The Rig Veda X.90 and the White Yajur Veda Ch.31

Purusha is explained in the Nirukta as one resting within the body (puri-shaya) or one pervading (filling) the cosmos.

Thousand heads has the Purusha,

So too He has thousand eyes and thousand feet;

Pervading earth on all sides (spanning 10 directions)

and heart measuring ten fingers (spanning 10 senses).

He yet exceeds all, within and without. …1

Purusha verily is all this that exists (in this creation),

What had been (in past creations) or would be (in future creations).

He exceeds the body that grows with food.

Indeed, the Lord of Immortality He is! …2

Such (aforesaid) is His pre-eminence,

Greater still stands the Purusha.

A quarter of Him is all beings that could have been;

Three quarters of Him sits immortal in heaven. …3

‘A quarter’ could be explained as the first quarter (waking state) of the Mandukya Upanishad.

With immortal three quarters, Purusha sits above.

His one quarter alone manifests here again and again.

He pervades all spaces and becomes all beings

That eat and eat not (i.e. worldly and liberated ones). …4

‘Three quarters’ possibly refer to the three immutables: Brahma (Universal Consciousness), Jīva (limited individual) and Prakriti (Nature).

From Him (or His Prakriti), Virāt [Hiranyagarbha] emerged,

Still Purusha is the sovereign

For He exceeds His creations.

Next, appeared the creations, both terrestrial and corporeal. …5

The Yajña that gods performed with offerings of Purusha [He being all this];

Spring was its purified butter, summer its fagots, autumn its oblation. …6

Contemplating First-born Purusha (primeval source) in heart or sacrifice,

Gods, Rishis and perfected ones (sādhyas) venerated Him as Yajña (= Venerable). …7

From Venerable Purusha invoked by all,

There appeared the edible foods.

He created animals and birds

And what are domestic and wild. …8

From Venerable Purusha invoked by all,

Issued forth the Rik and Sāma hymns.

From Him issued the Atharva hymns,

So too from Him issued the Yajus hymns. …9

Rik, Sāma and Yajus also signify the speech, life-breath and mind. (YV 36.1)

From Him were born the horses (or energy)

And also cattle with two rows of teeth (or senses behaving dually).

From Him were born the cows,

From Him were the sheep and goats born. …10

In what ways was conceived the stated Purusha!

What formed His mouth, the arms, the thighs? What to call His feet? …11

Brahmin (priest) was His mouth; arms were made the warrior (kshatriya);

His thighs are the merchants; from feet were born the menial workers. …12

From His mind, the Moon was born; from His eye, the Sun;

From His mouth, Indra and Agni were born;

From His breath, the Wind (Vāyu). …13

From His navel, the space (mid-region) emerged;

From His head, the heavens emerged;

From His feet, the Earth; from His ears, the directions;

Thus the worlds were conceived. …14

Seven are the boundaries, and twenty-one are the fuel-sticks:

In the Yajña with Purusha as its subject,

Spread out by the gods [in the beginning]. …15

With Yajña (offerings of Purusha),

The gods worshipped the Yajña Purusha

(Venerable One manifesting all and still exceeding);

These verily became the primary dicta (dharmas)

[like Brahmacharya, or treating all as Brahma (Purusha)].

Those gods became eminent ones and attained the highest heaven (nāka)

Where former gods and perfected ones together inhabit. …16

I know this Purusha of gigantic dimensions,

Golden like our celestial Sun, in striking contrast to darkness (tamas);

Knowing Him alone, one can surpass death;

Alternative course there exists none. (YV 31.18)