Purushottama

"Purushottama" (Sanskrit: पुरुषोत्तम from पुरुष, purusha "spirit" or "male" and उत्तम, uttama, "highest") meaning "Supreme Purusha", "Supreme Being", "Supreme God". It means "Foremost Amongst All Men" in Sanskrit. Its symbolic deeper meaning is "One who is the Supreme Purusha beyond the Kshara (Destroyable i.e. Prakṛti) and Akshara (Undestroyable i.e. Atman)". Purushottama is also one of the names of Lord Vishnu and appears as 24th name of Lord Vishnu in Vishnu Sahasranama of Mahabharata. According to the Bhagavad Gita, Purushottam is explained as above and beyond kshar and akshar purushas or as an omnipotent cosmic being. The Purushottama was explained by the Integral philosopher Haridas Chaudhuri (1913–1975) as representing that ineffable phenomenon which lies even beyond the undifferentiated Godhead. Lord Rama as an avatara of Lord Vishnu is called Maryada Purushottama where as Lord Krishna as an avatara of Lord Vishnu is known as Leela or Purushottama.

For the 1992 Indian film, see Purushotthama (film).

Purushottam is often misinterpreted as "Foremost Amongst All Men". The right word for this in literature is "Narottam" which is used for Arjun in Mahabharat.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.