Bindu is The Seed

The dot or the bindu is the still centre of a circle from which arises movement, writes HARSHA V DEHEJIAThe trikona, chatushkona, rekha and bindu can define, in geometrical shapes, the human condition and the universe around it, and is the basis of most arts — visual, performing and literary. Of all these, it is bindu that is the most evocative,multivalent and pervasive. In the Rig Veda, the bindu is related to indu or the moon; another root for it is bind which means to be powerful or bhid which is to cleave. The bindu is the bija or the seed, the source, the still centre of a circle from which arises movement. It is the radiant sun and the full moon. It is the chakra of the cart and the bindi on the forehead. It is the kha or hole in the wheel which accommodates the axle, but above all it is a drop of falling water which expands.As it falls, the bindu could split into two halves or break into multiple and varied forms depending on how it spreads. The bindu incorporates movement and equally stands for stillness. It is red like the morning sun and black like the moon of amavasya. The dancer’s movements emerge from a bindu in her body and return to it. The tantras speak of the bindu as the energy that flows through the various chakras, white on the left and red on the right.The bindu is the centre or the nabhi of a sculptural composition and is the source of energy from which the rekha radiates in every direction to fill the space. The eye travels in all the directions of the rekha but ultimately comes to rest in the bindu and the bindu becomes the vishranti sthana. In temple architecture, the central point from which everything proceeds is the bindu. It is the centre of the amalaka at the top of the vimana or summit. It is the chakra that moves from the Mooladhara to the Sahasrara, from materiality to spirituality.When rekhas emerge from the bindu and go into the four cardinal directions, they from the swastika and with it it brings auspiciousness. The bindu is Krishna at the centre of the Rasamandala and the gopis or cowherd girls move around it in a circle.And when Krishna leaves, the circle is broken, for how can it exist without the bindu? The central character or the plot in a story is likened the bindu around which everything moves and evolves. The bindu is the bindi on the forehead of the woman, generally of kumkum at times of sandalwood, but sometimes of ash, and through its different shapes and colours, it represents her many moods.The bindu appears on her odhni, it is painted on the pages of a manuscript where it is a blessing, a protection. On akshara or words, the bindu is the anuysvara and between words it is the visarga and it gives a certain tone and texture, rhythm and cadence to our voice. The bindu is the purna, all things emerge from it and into it they return. It has been compared to Shiva Shakti, the male and the female, static and the dynamic, the spiritual and the material.It has truly been said that the bindu is the entire universe it is the purnam, the prathama, the purnima. It is easy to see why when the late Syed Raza wanted to turn from western to Indian art, he was attracted to the bindu and he represented it on his canvas in so many different and beautiful ways to make it his signature. It has been said that when he passed away, a star disappeared from the firmament and was replaced by a bindu.