Upanishads · Aitareya 1,1.3
॥
Devanāgarī
सः ईक्षत इमे नु लोकाः लोकपालान् नु सृजा इति सः अद्भ्यः एव पुरुषम् समुद्धृत्य अमूर्च्छयत्
Transliteration (IAST)
saḥ īkṣata ime nu lokāḥ lokapālān nu sṛjā iti saḥ adbhyaḥ eva puruṣam samuddhṛtya amūrcchayat
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
सःsaḥHe; that one
ईक्षतīkṣatabeheld; considered
इमेimethese; the present
नुnunow; then
लोकाःlokāḥworlds; realms
लोकपालान्lokapālānguardians of the worlds (loka-pāla); wardens of the worlds; world-keepers
नुnunow; then
सृजाsṛjālet Me create; let Me bring forth
इतिitithus; so saying
सःsaḥHe; that one
अद्भ्यःadbhyaḥfrom the waters (ap); out of the moisture; from the primal waters
एवevaprecisely; verily
पुरुषम्puruṣamthe Puruṣa; the man
समुद्धृत्यsamuddhṛtyahaving drawn up (sam-ud-√dhṛ — 'to lift out of'); having scooped out; having raised
अमूर्च्छयत्amūrcchayatgave him form (from √mūrch — 'to congeal'); solidified him; shaped him
Translation
He beheld: "Here are the worlds; let Me now create guardians of the worlds!" And, having drawn the Puruṣa out of the waters, He gave him form.
Version
03fc1a6db1c8 · published Jul 26, 2026, 7:36:16 PM UTC
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The Creator's second look: the worlds are empty — lokapālāḥ are needed, "guardians of the worlds": a universe without conscious beings is unfinished; the cosmos requires wardens and inhabitants. And the manner of their creation is profound: sa adbhya eva puruṣaṁ samuddhṛtya amūrcchayat — "out of the waters He drew the Puruṣa and congealed him": out of those very primal waters that rim the universe a human form is drawn up (sam-ud-√dhṛ — "to lift out of") and "thickened" (√mūrch — "to congeal"): man is scooped out of the ocean of the unmanifest like a lump of clay out of a river.
Note the order, which runs against expectation: it is not the gods who create man — man (the Puruṣa-form) is created before the gods, as their future home! The following verses will show it: out of this form the deities themselves will issue (fire from the mouth, the sun from the eyes), only to ask afterwards to be let back in. The human shape is the primary matrix, on which even the divine is cut.
Herein lies the loftiest anthropology of the Vedas: puruṣa is not a late product of the evolution of worlds but the Creator's second design (after the worlds themselves), drawn out by His own hands. The dignity of the human form is no self-conceit of the species: it is written into the order of creation.