The Hindu Temple v1.c6.s5.41

v1.c6.s5.41

Aryaman is yonder sun ('Taitt. Samh.', II. 3. 4. 1); Vivasvān is Mārtāṇḍa, the mortal form of Brahman, whom "Aditi bore hitherward into repeated birth and death" (RV. X. 72. 9), Mitra, the Sun, is an Aditya⁸⁷ and Mahīdhara or Pṛthivīdhara, "the upholder of the earth", is Ananta ('Samarāṅgaṇas.', XIV. 11-31) who is Viṣṇu⁸⁹, the Sun, and all it brings to light. Viṣṇu as Ananta, the Serpent, supports the universe on his head ('Viṣṇupurāṇa', II. V); from below he upholds the earth, the level from which the temple rises. It is here then that the Vāstupuruṣa, the existential Puruṣa, has his identity most fully established by the likeness of the Yajña-puruṣa, who is Viṣṇu (yajñamūrti; Ś.B. I. 2. 5. 1-6). Vāstu is also Dhara, the upholder of the earth, and in this function he is one of the 8 Vasus ('Bhāgavatapurāṇa') who cause the world to abide (vas), so that in Mahīdhara, north of the Brahmasthāna, the Vāstupuruṣa is most firmly fixed in his nature⁹⁰. It is here that he is most firmly set and presided over by Viṣṇu who, according to Tantra, is the Regent of the 'below' just as Brahmā whose place is in the centre is the Regent of the 'above'⁹⁰. In the Vāstu, the diagram of the hierarchy of manifestation and of its ordered existence, the vertical direction is symbolised in the centre, where the 'above' is projected from Mahīdhara to Brahmā. Along this vertical axis, Śiva stood when the goat-Asura fell down at his feet.