The Relevance of RūpaandMūrtifor the Doctrine of God in thePādmasaṃhitā:

Abstract

The aim of this article is to discuss the concepts of rūpa and mūrti in the doctrine of God in the Pādmasaṃhitā (PādS), a South Indian Pāñcarātra text (XII-XIII cent. CE). In its theology and creation theory the Supreme Being takes three ur-forms (rūpa): at the divine level He manifests Himself as Vāsudeva and, in bringing forth living beings, as puruṣa and prakṛti. By means of this three-fold structure, the PādS represents the inner dynamics of the godhead. Through His three rūpa-s the Supreme Being gives rise to His manifold concrete manifestations: the divine figures (mūrti) arising out of Vāsudeva, the jīva-s originating as particular concretisations of the puruṣa-rūpa and the derivatives of the prakṛti-rūpa. While rūpa is a key word in the theology of the PādS, the notion of mūrti proves to be crucial and multivalent, especially in connection with the experience of the presence of God in meditation and ritual worship.