Ritual

Tantric cosmograms are based on intuitive insight rather than
posterior knowledge, and some of them may not have accurate
analogies in the phenomenal world. They are in the nature of a
celestial mirror which reflects the imaged universe. In these
figurations, the artist's main concern is to give form and structure
to cosmogonical ideas. The cosmos is order incarnate, and nature's
diverse manifestations are held together by a mathematical
framework. Like the world in general, these abstract
configurations are also based on mathematical relationships. But
the cosmos of giant stellar galaxies and planetary systems is not
always depicted as a cold intellectualized mass; some paintings
include cryptic symbols derived from mythology. Whatever their
visionary appeal, the treatment of form is devoid of grandiloquence
or emotional fervour. Thus, for instance, according to
cosmographic and cosmogonical notions, the universe has three
zones, or lokas: in ascending order, the subterranean region, the
earth and the heavenly bodies. Dominating the centre of the
universe is the mythical Mount Meru around which is the earth, or
Jambu-dvipa, the island continent with seven concentric circles
symbolically representing cosmic fields, spheres, atmospheric
zones. Bordering the outermost circle is the cosmic sphere
separating the visible world from the non-visible, and finally,
beyond it, the region of non-universe space, or aloka. The diagram
of this idea is a circular disc within seven concentric circles or
vertical currents, all of which have an ascetic simplicity
indispensable for transmitting the message. For tantra, Philip
Rawson observes that 'one should gather the outer world into a
single contemplative act. The Mount Meru at the axis should be
identified with the centre of the inner body through which runs as
axis a subtle spinal tube called "Merudanda" or "Sushumna". The
implication of the diagram is thus that the Possible Universe each
man knows is a flat "circle" radiating from his own axial centre.' I9
Many cosmograms have come from Jaina sources, and an
interesting concept appears in the diagram of Cosmic Purusha
(Purushakara Yantra) depicting the immense potentiality, no less
than the size of the cosmos, contained within the body of man.
From another point of view, it also depicts the man who has
become the universe or is, metaphorically, the perfected one. The
cosmic man in his monumentality stands erect. The image contains
the entire replica of the universe: the categories and substances,
space, time, motion, rest, matter, its cosmographical schemes and
the spheres of the dense and subtle realms of the world. The whole
cosmos is epitomized in the grand micro-macro vision. In the Jaina
Purushakara, the Cosmic Man
Yantra. The ascending planes of
experience are called lokas, and the
descending planes are known as
talas. The centre of these planes is
the 'earth-plane' (bhurloka), shown
here as a circle. A manuscript page
from Gujarat, c. 16th century.
Gouache on paper.
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