Mahabhuta
Mahābhūta (IAST)Translation: "The Great Elements"
A Concise Dictionary of Indian Philosophy
Sanskrit: महाभूत
Transliteration: Mahābhūta
Translation: "the five great elements"
Definition: "They are ether (Ākāśa), which emerges from sound (Śabda); air (Vāyu), which emerges from touch (Sparśa); fire (Tejas), which emerges from color (Rūpa); water (Ap), which emerges from taste (Rasa); and earth (Pṛthvī), which emerges from smell (Gandha). These five gross elements emerge from the subtle essences of the elements (Tanmātras).
The Serpent Power (Arthur Avalon)
"From the Śabda Tanmātra and from the combinations of the latter with the other Tanmātra are produced the gross Bhūta (Mahābhūta), which as things of physical magnitude perceivable by the senses approach the Western definition of discrete sensible "matter". These five Mahābhūta are Ākāśa (Ether), Vāyu (Air), Tejas (Fire), Apas (Water) and Pṛthvī (Earth). Their development takes place from the Tanmātra, from one unit of that which is known in sensible matter as mass (Tamas), charged with energy (Rajas) by the gradual accretion of mass and redistribution of energy. The result of this is that each Bhūta is more gross than that which precedes it until "Earth" is reached. These five Bhūta have no connection with the English "elements" so called, nor, indeed, are they elements at all, being derived from the Tanmātra. Dynamically and objectively considered they are (proceeding from Ākāśa) said to be five forms of motion, into which Prakṛti differentiates itself" viz., non-obstructive, all-directed motion radiating lines of force in all directions, symbolized as the "Hairs of Śiva" affording the space (Ākāśa) in which the other forces operate; transverse motion and locomotion in space (Vāyu); upward motion giving rise to expansion (Tejas); downward motion giving rise to contraction (Apas); and that motion which produces cohesion, its characteristic of obstruction being the opposite of the non-obstructive ether in which it exists and from which it and other Tattva spring. The first is sensed by hearing through its quality (Guṇa) of sound (Śabda); the second by touch through resistance and feeling; the third by sight as color; the fourth by taste through flavor; and the fifth by the sense of smell through its odor, which is produced by matter only in so far as it partakes of the solid state.
The hard and stable obstructive "earth" is that which is smelt, tasted, seen, and touched, and which exists in space which is known by hearing — that is, the sounds in it. The smooth "water" is that which is tasted, seen, and touched in space. "Fire" is what is seen and touched — that is, felt as temperature — in space. "Air" is what is so felt in space. And sound which is heard is that by which the existence of the "Ether" is known. These Bhūta when compounded make up the material universe. Each thing therein being thus made of all the Bhūta, we find in the Tantras that form, color and sound, are related, a truth which is of deep ritual significance. Thus, each of the sounds of speech or music has a corresponding form, which have now been made visible to the eye by the Phonoscope. Thus, the deaf may perceive sounds by the eye just as, by the Optophone the blind may read by means of the ear.
In the same Śāstra, various colors and figures (Mandalas) are assigned to the Tattva to denote them. Ākāśa is represented by a transparent white circular diagram in which, according to some accounts, there are dots (Chhidra = hole), thus displaying the interstices which Ākāśa produces; for Ākāśa, which is all-pervading, intervenes between each of the Tattva which are evolved from it.
Vāyu is denoted by a smoky grey, six-cornered diagram; Tejas, red, triangular diagram; Apas, white, crescent-shaped diagram; and Pṛthvī, yellow, quadrangular diagram which; as the superficial presentation of the cube, well denotes the notion of solidity. Similarly, to each Devatā also there is assigned a Yantra, or diagram, which is a suggestion of the form assumed by the evolving Prakṛti or body of that particular Consciousness.
The gross body is, then, a combination of the compounds of those Mahābhūta, derivable from the Ākāśa ("Ether") Tattva.
The Bhūta and the Tanmātra, as parts of these compounds, pervade the body, but particular Bhūta are said to have centers of force in particular regions. Thus the centers (Cakra) of "Earth" and "Water" are the two lower ones in the trunk of the body. Fire predominates in the central abdominal region, and "Air" and "Ether" in the two higher centers in the heart and throat. These five Tanmātra, five Bhūta, and the ten senses (Indriya) which perceive them, are known as the twenty gross Tattva which are absorbed in Yoga in the centers of the bodily trunk. The remaining four subtle mental Tattva (Buddhi, Ahaṅkāra, Manas) and Prakṛti have their special centers of activity in the head. Again, the Bhūta may be specially displayed in other portions of the bodily organism. Thus, Pṛthvī displays itself as bone or muscles; Apas as urine and saliva; Tejas as hunger and thirst; Vāyu in grasping and walking. Fire is manifold, its great mystery being saluted by many names. So Tejas manifests both as light and heat, for, as Helmholtz say, the same object may effect the senses in different ways. The same ray of sunshine, which is called light when it falls on the eyes, is called heat when it falls on the skin. Agni manifests in the household and umbilical fires; as Kamagni in the Mūladhara center; in Vadava or submarine fire and in the "Lightning" of the Suṣumnā in the spinal column.
Matter thus exists in the five states etheric, aerial, fiery, fluid, and solid. Pṛthvī does not denote merely what is popularly called "Earth". All solid (Parthiva) odorous substance is in the Pṛthvī state. All substance in the fluid (Apya) state is in the Apas state, as everything which has cohesive resistance is in that of Pṛthvī. This latter, therefore, is the cohesive vibration, the cause of solidity, of which the common earth is a gross compounded form. All matter in the aerial (Vayava) condition is in the Vāyu state. These are all primary differentiations of cosmic matter into a universe of subtly fine motion. The Tattva regarded objectively evoke in the Indriya smell, taste, sight, touch, and hearing.
The gross body is thus a combination of compounds of these Mahābhūta, derivable ultimately from Ether (Ākāśa), itself evolved in manner described."
References:
- Grimes, John (1996). A Concise Dictionary of Indian Philosophy: Sanskrit Terms Defined in English. Albany: State University of New York Press
- Avalon, Arthur (1950). The Serpent Power: Being the Shat-Chakra-Nirūpana and Pādukā-Panchakā. Adyar, Madras: Ganesh & Co. (Madras) Ltd. p. 69-73.
