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Purushottama ( sa, पुरुषोत्तम, from पुरुष, ''purusha'' "spirit" or "male" and उत्तम, ''uttama'', "highest") is an epithet of the
Hindu
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
preserver deity, Vishnu. According to Vaishnavism, Vishnu is the source of moksha, the liberator of sins, the fount of knowledge, and the highest of all beings.
Etymology
The epithet means the "Supreme Purusha", " Supreme Being," or "Supreme God". It has alternatively also been put forth to mean: "One who is the Supreme Purusha, beyond the ''kshara'' (destructible — i.e., Prakṛti), and ''akshara'' (indestructible — i.e.,Atman Atman or Ātman may refer to:
Film
* ''Ātman'' (1975 film), a Japanese experimental short film directed by Toshio Matsumoto
* ''Atman'' (1997 film), a documentary film directed by Pirjo Honkasalo
People
* Pavel Atman (born 1987), Russian hand ...
)".
Literature
Purushottama is one of the names of Vishnu, and appears as the 24th name of the deity in the Vishnu Sahasranama of the Mahabharata. Rama as an avatara of Vishnu is called Maryada Purushottama, whereas Krishna as an avatara of Vishnu is known as Leela Purushottama.Bhagavad Gita
TheBhagavad Gita
The Bhagavad Gita (; sa, श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता, lit=The Song by God, translit=śrīmadbhagavadgītā;), often referred to as the Gita (), is a 700- verse Hindu scripture that is part of the epic ''Mahabharata'' (c ...
invokes this epithet in its verses:
Harivamsha
In the Harivamsha, Brahma refers to Vishnu by this epithet before the events of the Samudra Manthana:Garuda Purana
The epithet is featured in the Vishnu Panjaram, amantram
A mantra (Pali: ''manta'') or mantram (मन्त्रम्) is a sacred utterance, a numinous sound, a syllable, word or phonemes, or group of words in Sanskrit, Pali and other languages believed by practitioners to have religious, ma ...
to the deity:
Purushottama was explained by the philosopher Haridas Chaudhuri (1913–1975) as representing that ineffable phenomenon that lies even beyond the undifferentiated Godhead.
See also
* Vishnu Sahasranama *Parameshvara
Vatasseri Parameshvara Nambudiri ( 1380–1460) was a major Indian mathematician and astronomer of the Kerala school of astronomy and mathematics founded by Madhava of Sangamagrama. He was also an astrologer. Parameshvara was a proponent of ob ...
* Mahadevi
Mahadevi ( sa, महादेवी, ), also referred to as Adi Parashakti, Adi Shakti, and Abhaya Shakti, is the supreme goddess in the Shaktism sect of Hinduism. According to this tradition, all Hindu goddesses are considered to be manifesta ...
References
Sources
* * God in Hinduism Hindu gods Hindu philosophical concepts Forms of Krishna Rigvedic deities {{Hindu-philo-stub