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Wellsprings
hindu-cosmosWe're still mapping where this idea was first discussed. Key passages and related ideas below.

Tattva 28 — Touch-Quality (Sparśa)

Pure 'touchableness': the subtle essence of tangibility behind every felt contact.

Sparśa, as a tattva, is the subtle element of touch — the pure quality of tangibility itself, the bare 'touchableness' from which contact, pressure, and texture in the gross world are made. The second of the five subtle elements, it is the fine essence behind everything we feel by touch. From it the gross element of air unfolds.

Key passages(5)

Vaiśeṣika-sūtra · Kaṇāda

High

Tarka-saṃgraha · Annaṃbhaṭṭa

High

Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad · Vedic Revelation (śruti)

High

Paramārthasāra · Abhinavagupta

High

Vaiśeṣika-sūtra · Kaṇāda

High