Anu

Anu

अनु, aṇu

This Sanskrit word has several meanings, the most common of which are "atom", "elementary particle", "the smallest unit of time", and also "individual soul". In traditional Indian texts, particularly in “Mahabharata”, many characters and places are called by the name of aṇu.

The Vishishta-advaita vedanta and the Pashupata system of Shaivism regard the Atman (individual soul) as aṇu. Everything perceived and consciousness itself is formed from a combination of atoms (aṇu).

The text "Tantrasadbhava" characterizes aṇu as a soul who is in ignorance of God:

“She is called Uma and is endowed with all (forms of) worldly benefits. (Everyone) worships this goddess. She is like a mother who gives birth. O fair-haired, who descended with me into the region of shackled souls (aṇu), O eternal, who appeared to beautify the worlds.”

In Buddhism, aṇu is atomic particle that make up the material world and the basis of our perception. Philosophical schools describe their transient nature: aṇu appears and instantly replaces one another, invariably "updating" reality. The followers of Buddha’s teaching adhere to atheistic atomism, in contrast to the approach of the Indian philosophical school of Vaisheshika, according to which the world is created from atoms that come into contact with each other by the will of God.

Aṇu is mentioned as the minimum unit of time. It is given 54,675 parts of muhurta, which duration is 48 minutes. The phonetics section of prosody considers aṇu as the fourth part of matra, the syllabic moment. In tantras, aṇu is sometimes referred to as half of matra.