The Puruṣa Sūktam (Ṛg Veda 10.90; also present in Yajur Veda and Atharva Veda with additional verses) is one of the most revered hymns of the entire Vedic corpus. In sixteen mantras it hymns the Puruṣa — the cosmic Person of a thousand heads, a thousand eyes, a thousand feet — who pervades the universe and transcends it, and from whose self-offering (yajña) all creation emerged: the Vedas, the castes, the sun and moon, the gods, and all living beings.
In Viśiṣṭādvaita theology, the Puruṣa Sūktam is read as a direct revelation that Nārāyaṇa is the supreme being who is simultaneously immanent (sarvātman) and transcendent (puruṣottama). The famous line pādosya viśvā bhūtāni tripādasyāmṛtaṃ divi — “a quarter of him is all beings; three quarters are immortal in the heavens“ — is interpreted as affirming that the bound universe (experiencing beings) is only a fragment of Bhagavān's infinite glory, whose essential nature remains eternally in Śrī Vaikuṇṭham.
The Puruṣa Sūktam, together with the Śrī Sūktam (Ṛg Veda Khila, hymning Śrī Lakṣmī) and the Nārāyaṇa Sūktam (Taittirīya Āraṇyaka 10.13), forms the mūla-sukta-trayam of Śrī Vaiṣṇava worship. These three are chanted in daily pūjā, at temple consecrations, during abhiṣekam, and in every major utsava. Their recitation is not merely liturgical but constitutes a meditative act of beholding Bhagavān's sovranty.