19 Śaiva Siddhānta

T. Seshasayee

 Introduction

Theistic philosophies which consider Śiva as the supreme Godhead are known as Śaiva schools. These are also founded on Vedas and Agamas. But the Agamas that are considered as authoritative are Śaiva Āgamas. In Śaiva tradition also there is a wide range of philosophical perspectives from pluralism to monism. Śaiva Siddhānta is one such school from South India especially from Tamil Nadu. Tamil Śaivism is known as Śaiva Siddhānta. It means the settled conclusion or final position of Śaivism.

1.1. Literature

Śaiva Siddhānta is based on both Śānskrit and Tamil source works. The former includes Vedas, Āgamas, Purāņas, Itihāsa and Upanişads. But Śaiva Siddhānta draws more from the latter , viz., Tamil works – Sangam literature, Panniru tirumurais, and fourteen philosophical works and Modern Śaiva devotional literature Thaayumanavar, Arunagirinathar, Sivajňāna Munivar and Kumarakuruparar. Tirumurais are the devotional canonical literature known as Tevaram sung by the saints of saivism in praise of Siva. Of these Sambandar contributed 1-3 tirumurais,Appar 4-6, Sundarar 7th tirumurai. These 7 Tirumurais are known by a common name Andagan murai. Manikavasagar the 8th tirumurai, Nine saints contributed the 9th Tirumurai, the 10th Tirumurai known as Tirumantiram by Tirumular, the 11th is the revelations of Karaikkal ammaiyar and others, and the 12th known as Periya puranam by Sekkizhaar.

Saints Sambandhar, Thirunavukkarasar, Sundarar and Appar are popularly known as Samāyā Acāryas by the tradition. There are 63 saints other than the four, who are known as Nāyanmārs in the tradition. The four great saints did not attempt any systematic exposition of Śaivism. This task was fulfilled by the teachers who followed them. The most important of them are Meikandadeva, Arulnandi Śivācārya, Marai Jnňaāna Sambandha and Umāpati Śivācārya. Meikanda’s Śivajňānabodham is the basic text of the Śaiva Siddhānta philosophy. He wrote a Vārtika for the same. Arulnandi’s Śivajňānasiddhiyar and Umāpati’s Śivaprakāsam are other important philosophical works.

2. Epistemology

The categories Pati (God), paśu (souls) and pāśa (bonds) advocated by a Siddhāntins are accepted on the basis of Scripture (Śruti), reasoning (yukti) and personal experience (anubhava). Scripture comes alive and reasoning bears fruit. We may note that besides the Tamil works, the Vedas and the Śaiva Āgamas also are Scripture for the Siddh āntin. Indeed, the utterances of those who have such authentic experience become Scriptures themselves. The Vedas are considered general and the Ā gamas special .In other words, the Agamas help the aspirant not only to know what is the truth but also to attain it in experience.

The Indian philosophical tradition deals with the means of valid knowledge (pramāņas) before expounding the doctrines. The Siddhāntin accepts perception (pratyakşa), inference (anumāna) and scriptures or valid testimony (śabda).The ultimate pramāņa for him, however, is soul’s intelligence (ātma citśakti), illumined by Śiva Citśakti.

3. Metaphysics

Śaiva Siddhānta recognizes three main categories namely, God (Pati), soul (pa śu) and bond (pāśa).To this system, God, soul and matter are all real. Therefore it is a pluralistic realism.

3.1. God (Pati)

Pati stands for Paś upati, the Lord of souls. It suggests he is transcendent as Pati and immanent in relation to souls. There are four terrific aspects such as Rudra, Śarva, Ugra and Aśani. The benevolent aspects of Pati are Bhava, Paśupati, Mahādeva and Īśāna. The concept of Śiva as God, and Śiva as Rudra can be traced back to Rg Veda. Rudra means the remover of sufferings and the word Śiva means ‘one who attenuates sin’. Hence Rudra and Ś iva have the same meaning. God punishes souls when they transgress the moral law, attracts them by the beauty of His Holiness. God is designated as Hara since he removes the bonds of the soul. He is known as Śiva since he is the supreme bliss. He may be referred to as “he”, “she” and “it”, the threefold form in which the world appears that is Śivah, Śiva and Śivam. The existence of Śiva is proved through several arguments. The following are the proofs for the existence of Śiva.

3.1.1. Ontological Argument

How can a Śaivite deny Him as false when He has earned the psycho-physical realm of a devotee? Hence the existence is the precondition and necessary quality for Śiva. Everything is grounded in it and without it nothing could exist. The idea of God is the ground of all existence, including its own.

3.1.2. Causal Argument

Śiva is the efficient cause. Śakti is the instrumental cause and māyā is the material cause .The world is the effect and subject to origination, maintenance and destruction. It has to emerge from its destroyer into whom it was withdrawn at the time of dissolution. The world cannot be the cause of itself because it is unconscious and the human beings cannot be the cause. Hence Śiva is needed for the creation of the world.

3.1.3. Moral Argument

Souls are subjected to cycle of birth and death according to karmas. Karma cannot operate the award the fruits of the deeds of the doer. Nor the doer because he is not free from self- interest. So there is a need for a moral governor (karmādhyakşa) to award the fruits.

3.1.4. Teleological Argument

The purpose of creation is mainly for the redemption of the souls. The souls would not think of liberation but for the Grace of Śiva.

3.1.5. Design Argument

To Siddhāntins the involution and evolution, the purpose of purification all need a designer who is none other than Śiva. Hence Śiva must exist. God according to Siddhāntins is nirguņa not in the sense of attributeless but in the sense that he is devoid of the guņas of Prakŗti, namely, sattva, rajas and tamas. Śiva is attributed with eight qualities (guņas). They are independence, purity, self-knowledge, omniscience, freedom from mala, boundless benevolence, omnipotence and bliss. God is both Transcendent and immanent. He is called Viś varūpa as He is in the form of universe and is also known as Visvādhika as He is more than the universe. God is with form and formless as well. He is in eight forms (aşţ tamūrti), namely, earth, water, air , fire, sky, the sun and the moon , the sentient man. This is not pantheism for Siva is more than the world while being its ground.

God according to Śaiva Siddhānta is the operative cause of the world. The material cause of the world is Māyā or Prakŗti. Hence it advocates Prakŗtipariņāmavāda. The clay cannot transform into a pot without the activity of a potter. Similarly, the Prak ŗti cannot evolve into world without an efficient cause. So God is required for the creation of the world. He evolves the in order that the souls may be saved through the removal of impurities.

4. The Five Functions of Śiva

Śiva has five functions, namely, concealment or obscuration (tiorodhāna), creation (śrişţ i), preservation (sthiti), destruction (samhā ra), and grace (anugraha). The creation of the world is for the souls, and liberation is through His grace. Without Śiva nothing can move. But Śiva is not affected by the process. Siddhaāntins do not favour the concept of incarnation (avatāra). He appears in the form in which he is worshipped by his devotees to save the souls. The forms of appearance are not material, but expressions of grace. One of the important forms in which Śiva appears is that of Guru to save the soul from samsāra.

God is fundamental because the other two categories paśu and pāśa depend on God. Pāśa provides the space to paśu to experience the objects

4.1. Paśu

Paśu means the soul in the state of bondage. According to the Siddhāntin, souls are classified into three groups namely, sakala, pralayakāla and vijňānakala. Souls having three impurities, āņava, karma and māyā are called sakalas, Souls having āņava and karma are called as pralayakalas. Souls having only āņava are known as vijňānakalas.

The three malas that bind the soul to the course of transmigration are āņava, karma, and māyā.

(1) Āņava–mala is an inborn impurity. It is called āņava because of its delusion caused, the infinite soul becomes finite or atomic (aņu). It is a positive entity. It is also beginningless. It is called mūla-mala because it is the original cause of the soul’s bondage. It is non-intelligent, and hence it has to be operated upon by the Lord through his power of obscuration (tirodhāna–śakti),

(2) karma-mala is the bond forged by one’s deeds. The soul is prompted by attachment and aversion to engage itself in action leading to merit and demerit which the soul necessarily enjoys through a series of births. This is the impurity of karma. (3) Māyā-mala, the third impurity and is the material cause of the universe. It endows the soul with the means and object of enjoyment. The three malas together constitute the bondage of the soul. They are compared to the bran, husk, and sprout of paddy.

To prove the existence of Soul, the Siddh āntin argues that the very denial of the soul involves its affirmation. For, (1) that which denies its own existence, exists at least during the denial. Otherwise, the statement resembles a person saying that his mother is barren woman; (2) that which denies, that it is not the body, the sense organs, etc. Thus Siddh āntin takes into consideration of others like Sūnyavādins, Cārvākas and Advaitins and argues for a plurality of souls. The Siddhāntins maintain that the spiritual history of souls differs from individual to individual. Their ultimate perfection does not make them all alike. The Śivajňā nabodham declares that the souls are ever the servants of the Lord. Their service is of various kinds and there are different types of servants. Freedom from bondage for the Siddhāntin, ushers in freedom of and in service.

4.2. Soul as Sadasat

Śaiva Siddhānta advocates that ontologically, souls are existent (sat ).They identify with the material environment and reflect the same in the state of bondage. But the souls in the state of release reflect those of the Lord. In this respect, souls are compared to (1) the crystal and (2) the eye. The crystal appears white when there is no object. Thus its true nature is that of light. But when it reflects other colours it belies itself. Likewise, the eye is made to respond to light not lose this capacity in darkness. Even so the soul has its own nature which is like unto that of Śiva (Pati), not of pāśa.

To Siddhāntin, all the three categories, Pati, paśu and pāśa are sat in so far as they actually exist, i.e., ontologically. But pāśa (especially māyā) as subject to the changes of evolution and involution etc., is said to be asat. Hence asat is something that is subject to changes. Pati alone is beyond all change. Pasu, when identifies itself with pāśa, is asat. The soul is asat when it identifies itself with a body, etc, which undergo changes. But when it realizes that it is intelligence (cetana),it is sat. The soul is sadasat. Thus, souls are by nature infinite, pervasive and omniscient. But because of their association with impurities (malas) or bonds (pāśas), they experience themselves as finite, limited, as parviscient. They thus become subject to birth and death. The souls are called paśu because they have pāśa (bonds).

A soul is either sakala or pralayakala or vijňānakala. The soul as it exists with the three bonds of empirical existence is called sakāla. The soul as it exists in pralaya, or period of cosmic dissolution is called pralayakala. Here it is free from māyā alone. The vijňānakala is the soul from which karma and māyā are removed but āņava only remains. It resides in the world constituted by Suddha-māyā and has no need to return to empirical existence. It is in a state fit for release. The soul attains this when āņava is removed by the grace of Śiva.

4.3. Pāśa

Pāśa means rope. It consists of three strands (āņava, karma and māy ā). Even as a cow is tied with a rope, the soul (paśu) is tied with this threefold cord. Pāśa may be understood as fetters also. They are also called impurity (mala). Āņava is called the mūla-mala and is a main constraint on the soul (pratibanda). Karma follows the soul (anubanda ) through births and deaths. Māyā is the material source for the body, instruments, world and objects of enjoyment (tanu, karaņa bhuvana bhoga). The souls will not of their own bind themselves. Pāśa is inert. The Lord will not bind the souls. Hence it is said that bondage is beginningless, not endless.

The role of āņava is to be understood in the context of the operation of the Lord’s Tirodhana-śakti. Five functions are attributed to the Lord: creation (śŗşţi), maintenance (sthithi), samhāra (periodic destruction),obscuration (tirodh āna) and bestowal of grace (anugraha).The Lord subjects the souls to a process of moral and spiritual education, an important part of which is tirodhana . Āņava clouds the understanding of the souls so that they may not prematurely withdraw from their education. The adhonyamika sakti of āņava makes the lower values attractive to the soul, so that they may get disillusioned about them by actual experience and come to accept the higher values. According to the Siddhānta texts, anugraha is basic to the other four. Even obscuration is a part of His Grace as helping in the process of disillusionment prior to enlightenment.

4.4. Karma

Karma is action which includes thought, word and deed. They are good or bad either as they promote or hinder the welfare of souls. Good karma gives rise to merit (puņya) and bad karma to demerit or pāpa. Puņya and pāpa give the agent happiness and misery respectively. Under the influence of āņava, the soul acts with the sense of ‘I’ and ‘mine. It thinks that it is the agent and the owner of the fruits of actions. The soul is caught in a round of births and deaths in order to experience the consequences of its actions. In this process it accumulates fresh karma, which causes extension of the cycle of births and deaths. Thus though karma, is an aid for our moral and spiritual uplift, becomes a source of our downfall. Karma is moral cultivation. Karma is meaningless except in the context of moral freedom and responsibility, though by the abuse of our freedom we forge an apparently insuperable destiny.

4.5. Māyā

This word māyā denotes matter in its primal state. Prakŗti constituted by the guņas sattva, rajas and tamas is not the primal, because it is composite and whatever is composite is not ultimate. The evolutes of māyā are suddha and suddhāsuddha and asuddha. Asuddha-māyā is equated with Prakŗti. The māyā is like a lamp, which in the absence of the Sun helps us to overcome the dangers of darkness to a limited extent. The Lord gives the souls bodies,etc., so that they may gain wisdom and ultimately get freed from āņava. The products of māyā are meant for our advancement. But, under the influence of āņava, we misuse them for our sensual and selfish enjoyment. Thus, like karma misused, māyā also becomes a fetter.

The evolutes of māyā consist of thirty-six principles (tattvas). Māyā is twofold in nature, pure and impure, śuddha-māyā and aś uddha-māyā. Ś uddha-māyā is māyā in its primal state. Aśuddha -māyā is māy ā when it is mixed with the impurity of ignorance (āņava) and action (karma). Śuddha-māyā gives rise to five pure principles. It is through these pure principles that Śiva functions and produces the bodies, organs, worlds, and objects of enjoyment for the pure souls (adhikāra muktas). From aśuddha-māyā evolve the bodies, organs, worlds and objects of enjoyment for the impure souls. The whole process of creation is for the sake of the liberation of the souls.

Māyā is the material cause of the universe. The Siddh āntin believes in satk āryavāda. The universe must have evolved from a material cause which is not different from it in nature. God cannot be its material cause, because God is cit (consciousness) and the universe is non-conscious (acit). Hence māyā which is non-conscious, alone can be the material cause of the universe. Māy ā is so called because the universe is resolved (ma) into it and is evolved (ya) from it. Māyā is one of the bonds (pāśas) of the soul. It provides the soul with the means, locations, and objects of enjoyment called bhogya-kāņda. The world of māyā is usually referred to as asat. The expression does not mean that the world is non-existent or unreal, but only that the world is other than God, who is sat.

5. Release (Mukti)

Mukti is freedom. It is freedom from āņava, from the sense of ‘I’ and ‘mine’. It is freedom for unfettered worship and service. The good is done without craving for spiritual merit and rewards. The evil is avoided naturally, not out of fear of consequences. An attitude of indifference is not to good and bad but to their fruits is called iruvinaioppu. When this stage is reached, āņava is ripe for removal (mala-paripaka), like a ripe cataract. The Lord’s grace descends on the soul (śaktinipāta) in a slow or fast tempo according to the state of the soul to receive it. All Śaiva saints have recited the sacred five syllables, Om Namasivāya, regularly to attain mukti. Chanting the five letters negatively destroys the impediments and positively illumine the self with divine light. The chanting of Śiva mantra needs proper guidance from Guru.

The path to release consists of four stages: carya, kriyā, yoga and jňāna.

5.1. Carya

It stands for external acts of worship like cleaning the temples, gathering flowers for the deity, etc. This is called the path of servants (daśamārga). Its goal is residence in the realm of God (sālokya)

5.2. Kriyā

The next stage is kriyā and is marked by acts of intimate service to God. This path is known as the path of the good son (satputra-mārga).The objective of this is attaining the nearness of God (sāmīpya).

5.3. Yoga

The third discipline is union (Yoga) which signifies contemplation and internal worship. The devotee becomes more intimate with God, as a friend with a friend. Hence the path is called the path of friendship (sakhamārga). It leads to gaining the form of God (sārūpya).

5.4. Jňāna

The above three disciplines constitute the preparatory stages in the journey to perfection. The direct means to perfection is knowledge (jňāna).This path is termed sanmārga as it takes the soul straight to sat which is God. Its fruit is the ultimate human good which is union with God (sāyujya ). It does not mean non-difference, but only non-separateness from God. Even in the state of release the soul retains its individuality. But it then shares in the nature of Śiva. It becomes similar to God, i.e., infinitude, pervasiveness and omniscience. While the soul is now free from mala and enjoys the bliss of Siva, it does not share with Śiva, the five functions of creation, sustentation, destruction, concealment and bestowal of grace. Moksa is thus the experience of unity-in-duality. God is the giver of eternal bliss and the soul is the recipient thereof. Without becoming identical with God, the soul enjoys his nature. The Siddhāntin says, ” They are not two” and not “There are not two”.

Summary

Śaiva Siddhānta is one of the most influential philosophical traditions in the South India. One of the most interesting things that we find in this tradition is that it accepts three realities in the form of Pati, paśu and pāśa. The supreme Lord Siva is the Pati. The two other realities are not absolute but dependent on Pati, the Lord. In its soteriology, Śaiva Siddhānta ’s ultimate goal is liberation. Individual souls are fettered by malas or impurities. However, there is a way to get rid of these impurities through proper spiritual practice.

Web links

• http://www.saivism.net/sects/siddha/siddhasaivism.asp
• http://www.saivasiddhanta.in/
• http://www.shaivam.org/siddhanta/san.htm
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaiva_Siddhanta

Bibliography

• Ganapathy , T.N. (ed) Perspectives of Theism and Absolutism in Indian Philosophy, 1st.
• Chennai : Department of Philosophy Publication, Vivekananda College,1978.
• Gopalakrishnan, R. Essentials of Saivism, U.K.: The Federation of Saiva ( Hindu) Temples, 2004.
• Mahadevan, T.M.P. Invitation to Indian Philosophy, New Delhi : Arnold- Heinamann Publishers Private Limited, 1974.
•  Paramjyoti Violet. Saiva Siddhanta, London: Lu Zac & co, 1954.