[Advaita-l] Hreem and Purusha Suktam

[Sriram Sankaranarayanan]

Namaskarams all


I have heard the following contradicting statements in informal discussions with Namboothiris in Kerala and Iyers in Tamil Nadu. Can somebody explain where the shastras are on?


The question is - "Whom does the beejaakshara 'hreem' refer to?" 


I have heard Iyers says that it refers to Goddess Lakshmi, due to Devi Mahatmyam. Here the first charitam (for Kali) is ended with chanting "aim om", second charitam (for Lakshmi) is ended with chanting "hreem om" and the third charitam (for Saraswathi) is ended with chanting "kleem om". 


Quite contrary to that, the namboothiris seem to be of the opinion that all three beejakshara refer primarily to kaali (As in the consort of Shiva). So much so that they even chant "Om hreem Namashivaya"! I even heard a namboothiri saying that Purushasuktam line "Hree: cha te Lakshmee: cha patnyau" - where Hree refers to Kali, and Lakshmi to Lakshmi herself. Thus Purusha Suktam, which is a hymn to parabrahman, accepts both Shiva and Vishnu as parabrahman.


But, should we adopt the argument I heard from the Tamil community, doesn't it somehow fix Purusha Suktam as a Vishnu stuti? And what is the standard rebuttal to that?


Namaskarams
Sriram