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The Hindu Temple v1.c5.s3: Symbolism of the Square

The Hindu Temple v1.c5.s3

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Symbolism of the Square

The Enclosure

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The angles of the square diagram lie in the intermediate directions. They are the turning points and require to be marked. There the pegs are driven into the ground and the cord is stretched between them to fence off the square. A line following the cord should be drawn with a golden or silver style or with curd or with pounded, unhusked rice (Ī.P. III. ch. XXVI, 89). Thus is the site taken possession of, on all sides. It is closed and is given its measure. "Let him fence all quarters so that no obstructions proceed from them" says the 'Mahānirvāna Tantra,' (V. 92), about the Digbandhana, the ritual gesture, the enclosing of a certain space by movements of hands and fingers which is analogous to the initial architectural procedure. That a certain site is delimited; that this site is bordered by the orients of this visible universe; and that its measure is derived from, and demarcates, the movement of the universe, all this is drawn on the ground with the golden style which follows the cord stretched between the four pegs at the corners. This is the preparation of the 'temple'.⁴⁶ It is in continuity of the rites around the Fire altar. "He draws lines around it. He thereby puts a measure to it" (Ś.B. VI. 3. 3. 23—24).

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⁴⁶ 'Templum' with the Romans, from where the name temple is derived, was the square plot whence auguries were watched and interpreted by the 'contemplating' priests.

The Ornament of Viśvakarman

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Of all architectural forms in India the square is the leading symbol. The 'Brhat Samhitā' recounts how Viśvakarman, the archetypal architect⁴⁷ gave the first ornament to the banner of Indra. The banner of Indra, the King of the gods, was produced from Viṣṇu-Nārāyaṇa's lustre. It was carried on the eight wheeled fulgent chariot of the Sun.⁴⁸ The flag of the chariot of the Sun is Dharma, the Order of things in the universe. The gods presented this banner with various ornaments. The ornament given by Viśvakarman was of square shape, and its circumference was a third of the extension of the banner. Brahmā and Śiva made the second gift, a vary-coloured girdle, the cycle of the years and of time. It was

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⁴⁷ Viśvakarman is Prajāpati (Ś.B.) as the universal constructive principle. He is called Viśvakarman because he created the activity of everything ('Brhad Devatā', II. 50). His name and function lend themselves to many and more or less specialised applications; see R. Guénon: 'L'Homme et son Devenir selon le Vedānta', p. 58, note.

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⁴⁸ The eight wheeled chariot is the day, divided into eight 'yāmas' of three hours. 'Br. Samh.', XLII. 6. Commentary. In the 'Viṣṇupurāṇa', II. VIII. 4, the body of the chariot is the year, and Dharma its flag, also in the 'Matsya, Vāyu' and 'Bhaviṣya Purāṇas'.

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SYMBOLISM OF THE SQUARE

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by one eighth part smaller than the square and each successive gift from the other gods was yet smaller by one eighth part. By raising that standard, the King of the gods annihilated in battle the host of the enemy, the children of darkness. The ‘Bṛhat Saṃhitā’ (XLII. 68) then says: “A prince who respects this institution, first established by Vasu,⁴⁹ the sky-traveller, and always since observed by other rulers, may feel certain that no danger from enemies shall befall him”⁵⁰ for this banner is that of royal Righteousness (rājadharma).

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⁴⁹ Vasu, the 8 Vasus, and Vāstu are all derived from the same root. See Part III, notes 59, 65 and 72.

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⁵⁰ In the residence of a king, the Indradhvaja is hoisted in the central square, the place of Brahmā, which must not be encroached upon by any building (‘Samarāṅgaṇasūtradhāra’, XV. 47-48).

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The square symbol of the extended world in its order has precedence over the circle of time, the second ornament. Of the two, the first ornament, the square, is the larger, the comprehensive form, for it contains the cycles of measurable time.

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There were no children of darkness prior to the raising of the standard when manifestation was not yet and the eight-wheeled effulgent chariot had not radiated the lustre which it was to carry through all time. When it began its journey, the children of darkness arose so that against them its lustre became apparent. They are its natural setting, complement and antagonists. Now the banner is radiant but is as yet without the ornaments of form and these the gods forthwith present. The square, first of all ornaments, is the perfect form, the perfection of order. Its identity is established by the pairs of opposites by which it is encompassed. By raising such a banner the host of the enemy is vanquished in disorder. It is as potent a weapon as Indra’s Vajra, the thunderbolt, which also is square (RV. IV. 22. 2).⁵¹ Elsewhere (‘Agnipurāṇa’, ch. CCCV. 14), while enumerating the abodes of the different divinities, it is said that in the quadrangle (catvara) Śiva is present.⁵²

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⁵¹ With this four cornered Vajra Indra slays Vṛtra.

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⁵² Catvara is the levelled (square) ground prepared for a sacrifice. This does not imply that the ground-plans of Śiva temples are square in every instance. Śiva temples are square and also circular.

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Time in its course, beginning, enduring, passing in cyclical continuity, is the vary-coloured zone of creation—duration—destruction affixed to the banner of Indra. The circle of time, in the hierarchy of form comes after the square and is enclosed in it in the Vāstumaṇḍala. Both these symbols are ornaments of Dharma, the Order of things in the cosmos and the world of man. This is exemplified with regard to Sacerdotium and Regnum, spiritual and temporal power. The golden handle of the fly-whisk and sunshade is square for priests, Brāhmaṇas, and circular for kings (‘Agnipurāṇa’, ch. CCXLV. 2).⁵³

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⁵³ In domestic architecture too, the buildings for Brāhmaṇas are square or nearly square, if rectangular, the length exceeds the width by 1/10 only. In the buildings of Kṣatriyas the excess is 1/6th; in those of Vaiśyas and Śūdras, 1/6th and 1/4th respectively (S.S. XIX. 18-19; Br. S. LII. 13). The lower the caste the further remote from the perfection of the square are the buildings which are suitable for its members.

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The method of producing the square, adopted in Vāstu-śāstra is that of Baudhāyana (p. 22). According to this method, the construction of the square presupposes circles. The circle is a dynamic form. It is full of tension and perpetual movement for it is set into motion and acquires form from the point in the centre. In its form is its origin, the point. Ontologically it is dependent on the mover.

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Brahmā, the Creator, and Śiva, the Destroyer, give the girdle of time as their joint present to the banner of Indra, which is Dharma. The circular shape of the girdle is also that of the Cakra, the wheel, a treasure of a Cakravartin⁵⁴ or world-ruler, and as Dharmacakra or principial wheel, a symbol of the Buddha.⁵⁵ The wheel, cosmic order in its function, the Dharmacakra, keeps on rolling. Cosmic order is ruled over by its king, the Dharmarāja. His residence, which is its place of abode and fulfilment is described as four angled or square and with four gates ('Garuḍapurāṇa', XIV. 5). Dharmarāja, is Yama, Death, who rules over the earth and has given to men a residence on earth.

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⁵⁴ 'Mahāsudassana Suttānta' (S.B.E. XI ; S.B.B. III) ; 'Lakkhaṇa Suttānta' (S.B.B. IV).

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⁵⁵ Barhut ; Coomaraswamy, 'Elements of Buddhist Iconography', Pl. V. It is carved on the pedestal of images of the Buddha preaching his first sermon (Sārnāth image, Coomaraswamy, HIIA, Pl. XLII) ; preaching to Bodhisattvas, 'Elements of Buddhist Iconography', op. cit. Pl. VII.

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The square is the archetype and pattern of order.⁵⁶ In Indian tradition accordingly, the world follows it in its geological and social structure. Mount Meru rises from a square base. Each of the four castes is assigned to one of the four sides of Mount Meru.⁵⁷ For this reason too, the four castes are made to live in towns or villages in the north, east, south and west respectively. ('Bṛhat-Saṃhitā', LII, 67-68).⁵⁸

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⁵⁶ R. Guénon, 'Le Roi du Monde', "In the figure of the celestial Jerusalem the circle is replaced by a square. The sphere represents the development of possibilities by expansion of the primordial and central point. It transforms into a cube, when this development is achieved and the final equilibrium is attained in that cycle". The vision of Ezekiel (41, 1) describes the Tabernacle as 6 cubits square. The brazen altar in the Tabernacle in the wilderness (Exod. 27. 1) and the oracle in the temple of Solomon (I. Kings, 6. 20) are square in plan. The oracle in the Temple, and the heavenly city of the Apocalypse are cubes.

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⁵⁷ Al-Biruni, 'India', ch. XXIII, p. 243, quoting Brahmagupta. Each side also has its appropriate colour. The East [Brāhmaṇas] white ; the North [Kṣatriyas] red ; the South [Vaiśyas] yellow ; the West [Śūdras] black. Meru, the cosmic mountain, is a symbol of the axis around which the revolutions of our world are effected. R. Guénon, 'Some Remarks on the Doctrine of Cosmic Cycles', JISOA, Vol. V, p. 21.

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⁵⁸ The positions of the Brāhmaṇas and Kṣatriyas are reversed and similarly also the application of the 64 and 81 plan, in some of the texts. Varāhamihira, in ch. LII. 42-55, gives ascendency to the 81 squares plan ; and also to the Kṣatriyas in their allocation in the East.

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Related in its proportion to the square is also the perfect measure of man for it is 'as high as broad'. This is the canon of his accomplished figure. From the root of the hair on the forehead to the soles of his feet, his length is equal to the width of his arms stretched out horizontally, from the tip of the middle finger of the right to the tip of the middle finger of the left. This is the standard of his proportion.⁵⁹ In this, the figure of man in its perfection is identical to that of the Mahāpuruṣa, Supernal man, the Universal Being.⁶⁰ This measure of a fathom is also that of the square space in whose centre the Āhavanīya fire burnt and where the circular Gārhapatya equal in area to a fathom square had been piled up afterwards. "A fathom (vyāma) that namely is the size of a man and the altar should be of man's size" (Ś.B. I. 2. 5. 14).⁶¹ This square altar of a fathom length is the middle term between man (puruṣa) who is the sacrificer and the Puruṣa. In the Brāhmaṇas, Prajāpati, the lord of all creatures, takes the place of the Puruṣa. "That same Puruṣa became Prajāpati and that Puruṣa who became Prajāpati is this very Agni (Fire altar; Ś.B. VI. 1. 1. 5).

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⁵⁹ 'Bṛhat-Saṃhitā', LXVIII. states that the 5 types of man, Haṃsa, Śaśa, Rucaka, Bhadra and Mālavya conform to this ideal proportion irrespective of the standard height laid down for each type.

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⁶⁰ The Buddha as an embodiment of the Mahāpuruṣa has this perfect proportion; Kramrisch, ‘Emblems of the Universal Being’, JISOA, vol. III, pp. 148 f.

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⁶¹ cf. Āp. Ś.S. XVI. 17. 10; and 15 where it is laid down that also "the Agni piled up for the first time should measure one square puruṣa".

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Based on the square, the structure of the temple arises in the mid-world (antarikṣa) of air. It is built in three dimensions, of different substances, brick, or wood or stone. They are cut or moulded to this purpose. If injury be incurred thereby he makes it good, but the living connection is severed and a transubstantiation is effected by which earth, tree and stone are made to enter the Kingdom of the Dharmarāja.

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The Hindu temple is in no way derived from sepulchral architecture. As the Śmaśānaciti is an altar specially used for funerary rites, so are the Chatris for instance, cenotaphs set up by Rājput rulers to commemorate their predecessors, related to types of temples which are represented in relief in Barhut, about 100 B.C. The Chatris, from the 17th century to this day are open, pillared buildings.

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Measure implies limits and limits mean end and death. It is by man's own, mortal frame that this knowledge of the structure of the universe is confirmed. The square, form of finality, is at the same time that of the pairs of opposites; manifestation is only through the pairs of contraries⁶² and in their balance lies the perfection of the square. Its proportion embodies, and thus resolves, the finality of limitation into a symbol of perfection. Proportion and balance are the form of the subtle (sūkṣma) nature of the square; their residue is the order which belongs to the city of the Dharmarāja, who is Death and a son of the Sun.⁶³ The other son is Manu, the prototype of man who gives its law to each cycle of existence.

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⁶² The square throne of divinity rests on the following pairs of contraries: Order and its negation (dharma and adharma); Knowledge and ignorance (jñāna and ajñāna); Dispassion and its opposite (vairāgya and avairāgya), and sovereignty and its negation (aiśvarya and anaiśvarya). The positive values support the throne, as its legs, in the corners, in the intermediate directions. Their negations are situated at the shafts, in the cardinal directions. ‘Īśanaśivagurudeva-paddhati’, Part III. ch. XII. 25 (trans. JISOA. Vol. X. p. 227).

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⁶³ Similarly, the finality of architectural form houses the life of man and is a seat of the living God.

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