34 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
“From his eastern mouth Brahma formed the Gayatri, the ric verses,
the trivrit, the sama-rathantara and of sacrifices, the agnistoma. From his
southern mouth he created the yajus verses, the trishtubh metre, the panchadasa stoma, the brihatsaman, and the ukthya. From his western
mouth he formed the saman verses, the jagati metre, the saptadasa stoma,
the Vairupa, and the atiratra. From his northern mouth he formed the
ekavimsa, the atharvan, the aptoryaman with the anushtubh and viraj
metres.”
The Harivamsa has another way of explanining the origin of the Vedas. According to it: [1]
“The god fashioned the Rig Veda with the Yajus from his eyes, the Sama
Veda from the tip of his tongue, and the Atharvan from his head.”
Assuming that for some reason the author of the Purusha Sukta could not avoid using the body of the Creator and its different parts for explaining the origin and the relation of the four classes, the question still remains as to why he chose to equate the different parts of the Purusha to the different classes in the manner in which he does.
The importance of this question is considerably heightened when one realizes that the Purusha Sukta is not the only instance in which the different parts of the body of the Creator are used as illustrations to explain the origin of the different classes in society. The same explanation is given by the sage Vaishampayana to explain the origin of the various classes of priests employed in the performance of sacrifices. But what a difference is there between the two! The explanation of Vaishampayana which is reported in the Harivamsa reads as follows : [2]
“Thus the glorious Lord Hari Narayana, covering the entire waters, slept on the world which had become one sea, in the midst of the vast expanse of fluid (rajas), resembling a mighty ocean, himself free from passion (virajaskah), with mighty arms; Brahmans know him as the undecaying. Invested through austere fervour with the light of his own form and clothed with triple time (past, present and future) the lord then slept. Purushottama (Vishnu) is whatever is declared to be the highest. Purusha the sacrifice, and everything else which is known by the name of Purusha. Here how the Brahmins devoted to sacrifice, and called ritvijas, were formerly produced by him from his own body for offering sacrifices. The Lord created from his mouth the Brahman, who is the chief, and the udgatri, who chants the Saman, from his arms the hotri and the adhvaryu . He then... created the prastotri, the maitravaruna, and the pratishthatri, from his belly the pratiharti and the potri, from his thighs the achhavaka and the neshtri, from his hands the agnidhra and the sacrificial brahmanya, from his arms the gravan and the sacrificial unnetri. Thus did the divine Lord of the
1 Muir, Vol. ID, p. 13.
2 Muir, Vol. I, pp. 154-155