PURUSHA: Hinduism refers to Purusha as Brahma(n), the Soul of the universe, the universal Spirit present everywhere, in everything and everyone, all the times.
Other meaning: the Soul within any individual living being a part of the Supreme Soul (Paramatman).
Other meaning: the male (man) is commonly called Purusha as the female (woman) is commonly called Prakriti.
Notes from Kisari Mohan Ganguli in the Mahabharata translation:
- The literal meaning of Purusha, as applied to the Supreme Being, is 'One that pervades all forms in
the Universe.'
- The several stages, as mentioned in those verses (The Mahabharata, Book 12: Santi Parva: Mokshadharma Parva: Section CCXVII), are as follows: Superior to the senses are their objects. Superior to the objects is the mind.Superior to the mind is the understanding. Superior to the understanding is the Soul. Superior to the Soul is the Unmanifest. Superior to the Unmanifest is Purusha (Brahman). There is nothing above Purusha.
- Purusha is full; as applied to Narayana, it, of course, means one who has no defect but who is the sole representative of fullness.
"Brahma said, 'O son, many are those Purushas of whom thou speakest. The one Purusha, however, of
whom I am thinking, transcends all Purushas and is invisible. The many Purushas that exist in the
universe have that one Purusha as their basis; and since that one Purusha is said to be the source
whence all the innumerable Purushas have sprung, hence all the latter, if they succeed in divesting
themselves of attributes, become competent to enter into that one Purusha who is identified with the
universe, who is supreme, who is the foremost of the foremost, who is eternal, and who is himself
divested of and is above all attributes."
The Mahabharata, Book 12: Santi Parva: Section CCCIV (extract):
After the same manner, Purusha (or Soul), though without attributes himself, has his existence affirmed in
consequence of the acts which the body does when it receives his reflection. Although the Soul is not
subject to modifications of any kind and is the active principle that sets Prakriti in motion, yet entering a
body that is united with the senses of knowledge and action, he regards all the acts of those senses as his
own.
The Mahabharata, Book 12: Santi Parva: Section CCCVII (extract):
The Supreme Being is all that remains when Universal Destruction takes place, and it is He that assumes
multifarious forms when Creation starts into life. This is even so, O king, as ascertained by men of
knowledge. It is Prakriti that causes the Overpresiding Purusha to thus assume diversity and revert back
to unity.
The Mahabharata, Book 12: Santi Parva: Section CCCVII (extract):
The Unmanifest is called Kshetra. Sattwa (understanding), and also Iswara (the supreme Lord), while Purusha, which is the twenty-fifth principle has nothing superior to it and is not a principle (for it transcends all principles and is only called a principle conventionally).
The Mahabharata, Book 12: Santi Parva: Section CCCVIII (extract):
Listen now to me as I tell thee what is Vidya (knowledge) and what is Avidya (Ignorance), one after the other. The learned say that Prakriti, which is fraught with the attributes of Creation and Destruction, is called Avidya; while Purusha, who is freed from the attributes of Creation and Destruction and who transcends the four and twenty topics or principles, is called Vidya.
The Mahabharata, Book 12: Santi Parva: Section CCCXLVIII (extract):
Listen now, O best of kings, to me as I narrate to thee how the Destruction is brought about of all things. At first, the element of Earth becomes merged in Water and nothing then is seen save one vast expanse of Water on all sides. Water then merges into Heat, and Heat into Wind. Wind then merges into Space, which in its turn, merges into Mind. Mind merges into the Manifest (otherwise called Consciousness or Ego). The
Manifest merges into the Unmanifest (or Prakriti). The Unmanifest (or Prakriti) merges into Purusha
(Jivatman) and Purusha merges into the Supreme Soul (or Brahman).
