Tanmatras

The tanmatras are the subtle elements,
the subtle forms of the five gross elements (earth, air, fire, water, and
akasha) from which the gross elements
are derived. The senses corresponding
to the subtle elements are gandha
(smell) for earth, sparsha (touch) for air,
rupa (shape) for fire, rasa (taste) for
water, and shabda (sound) for akasha.
The tanmatras first appeared in the
account of the evolution of the universe
propounded by the Samkhya school,
one of the six schools of traditional
Hindu philosophy. In the Samkhya
account, the subtle elements are the
stage of evolution preceding the evolution of the gross elements. The Samkhya
school espoused an atheistic dualism in
which the two fundamental principles
were purusha (spirit) and prakrti
(matter); all of this evolution was associated with prakrti because, according
to the Samkhyas, the purusha
never changed. The Samkhya account
of evolution was appropriated by
other groups—although these groups
often adapted it to reflect theistic
assumptions in which the world
came from God—and thus the notion
687
Tanmatras
of the subtle elements became an
accepted philosophical convention.