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Sacrifice of Purusha: The Impure Man

Excerpt from Rigveda

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Statue of Nataraja, who trampled on Purusha. at the Metropolitan Museum in New York (rosemanios/Flickr)
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Statue of Nataraja, who trampled on Purusha. at the Metropolitan Museum in New York (rosemanios/Flickr)

Excerpt from Rigveda

An excerpt of Rigveda, an early Indian text in translation relating to social structure and the caste system in India.

 

…When they divided the Man, into how many parts did they apportion him? What do they call his mouth, his two arms and thighs and feet? His mouth became the Brahmin; his arms were made into the Kshatriya [warrior], his thighs the Vaishya [merchants], and from his feet the Shudras [servants] were born.

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