Tattva (Shaivism)

For other uses, see Tattva (disambiguation).

Chart of the 36 tattvas in Kashmir Shaivism

In Kashmir Shaivism, the 36 tattvas are the 36 elements or principles of reality. They describe, in descending order, the Absolute and its internal aspects; the covering of the Absolute by Maya; all of creation, including living beings, and the workings of the mind; and physical reality. Tattvas divide into three groups: Shudda, or "pure" tattvas (internal aspects of the Absolute); Shuddhashuddha, or "pure-impure" tattvas (the soul and its limitations); and Ashuddha, or "impure" tattvas (material, sensorial, the organs of action, the mind and the ego). The pure tattvas are the domain of transcendental unity and non-differentiation; the pure-impure tattvas are the domain of knowledge; and the impure tattvas are the domain of objectivity and duality.

Ultimate Reality

Parmshiva is ultimate Reality, "the one creative force out of which everything [that is known] emerges." Parmshiva is both knowledge or insight (jnana) and activity (kriya or vimarsha). According to Kashmir Shaivism, jnana is also kriya of the Divine, which is not inert but active.

Parmshiva manifests itself by a process of descent from Parmshiva to jiva, through the 36 tattvas. Spanda, " vibrant creative energy," moves Parmshiva to manifest itself as leela'in a "joyful manifestation of its creative energy," which is Shakti.

Shudda ("pure") tattvas

The Shudda ("pure") tattvas are Siva tattva (consciousness, light), Sakti tattva (awareness of light), sadasiva tattva, Isvara tattva, and suddha vidaya tattva. These tattvas are called pure because they are directly created by Shiva himself.

Shiva tattva and Shakti tattva are not created, but are the two aspects of Absolute Reality, Parmshiva. Next follows sadasiva tattva, the first appearance of aham, self-awareness or "this", followed by Isvara tattva, Idam, the objectivation of self-awareness or "this is myself." "I-ness" and "this-ness" become balanced in Sadvidya tattva, which is also called Shuddvidya tattva and Kriya tattva.

Shuddhashuddha ("pure-impure") tattvas

Maya tattva is the last tattva created by Patmshiva. It hides the Divine nature of created beings, and it creates the sense of separateness. Maya evolves further in five tattvas, which form kuncukas (cloaks) covering the Divine nature of sentient beings. The five kuncukas are Kāla tattva (time), Avidya tattva (misperception, limited knowledge), Raga Tattva (desire), Niyati tattva (limitations of causality), and Akāla tattva (limited power).

Ashuddha ("impure") tattvas

The five Ashuddha ("impure") tattvas are Purusa tattva (soul), Prakriti tattva (energy of the soul), Buddhi tattva (intuition), Manas tattva (mind), and Ahamkara tattva (ego, I-making). Manas tattva in turn is fed by the five jñānendriyas (sense organs), five karmendriyas (organs of action), and five tanmātras (sensations), which rely on the five mahābhūtas (physical elements).

Purusa tattva (soul)

Main article: Purusha

Purusa tattva is the soul, or I-consciousness in its limited, finite and earth-bound aspect.

Buddhi tattva (intuition)

Main article: Buddhi

Manas tattva (mind)

Main article: Manas

Manas tattva in turn is fed by the five jñānendriyas (sense organs), five karmendriyas (organs of action), and five tanmātras (sensations).

Five jñānendriyas (sense organs)

The five jñānendriyas (sense organs) are ghrana (nose), rasana (tongue), caksu (eye), tvak (skin), and srotra (ear). They represent the lunar, passive function of manas.

Five karmendriyas (organs of action)

The five karmendriyas (organs of action) are payu (anus), upashta (sex), pada (legs), pani (hands), and vak (mouth). Karmendriyas represent both the physical organs and the corresponding subtle (astral) organs of action, specific to activity in the astral plane. Karmendriyas are karman indriyas, that is internal organs that create karma. They are connected directly to the manas tattva, and represent its solar, active function.

Pāyu (anus)

The harmonious activation of pāyu is essential for obtaining control of such an energy. This is why many techniques involving pāyu tattva are methods of awakening of kundalini energy:

• aśvini mudrā – the horse gesture
• mulā bandha – the root lock
• śakticalana mudrā – moving the shakti
• mahamudra – the great seal (from hatha yoga)
• siddhasana, an important asana where the heel is pressing the perineum or anus

Upastha (sexual organs)

The term upastha means sexual organs, 'the part which is under' or lap. Upastha tattva means the power of procreation and sexual enjoyment, or the generative organ.

Pada (legs)

Main article: Pada (Hindu mythology)

Pada represents both the physical organ of locomotion and the subtle energetic structures associated with it. Between the seven force centers it is associated with Manipura Chakra and in the hierarchy of 36 tattvas it is a superior octave of tejas tattva.

Vak (speech)

See also: Vāk

Speech as a creative power

Vak tattva plays a major creative role in the human being as the instrument of speech and as such, the origin of the interior world of thought. Speech acts as a mirror of the exterior reality, duplicating everything that exists outside into the mind. The word is the vehicle of the limited ego, ahamkara. The word as such is an imperfect tool though, because while it can reflect the exterior reality it always approximates. For example, when we say I saw a man we don't say much - what kind of man, what impressions did he give us, etc. The word is just an abstraction from reality. Thus language is at the same time a tool and an obstacle in knowledge.

Levels of expression

As the self is expressed in three levels, ego, soul and spirit, so is speech expressed in three different ways:

• at the level of the ego (ahaṃkāra), speech is fully differentiated; it includes madhyamā vāk and vaikharī vāk, thus the vehicle of speech is the word itself
• at the level of the soul (jivātman, or puruṣa in Kashmir Shaivism) language is not ruptured from its real signification any more; it can be described as paśiantī vāk, the language of mantric syllables, symbols and non-sequential instant knowledge (intuition).
• at the level of the Ātman, language is expressed as supreme word - parāvak; in term of sound, it is represents silence; here there is only one single reality and one single meaning and it is described in a multitude of concepts, all approximative, as conscious light (prakāsa-vimarṣa), compact mass of consciousness and beatitude (cid-ananda-Ghana), supreme freedom (svātantrya), atemporal vibration (spanda) and the spontaneous flash of conscious light that projects objects into reality (abhāsa). Thus at this level there is absolutely no difference between the word and its significance.

Creation

On a cosmic scale, the creation of the universe is described in Kashmir Shaivism as an evolution of sound, a descending process originating from the level of logos (pārāvak). Each phoneme represents a stage in the process of evolution, a tattva, a world in itself. Sounds are associated with energies and ultimately with aspects of consciousness. The magical power of sounds and words is derived from this association with energy (śakti) and consciousness (śiva). The study of these energies is an essential part of Kashmir Shaivism.

Phonemes and mantras

In Kashmir Shaivism each class of phonemes is correlated with specific mantric energies of the sound. The full sequence of phonematic energies is called mātṛkā and contains 50 sounds, associated with the letters of the Sanskrit alphabet.

Five tanmātras (sensations)

The five tanmatras are gandha (smell), rasa (taste), rupa (form), sparsa (touch), and sabda (sound).

While mahābhūtas are the basis for the material world, tanmātras are but limited aspects and views of it, in no way able to fully describe it. We cannot actually perceive the reality, all we can access are limited "bands" of information that form a description of reality. These bands of information are the five tanmātras.

This restriction however applies only to the limited beings (jiva, or aṇu). For one who has gone beyond māyā, in the realm of the pure tattvas, there can be direct perception of reality, because as one's self is Ātman, so are the external objects. In such a state an enlightened being can perceive the world beyond the five senses (direct perception), in a state of diversity in unity and unity in diversity. Another way to put it is that he then recognizes (Pratyabhijña) himself (Atman) in any object.

Being closer to the subject than the physical reality, tanmātras are more elevated than mahābhūtas and are described as their source of creation.

Ahamkara tattva (ego, I-making)

Main article: Ahamkara

The five mahābhūtas

The five mahābhūtas are the five physical elements: prithvi (earth), jala (water), tejas (fire), vayu (air), and akasa (ether). They represent the final point of manifestation, where light (Prakāśa) is condensed into matter, yet the mahābhūtas remain identical with Shiva.

See also

• Aṇḍa, the four spheres of reality
• Trika
• Tattva (Samkhya)
• Namarupa
• Skandha
• Kosha
• Three Bodies Doctrine (Vedanta)
• Integral Yoga

Sources

Printed sources

• pag. 1
• cap. 6 and 7
• Singh, Jaideva (1979). Siva Sutras: The Yoga of Supreme Identity. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidas.

External links

• Piyaray L. Raina, Kashmir Shaivism versus Vedanta – A Synopsis (includes an overview of the tattvas)
• Daniel Odier, SHIVA AND HIS UNIVERSAL MANIFESTATION
• Gurukulam, 36 Tattva of Kashmir Shaivism (chart)