The Hindu Temple v1.c8.s6.21

v1.c8.s6.21

Ākāśa which is prior, ontologically, to the other elements and not perceptible by any other sense except hearing, is the element which corresponds to Prakṛti, primordial substance, out of which evolves all that is manifest. Ether fills everything, it is all pervading. It is in the air and it is in the stone. It is housed within the four walls and there it extends in all the six directions, east, west, north and south, to the walls, across them and also below and above, into the foundation of the temple and the height of its superstructure. Ākāśa, ether, corresponds to the primordial substance Prakṛti, in the process of manifestation. It is the first departure into manifestation from the unchanging Pure Principle or Essence, into ever more concrete substance. This departure or transformation, while taking form and shape takes place literally, across the walls which bound it. From the 'point of view', or the centre of the Garbhagṛha, the walls around it while sheltering it, are held together by the Essence and formed by it in every buttress, profile and figure. On its outside, the mass of the temple is seen to give full exposition, in the light of day to the meaning enshrined in darkness within.