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Concept
Akasha
Summary
Akasha or Akash (Sanskrit आकाश) means space or sky or aether in traditional Indian cosmology, depending on the religion. The term has also been adopted in Western occultism and spiritualism in the late 19th century. In many modern Indo-Aryan languages and Dravidian languages the corresponding word (often rendered Akash) retains a generic meaning of "sky".
The word in Sanskrit is derived from a root kāś meaning "to be". It appears as a masculine noun in Vedic Sanskrit with a generic meaning of "open space, vacuity". In Classical Sanskrit, the noun acquires the neuter gender and may express the concept of "sky; atmosphere" (Manusmrti, Shatapatha Brahmana).
In Vedantic philosophy, the word acquires its technical meaning of "an ethereal fluid imagined as pervading the cosmos".
In Vedantic Hinduism, akasha means the basis and essence of all things in the material world; the first element created. A Vedic mantra "pṛthivyāpastejovāyurākāśāt" indicates the sequence of initial appearance of the five basic gross elements. Thus, first appeared the space, from which appeared air, from that fire or energy, from which the water, and therefrom the earth. It is one of the Panchamahabhuta, or "five gross elements"; its main characteristic is Shabda (sound). The direct translation of akasha is the word meaning "upper sky" or 'space' in Hinduism.
The Nyaya and Vaisheshika schools of Hindu philosophy state that akasha or aether is the fifth physical substance, which is the substratum of the quality of sound. It is the one, eternal, and all-pervading physical substance, which is imperceptible.
According to the Samkhya school, akasha is one of the five Mahābhūtas (grand physical elements) having the specific property of sound.
In the Shiva Purana, it identifies akasha as having "the only attribute of sound".
In the Linga Purana, akasha is translated as "firmament" and listed as one of the 1,008 names of Lord Shiva.
Adherents of the heterodox Cārvāka or Lokāyata philosophy held that this world is made of four elements only.
Official source
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