Indra's net


Indra's net is a metaphor used to illustrate the concepts of Śūnyatā, pratītyasamutpāda, and interpenetration in Buddhist philosophy.
The metaphor's earliest known reference is found in the Atharva Veda. It was further developed by the Mahayana school in the 3rd century Avatamsaka Sutra and later by the Huayan school between the 6th and 8th centuries.

Avatamsaka Sutra

"Indra's net" is an infinitely large net of cords owned by the Vedic deva Indra, which hangs over his palace on Mount Meru, the axis mundi of Buddhist and Hindu cosmology. In this metaphor, Indra's net has a multifaceted jewel at each vertex, and each jewel is reflected in all of the other jewels.
In the Huayan school of Chinese Buddhism, which follows the Avatamsaka Sutra, the image of "Indra's net" is used to describe the interconnectedness of the universe. Francis H. Cook describes Indra's net thus:
The Buddha in the Avatamsaka Sutra's 30th book states a similar idea:

Book 30 of the sutra is named "The Incalculable" because it focuses on the idea of the infinitude of the universe and, as Cleary notes, concludes that "the cosmos is unutterably infinite, and hence so is the total scope and detail of knowledge and activity of enlightenment." In another part of the sutra, the Buddhas' knowledge of all phenomena is referred to by this metaphor:
They know all phenomena come from interdependent origination.
They know all world systems exhaustively. They know all the
different phenomena in all worlds, interrelated in Indra's net.

In Huayan texts

The metaphor of Indra's net of jewels plays an essential role in the Chinese Huayan school, where it is used to describe the interpenetration of microcosmos and macrocosmos. The Huayan text entitled "Calming and Contemplation in the Five Teachings of Huayan" attributed to the first Huayan patriarch Dushun gives an extended overview of this concept:

The manner in which all dharmas interpenetrate is like an imperial net of
celestial jewels extending in all directions infinitely, without limit. … As for the imperial net of heavenly jewels, it is known as Indra’s Net, a net which is made entirely of jewels. Because of the clarity of the jewels, they are all reflected in and enter into each other, ad infinitum. Within each jewel, simultaneously, is reflected the whole net. Ultimately, nothing comes or goes. If we now turn to the southwest, we can pick one particular jewel and
examine it closely. This individual jewel can immediately reflect the image
of every other jewel.
As is the case with this jewel, this is furthermore the case with all the rest of the jewels–each and every jewel simultaneously and immediately reflects each and every other jewel, ad infinitum. The image of each of these limitless jewels is within one jewel, appearing brilliantly. None of the other jewels interfere with this. When one sits within one jewel, one is simultaneously sitting in all the infinite jewels in all ten directions. How is this so? Because within each jewel are present all jewels. If all jewels are present within each jewel, it is also the case that if you sit in one jewel you sit in all jewels at the same time. The inverse is also understood in the same way. Just as one goes into one jewel and thus enters every other jewel while never leaving this one jewel, so too one enters any jewel while never leaving this particular jewel.

The Huayan Patriarch Fazang used the golden statue of a lion to demonstrate the Huayan vision of interpenetration to empress Wu:

Atharva Veda

According to Rajiv Malhotra, the earliest reference to a net belonging to Indra is in the Atharva Veda. Verse 8.8.6. says:
And verse 8.8.8. says:
The net was one of the weapons of the sky-god Indra, used to snare and entangle enemies. The net also signifies magic or illusion. According to Teun Goudriaan, Indra is conceived in the Rig Veda as a great magician, tricking his enemies with their own weapons, thereby continuing human life and prosperity on earth. Indra became associated with earthly magic, as reflected in the term indrajalam, "Indra's Net", the name given to the occult practices magicians. According to Goudriaan, the term indrajalam seems to originate in verse 8.8.8 from the Atharva Veda, of which Goudriaan gives a different translation:
According to Goudriaan, the speaker pretends to use a weapon of cosmical size. The net being referred to here

Modern and Western references

''Gödel, Escher, Bach''

In Gödel, Escher, Bach, Douglas Hofstadter uses Indra's net as a metaphor for the complex interconnected networks formed by relationships between objects in a system—including social networks, the interactions of particles, and the "symbols" that stand for ideas in a brain or intelligent computer.

''Vermeer's Hat''

In Vermeer's Hat, a history book written by Timothy Brook, the author uses the metaphor:
Writing in The Spectator, Sarah Burton explains that Brook uses the metaphor, and its interconnectedness,

''Indra's Net: Defending Hinduism's Philosophical Unity''

In Indra's Net, Rajiv Malhotra uses the image of Indra's net as a metaphor for

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