Lexicon

of Rig Veda

rajas, airspace

The image of airspace occupying a place between the Earth and the heavenly firmament symbolizes the same as the middle (intermediate) world of the antarikṣa, that is, the plan of consciousness of the Overmind. Here it should be borne in mind that the three lower earths contain the three qualities of the three regions: i.e. night, or the darkness of the Earth region (of the three earths), kinetics of Antariksha (of the Mid-World); the day, or the light of Heaven (supramental Svar and Sachchidananda). It is due to this coincidence the word rajas was used later as the name of the guna of vital consciousness, expressing desire, power, movement, while tamas, darkness, was associated with the guna of physical consciousness, and sattva, light,– with the guna of mental consciousness. However, despite this parallelism, in Veda the word rajas, airspace, is not associated with the middle earth (vital world), but with the intermediate world of the Overmind.

See also:

•  mid-world (antarikṣa)

Synonyms and words close in meaning:

•  rajastur, to the crossing the Airspace