- 1
सहस्रशीर्षा पुरुषः सहस्राक्षः सहस्रपात् । स भूमिं विश्वतो वृत्वात्यतिष्ठद्दशाङुलम् ॥१॥
The purusha (universal being) has thousand heads, thousand eyes and thousand feet. Thousand signifies innumerable which points to the omnipresence of the universal being. He envelops the world from all sides i.e. he pervades each part of the creation, and extends beyond in the ten directions represented by ten fingers.
- 2
पुरुष एवेदं सर्वं यद्भूतं यच्च भव्यम् । उतामृतत्वस्येशानो यदन्नेनातिरोहति ॥२॥
The purusha is indeed all this (creation) in essence; that which existed in the past, and that which will exist in the future, everything i.e the whole creation is woven by the immortal essence of the great lord (purusha); by becoming food of which (i.e. by getting consumed in whose immortal essence through surrender) one transcends the gross world and becomes immortal.
- 3
एतावानस्य महिमातो ज्यायाँश्च पूरुषः । पादोऽस्य विश्वा भूतानि त्रिपादस्यामृतं दिवि ॥३॥
The purusha is greater than all the greatness which can be expressed by words. His one part has become all these (visible) worlds, and his three parts rest in the immortal world of the transcendence.
- 4
त्रिपादूर्ध्व उदैत्पूरुषः पादोऽस्येहाभवत्पुनः । ततो विष्वङ् व्यक्रामत्साशनानशने अभि ॥४॥
The three parts of the purusha is high above (in transcendental realm), and his one part becomes the creation again and again. There, in the creation, he pervades all the living ( who eats ) and the non-living ( who does not eat ) beings.
- 5
तस्माद्विराळजायत विराजो अधि पूरुषः । स जातो अत्यरिच्यत पश्चाद्भूमिमथो पुरः ॥५॥
From purusha was born the virat; (the virat came into being) from the presence of the shining purusha (who remained as the background or substratum of virat); he (i.e. the virat) created the earth, by manifesting her from his own being as substratum.