Mandukya_Upanishad

the Virāt, or the Universal Person, who is sung in thePuruṣha-Sūkta of the Veda. This is the Virāt whom Arjunasaw, as described in the eleventh chapter of the Bhagavad-Gītā. This is the Virāt who was exhibited in the Kauravacourt, by Sri Kriṣhna, when He went for peace-making. Thisis the Virāt which Yaśoda saw in the mouth of the babyKriṣhna. This is the Cosmic Man, nahapuruṣha,purushottama, Virāt-puruṣha. He is also called Vaiśvānara,from the term viśvā-nara. Viśva is the cosmos; nara is man.He is called Vaiśvānara, because He is the Cosmic Man, theonly Man in the whole cosmos. There is only one Man, andHe is this. We are reminded here of the opinion of saintMīrā who is reported to have said that there is only onepuruṣha: There are not many men in this world. There isonly one Man, and this is the Man: He is Vaiśvānara.This is the cosmic description of the Virāt-puruṣha, andthe Virāt is a name that we give to Consciousness asanimating the physical universe. Just as we haveconsciousness animating our physical body, there is aConsciousness animating the physical universe. This vastcosmos; with all its stellar and planetary systems, with all itsmilky ways, with all its space-time and causal laws, is thephysical cosmos, and this is animated by a Consciousness,just as our bodies are animated. This animatingConsciousness is the antaryāmin, so called because of Hisbeing immanent in all things, hidden behind all things,secretly present in everything, whether conscious orunconscious. For this Virāt-puruṣha, there is no differencebetween living being and dead matter. There is no suchthing as inorganic substance and biological stuff, the53