Introduction to Purusha Suktam

Where is the Purusha Suktam in the Vedas?

Hindu religious sources are classified as ``Sruti'' or ``smRti''. Sruti -- that which is heard -- is of the nature of divine revelation. We believe that the Vedas, hymns composed by seers and sages beginning as best as we can date them in 3000 BC, were sung under divine inspiration. This is why they are Sruti. These sages ``heard'' them as the voice of the Divine.

Only two bodies of hymns are recognized as divinely composed. One being the Vedas, and the other, the Thiruvaaymozhi of Kaari Maaran Sadagopan, or Sri Nammaazhvaar, which are recognized as equivalent to the 4 Vedas in the Ubhaya Vedanta school, the Sri Vaishnava tradition. The six compositions of Kaliyan Neelan, or Sri Thirumangai Aazhvaar, are recognized as the 6 vedAngas.

[Note: ubhaya vedAnta refers to the twofold vedAnta, seen through the two eyes of the Sanskrit Upanishads and the Tamil Divya Prabandham. They are of paramount and equal authority to Sri Vaishnavas.]
SmRti is that which is remembered, and includes a large part of the commentary of the Vedas, different Puranas, epics, and other sources.

The Purusha Suktam is one of the Pancha Suktams of the Sri Vaishnava sampradaya or tradition. The other four are the Narayana Suktam, Sri Suktam, Bhu Suktam, and the Nila Suktam.

The Purusha Suktam is seen earliest in the Rg Veda, as the 90th Suktam of its 10th mandalam, with 16 mantrams. Later, it is seen in the Vajasaneyi Samhita of the Shukla Yajur Vedam, the Taittriya Aranyaka of the Krishna Yajur Vedam, the Sama Veda, and the Atharvana Veda, with some modifications and redactions.

In South India, the Purusha Suktam, Vishnu Suktam, Sri Suktam, and Narayana Suktam are generally chanted together in paarayanam.

The Sri Rudram, Purusha Suktam, Upanishads, the Gita, and the Vishnu Sahasra Naamam are also recommended for daily paarayanam - chanting.

Since the Purusha Suktam is seen in all Vedas, it is cited as the essence of all Srutis by Veda Vyasa in the Mahabharata. Saunaka, Apastamba, and Bodhayana have also written concerning the use of the Purusha Suktam.