Ākāśa
Ākāśa
Grammar: masculine noun.
Meaning: space, the first of the elements; also a devatā invoked in rites.
In the scriptures: The Brahma Parva tells that the Paramātmā first formed ākāśa; from it came vāyu, from vāyu agni, from agni water, from water earth. In the same chapter ākāśa arises from manas and its guṇa is śabda (Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapter 2). From the shells of the aṇḍa, Brahmā, manifest from its middle, made ākāśa and bhūmi (Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapter 16).
As a devatā, Ākāśa is the eighth of the forty-five devatās of the Vāstu-maṇḍala (Bhavishya Purāṇa, Madhyama Parva, Bhāga 2, Chapters 10–13). In the directions beginning with the east, pūjā is done to Indra, Jayanta, Ākāśa, Varuṇa, Agni, Īśāna, Tatpurusha and Vāyu (Bhavishya Purāṇa, Madhyama Parva, Bhāga 3, Chapter 1). In the Navagraha-śānti, Vināyaka, Durgā, Vāyu, Ākāśa, Sāvitrī, Lakshmī and Umā, with their pati-devatās, and the Aśvinīkumāras are invoked with the vyāhṛtis (Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapter 141).
Related terms: Vāyu · Śabda · Pañcabhūta · Vāstu-maṇḍala
Sources
- Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapters 2, 16; Madhyama Parva, Bhāga 2, Chapters 10–13; Bhāga 3, Chapter 1; Uttara Parva, Chapter 141