Māyā
comprises the whole process of evolution and involution.
karma
leads to the fruition of heaven and hell, as ordained by Śiva. The goodness of an action is determined by scripture. “Pleasures and pains are the medicine administered by Śiva, the physician, to cure the diseases and delusions caused by
mala.”
82
Aṇava
, beginningless and eternal, is the primal bondage of the souls; it is something like an “original sin”: if
aṇava
is removed the souls will be restored to their essential nature as pure spirits.
Aṇava
is the (positive) limitation of the soul’s knowledge.
With this background it becomes possible to understand the process of salvation as envisaged by the Śaiva-siddhantins.
Dīkṣā
(formal initiation) is the direct cause of liberation, but
dīkṣā
is not possible without
vidyā; vidyā
is not possible without
yoga; yoga
is not possible without
kriyā;
and
kriyā
is not possible without
caryā
. Thus we have steps of liberation, corresponding to four different
mārgas
(paths), leading to four different kinds of
mukti
(liberation).
Dāsa-mārga
(the path of the servant) consists of the practice of
caryā
and leads to
sālokya
(living in the same place as Śiva).
Satputra mārga
(the path of the true son) consists of the practice of
kriyā
and leads to
sāmipya
(nearness to Śiva).
Saba mārga
(the path of the companion) consists of the practice of
yoga
and leads to
sārupya
(having the same form as Śiva).
San mārga
(the true way) consists of the practice
of jñāna
and leads to
sāyūjya
(complete identity with Śiva). There are three kinds of
jñāna: paśu-jñāna
and
pāśa-jñāna
do not lead to
mokṣa
but give only the knowledge of the soul, of words and things. Only
pati-jñāna
leads to
mokṣa
, which is self-luminous and reveals both itself and others. “It is
pati-jñāna
that reveals the three entities:
pati, paśu, pāśa
. Śiva’s
śakti
is the natural eye of Śiva and the artificial eye of the soul. This Śiva
śakti
illumines the natural eye of the soul and reveals the nature of Śiva and also his nature as the life of the soul. Śiva is in a relation of inherence with his
śakti
which is the manifestor of the soul’s
cit śakti.”
83
The way to
pati-jñāna
leads through the
gum’s
teaching: the soul’s subjection to the three fetters is not open to perception. It is Śiva who appears in the form of a
guru
, who opens the eyes of the devotee, performs the purificatory rites, and removes the
malas
. Śiva appears to the three different groups of
paśus
in different forms and performs various forms of
dīkṣā
on them, which directly causes liberation.
Śaiva-siddhāntins emphasize that it is only in a human birth and only as a Śaiva that the possibility of putting an end to the cycle of births and deaths is given. “Those who, instructed in the great Siddhānta, worship the Lord who wears the crescent, get rid of their
mala
and attain release.”
84
A birth in a human form is required to worship Śiva who is bathed in these five manners: he is contemplated by the mind; praises are uttered with words; he is worshiped by exerting the body in a certain manner. Such worship is not possible in any other birth. The celestials like Viṣṇu come to this world because Śiva cannot be worshiped in this manner elsewhere. Those born as human beings seldom realize the uniqueness of their birth and the facilities it offers for release. If release is not sought for in this life, it will be hard to attain it hereafter.
The Siddhāntins claim that all other faiths lead their followers only to one of the thirty-six
tattvas
as the last end. Śaiva-siddhānta alone leads to Śiva, who is above the
tattvas
. “Śiva comes in the form of a preceptor and subjects mature souls to purification by look, etc. He immerses them in the ocean of wisāom and enables them to have
Śivananda
. Even in this birth he removes their
malas
, makes them
Jīvan-muktas
, prevents further births and finally helps them to attain his feet. It is through the Siddhānta that all these can be achieved.”
85
If somebody ignored the Siddhānta it would be a great delusion and a grave sin, and he would go to hell for it.
Mukti
is the appearance of the hidden
śivatva
in the soul through
jñāna:
the state of
mukti
is
jñāna nistha
(steadfastness in knowledge). This state (of jñāna nistha) can be obtained in this body in the case of
Jīvan-muktas
, and this goes well together with various kinds of behavior, because of the
prarabdha
of different kinds:
“Śiva-jñānis
may do any good or bad deed – they remain unaffected by the changes and never get away from the feet of the Lord. It is difficult to determine the nature of the
Jīvan-muktas:
some of them may be short-tempered, some sweet-tempered, some free from desires, some lustful.”
86
One of the best-known examples is Saint Sundaramūrti, “who was free from attachment though outwardly he seemed to live a life of sensual pleasures.”
87
For those who have achieved
jñāna nistha
there is neither good nor evil. Even if they engage in activities, they do so without caring for their results. They need not perform the ceremonies prescribed by their religion. They need not practice
tapas
. They need not observe their duties pertaining to the
vaṛna-āśrama dharma
. They need not practice contemplation. They need not put on the external signs of their faith. “Coming to have the qualities of children, mad people, and people possessed of evil spirits, they may even give themselves up to singing and dancing by reason of their ecstasy.”
88
Śiva always resides in the soul, but only the enlightened soul will consciously live a Śiva-life and follow Śiva’s grace. Union with Śiva therefore means freedom from egotism: if the free soul does anything, it is Śiva’s work: “Śiva takes the good and evil deeds done to the soul as done to himself in order that the soul may be freed from births. Because the soul serves God by being with him, the good as well as the evil it does become service of God. Again, the good and evil done by this soul are auxiliary causes leading to an increase of merit and demerit acquired by others through doing good and evil to this soul.”
89
Because Śiva in the condition of
jīvan-mukti
actuates the soul, all the good and evil that the soul does is Śiva’s action. It is Śiva who actuates other people so that all the good and evil that they do, is, again, his action. Those who realize this are aware of nothing but his grace, and completely lose themselves in his grace. Such people will not be affected by ignorance or
karma
. Śiva makes people who seek him as their refuge pure like himself and protects them. Maraijñāna Deśikar says: “Śiva’s nature is to help souls without expecting any return. Since he is free from desire and aversion he has the good of all in view.”
90
Śaiva-siddhāntins distinguish seven degrees of
jīvan-mukti
that have individual names and are likened in their sweetness to sugarcane, fruit, milk, honey, sugar-candy, sugar, and nectar.
Śaiva-siddhānta knows a complementarity between love of God and love of people: one’s love for Śiva’s devotees is a sign of one’s love for Śiva. Because Śiva exists in all souls, those who love him will really love all souls.
In the state of
mukti
the three entities
pati, paśu
, and
pāśa
are present: the Lord grants enjoyment to the soul, the soul experiences this enjoyment, and
mala
makes the enjoyment possible.
In
mukti
the soul remains conscious of its dependence on God and that it owes everything to him: it experiences the bliss of Śiva compared with which all other things are as nothing. No longer does the soul experience through the senses, that is, through
mala
, but through
pati
, the Lord:
patijñāna
is not only knowledge of Śiva, but through Śiva.
In no other system is salvation so much at the center of all reflections as in Śaiva-siddhānta: all the functions of God are ordered toward salvation. God’s essence is to be full of grace. Śiva creates the world in order to provide the soul with a body and a stage on which it can act, and only through its efforts in this condition can the soul achieve liberation.
Pralaya
too has its place in the economy of salvation. Repeated births and deaths often weary the soul. To provide some respite and rest to the souls, Śiva withdraws from time to time the world, so as to provide relief and rest to the souls. Śiva acts as a
guru
to the soul; without Śiva’s guidance the soul would not be able to reach
mukti
. Through Śiva’s love the soul passes from
iruḷ
, darkness, to
marul
, confusion, and from there to
ami
, or grace. At every stage the soul is in need of God, and at every stage God’s presence is acting for the salvation of the soul.
Śrīkaṇṭha’s Śaiva-Vedānta – classified within Vedānta under
bhedāb-heda –
may be considered as a special form of Śaiva-siddhānta.
91
It is also called “Viśiṣṭa-Śaiva-Vedānta,” indicating by its very name its relation to Rāmānuja’s thought. His aim is to reconcile the Upaniṣadic and Āgamic traditions; in fact he quotes extensively from both sources. He accepts the triad of
paśu, pāśa
, and
pati
, calling the bondage of man
pāśutva
and the state of liberation
śivatva
. He makes use of the Purāṇic images and myths, and interprets Śiva-Nīlakaṇṭha as a symbol “for showing care.”
92
In his system the Brahman of the Upaniṣads is the Śiva of the Āgamas; the grace of Śiva is Brahman’s body. “The
muktas,”
he writes, “realize the
saviśeṣa
form of Brahman. The
jīvas
do not lose their own nature in Brahman even though he is their material cause; but only become non-distinct from him.”
93
Śrīkaṇṭha maintains that during one’s lifetime one can become “knower of Brahman;” he asserts that the mode of departure of knowers and not-knowers are different: “Through the might of the
vidyā
which consists in the worship of the Supreme Lord, as well as through meditation on the Path which is a subsidiary part of this, he the favourer of all, becomes pleased and looks upon the knower with favour, which destroys all his sins that so long concealed his real nature from him. Then he, ‘with the door revealed’ by His grace, comes out through the 101st vein that passes through the crown of the head. Others do not so but come out through other veins.”
94
Also Śrīkaṇṭha insists that Śiva’s abode is higher than Vaikuṇṭha and Satyaloka, and the stage reached by one who has been saved by Śiva is above the
turīya
of the Upaniṣads.
Mukti
means “to realize one’s own proper form”: “Although the real nature, sinless and consisting in attributes similar to those of Brahman, of one who has attained Brahman is existent in him beforehand, yet it is manifested in him through the removal of sins.”
95
The freed soul is similar to Brahman, but not identical with him. The
mukta
obtains “equality in point of enjoyment only.”
96
A slight difference between Śrīkaṇṭha and classical Śaiva-siddhānta may lie in Śrīkaṇṭha’s assertion that the
mukta
, after having attained
śivatva
, is “without another ruler,” that is, independent. “The Supreme Lord is no longer its ruler, as it is then beyond the scope of all scriptural injunctions and prohibitions which embody his commands and apply to transmigratory mundane existence.”
97
When
paśutva
disappears,
śivatva
becomes the nature of the soul:
Śivatva
means being similar to Śiva in nature, i.e., having a supremely auspicious form, free from the slightest vestige of sins. “Omniscience” and the rest constitute the nature of Śiva. Hence the freed soul, who is similar to Śiva, is omniscient, eternally knowing, eternally Satīsfied, independent, omnipotent, with ever-manifested powers having infinite powers. Transmigratory existence consists in a contraction of one’s self-knowledge. When the causes of such a contraction, viz. sins, are removed, then it becomes omniscient. For this very reason, there being a total extinction of ignorance which causes earthly existence, the wrong identification of the unlimited soul with the limited body ceases. Due to this, it becomes free from old age, death, and grief. Thus, not being subject to
karma
, it becomes independent. As it finds pleasure in its own nature, so it is “eternally Satisfied.” For this very reason it has no hunger, thirst, and the like.
98
According to Śrīkaṇṭha the
mukta
is independent, has the “eight qualities” of Śiva, and can assume and discard bodies at will. A peculiarity of Śrīkaṇṭha’s teaching is his assumption that the
mukta
is all-pervasive: “It is said that the freed souls with their bondage rent asunder by the Great God or the Supreme Brahman – who does good to all like a friend and a father and who has become pleased – become immortal; and attaining the places that are full of illumination and that are placed in His World or the Supreme Ether abide therein. The freed souls pervade the Heaven and the earth by means of the rays of their own powers. Hence the freed souls, who are one in essence with Śiva, are indeed all-pervasive.”
99
Like Rāmānuja, Śrīkaṇṭha says that the freed souls do not share the power of God to create, sustain, and destroy the world.