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The Hindu Temple v1.c8.s1.t2: 2. Prāsāda

The Hindu Temple v1.c8.s1.t2

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2. Prāsāda

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Vimāna, as name of the main temple building, is synonymous with Prāsāda. These two are the most significant words for temple.¹⁷ There are many more, for the house of God has more than one aspect and origin.

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¹⁷ I.P., III. ch. XXVIII, 1-2, explains them in the introductory śloka of the chapter on the architectural distinctions (lakṣaṇa) of Vimānas, etc. from where the Śilparatna’, XVI. 1, has taken the same definition: “Prāsādas please (prasīdanti) by their beauty the minds of gods and men.” This they do, in virtue of their meaning and form. The temple is seen and comprehended by the look of knowledge.

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The temple is the seat and dwelling of God, according to the majority of the names. The name Prāsāda has the widest application.¹⁸ The word does not mean a house or something that is built up. It denotes a settling down (pra-sad) and

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¹⁸ Prāsāda, in the sense of a sacred monument or sacred building is referred to in ancient texts and inscriptions: 'Śaṅkhāyana Śrauta Sūtra,', XVI. 18. 13-17: Prāsādas on all sides of the Āhavanīya fire. Patañjali, 'Mahābhāṣya', II. 2. 34: Prāsādas of Dhanapati, Rāma and Keśava. The testimony of the Śrauta Sūtras and Gṛhya Sūtras is assigned to the Mauryan age (3rd century B.C.), the date of Patañjali is about 200 B.C. 'Vedic Index', II. 44, understands Prāsāda (Śāṅkh. S.S., l.c.), as raised platform on a mound. Prāsāda, in the sense of palace does not occur until the 'Adbhuta Brāhmaṇa'; 'Weber, Indische Studien', I. 40; cf. 'Vedic Index', II. 51.

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Popular etymology accounts here for the meaning of the word Prāsāda. Its more recondite but essential meaning is explained in the I.P. itself.

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The Amarakoṣa explains: "Harmyādidhaninām vasāḥ prāsādo devabhūbhujam." Harmyas, etc. are the residences of the wealthy; Prāsādas are the residences of gods and kings.

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In the Epics, Prāsāda has the meaning of "3 storeyed building" ('Rāmāyaṇa', comm. 'Tilaka', II. 33. 3. and II. 57. 18). It is compared with Mount Meru and the Vindhya Mountain (II. 88. 5-7; IV. 33. 7); it is very high and snow-white ('Rāmāyaṇa', VI. 26. 5). Although of three storeys only its height need not have been less than that of the seven storeyed Vimānas. The commentary 'Tilaka' (II. 57. 18), defines Prāsāda as palace of the king; in II. 33. 3, Harmya is thus defined, whereas in the latter passage, Prāsāda is explained as the house of the wealthy. While neither Viṃāna nor Prāsāda are used in the sense of temple,—the words designating the house and seat of God, not necessarily a temple but a sacred monument, in the Epics are: Devagṛha ('Rāmāyaṇa', III. 55. 7) and Devāyatana (I. 5. 10-15), Devasthāna ('Mahābhārata', Sabhā. 46. 34; see also E. Washburn Hopkins, 'Epic Mythology', pp. 70-73)—their descriptions seem to imply a symbolic meaning. The 3 storeys may denote the 3 worlds—earth, air and heaven ('Nirukta', VII. 5); the seven storeys, their seven fold division (RV. VIII. 40. 5; X. 104. 8). Re. the 'whiteness' see Part IV, p. 123 and re. the designation 'Meru' etc., see Parts VI and VII.

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Further references to Prāsāda in the 'Mahābhārata' and 'Rāmāyaṇa' are given by P. K. Acharya, 'A Dictionary of Hindu Architecture', pp. 420-22. A number of inscriptions, of later ages, where Prāsāda means temple, are put together ib. pp. 423-30.

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Prāsāda, however, has retained the meaning of building or palace, in the 'Samarāṅgaṇasūtradhāra', XVIII. 22; whereas in the many chapters of this text which treat of temple architecture the word which most frequently designates the temple is Prāsāda.

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Here are some of the earliest inscriptions: On a Garuḍa pillar from Bhilsa, an 'uttama Prāsāda, of Bhagavat, 2nd century B.C., J. N. Banerjea, 'The Development of Hindu Iconography', p. 102; Mathurā Jain Inscr., 'Ep. Ind.', vol. II. p. 198; XI. p. 17.

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The 'Vejayanta Prāsāda', the Prāsāda of Indra, represented in a relief panel in Barhut ca. 1st century B.C. and inscribed (Coomaraswamy, HIIA, Fig. 43; and 'Early Indian Architecture', 'Eastern Art', vol. III, Plate XCII. 1), is a 3 storeyed building, full of Apsarās, etc., in its hall on the ground floor; they look out from arched dormer windows or doors leading to the balcony, in the 2nd and the 3rd storey; the roof is waggon-vaulted. Contiguous with the 3 storeyed building is a circular, open pillared shrine, with a round dome, and a separately projecting cornice below; the dome is inscribed "Sudhamma Deva-Sabhā".

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'Prāsāda-devālaya' occurs in the Nālandā stone inscr. (vs. 4-6) of Yaśovarmanadeva, c. 530. A.D.; 'Ep. Ind.', vol. XX. p. 43. Other inscriptions referring to extant temples (Prāsāda) and sites, are for example the one of the Lakṣmaṇa Temple, Sirpur, (c. 700 A.D.), 'Ep. Ind.', vol. XI. p. 190; or the Gurgi inscr. of Prabodhasiva, 'Ep. Ind.', vol. XXII. p. 127.

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The 'Mayamata', II. 6-7, enumerates the following buildings as Prāsādas: Sabhā, Śālā, Prapā, Raṅgamaṇḍapa and Mandira; they are part of the whole establishment of a South Indian temple. The meaning of Prāsāda is extended here from the temple itself (mandira) to the various halls, etc. which are attached to it. Cf. however the meaning of Sabhā in the Barhut inscription.

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a seat made of that which has settled down and acquired concrete form, the form of a dwelling, a residence, the seat of God. The rhythmic formula (mantra) which effects the settling, setting or steadying of the bricks of the Fire Altar is the Sādana mantra (Vāj. S. XII. 53)¹⁹. The meaning of Prāsāda is given explicitly in the ‘Īśānaśivagurudevapaddhati’, Part III, chapter XII, verse 16. “The temple, Prāsāda, is made up of the presence of Śiva and Śakti, and of the Principles of Existence (tattva) from the elementary substance Earth (Vasudhā) and ending with Śakti. The concrete form (mūrti) of Śiva is called House of God (devālaya). So one should contemplate and worship it first.”

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¹⁹ The ‘sādanam’ of the bricks of the Fire-altar (Ś.B. VI. 1. 2. 28; VII. 1. 1. 30) is the prototype of the invocation of the goddesses, the Bricks (Part IV. page 112), who are forms of Vāk. Prāsāda in Śaṅkh. Ś.S. XVI, which is defined as ‘raised platform’, ‘Vedic Index’, II. 44, as its name implies, is originally a ‘seat’ piled up, a Citi. The ‘Nānārthārṇava Saṃkṣepa’, II. śl. 160 (T.Ś.S., p. 25) says: “The word Prāsāda is used in the sense of “well set” and “in the middle of the temple (mandiram)” ; or it is its central part in which is the inmost sanctuary”.

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This is in complete conformity with the meaning of the temple and the ‘bricks’ of which it is built. They are imbued with the presence of Śiva and all the Principles of Existence.²⁰

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²⁰ The translations here and on p. 130, intentionally use words somewhat different whose meaning may be inferred from the text.—‘Īśānaśivagurudevapaddhati’, III. ch. XXVII. 62 f; treats of the ‘bricks’. The ‘Agni Purāṇa’, LXI. 11, similarly says that the ‘whole Prāsāda is to be understood as Puruṣa”; and “Lord Hari himself is visibly established in the Prāsāda” (26. b). See also ‘Agni Purāṇa’, CII. 14 and CII. 22-23.

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The house of God (devālaya) is the concrete manifestation (mūrti) of Śiva or of any other name under which is beheld the Supreme Principle, to the same degree as the corresponding image (mūrti). The ‘form’ according to which either is made is Śiva as Prāsāda mantra²¹.

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²¹ The image of Śiva with 5 faces and 10 hands or as alternate shape with four hands, is to be meditated upon as seated on a white lotus. The image corresponds to the Prāsāda mantra. The 10 hands on the right hold the following weapons, etc.: skullstaff, trident, spear, ‘varada’ and ‘abhaya mudrā’, which bestow boons and assure fearlessness; serpent, rosary, drum (ḍamaru), lotus, and lemon (bījapūraka) on the left. (‘I.P.’, II. ch. XXVIII, 61-64; ‘Tantrasamuccaya’, Pt. II. VII. 137). “He who does not know the Prāsāda, its great body of five mantras [pañcamantramahātanu (‘Agnipurāṇa’, CCXIV. 40); the 5 mantras are Īśāna, Tatpuruṣa, Aghora, Vāmadeva and Sadyojāta; (JISOA, vol. IX, pp. 174-75; 193) together with the 38 Kalās (the 38 Kalās: I.P. III. ch. VI. 36; ‘Śaradātilaka’, XVIII, 1-23; see ‘I.P.’, III. ch. XII. 82, JISOA, vol. X. p. 235, note)] cannot at all be called an Ācārya (‘Agni Purāṇa’, CCXIV. 41). The five mantras are equivalent to the 5 faces, Īśāna, Tatpuruṣa, Aghora, Vāmadeva and Sadyojāta, of the image. The principles of manifestation (tattva) are invoked on the image; they are allocated to its limbs and parts and are supported by them (see Part VIII).

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An explanation of Prāsāda from the Śaiva point of view is given below, based mainly on the ‘Īśānaśivagurudevapaddhati’, a compendium dating from about 1000 A.D.

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The rhythmic formula, the Prāsāda (mantra) is Nāda (‘Tantrasamuccaya’, I. ch. V. 51, comm.). Nāda, the principal vibration, is the immanent cause (upādāna)), the primary substance of the world.

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The Supreme Principle, the Śivatattva, is Brahman which is bliss beyond the distinction of subject and object, knower and known, beyond time; undifferentiated, solid-Consciousness (cidghana). Śakti is not separate from Śiva, she is the energy or process of Consciousness with its willing, knowing and creating (Icchā, Jñāna and Kriyā Śakti) and leads from the unmanifest across the threshold of her own activity, where Śakti herself is Bindu, the point to the unmanifest; from here manifestation begins.²²

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²² Somewhat differently worded, the ‘Agni Purāṇa’, CCXIV. 33, says “by the recitation of the Prāsāda mantra, Nāda is roused”. Some Ācāryas consider Nāda, principial vibration, as the first among the Tattvas or principles of manifestation, and then Bindu, the point limit from where manifestation begins (kārya bindu; ‘Tantrasamuccaya’, part I, ch. V. 50, comm.).

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Bindu, the Point, is ‘parā’, beyond (the manifest), as well as ‘aparā’, manifest. This latter aspect has two degrees, subtle and gross. In its subtle capacity, Bindu is Nāda, the principial vibration; in its gross capacity, it is Bīja, the seed of everything. Nāda gives Mokṣa, release; it is Śūnya, the Void. (‘Ī.P.’ part III. ch. VI. 3 f). The High Point of the finial above the superstructure of the temple is the visual equivalent of Bindu.

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Śūnya, the Void, is Śakti as Kalā: Śiva pervades everything, is solid, undifferentiated-Consciousness; Śakti, as Śūnya, is vacuity-creating energy where things take shape and place as parts (kalā) of existence. This is negativity as a function of Consciousness whereby its contents are made positive. Prior to this function, which produces separateness and individuation, there is no thing in the beyond. The presence of Śakti with Śiva is and produces all the Principles of manifestation from Earth to Śakti.

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The temple, Prāsāda, is the symbolic substance, which, as a substratum, corresponds to the principial substance and immanent cause (upādānakāraṇa), Nāda, the principial vibration. From Nāda, the principial vibration, the world is made. This is shown by the rhythmical plan and structure of the Prāsāda. Such is the meaning of Prāsāda, the most generally employed name for the Hindu temple. It denotes especially the structural pile below, around and above the sanctuary (garbhagṛha).

Cites (22)