responsible for supervising the other
sacrificing priests, such as the rtvij
and the hotr, and for making sure that
the animal sacrificeswere completed
without error. The purohit would often
be attached to a particular ruler and
was also called to perform rites for
communal well-being. In modern times
this latter meaning has persisted, the
word is often used to denote one’s family
priest, who will perform various rituals
for the family.
Pururavas
In Hindu mythology, a prominent king
of a royal lineage who trace their ances-
try to the moon. Pururavas is a righteous
king who performs one hundred horse
sacrifices(ashvamedha), and the merit
from these gives him great power. He is
best known for his dalliance with the
celestial nymph (apsara) Urvashi, by
whom he has several children. Although
the two are forced to spend sixty years
apart because of a curse, in the end they
are happily reunited.
Purusha
(“person”) One of the two fundamental
first principles in the Samkhyaphilo-
sophical school, the other one being
prakrti(“nature”). Samkhya upholds an
atheistic philosophical dualism in
which the twin principles of purusha
and prakrti—roughly, spirit and
nature—are the source of all things.
Purusha is conceived as conscious but
completely inactive and unchanging. It
is the passive witness to the myriad
transformations of prakrti going on
around it, and as the source of con-
sciousness purusha is ultimately identi-
fied with a person’s true Self (atman).
Thus purusha is inferred as plural, given
the plurality of conscious beings and
the fact that one person can gain final
enlightenment while all the rest remain
in bondage. According to the Samkhyas,
the ultimate source of bondage lies in
people’s failure to distinguish between
purusha and prakrti and in identifying
the Self with the latter rather than the
former. For further information see
Gerald Larson and Ram Shankar
Bhattacharya (eds.), Samkhya, 1987;
and Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan and
Charles A. Moore (eds.), A Sourcebook in
Indian Philosophy, 1957.Purushartha
The Aims of Life, traditionally num-
bered at four: material wealth and
power (artha), pleasure (kama), reli-
gious duty (dharma), and final libera-
tion (moksha). All of these were seen as
legitimate goals in traditional Hindu
society. See Aims of Life.Purusha Sukta
(“Hymn to the Primeval Man”) The most
common name for the hymn in the Rg
Ve d a(10.90) that describes the creation
of the material and social world as the
result of a primordial sacrifice.
According to the text, in the beginning
there was one primeval man, who was
dismembered in sacrifice. Different
parts of his body became different parts
of the physical universe, as well as the
four traditional major social groups
(varnas): the brahminscame from the
primeval man’s mouth, the kshatriyas
from his shoulders, the vaishyasfrom
his thighs (a common euphemism for
the genitals), and the shudrasfrom his
feet. This hymn clearly reflects the sacri-
ficial paradigm that was so central to the
later Brahmanaliterature, and is thus
believed to be one of the latest hymns in
the Rg Veda. It is also notable for giving
the first known articulation of the four
varnas, as well as the symbolic functions
associated with each: for brahmins,
speech and the authority of the sacred
word; for kshatriyas, protection and
military valor; for vaishyas, generation
and production, and for shudras, service
to others.Purushottama Mas
Religious observance that occurs when
the intercalary monthfalls during thePururavas