Representations of Time in Texts about Space (Based on the Materials of Vastuvidya Texts in the Puranas)

Abstract

The Puranas (“Tales of former times”) are a kind of presentation of the “history” of the world. In the Puranas, in comparison with the previous literature, much attention is paid to the idea of time. In these huge works devoted to the history of the creation of the universe and its consistent description, the entire universe is presented as a manifestation of the supreme deity (depending on the direction of the Purana it could be Vishnu or Shiva). The importance of the temporal component is explained by the fact that the supreme god has not only a material, “bodily” manifestation in the form of Purusha (a being from which the universe originated), but also in the form of Kala (kala), i.e., time. Indirectly, the length of time in the Puranas is related to the “length” of the text (the duration of its reading or reproduction), which affects the volume of these works, they include a huge corpus of works, ranging from mythological and ritual texts, ending with treatises on various branches of knowledge. The key to the formal integrity of the Puranas is that all texts, even highly specialized ones, are processed in accordance with some general guidelines. At the same time, a temporary component appears in the presentation of any topic. This has even affected texts such as vastuvidya (texts on construction and architecture), which are devoted to the category of space rather than time, since they set out the principles of organizing and sanctifying the space of any man-made objects and their surroundings. In the Puranas, the past appears in vastuvidya texts. This is a kind of “history” of the origin of the main rituals (for example, the history of the appearance of the vastu-mandala). But the main direction of time is the future. Recommendations about the most preferred sizes, proportions, and layouts are supported by predictions about how this will affect the fate of residents of buildings under construction. For this purpose, the folk tradition of fortune-telling and signs is used. The article shows these and other ways in which the highly specialized text of vastuvidya is transformed into a “puranic” text.