Chāyā

Author(s): Ananda K. Coomaraswamy

Source: Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 55, No. 3 (Sep., 1935), pp. 278-283
Published by: American Oriental Society
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 CHAYA
ANANDA K. COOMARASWAMY
MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, BOSTON

THE WORDchdyd (cf. Gk. aowtd) is primarily " shadow " and
secondarily " reflection" and "likeness." In the Rig Veda these
two senses are felt together; that which is in itself the manifested
likeness or image of deity (Lat. imago dei) is also shadow in the
sense of refuge (sarma) or coolth (hima) from oppressive heat.
In I. 73. 8 Agni is said to be associated with, or present in, the
world "like a shadow" (chdyai-vavisvam bhuvanafi sisaksi); in
what sense this is a laudatory expression appears in VI. 16. 38,
"We come to thee, 0 Agni, in thy golden likeness (hiranyasarn-
drsah), for refuge (sarma), as to shade (chayerm iva) from
burning-heat (ghrneh)"; 1 cf. II. 33. 6, where the favor of Rudra
is compared to a shade as if from burning-heat (ghrniva chdyim
... rudrasya sumnam). The thought in I. 116. 8, where the Agvins
are lauded with the words "Ye warded off with coolth the
scorching fire " (himena agniih ghrahsam avarayetham), is the
same; but it must not be overlooked that agni here is not the
manifested Agni of I. 73. 8 and VI. 16. 38, but either simply
"fire," or more correctly, Agni ab intra as Ahi Budhnya, Aupia,
the "flesh-eating, man-hurting" (kravydt . . . purusa-resanah)
Agni of Atharva Veda III. 21. 8-9, against whom we have the
prayer mo aham rsam " may I not be hurt " in RV. X. 18. 13, the
similar ma rsamdtin I. 94. 7, and mdi md hinsih in Vdjasaneyi
Saihhita XII. 102 and Taittirlya Samihit&III. 5. 6. This painful
heat from which the shade or coolth is welcome shelter is not that
of the Sun or manifested Fire, but that of the interior operation
(guhya vrata, I. 163. 3), where in the beginning the desirous
(icchant, praji-kamya, etc.) principles are on fire to set foot on
the broadway of life (amrtasya gdtu, etc.) and to extend their line
(tantuii- tan, etc.); the painful heat is that of the antenatal
matrix wherein these principles are "cooked" or "ripened," as
for example in VII. 104. 8 " with well-cooked intellect proceeding '

1 Parallels may be noted in Isaiah 25. 4 "a shadow from the heat,"
ibid. 32. 2, " the shadow of a great rock in a weary land," and Lamentations
4. 20, "under his shadow we shall live."
278

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 Chayd 279

(pdkena manasd carantam) ;2 and in VII. 103. 9, where " they that
had been glowing vessels attain to coming forth " (tapta gharmr
asnuvate visargam). It is in fact by means of this shade or likeness
that the whole light-world is brought forth to be the field of experi-
ence; as in V. 44. 6, where the Several Angels, the First Sacri-
ficers, "by the efficacy of the reflection in the Waters (chdyaya
. . . sidhrayapsu) disposed for us the wide earth, the broad expanse,
a great and noble manhood, and unfailing power." 3 The use of
chdyd in the preceding passages might have been regarded as
" poetic imagery," but in V. 44. 6 it is quite clear that cMyd is not
merely in a figurative sense a place of comfort, but is the form of
deity reflected in the Waters, the manifested light in the worlds, cf.
Gopatha Brdhmana I. 3, where " Having emanated those Waters
(td dpah srstvd), he (brahman, mahad yaksam of antecedent text)
looked and saw his own reflection (cMydm) in them."4 So far,
2 It is by this anterior "
cooking " that the desirous principles, including
Agni himself and other Adityas, are perfected (sukrta) and qualified
(arhant) to go forth, e. g. X. 63. 4, where it is "by fitness " (arhand)
that " they " (unspecified, but evidently sarpya as in Paficavirnga Brdhmana
XXV. 15. 4) attain divinity and aeviternity (amrtatvam), whereas those
that are "imperfect" (duskrta) "tread not the paths of Order" (rtasya
panthdfn na taranti duskrtah, IX. 73. 6). It may be noted that the cooking
or ripening (pakva as opposed to dma) and fitness (arhana) which in RV.
represent the necessary qualification for progression, become in Buddhism,
in an ethical connotation, the qualifications for further progress.
s For the manifested likeness as the common origin of all things cf.
Colossians 1. 15-16, "Who is the image of the invisible God . . . for in
Him were created all things in Heaven and Earth, etc." (imago, dei
invisibilis . . . in ipso condita sunt universa in caelis et in terra . . . omnia
per ipsurm et in ipso creata sunt: et ipse est ante omnes, et omnia in ipso
constant). The last expression, omnia in ipso constant, exactly renders
X. 82. 6, ekam arpitam yasmiA vigvini bhuvandni tasthuh, and similarly
AV. X. 7. 32, tasmii! chrayante ya u ke ca devd; just as imago dei
invisibilis is precisely " chdyd."
4 Yaksa in RV. (VII. 88. 6 and X. 88. 13) has undoubted reference to

Varuna, in AV. VIII. 9. 26 and X, 7. 21 a like reference can be inferred;

in the Brahmanas and Upanisads the Yaksa is Brahman. An identification
of Varuna with Brahman presents no difficulties. The Buddha is also
referred to as Yaksa, in Majjhima Nikaya I. 383, and bearing this in
mind, it is interesting to remark the survival of the older phraseology
in the Divyftvaddna, text, p. 547, where the Buddha's "shadow" is by
him "expressed and uttered on the canvas" (tatra chdya utsrsta uktOa
ca) to be colored in (raigaih pfir) by Rudrdyana's painters (citrakara);

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280 Ananda K. Coomaraswamy

then, the divine cMy&is the form of deity ab extra, in act, and as
mediate cause of the becoming of the whole world; cMyd is that
manifested form of his, in and by which all things that had been
merely in potentia, in the darkness and heat where they are ripened,
are enabled to realise their existence and accomplish their ends in
the cool light of day, that is their " shelter " or " refuge " (s'arma).
It is precisely this " shelter " (sarma) that is wanting in the
beginning, " then was neither death (mrtyu) nor life (amrta), nor
any manifestation (praketa) of night and day," X. 129. 1-2.%
Before the manifestation of the light, when all was covered over by
darkness, there was no revelation (praketa), no likeness (chayd),
no refuge (sarma), no coolth (hima), but only the burning heat
(ghrini, gharma, usna, atapa) of the interior darkness. In the
expression chaydtapau, Katha Up. III. 1 affirms the unity of these
contrasted principles in the undivided Brahman; and this corre-
sponds to RV. X. 5. 7, where " Agni in highest heaven," that is
where he is one with Varuna ab intra, is satasat, the unity of being
and non-being.
The nature of the " likeness " (chdyZ) must not be misconceived.
A priori, the desirous principles are in the bonds of Death, homeless
in the In-finite, adrift in a landless Sea; what they desire is to be
released "from the bond of Death, not from the bond of life"
(bandhanan mlrtyor muksiya ndmrtat, VII. 59. 2), from the
In-finite, not the Finite (ditim&ca rdsvaditim urusya, IV. 2. 11),
to be taken up into the Asvin's ships of life (I. 116. 5, I. 181. 4,
V. 73. 4, etc.), and brought across the River to a promised land
(II. 15. 5, III. 33, VII. 60. 7, etc.). The promised land is a wide
earth (bhfimi, etc.) and a support (pratistha) anywhere within the
worlds, where the Sacrificer may enjoy length of days (dirgham
dyus) or aeviternity (amrtatva), and great possessions (rai). But
the freedom thus attained by the mumukcsuis not an ultimate
release, in coming forth from death to life he is not thereby alto-
all of which from a Vedic point of view could only have reference to the
creation in the beginning; and thus the historicity of the supposed Buddha's
portrait, suspect on other grounds, can be finally disposed of. For the
notion of a strictly speaking creative art implied above, cf. Augustine,
De Trin. VI. 10, where the Son, the perfect Word, is spoken of as "so
to speak, the art of God."
6 For 4arma as desired shelter see I. 140. 12, IV. 25. 4-5, V. 2. 12. Praketa

refers to Agni (I. 94. 5, I. 113. 1, VII. 2. 11), Vasistha (VII. 33. 12), or
Indra (III. 30. 1, X. 104. 6).

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 Chaya 281

gether freed (atimucyate, as in Jaiminlya Upanisad Brahmana I.

3), for there is no escape from death in the worlds: his, HiraiLya-
garbha's, Agni's, PrajApati's, likeness, the desired refuge, is both
of life and death (yasya chayZ mrtyu yasya amrta, X. 121. 2), the
Year both separates and unifies (Aitareya Aranyaka III. 2. 3),
Brahmanaspati gathers together and divides (sa sarnnayah sa
vinayah II. 24. 9); 6 the manifested God himself is subject to
inveteration and rejuvenation (jujurvdn yo muhur a yuva bhVt, II.
4. 5, of Agni), and it is not without good reasons that RV. identifies
Agni with Yama, or calls them "darling friends" (X. 21. 5).
A discussion of the deaths and resurrections of the devas in RV.
requires a separate article; in the meantime it is important to make
it clear, in connection with X. 121. 2, that the life attained to by
the desirous principles and by means of the manifested " likeness "
(chaya) is primarily a life in the worlds, a life of varying duration
according to the individual's station in the worlds, and one which
may be aeviternal (as when the devah are referred to as amrtah),
but even for the highest of the Angels, even for Agni, from whom
the devah receive their aeviternity, is not an eternal (in the proper
sense of timeless) life such as belongs to the interior operation, that
is to the Godhead as such, and to the Supreme Identity, tad elcam
of X. 129. 2, Agni as satasat in X. 5. 7, Mitr&and Varuna as seers
of the in-finite and finite both in V. 62. 8. As Eckhart also ex-
presses it, with respect to the life of the manifested deity (the
" hundred years " of Brahma's life in Paurdnic formulation) " God
comes and goes, God passes away."
Quite distinct from the use of chaya in all the passages cited
above is the rarer, and so far as I know only Aupanisada, use of
chayd exclusively in the primary sense of " shadow " or " darkness,"
and as the opposite of light and manifested being. It is in this
sense that Brhad Aranyaka Up. III. 9. 14 speaks of the " Person
whose abode is in the Darkness" (tama eva yasyayatanam . .
8
With the conception of "gathering together" (Mitra as yatayaj-jana
in III. 59. 5, Yama as sahgamano janrndm, X. 14. 1) cf. Matthew 23. 37,
" How often would I have gathered thy children together," ib. 32, " Before
him shall be gathered together all nations," and Galatians 3. 28, " Ye are
all one in Christ Jesus." For the identity of Yama and Agni, cf. Revela-
tions 22. 13, " I am Alpha and Omega, prior and proximate, first and last "
(from the Vulgate, not as in King James version); and Hebrews 12. 29,
noster deus ignis consumens est.

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282 Ananda K. Coomaraswamy
purusam) as the " Person in the mode of shadow " (chdya-mayah
purupah), whose name is " Death " (mrtyuh), and alternatively of
the " Person whose abode is in the Waters" (apa eva yasyayatanam
. . .purusam) as the "Person in the Waters" (apsu purusah),
whose name is Varuna; and contrasts these with the manifested
aspects of the Person, the " Person whose abode is in appearances"
(rizpany eva yasyayatanam ... purusam) who is both the " Person
in the Sun " (aditye purusah) whose name is Actuality (satyam),
and " Person in the mirror" (adarse purusah) whose name is Life
(asuh),7 or alternatively the " Person whose abode is in the Seed"
(reta evayatanam ... purusam) and is the " Person in the mode
of filiation" (putra-mayak purusah) whose name is Prajapati (ib.
12, 15, and 17). It may be noted that Varuna and Mrtyu are also,
and rightly, identified in Gopatha Brahmana I. 7, and that there
can be as little doubt of the identity of Varuna, ab intra, with
Vrtra, as of Agni, ab intra, with Ahi Budhnya and Trita, and of
the latter in turn with Varuna (VIII. 41. 6). The Person in the
Darkness, or Person in the Waters, corresponds also to non-being
(asat) and to the in-finite (aditi, i. e. as Nirrti, apam upasthe,
aditer upasthe, and nirrter upasthe being all equivalent), to the
silent, resting, Brahman that is not in any likeness (amfirta, asabda,
anta, Maitri Up. VI. 3. 22, and 36), the Eternal Impartite (akala,
akala, ib. 15), to Death and Privation anterior to the assumption
of being (as in Brhad Aranyaka Up. I. 2. 1), to the anatmya of
Taittirlya Up. II. 7, to Buddhist anatta, nibbana, and in Chris-
tianity to the " Dark Ray," 8 Eckhart's "sable stillness," the
Godhead that is " as though it were not," Bbhme's God that is
" no thing." To Him the Comprehensorreturns, having done with
the experience of divided things, and there " death gets him not,
for Death becomes his essence, of all these Angels he becomes the
Unity" (Brhad Aranyaka Up. I. 2. 7). Having found his way
out through the solar gateway of the worlds (loka-dvara, Chandogya
Up. VIII. 6. 6; svargasya lokasya dvdrarm,Aitareya BrThmania
7This correspondence of macrocosm and microcosm is repeated in
Kau?Itaki Up. IV. 2, aditye mahat ... adarge pratirupah, and inverted in
Katha Up. VI. 5, yathadarge tathatmani, cf. also Aitareya Brahmana VIII.
2, where "yonder world" and "this world" are each the counterpart
(anuriipa) of the other.
8 For the " Divine Darkness " or " Dark Ray," the object of the Christian

contemnplatio in caligine, cf. Maitri Up. V. 2, "The Darkness remains in

Him as Rudra."

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 Chayd 283

III. 42; cf. Pudsanin RV. as vimuco napat), he is no longer in the

bondage of life-and-death, but as kamacarin can " pass up and
down these worlds eating what he will " (Taittirlya Up. X. 3. 5),9
for " having become one " (ekadhd bhavantih, Jaiminlya Up.
Brdhmana III. 33; cf. Brhad Aranyaka Up. V. 5. 12) he is " That
One" (tad ekam, X. 129. 2) and "shapes his body as he will"
(VII. 101. 3), "proceeding as he will" (X. 168. 4), as Person no
more allzumenschliche (Agni, amdnava purusa, Chdndogya Up.
purusah ... apr&nohy amdnah, Mundaka Up. II. 1. 2) he is one
with Agni not only in a manifested form, but as " Who proceedeth
foremost, and yet abideth in His ground " (anu agrai carati, kseti
budhnah, III. 55. 7). Chayd, then, as shadow in the sense of
manifested likeness of divinity is man's temporal and aeviternal
refuge (sarma) ; chaya, as the sable stillness of unmanifested
Godhead, is his last resort (parayanam).

9 Cf. Pistis Sophia, " He shall have the power of exploring all the regions
of the Inheritances of Light, and of remaining in the region which he
shall choose," and John 10. 13, " I am the door; by Me if any man enter
in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and shall find pasture."
Here and elsewhere, Christian parallels are cited, not with a view to
demonstrating " influences," but to remind the student that in Vedic
doctrine there is nothing unique, and that the voice of tradition is every-
where the same.

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