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The Hindu Temple v1.c4.s4: Purification, Insemination and Levelling of the Site

The Hindu Temple v1.c4.s4

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Purification, Insemination and Levelling of the Site

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Before this can be done the fitness of the soil has to be ascertained by several tests. A pit is dug and the earth which has been taken out is put back again. In a descending degree of its quality, it then either exceeds the pit in quantity, is level with it or lower; or, water is put into the pit over night: the quality of the soil is judged according to the quantity of the water found there in the morning; or, a flame put into the pit burns, or else is extinguished, in the latter instance the soil is unsuitable and has to be abandoned. These and other practical tests are described in the ‘Bṛhat-Saṃhitā’ (LII. 90-92) and elsewhere,³⁰ they are performed after the sound, smell, taste, shape or the consistency and colour have been examined; finally, the fertility of the soil must be tested. The ‘Matsyapurāṇa’ (ch. CCLIII. 12-18), prescribes according to the colour of the soil, white earth for Brāhmaṇas, red for Kṣatriyas, yellow for Vaiśyas, black for Śūdras. The castes and the earth correspond magically to the colours. Then comes an examination of the flavour of the earth, whether sweet, pungent, bitter, astringent, and its suitability is determined in the same ‘hierarchy’. When the suitable land has been acquired and the ground is ploughed, seeds are sown and the quality of the soil is tested according to their germination in 3, 5, or 7 nights, etc., and according to the size of the young plants.³¹ All this is being done to assure oneself of the fitness, and ritual purity of the soil. For the same reason all extraneous matter (śalya, ‘thorns’) has to be removed from the soil,³² so that it does not stand in the way of the divinities who henceforward will be assigned their places; its presence also forebodes evil to the builder and is felt as an uneasiness and local irritation in various parts of his body. Magic is active and divinatory science establishes the correspondence between the soil to be built on and the body of the builder.³³ Either has to be made pure by the respective rites, ready for setting up the temple, beginning each work on an auspicious day, and under a favourable star. The purification of the soil is complete when the ground has been ploughed repeatedly ('Kāśyapaśilpa', I. 42-56), watered, sown and planted with all kinds of grain and when these have flowered and ripened. Then it should be ploughed again. Then the earth is clean ('Viṣṇu-Saṃhitā', XII. 36-42).

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³⁰ The ‘Bhaviṣya Purāṇa’, ch. CXXX. 45-46, prescribes that this pit should be dug in the middle of an area of 4 cubits (hasta) square. Its measure should be 10 aṅgulas (the width of the upper phalange of the thumb) square and one cubit deep.

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³¹ See also ‘Mayamata’, III, IV; ‘Kāśyapaśilpa’, I. 56-57; ‘Mānasāra’, V, etc.

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³² ‘Īśānaśivagurudevapaddhati’, Pt. III, ch. XXVI, 92 f.

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³³ Magic consists of actions expressive of a will for reality. The correspondence is constructed as a token of identity between the soil which will be ‘transubstantiated’ into the body of the Vāstupuruṣa and the person of the patron as Yajamāna or sacrificer. The external signs are a superstition, a residue of the belief in the identity of sacrifice and sacrificer, and with reference to the temple, in the identity of the sacrificial structure and the transformed body of man, the patron.

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At the beginning of the various phases in the construction and consecration of the temple, the "rite of the seeds and their germination" (aṅkurārpaṇa) is most important. It precedes the building of the temple ('Vaikhānasāgama', ch. II) and again the rite is observed before the last brick or stone is put into the superstructure (ib., ch. VIII), and once more prior to the installation of the main image and before the rite of opening its eyes (akṣi-mocana; ib., ch. XI) and also prior to the consecration of the sacrificial vessels (ib., ch. XXIX).³⁴ On the ninth, seventh, fifth or third day, prior to the performance of any of these rites, the seeds of different varieties of rice, kidney-bean, pulse, sesamum, mustard, etc.³⁵ are placed on a copper vessel, in front of Soma, the Moon, Soma, the totality of all oblations, the Lord of germs, the divinity who presides over formation. The 16 vessels used in this rite are circular like the lunar disc, the number corresponds to the digits of the moon, and further lunar symbols pervade this rite.³⁶ Their potency is given to the plants as they grow, to each variety in due season.

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³⁴ Also 'Vaikhānasāgama', ch. XIII. 'Without the rite 'aṅkurārpaṇa', all rites performed are futile' (ib., ch. XXX).

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³⁵ Or also of barley, wheat and other alternatives.

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³⁶ 'Vaikhānasāgama', chs. XXIX, XXX ; sixteen vessels of each kind if the Yajamāna is a Brāhmaṇa but 4 less respectively for a Kṣatriya, Vaiśya and Śūdra.

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Vedic rites introduce and accompany the building of the temple. The ploughing and the sowing of the sacrificial ground with all kinds of grain preceded the piling of the Fire altar (agni-cayana).³⁷ After the introductory libation (prāyaṇīya) of the Soma sacrifice, the altar site was ploughed by twelve oxen, twelve furrows were made and then the seeds were sown. From the making of the Mahāvedi of the Fire altar and the sowing of the sacrificial ground, the rite of auspicious germination (maṅgalāṅkura; 'Kāmikāgama', XXXI. 18, etc.) has remained an indispensable preparation of sacred architecture. "Even as this broad Earth received the germ of all things that be" (AV. V. 25.2), is the Germ (garbha) of the temple deposited in her. The structure of the temple that grows from this Germ absorbs the essence of the earth and transmutes it. Its shape is produced from the power of the earth (bhū); and its form corresponds to the plan laid out on its levelled surface (bhūmi).

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³⁷ 'Kāṇva-Saṃhitā', XX. 3. 4 ; 'Maitrāyaṇīya Saṃhitā', III. 2. 45 ; Ś. B., VII. 2. 2. 1-14.

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The spirits that previously occupied the site have been asked to leave. Tribute has been scattered to them at night and again when they depart before day-break.³⁸ When the ground is tilled, the past ceases to count; under auspicious stars new life is entrusted to the soil and another cycle of production begins, an assurance that ready for setting up the temple, beginning each work on an auspicious day, and under a favourable star. The purification of the soil is complete when the ground has been ploughed repeatedly ('Kāśyapaśilpa', I. 42-56), watered, sown and planted with all kinds of grain and when these have flowered and ripened. Then it should be ploughed again. Then the earth is clean ('Viṣṇu-Saṃhitā', XII. 36-42).

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³⁸ 'Mañjarī', quoted in I. P., Pt., III, Ch. XXVI, 74 f.

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At the beginning of the various phases in the construction and consecration of the temple, the "rite of the seeds and their germination" (aṅkurārpaṇa) is most important. It precedes the building of the temple ('Vaikhānasāgama', ch. II) and again the rite is observed before the last brick or stone is put into the superstructure (ib., ch. VIII), and once more prior to the installation of the main image and before the rite of opening its eyes (akṣi-mocana; ib., ch. XI) and also prior to the consecration of the sacrificial vessels (ib., ch. XXIX).³⁴ On the ninth, seventh, fifth or third day, prior to the performance of any of these rites, the seeds of different varieties of rice, kidney-bean, pulse, sesamum, mustard, etc.³⁵ are placed on a copper vessel, in front of Soma, the Moon, Soma, the totality of all oblations, the Lord of germs, the divinity who presides over formation. The 16 vessels used in this rite are circular like the lunar disc, the number corresponds to the digits of the moon, and further lunar symbols pervade this rite.³⁶ Their potency is given to the plants as they grow, to each variety in due season.

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³⁴ Also 'Vaikhānasāgama', ch. XIII. 'Without the rite 'aṅkurārpaṇa', all rites performed are futile' (ib., ch. XXX).

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³⁵ Or also of barley, wheat and other alternatives.

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³⁶ 'Vaikhānasāgama', chs. XXIX, XXX ; sixteen vessels of each kind if the Yajamāna is a Brāhmaṇa but 4 less respectively for a Kṣatriya, Vaiśya and Śūdra.

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Vedic rites introduce and accompany the building of the temple. The ploughing and the sowing of the sacrificial ground with all kinds of grain preceded the piling of the Fire altar (agni-cayana).³⁷ After the introductory libation (prāyaṇīya) of the Soma sacrifice, the altar site was ploughed by twelve oxen, twelve furrows were made and then the seeds were sown. From the making of the Mahāvedi of the Fire altar and the sowing of the sacrificial ground, the rite of auspicious germination (maṅgalāṅkura; 'Kāmikāgama', XXXI. 18, etc.) has remained an indispensable preparation of sacred architecture. "Even as this broad Earth received the germ of all things that be" (AV. V. 25.2), is the Germ (garbha) of the temple deposited in her. The structure of the temple that grows from this Germ absorbs the essence of the earth and transmutes it. Its shape is produced from the power of the earth (bhū); and its form corresponds to the plan laid out on its levelled surface (bhūmi).

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³⁷ 'Kāṇva-Saṃhitā', XX. 3. 4 ; 'Maitrāyaṇīya Saṃhitā', III. 2. 45 ; Ś. B., VII. 2. 2. 1-14.

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The spirits that previously occupied the site have been asked to leave. Tribute has been scattered to them at night and again when they depart before day-break.³⁸ When the ground is tilled, the past ceases to count; under auspicious stars new life is entrusted to the soil and another cycle of production begins, an assurance that the rhythm of nature has not been interfered with. The sowing of the grain is a final offering to the memory of the spirits who have left the place and gone elsewhere, in peace.³⁹ It is at the same time a first offering in the newly acquired land, so that the temple, the substance of God and his manifestation, might exist. Their germination leads to a fulfilment of all their potentialities. The grain has the nature of the sacrificial essence itself for it is said in the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, from man, the sacrificial victim; this essence passed to the sacrificial animals, it entered into the horse, ox, sheep and goat, and lastly into the earth with its rice and barley, etc. (Ś.B. I. 2.3. 6-7). Their seeds are sown in the earth, they will germinate, grow, ripen and bear fruit on the site where the temple is to arise. The vital assimilation of energies of the soil into the grain and plants is carried further and through vegetation to the cattle on the pasturage. "The Sthapati, the chief architect, should graze cows with bulls and calves on the land till it is stamped down by the cows and homage is paid to it by their breath; its impurities are cleaned away by the bellowing of the bulls; it is washed with the milk and froth dropping from the mouths of the calves, smeared with cowdung, decorated with hoof-prints and fallen cud, scented with bovine odour and purified with sacred waters" ('Mayamata', IV. 4-8). That the cattle stay on the land, ensures its further purification ('Manu Smṛti', V. 124). The whole process of plowing, sowing and reaping, of grazing the cattle on the site of the future temple should be repeated after one year ('Mañjarī', quoted in Ī.P., l.c., 78-f). The plough being consecrated by the touch of the Guru, the chief architect should plough the first three rounds ('Mānasāra', V. 85). The preceptor and the builder perform the rite of ploughing and Śūdras complete the work.

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³⁸ 'Mañjarī', quoted in I. P., Pt., III, Ch. XXVI, 74 f.

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³⁹ Similarly, the axe which is to cut the tree for the sacrificial post is invoked while it is employed: "O axe, hurt it not"; and prior to the fatal blow, a blade of Darbha grass with its point upward is laid on the tree after having uttered the words: "O herb, protect it" (the sacrificial post); (Ś. B., III. 6. 4. 10). Afterwards an offering is made above the cut surface, with the prayer that the tree may grow again with a hundred branches. ('Āpastamba Śrauta-sūtra', VII. 2. 4. and 8).

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Now the earth has been ploughed up repeatedly and has become pure and even, so that it only needs to be finally levelled to be ready for the drawing of the Vāstupuruṣamaṇḍala, the metaphysical plan and forecast of the temple.

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"The ground should be perfectly even all over, like a mirror" (Ī.P., Pt. III. ch. XXVI. 79): Pṛthivī, the Earth, is here the levelled ground from which the temple rises. Her terrestrial surface (bhūmi)⁴⁰ has now been properly prepared; as far as the building ground extends, the earth has yielded to the demands of King Pṛthu. It has been made even and symbolically raised to a new level. The levelling of the earth as a rite is an execution of the First King's insistence that order should be established in a wild, unruly, and errant world. This is done in turn by the builder of every temple. Once, it is also said in another connexion, the earth itself became level. This took place at the birth of the Buddha who, as

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⁴⁰ Pṛthivī, earth, the broad one, was perceived first by Prajāpati, the Boar, on a lotus leaf, with the words "now this has come into existence (abhūt)". From this, earth is called 'bhūmi'. ('Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa', I. 1. 3. 5-6; cf. 'Taittirīya Saṃhitā', VI. 2. 6. 3, where that sacrificial site is called 'firm' or established which is even on all sides).

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soon as born, stepped forth upon the earth and beneath his steps the earth lay smooth and even, for by his footfalls the Law (dharma) was carried throughout the world and became universal. The levelled earth became its substratum.⁴¹

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⁴¹ P. Mus. ‘Barabuḍur’, BEFEO, vol. XXXIV, p. 210.

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After the ground is rendered as level as the surface of water or of a mirror it should be made a perfect square (‘Hayaśīrṣapañcarātra’, VIII. 136). In practice, the actual size of the square need not necessarily be co-extensive with the site, nor even with the building of the temple. It may however be equal to any one of these or else of a definite size. The ‘square field’ is a symbol and its meaning remains unchanged if its measure is given as five or eight cubits square.⁴²

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⁴² ‘Śaradātilaka’, ch. III. 3. comm. ; quoting ‘Mahākapilapañcarātra’ ; see note 10.

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The ‘Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa’ (I. 2.5.7.) explains that the sacrificial ground is called Vedi because the gods obtained (sam-vid) the entire earth by encompassing the sacrifice on the four sides. The sacrificial ground or altar ground (vedi) is a symbol of the earth; as large as is the Vedi so large is the earth.⁴³

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⁴³ RV. I. 164. 35 ; ‘Mādhyandina Saṃhitā’, XIII. 62 ; Ś. B. III. 7. 2. 1. Vedi=Pṛthivī ; RV. X. 110. 4 ; Ait. B. I. 5. 28 ; Tait. B. I. II. 1. 1 ; Ś. B. IX. 4. 2. 3 ; XII. 8. 2. 36.

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The surface of the earth, in traditional Indian cosmology, is regarded as demarcated by sunrise and sunset, by the points where the sun apparently emerges above and sinks below the horizon; by the East and West and also by the North and South points. It is therefore represented by the ideogram or maṇḍala of a square.⁴⁴ The identification of the square with the Vedi is in shape only and not in size and belongs to the symbolism of the Hindu temple. The Vedi represents and is the levelled earth, a place of sacrifice or worship: “No part of the ground should rise above it; for it was from there that the gods ascended to heaven” (Ś.B. III. 1.1.1-2). The site, the earth, should be even and firm, for it is the starting place of the ascent (Ś.B. VIII. 5.2.16). The link between the earth and the end of the ascent stretches upward into space, the intermediate region (antarikṣa). From it also it leads downward and rests on earth. In it the temple has its elevation. The Vāstupuruṣamaṇḍala, the temple-diagram and metaphysical plan is laid out on the firm and level ground; it is the intellectual foundation of the building, a forecast of its ascent, and its projection on earth.

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⁴⁴ The square does not refer to the outline of the earth. It connects the 4 points established by the primary pairs of opposites, the apparent sunrise and sunset points, East and West ; and South and North. The earth is therefore called ‘caturbhṛṣṭi’, four cornered (RV. X. 58. 3) and is symbolically shown as Pṛthivī-maṇḍala, whereas considered in itself, the shape of the earth is circular, RV. X. 89. 4 ; Ś.B. VII. 1. I. 37.

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The first of these, the *Gospel of the Hebrews*, was used by the Jewish Christians of Palestine, and was probably a version of the Gospel of Matthew, though it contained some traditions not found in our canonical books. The *Gospel of the Egyptians* was used by the ascetic sects of Egypt, and was marked by a strong tendency towards mysticism and asceticism. The *Gospel of Peter* was used by the Docetists, and taught that Christ did not really suffer, but only appeared to do so.

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These gospels, and others like them, were not accepted by the Church as a whole, and were gradually lost or suppressed. The Church, however, felt the need for a standard collection of writings that would serve as a guide for faith and practice. This led to the formation of the New Testament canon, a process that took several centuries to complete.

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The first step in this process was the collection of the letters of Paul, which were widely circulated among the churches. Then came the four Gospels, which were accepted as the authoritative accounts of the life and teachings of Jesus. The Acts of the Apostles and the other epistles were gradually added, and finally the Book of Revelation.

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By the end of the second century, the core of the New Testament was generally accepted by the Church. The process of canonization was not a formal act of a council, but rather a gradual recognition by the churches of the writings that were most valuable for their life and worship. It was only in the fourth century that the canon was formally closed by the councils of the Church.

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The formation of the New Testament canon was a crucial event in the history of the Church. It provided a standard of faith and practice that helped to unify the Church and to protect it from the influence of heretical sects. It also ensured that the teachings of Jesus and the apostles would be preserved for future generations.

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II

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उच्छिष्टे नाम रूपं चोच्छिष्टे लोक आहितः । उच्छिष्ट इन्द्राश्चाग्निश्च विश्वमन्तः समाहितम् ॥१॥ उच्छिष्टे द्यावापृथिवी विश्वं भूतं समाहितम् । आपः समुद्र उच्छिष्टे चन्द्रमा वात आहितः ॥२॥

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“Name and Form are in the Residue. The world is in the Residue. Indra and Agni are in the Residue. The Universe is in the Residue. Heaven and Earth, all Existence is in the Residue. The water, the ocean, the moon and the wind are in the Residue.”

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‘Atharva Veda’, XI. 9. 1-2.

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II

Cites (24)