THE SIXTEENFOLD PERSON
In the Vedic tradition, the heliosphere was viewed as the celestial embodiment of a sixteenfold person: the sodashi-kala-purusha (the soul with sixteen aspects). This person represents the more expanded self of the sun, which extends to embrace the entire solar world.
In this regard, the heliosphere may be viewed as the celestial body of the sixteenfold solar person.Like the twelvefold person in the sun, this sixteenfold person was viewed as a celestial god who from the very beginning has presided over the evolution of human life. This implies that the body of the heliosphere, like the body of the sun, should represent a standard cosmological body whose overall dimensions are related more or less ideally to the layers of the metaphysical Logos.
The sixteen aspects of this expanded solar person correspond to the first sixteen layers above the half measure—which the Vedic seers divided into four sets of four layers each. These were called the four quarters (padas) of the sixteenfold purusha. The famous “hymn to the soul” (purusha sukta) in the Rig Veda tells us that three of these quarters attained great immortality, while the other quarter is cyclical and remained behind to support the birth and death of all mortal beings. The three quarters that attained great immortality correspond to the first twelve layers above the half measure, which support the inner circle of the sun itself, and the quarter that remained behind corresponds to the subsequent four layers, which support the cyclical orbits of the planets around the sun. As described by the text, these planets serve to support the birth and death of all mortal beings.