WHO IS PARAMASHIVA?

Please note that this article is not based on any particular philosophy (in particular Trika philosophy). It is only for the purpose of mere understanding. Paramaiva is Supreme and incomprehensible. He is kno n as Parabrahman (Supreme !rahman" here there is no #uestion of nirgua or sagua1). He is beyond $irgua !rahman" hich means He is ithout any traces of attributes. He cannot be described and He is the %!S&'(T). If at all e ant to describe Him" it can be said that He is a mass of sum total of all energies shining forth" several times brighter than the sun. )ven this is only for the purpose of pure understanding and as said earlier" He is beyond any comprehension. *hen e say that Paramaiva is far beyond $irgua !rahman ( ithout attributes)" there is no ay e can discuss about sagua !rahman ( ith attributes) here. $o Paramaiva decides to create. *hen He decides to create" in the mass of energy there takes place a +ivine Pulsation (high intensity vibrations or throbbing" kno n as spanda). % miniscule piece from this throb falls apart (like a drop falling out from boiling ater). This drop has e#ual effulgence and splendour of Paramaiva" though it is only a tiny piece. In order to understand this tiny piece" it can be said that it is one trillionth part of Paramaiva. This one trillionth part has all the #ualities of Paramaiva and this part is named as ,iva. ,iva is kno n as the Self or !rahman" as opposed to

Paramaiva" ho is termed as Parabrahman. !rahman or ,iva is $irgua !rahman as He is devoid of any #ualities or attributes (Paramaiva is beyond $irgua !rahman). ,iva is called by several names" though He is devoid of any forms. He has no forms because" He is nirgua. !ut for the purpose of understanding the concept" He is described here ith a form. !ut" the reality is that He is in the form of blistering 'ight and hence He is kno n as Prak-a. *ithout this 'ight" nothing can be seen. In this article" He is given a form for the sake of convenience and easier understanding. 'ike Paramaiva" ,iva also develops ill to create and this is kno n as +ivine *ill (as opposed to free ill 2). *hen ,iva decides to create" He has t o intentions. &ne" He ants to remain secluded and undisturbed. T o" He anted to create (manifest3) out of compassion (for both sentient and insentient beings). He thought a ay out and decided to carve a part of His Po er to carry for ard His +ivine ill to create. He began to meditate intently and decided to create a beautiful oman" e#ually splendorous like Him. !ut this oman has not yet physically appeared. ,iva decided to create Her in deep red in comple.ion. ,iva continued to maintain #uality of the source of His origin" vi/. Paramaiva. The only change that ,iva made in Himself is that He has become transparent like pure crystal" to keep Him cool and pleasant. This is out of pure compassion for the beings that He decided to create" as" if He continues to maintain the same heat energy of Paramaiva" creation cannot happen for the sheer reason that hatever created ould get burnt into ashes" due to high intensity heat radiating from Him. %t this

point of time" ,iva created her mentally and decided to keep her ithin Himself for the time being. *hen ,iva finally decided to create" after carefully considering all aspects of His creation" He decided to create this oman as a separate entity. &nce He decided to create this oman" He stood up and brought her out" first by giving His left side to her" hich is kno n as ardhan-r0vara 4 form (half male and half female). %fter remaining in this form for some time" He made her to come out of Him fully and He named Her as 1diakti5. She is also blistering and splendorous like ,iva (,iva imbibed the #ualities of Paramaiva and 1diakti imbibed the #ualities of ,iva). There are only t o differences bet een ,iva and ,akti. &ne" ,iva is pure hite and appears like a crystal and transparent. ,akti is deep red in colour and is translucent. T o" ,iva represents static energy and ,akti represents dynamic and kinetic forms of energies. %s soon as She came out of Him" He asked Her to sit by His side and imparted various aspects of creation. He taught Her not only about creation" but also d elt at length about ho to liberate the created beings and ays and means to merge them unto Him. This is kno n as liberation. +uring this period of imparting kno ledge to Her" ,iva assumed the form of a 2uru for Her. He taught Her various aspects of orship through Tantra -stra3s and associated mantras. In these teachings" ,iva never attached any importance to Him. He only taught ho She can be orshiped. This is mainly because He is not interested in any activities and never ants

to be disturbed from His deep meditative state. Ho ever" He has given Her complete access to Her to reach Him for anything at any point of time (sv-tantrya akti). +uring this stage" ,iva and ,akti sat opposite to each other and She gave Him all respects as Her 2uru. This aspect of ,iva imparting +ivine kno ledge to Her is considered as a sort of +ivine initiation. This initiation is vastly different from human initiation for the single reason that ,iva taught Her to create" hereas in human initiations" e are taught ho to get back to Them (cessation from transmigration" leading to liberation). !ased on this reason" ,iva is orshiped through 4ah-paduk-mantra6 in ,r0 5idy- cult. %fter having imparted all the kno ledge that is re#uired for the purpose of creation" sustenance" death of beings" annihilation of the universe and re3creation7" ,iva made Her to sit on His lap and ultimately unites ith Her to commence the process of creation and their union is kno n as ,ivaakti aikya8. %fter this union" She pleads ith ,iva to remain ith Her all the time only as a mute itness to all Her actions (,iva and ,akti can never be separated)" for hich ,iva agreed on the condition that He ill only be present and ill not get involved in any of the actions. Thus" ,iva" though remaining as the Self in all the beings as the cause of creation (the Self or !rahman) does not get involved in any of the actions. He al ays remains as *itness. $o " She proceeds to create" after obtaining complete Po er of %ttorney (sv-tantrya akti) from ,iva. *hen She proceeds to create" She is in the form absolute !liss kno n as 1nandaakti9. 6irst" She manifests as icch-akti" then as

78-naakti and finally as kriy-akti (these three akti3s are kno n as energy of ill" energy of isdom and energy of action). In these three akti3s" presence of ,iva is very predominant and these three states are kno n as Sad-iva" 9vara and 4ah-deva (according to Trika philosophy it is kno n as ,uddha 5idy-. 4ah-deva is used only for the purpose of easy understanding" as this is one of the often used names of ,iva). %t this point" both ,iva and ,akti enter into the dark tunnel of m-y- and hen they come out of the other end of the tunnel" they are separated and become Purua and Prakti. Purua is the individual soul ith ,iva ithin and Prakti is m-y- or ignorance that forms the sheath around the Self" and after being sheathed by m-y-" the Self becomes self or individual soul. *hen Purua and Prakti unite" individual creation is made (such as a human being). 6irst thing that is formed out this union is anta kara a (mind" intellect and ego) and later organs of perception and organs of actions" etc. It is only in Prakti" initially all the three gua3s10 lie in e#uilibrium. This is the process of creation. *hen there is e#uilibrium is distorted" creations of individual beings begin. %fter having come into e.istence" the ultimate aim of any being is not to be born again. 6rom mundane e.istence to the ultimate goal of reaching ,iva is the path of liberation" here e have to completely pursue the revere path. 6or e.ample" e have to first reali/e m-y-" and then transcend m-y- to reach 4ah-deva" 9vara" Sadh-iv- to attain ,akti" then 1diakti and finally become one ith ,iva.

REFERENCES: :. $irgua means ithout attributes and sagua means ith attributes. ;. 6ree ill is the po er of making free choices unconstrained by e.ternal agencies such as sensory organs. <. 4anifest in the sense that He anted to become gross from subtle. =. %rdhan-r0vara form > Half male and half female form of ,iva. ?. 1diakti is e.plained in 'alit- Sahasran-ma @:?" hich is e.plained like this> She is the primordial energy of creation. ,iva has no creator. ,ivaAs only creation is ,akt0 ho in turn created the universe. Hence She is called as 1di (first) ,akt0 (energy). In fact" ,akt0 is the creative pulsation of ,iva. It is only because of ,akt0" empiric individual realises his essential divine nature. @. 4ah-paduk-mantra> ,r0 4ah-paduk- refers to the 'otus 6eet of 'ord Paramaiva. In ,r0 5idy- cult" He is orshipped as Bary-nandan-tha. He initiated 4ah-k-mevar0 (His Bonsort) during the formation of the universe. He is also adored as 5idy-nandan-tha and Paramaiv-natha. C. 'alit- Sahasran-ma ;?D Pa8ca3brahma3svarEpi0 F. 'alit- Sahasran-ma GGG ,iva3akty3aikya3rEpi0 G. !rahman has got five important po ers. They are cit (consciousness)" -nanda (bliss)" icch- ( ill)" 78-na (kno ledge) and kriy- (action). This Bit or ,iva (first person) betakes Himself into human (third person) and ,akt0 (second person). !ecause cit is covered by many minute barricades and sheaths" e are unable to reali/e Him ith

ease. Hno ledge makes us to understand these blockades and coverings" so that it becomes easier for us to remove them and move to ards Him. !rahman is safely hidden amidst these covers. Ha says" (!hagavad 20ta I5.C) JThe eternal 70v-tma (soul) in this body is a particle of my o n being.K :D. 2ua3s> She is in the form of three gua3s or #ualities vi/ sattvic" ra7as and tamas. Sattva gua means the #uality of purity and kno ledge. The presence of other t o gua3s is not very prominent in sattva gua as this gua is endo ed ith the highest purity. La7o gua is the activity of passion. Tamo gua is inertia or ignorance. These t o gua3s have higher trace of other gua3s. 2ua3s are the inherent #ualities of prakti. )go and intellect originate from gua3s that are present in all the evolutes of prakti at once" but distributed in une#ual proportions in each individual. The predominant gua that prevails in an individual is reflected through his thoughts and actions. Ha e.plains gua3s in !hagavad 20ta (I5.@ 3 G) JSattva" ra7as and tamas 3 these three #ualities born of prakti ($ature) tie do n the imperishable soul to the body. &f these" sattva being immaculate" is illuminating and fla lessM it binds through identification ith 7oy and isdom. The #uality of ra7as" ith is of the nature of passion" as born of avariciousness and attachment. It binds the soul through attachment to actions and their fruits. Tamas" the deluder of all those ho look upon the body as their o n self" are born of ignorance. It binds the soul through error" sloth and sleep. Sattva drives one to 7oy" and ra7as to action" hile

tamas clouding the isdom incites one to err as ell as sleep and sloth.K Bhapter of !hagavad 20ta II5 e.tensively deals ith gua3s. Ha again says (!hagavad 20ta II5.;D) JHaving transcended the aforesaid gua3s" hich have caused the body" and freed from birth" death" old age and all kinds of sorro " this soul attains the supreme bliss.K