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figurative representation. The Sukranitisara, a medieval Indian<br />
treatise, explains this distinction in terms of the qualities the art<br />
form represents and the corresponding emotive response it evokes.<br />
These qualities are sattvika (serene and sublime images), rajasika<br />
(dynamism and kinaesthetics) and tamasika (the terrifying aspects<br />
of Prakriti), true to the characteristic antinomianism of the tantras.<br />
Yantras and Mandalas<br />
In tantric abstraction, the yantras and mandalas exemplify<br />
dynamic relationships concretized in the rhythmic order elaborated<br />
out of the multiplicity of primal forms. A yantra is<br />
conceived and designed, as Heinrich Zimmer points out:<br />
The tree of life. The individual<br />
soul (the bird at the right),<br />
symbolic of worldly attachments,<br />
eats the fruits from the tree of life,<br />
while the universal soul (the bird<br />
on the left) looks on with<br />
detachment. Rajasthan, c. 18th<br />
century. Gouache on paper.<br />
49
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