hindu-cosmosWe're still mapping where this idea was first discussed. Key passages and related ideas below.
Tattva 29 — Form (Rūpa)
Pure 'visibility': the subtle essence of color and shape behind everything seen.
Rūpa, as a tattva, is the subtle element of form — the pure quality of visibility, color, and shape, the bare 'appearance' from which everything seen in the gross world is made. The third of the five subtle elements, it is the fine essence behind all that meets the eye. From it the gross element of fire (the principle of light and visibility) unfolds.
Key passages(5)
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