We have already alluded to the close relationship that exists between the symbolisms of the cave and of the heart, which explains the role played by the cave as a representation of a spiritual center from the initiatic point of view. Indeed, the heart is essentially a symbol of the center, whether it be the center of a being or, analogi cally, that of a world—that is to say whether the standpoint taken be microcosmic or macrocosmic. It is therefore natural, by virtue of this relationship, that the same meaning be attached to the cave, but the symbolic connection itself now calls for a fuller explanation.
The “cave of the heart” is a well-known traditional expression: the Sanskrit word guha generally designates a cave, but is applied also to the inner cavity of the heart, and consequently to the heart itself. This “cave of the heart” is the vital center in which reside not only the jīvātmā but also the unconditioned Ātmā, which is in reality identi cal with Brahma itself, as we have explained elsewhere.1 This word guha derives from the root guh, meaning “to cover” or “to hide”, which is also the sense of another similar root, gup, whence gupta, applied to everything of a secret character, everything not outwardly manifested; it is the equivalent of the Greek kruptos, which gives the word “crypt”, synonymous with cave. These ideas refer to the center considered as the innermost and consequently most hidden point; at the same time, they refer also to the initiatic secret, whether in itself or insofar as it is symbolized by the arrangement of the place where the initiation is accomplished, a place that is hidden or “covered”,2 that is, inaccessible to the profane, whether access be barred by a “labyrinthine” structure or in any other way (as for example, the “temples without doors” of Far-Eastern initiations), and always looked upon as an image of the center.
On the other hand, it is important to note that this hidden or secret character of spiritual centers or of their figurative representa tion implies that the traditional truth itself in its totality is no longer accessible to all men equally, which indicates that the period con cerned is one of “obscuration”, at least in a relative sense. This allows us to “situate” such a symbolism in the course of the cyclic process; but this is a point we shall have to consider more fully when we turn to the relationships between the mountain and the cave, insofar as both are taken as symbols of the center. For the moment we will just point out in this connection that the schema of the heart is a downwardpointing triangle (the “triangle of the heart” is yet another tra ditional expression). This same schema is applied also to the cave, whereas that of the mountain, or of the pyramid which is its equiva lent, is on the contrary an upward-pointing triangle, which shows that here we have a relationship that is both inverse and in a certain sense complementary. Concerning this representation of the heart and the cave as an inverted triangle, we should add that this is a case where clearly there is no suggestion of “black magic”, contrary to the claims of those whose acquaintance with symbolism is altogether insufficient.
That said, let us now return to what, according to Hindu tradition, is hidden in the “cave of the heart”, that is, the very principle of the being which, in this state of “envelopment” and with regard to manifestation, is compared to what is smallest (the word dahara, designating the cavity wherein it resides, also refers to this same idea of smallness). In reality, however, it is what is greatest, just as the point is spatially infinitesimal and even non-existent, even though it is the principle by which all space is produced; or again, just as the number one appears as the smallest of numbers, although it con tains all principially, and produces from itself the entire, indefinite series. So here too we find the expression of an inverse relationship in that the principle is envisaged from two different points of view; of these, the point of view of extreme smallness relates to its hidden and so to speak “invisible” state, which, for the being in question, is as yet only a “virtuality”, but from which the spiritual development of this being will begin. Thus it is here that we find, properly speaking, the “beginning” (initium) of this development, that relates directly to initiation in the etymological sense of this word; and it is precisely from this point of view that the cave can be regarded as the place of the “second birth”. In this respect we find texts such as the following: “Know that this Agni, who is the foundation of the eternal [princip ial] world, and through whom that world can be attained, is hidden in the cave [of the heart]”,3 which, in the microcosmic order, refers to the “second birth”, and, by transposition to the macrocosmic order, to its analogue, which is the birth of the Avatāra.
We have said that what resides in the heart is at one and the same time jīvātmā from the point of view of individual manifestation, and unconditioned Ātmā or Paramātmā from the principial point of view. These two are only distinguishable in an illusory mode, that is to say relative to manifestation itself, while being but one in absolute reality. They are the “two who have entered into the cave” and who at the same time are also said to “dwell on the highest summit”, so that the two symbolisms of cave and mountain are here united.4 The text adds that “those who know Brahma call them shadow and light”, which refers particularly to the symbolism of Nara-nārāyana, which we have discussed in connection with the Ātmā-Gītā,5 citing this very same text. Nara, the human or the mortal, who is jīvātmā, is identified with Arjuna; and Nārāyana, the divine or immortal, which is Paramātmā, is identified with Krishna; now, according to their proper meanings, Krishna denotes darkness of hue and Arjuna lightness, or night and day, respectively, when they are considered as the non-manifested and the manifested.6 An exactly similar symbolism found elsewhere is that of the Dioscuri [Castor and Pollux] with respect to the two hemispheres, one dark, the other light, as we have indicated in connection with the meaning of the “double spiral”.7 From another angle, these “two”, that is, jīvātmā and Paramātmā, are also the “two birds” mentioned in other texts as “abiding on the same tree” (just as Arjuna and Krishna are mounted in the same chariot), and said to be “inseparably united” because, as we said above, they are really one, the distinction between them being no more than illusory.8 We should point out here that the sym bolism of the tree, like that of the mountain, is essentially “axial”; and the cave, inasmuch as it is considered to be located under the moun tain or within it, is also on the axis, for in every case, and from what ever point of view it is envisaged, it is there that the center, which is the place of the union of the individual and the Universal, must always and necessarily be located.
Before leaving this subject, we will draw attention to a linguistic point to which we should perhaps not attach too much importance, although it is curious just the same. The Egyptian word hor, which is the very name Horus, properly seems to mean “heart”; Horus would thus be the “Heart of the World”, according to a designation found in most traditions, which is in perfect keeping with its symbolism as a whole, insofar as that can be determined. At first sight one might be tempted to connect this word hor with the Latin cor, which has the same meaning, the more so in that in different languages similar roots denoting the heart are equally found with either the aspirate or the guttural as initial letter. Thus, on the one hand, hrid or hri daya in Sanskrit, heart in English, herz in German, and on the other, kēr or kardion in Greek, and cor itself (genitive cordis) in Latin; but the common root of all these words, including the last mentioned, is in reality HRD or KRD, and it does not appear that this can be the case with the word hor, so that here we are dealing, not with the same root, but only of a sort of phonetic convergence, although one rather striking nonetheless. But what is perhaps more remarkable, and in any case is directly related to our subject, is that in Hebrew the word hor or hūr, written with the letter heth, signifies cave; we do not say that there is an etymological link between these Hebrew and Egyptian words, although they may have a common origin in the more or less distant past; but this is basically of little importance, for when one realizes that there can be no such thing as pure chance, the resemblance will seem most interesting. Nor is this all: again in Hebrew, hor or har, written this time with the letter hē, means “mountain”. Now since among aspirates heth is a stronger or rein forced hē, a sort of “compression”, and moreover since heth expresses in itself, ideographically, a notion of limit or enclosure, we see that the very relationship between the two words points to the cave as the enclosed place within the mountain, which is quite exact, liter ally as well as symbolically; and we are thus brought back once again to the relationships between the mountain and the cave. . . .
1 Man and His Becoming according to the Vedānta, chap. 3 (see Chāndogya Upanishad, III.14.3 and VIII.1.1).
2 Cf. the Masonic expression, “to be under cover”.
3 Katha Upanishad I.14.
4 Katha Upanishad III.1; cf. Brahma-Sūtra s 1.2.11-12
5 See Studies in Hinduism, chap. 1. ED
6 Cf. A. K. Coomaraswamy, “The Darker Side of Dawn” [Smithsonian Miscella neous Collections (1935), 94:1] and “Angel and Titan, an Essay in Vedic Ontology”, Journal of the American Oriental Society (1935), 55, pp. 373-419.
7 The Great Triad, chap. 5.
8 Muṇḍaka Upanishad III.1.1; Shvetāsvatara Upanishad IV.6.