fruits of acts even as the leaf of the lotus is never drenched by the water one may throw upon it.

-Mahabharata, Santi Parva, Chapter 352

Hence wherever the Purusha Sukta is being attributed to other Devatas, it doesn't mean that the Sukta belongs to them. We can come across many places where Shiva, Brahma, Surya and even Devi Lalita were worshipped with this Sukta. But as explained by Mahabharata it belongs to the Maha Purusha who is none other Hari who is the inner soul of everyone.

Otherwise it contradicts Sruti that strictly restricts the preaching of the Purusha Sukta's meaning to Non-Vaishnavas.

What is Purusha Sukta?

 The Purusha Suktam is hymn 10.90 of the Rigveda, dedicated to the Purusha, the "Cosmic Being". That Supreme Being is none other than Srīman Nārāyana as the Bhagavata Purana and the Māhābhārata boldly proclaim. I will provide the proofs regarding this at the end.

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.

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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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