Purusha
Purusha
Purusha is a name used for more than one thing and idea in the Purāṇas and Itihāsas. Each is listed below with where it is told; choose the one you are looking for.
Things and ideas
- Virāṭ Purusha: the universal form of Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa, the whole universe seen as the body of the one divine Person, taught both as creation and as a meditation. Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 1, Chapter 3; Skandha 2, Chapters 1–2, 5–6, 8–10; Skandha 3, Chapters 6–7, 26; Skandha 8, Chapters 5–6, 20; Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapters 57, 60–63, 65–66; Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 30–31, 61, 377–379
- Prakṛti and Purusha: Purusha as the conscious Person, the pure witness and true Self, beside Prakṛti, the creative power of nature; discernment between the two frees the ātmā. Mahābhārata, Śānti Parva, Mokshadharma Parva, Chapters 302–308, 310–318, 320; Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 3, Chapters 5, 24–29; Skandha 11, Chapters 22, 24–25, 27–28
Named in passing
- Purusha, a varṇa of Krauñca-dvīpa: the first of the four varṇas of Krauñca-dvīpa, told on Krauñca Dvīpa. Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 5, Chapter 20; Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 119
- Purusha, a name of Śrī Hari in the Kṛta yuga: one of the names by which Śrī Hari is worshipped in the Kṛta yuga, told on Nimi and the Nava Yogīśvaras. Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 11, Chapter 5