Shuddha Maya (Material cause of pure order of Creation)

Shuddha-maya is the source of nada tattva. Bindu tattva emanates from nada tattva,Sada Shiva tattva arises from the Bindu tattva . From Sadashiva tattva arises Ishwara tattva alias Maheswara tattva . Shuddha Vidya is born out of Ishwara tattva . Thus there are totally five tattvas in Shuddha maya i.e., pure order of creation. Every tattva is ruled by its own agent of divine power and the agents have the same name of the tattva . All these five tattvas function to actualize the bondage of individual selves.

Madurai Shivaprakasar, a commentator explains in his work that nada tattva is the power of Intelligence, i.e., the Jnana Shakti of Lord. It arouses the intelligence of the individual self. The Bindu tattva arouses the creative potential–The kriya-Shakti of the individual self. In Sadakya tattva , the intelligent power and the creative potential (jnana and kriya )remain equal. In Ishwara tattva, kriya predominates over Jnana . In Shuddha Vidya , jnana predominates over kriya .

In addition, Bindu tattva , the source of creative power also gives rise to four forms of expression–vac . The first form is the latent condition of expression–suksma which develops into the second form pashyantivac –the speech form with impulsion to concretize into overt and empirical form. The later one develops into Madhyamavac which is the level of speech preceding the articulation but succeeding the state of homogeneous expression. Madhyamavac develops into vaikhari vac which is the overt speech form.^[1]. The speech forms of above order transform from subtle ones into tangible forms in the same order. It is to be understood that the evolution of tattvas and the manifestation of realm of speech stimulate the bonds of the individual self into action.

Five Shiva tattvas and four vacs are the media through which the Grace of Lord functions. These media are the material of pure nature which cannot be disturbed by any other agency under any condition. The concealing power of God through these media operates upon the material substratum maya which is the derivative of material locus mayeya . The condition of bondage is thus actualized for the individual self by the concealing power.

The individual self is bonded into three conditions of its empirical life:

i) Enjoyership (Bhoktritva) and the implied sense of agency which accompanies it.
ii) Enjoyment or experience (Bhogya), and
iii) A state of being tied into experience or enjoyment (Bhandam [banda]).

These are made possible by the three malas or bondages–‘anavamala ’, karma and maya .^[2] The conditioning of the individual self comes through the operation of the maya . It is to be noted that the active and variable presence of Divine Shakti from where the five Shiva tattvas emerged enables maya to get activated. (Maya is the cause and mayeya is the effect.)

The conditioned individual self under bondage gets into various states of consciousness in a serial order. These states are known as avasthas .

These avasthas are:

i) Wakeful state—Jagrat ;
ii) Dream State—Swapna [svapna];
iii) State of serene sleep—Susupthi [sushupti];
iv) The state beyond wakeful, dream and sleep–Turiya;
v) Transcendental state–turiyaditha [turiyatita];

Madurai Shivaprakasar says that apart from the four modes of speech, the 51 letters, 81 words, 7 crores of mantras , the Vedas , the agamas , the Puranas and the bodies, organs, worlds, and objects of enjoyment required for the individual selves of vijnanakalas and pralayakalas evolve from Shuddha Maya only.^[3]

There are two types of evolution according to Shaiva Siddhanta. One is just a modal change or simple extension mode–Vritti . When a cloth is spread out like a tent, it amounts to simple extension mode. If there is a substantial transformation beyond a simple extension, it is called Parinama . This substantial transformation is again divided into two types: Partial–Yega Desa Parinama and complete Parinama . There is a partial transformation when micro organisms are present in ghee. A complete transformation takes place when milk is turned into curd by the presence of a set ofmicro organisms. The evolution of four modes of speech suksma vac , Pashyantivac,Madhyamavac and Vaikhari vacis by the process of Vritti only.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Sivaraman.K, opp.cit., 225.

[2]:

Bandham Bhogam Bhoga niruthalum
Vanthathu mayai vinaimalatthu; andhamil
Mayai bandham.—Jnanamirdham .,Verse 51, lines 7 to 8.

[3]:

In the phrase [...] Madurai Shivaprakasar takes ‘um ’ ([...]) to suggest that all other things necessary for the partially released individual selves, also evolve from the Shuddha maya . He quotes this verse in support of his view.
Vithaigal vithaiyisar satha Shivar endrivarkku
Vaithurum padhangal vannam buvanangal manthirangal
Thathuvam sariram Bhogam karanangal thamelamum
Uithidum vayintha vanthan ubathanamagi nindre .— Shivajnana-Siddhiyar-Supakkam 45.