ATMA DHARSAN OR ANMA PRAKASAM

   "Know Thyself" is the cry that rings uppermost in every religion.  But, unfortunately, it has become a cry in the wilderness.  He who cannot understand himself, cannot understand others.  We, one and all, say, 'I', 'I'.  Nobody stops to think of this 'I', and much less to know.  This 'I' is the Ego, Self, Jiva, Pasu, Anma or Uyir.  A thorough understanding of the soul would have led man to the very gates of Heaven.  Many doubt the  very existence of the soul.  That accounts foremost for so much rancour and discord in this world.  If a man but realises that he is not of such stuff as dreams are made on, and that he is an eternal living entity, for whom unalloyed bliss is in store, and it is only necessary that he should make an honest attempt to reach it, a world of sins would have been avoided.

   Varied and vast are the views expressed regarding the soul.  Some say that there is no such thing as soul at all.  They are not venturing this assertion in a haphazard manner.  They have come to this conclusion after a close examination of the human body, analysing every minute part of it.  After this close search they say that nothing else is present there.  The Siddhantin takes them by their word and says that this statement of its absence is abundant proof of its existence.  Because, after thus rejecting every part of the body as not being the soul, it becomes evident that there is left something unperceived which had all along been contrasting itself and trying in vain to discern some semblance in others of itself.  What is left unperceived is pure intelligence in the form of the five sacred letters.  "Ureka ! that is the soul!"  declares the Siddhantin.

   In the Sakala avasta the intelligence of the soul lies besmirched by Pasa.  The dirt or matter which enshrouds the self from time immemorial cannot be part of the inner nature of the Self, which is essentially pure.  As Maya, through which the soul derives its perception, is non-sentient.  Maya or matter cannot be the soul.  And God also, Who is pure Intelligence untrammelled by matter and transcends everything, cannot be the soul.  So the soul is neither illusion, nor God nor Maya.

   There are others who think that the body itself is the soul.  But it is found that there is some other thing which claims every part or limb of the body as belonging to it.  The body is said to be owned by some other thing and that owner is the soul.  As the body is said to be the property, the property cannot be the owner.  The owner should be different from the property.  The body is only a tenement, tenanted by the soul.  Many identify themselves with their bodies through sheer ignorance, but in practice, they unconsciously express their bodies as mere possessions, without identifying themselves with their bodies.  Every part of the body is claimed as mine and not as 'I'.  The feelings and sensations which the body has when life or soul inhabits it, are absent there when the soul kicks off the bucket.  Again there is a cessation of motion and growth in the body when the soul departs.  Hair, nail, etc. grow in the body only so long as the soul is present.  This also proves the fact that the evolution of one set of material forms from another is possible only when it is superintended by an intelligent being.  So the body also cannot be the soul.

   Some say that the five sensory organs manipulate the motion and the functioning of the body.  Thus they try to dispense with the necessity of a soul.  But it is noted that the five sensory organs function differently and seperately and one is not able to perform the function of the other among them.  They serve only as vehicles of transmission, serving the soul which perceives through these instruments.  The eye cannot hear, the ear cannot see and so are the rest.  But the intelligent soul, through these organs, understands all the five senses.  That intelligent entity knows what each organ does and that intelligent entity is the soul and not the sensory organs.

   Again, during sleep, these sensory organs cease functioning.  The Vital Air or Prana Vayu only functions.  At that time the subtle body alone is sentient and not the gross body.  Then after waking, it is the soul that knows at once the happenings in dreams and waking state and not the subtle body or sukshma sarira.  So the subtle body cannot be the soul.  When the five senses stop functioning and the gross or the stula sarira is at rest, it is the soul that, entering the sukshma sarira, participates in dreams and then again returns to the grosss body.  The subtle body that is worked in dreams cannot be the soul.  So it must be the soul that assumes two bodies, gross and subtle.

   During sleep there is no motion and no feeling of pleasure and pain through the senses.  In the waking state they are found to be present.  Those experiences are not for the body, is well known, because the body is not the soul.  Thus, if we begin to enquire what is it that experiences these feelings inside the body, some say it might be the Pranan or Vital Air.  Of course the Vital Air is functioning both during waking state and sleep.  But it cannot be the soul, because though it is active during sleep, its presence does not enable the body to experience pleasure or pain when sleeping.  So the Vital Air is not intelligence.  That intelligent entity is some other thing which is the soul.  Hence it has now become clear that Maya or Matter is not the soul.

   As Maya cannot be the soul, which we have discussed and disclosed above, some thinkers jump to the conclusion that God is the soul.  They misread the scriptures and identify the soul with God or try to set up equality between these two.  God is Omniscient, pure Intelligence itself.  He is all knowledge and knows no forgetting.  But the soul's intelligence is very much crippled and limited.  Without the help of the five senses the soul cannot know anything.  It cannot know all things at the same time and many more things remain far from its ken.  Again God is independent, while the soul is always dependant, either in its petta or Mukti condition.  It ever depends on extraneous matter to know things and it cannot know by itself.  So God cannot be the soul.

   This consideration brings into lime light the stupendous error of an astounding nature, suffered by the monistic tenets of the Ekatmavadin of the Vedantic thought, professing Kevala Adwaitam.  The Vedantins hold that God alone exists.  Then what about Maya?  Their trend of argument will lead to the conclusion that the limiting power of Maya or the source of all evil proceeds from God Himself.  This will strand us in the awkward proposition of God being held as a mixture of good and evil.  The Vedantin fails to explain how the Intelligent God can be reflected through inanimate Maya and appear as the world and the souls.  They try to hold that God Himself expanded into the non-sentient and sentient world.  Then there should be two parts in God corresponding to the sentient and non-sentient.  This will undermine our conception of God as a Being of Pure Intelligence.  Then, what about the soul?  If the soul or Jiva is a reflection of one Supreme Soul, then it will be hard to account for the multiplicity of souls.  God does not admit of material dimensions so as to be cut up into innumerable souls.  The very idea of Mukti would be meaningless if God becomes subject to the weakness of being self-limited as often as possible.  If it is not self-imposition, then the problem of evil remain unsolved.  If the world and souls are unreal, to whom are they unreal?  Thus it ends in one huge confusion regarding the nature of the universe, souls and God.

    The Buddhists regard the soul only as a stream of consciousness and postulate a final stage of psychic evolution which will bring about an annihilation of consciousness.  They mean by consciousness the force that maintains the unity of moments of perception.  How something that exists can turn into nothing, passes beyond one's comprehension.  Though the Jain school accepts the existence of the soul, it has woefully misconceived its real nature.  The Jain thinks that the soul, tied down to matter in its primeval stage, inherently possesses in itself the potency to eradicate its evil and win freedom.  This can hardly be accepted, for the question, how could such a soul have been enthralled by matter at any time of its existence is unanswered and unanswerable.

    The Sankhyas view the soul as one of changeless intelligence.  Then we need not bother about salvation at all.  The Mimamsa school of philosophy knows nothing about the souls beyond their bare existence.  According to the Tarka schools, the soul can never become intelligent, in its petta or Mukti condition.  The Vaishnavites also are practically led to the conclusion that the soul is God Himself.  According to the Madhvas, there are three classes of souls.  Souls according to their nature are either Satvic or Rajasic or Tamasic.  Only Satvic souls can attain perfect Bliss and the other two can never become Satvic.  This invidious and inexplicable classification is baseless and arbitrary and would redound badly upon God's justice and equanimity.

    If the soul is said to be anu or atomic, as is viewed by the Pancharatras, then it can pass away easily from the body through any of its outer passages.  It cannot be kept up in the body.  It cannot bear burdens and sufferings.  This view would reduce the souls to the level of material atoms which are Acit.  Even as an atom, it will have an organism and acccordingly it will be perishable.  Again, if it is said that the soul is located in some portion of the body, then it becomes limited like a form and hence become perishable and its intelligence cannot be felt all over the body.  The Siddhantic notion is that the soul is pervasive, not atomic and that it takes on the forms and properties of whatever it comes in contact with, like water.  Water by itself is tasteless and colourless.  But it acquires taste and colour according to the soil it comes in contact with.  This inclining tendency is inherent in the soul.

    Again, the soul is not one of the four antakaranas, the inner seat of thought, feeling and volition, consisting of four aspects, viz, Manam, Buddhi, Chittam and Ahankaram.  They are mere internal organs of cognition, waiting upon something else, which is the soul.  The antakaranas are the faculties of perception and reason but they are not conscious that they perceive and reason.  It is the soul that becomes conscious of these.  Chittam takes an impression presented by the senses and considers what it is.  It cannot know that it so considers.  Manas takes such an impression and doubts whether it is or is not, this or that.  It cannot know that it so doubts.  Ahankara ventures boldly that the impression is such and such but it knows not what it is doing.  Buddhi determines properly that the impression is this or that.  Buddhi cannot know that it so determines, but it is the faculty of reason involving the sense of agreement and difference among such impressions.  It is this reasoned product that is ultimately brought to the cognizance of the soul.  The perceptions of the antakarana reach the soul, as the waves rising in the sea reach the shore.  Thus the antakaranas form a cabiner of ministers, of whom Buddhi is the premier.  The soul is the king that sits in solemn conclave with this cabinet and arrives at judgement.

    The fourth Sutra of Sivagnana Botham reads as follows:-

"«ó¾ì ¸Ã½ ÁÅüÈ¢¦É¡ý ÈýȨÅ
 ºó¾¢ò¾ ¾¡ý Á¡î º¸ºÁÄò нá
 ¾¨ÁîºÃ §ºöôÀ¿¢ý ÈïºÅò ¨¾ò§¾."

"The soul is not one of the antakaranas.  It is not conscious when it is in conjunction with Anavamala.  It becomes conscious only when it meets the antakaranas, just as a king understands through his ministers.  The relation of the soul to the five avastas is also similar."

These lines will remind one of those famous lines in Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar" where Brutus says:

"Between the acting of a dreadful thing
  And the first motion, all the interim is
  Like a phantasma, or a hideous dream.
  The Genius and the mortal instruments
  Are then in Council; and the state of man
  Like to a little kingdom, suffers then
  The nature of an insurrection."

                       (Julius Caesar Act. II, Scene I)

    Here the Genius is the soul and the mortal instruments are the antakaranas.  So it is clearly seen that the mortal antakaranas cannot be the immortal and eternal soul.  The soul, as Chittam considers; as Manas, it doubts; as Ahankara it wrongly concludes and as Buddhi it determines properly.  As it thus apprehends differently when it is united to each, it is different from them, just as the sun, though making the divisions of time, is different from it.

    The letter 'A' is the symbol of Ahankaram; 'U' that of Buddhi; 'M' that of Manas; Vinthu that of Chittam and Natham, which is inseparable from all these letters, is the symbol of the soul.  The five letters, constitute Pranava.  These letters have their deities also, according to the Siddhantin.  Isvara and Sadasiva are the deities respectively, of Vinthu and Natham; Brahma, Vishnu and Rudra are deities respectively of 'A','U', and 'M'.

    Siddhanta teaches us that there are myraids of souls.  They are distinct centres of knowing, feeling and doing.  Each soul is distinct from God as an entity.  It is ever inclined to the unintelligent but it can get rid of that taint at a certain stage of evolution.  What intelligence the soul has is only Pasugnana and that again is vitiated by Pasagnana.  The soul can attain Pattignana or Divine intelligence in course of evolution by the Grace of God.  But the soul can never become God though be united to Him.  The soul is an imperfect, sin-laden, devitalised weakling.  It is in a shapeless tatva form and is shrouded by the Mala.  It cannot know anything unless it receives the light through its body, caused by Maya, as the eye apprehends objects by the light of the lamp.  Anavamala exists in the soul eternally, becoming one with it and concealing its lustre, as does the firewood conceal the fire present in it.

    The soul can know itself when it is able to know God Siva.  The All Merciful God is full of love to the souls.  Only the souls should receive His bounteous boon.  To deserve His love the soul should love Him, meditate Him, adore and worship Him.  Without His Grace it cannot know its own self.

    Pattinattadigal says in one place:-

"§ÁŢ ÒýÁ¢÷ò ¦¾¡¨¸§Â¡ «õÁ¢÷
 À¡Å¢Â §¾¡Å¢ý ÀÃô§À¡ §¾¡Ä¢¨¼ô
 Ò¸Å¢ðÎô ¦À¡¾¢ó¾ Òñ§½¡ Òñ½¢¨¼
 äÚ Ó¾¢Ãô Òɧġ ÜÚ¦ºö
 ¾¢¨¼Â¢¨¼ ¿¢üÌ ¦ÁÖõ§À¡ ±ÖõÀ¢¨¼
 Ó¨¼¦¸Ø ã¨Ç Ţا¾¡ ÅØÅØò
 ÐûÇ¢¨¼ ¦Â¡ØÌõ ÅØõ§À¡ ¦ÁûÇ¿¢ý
 êÕõ ÒØÅ¢ ¦É¡Øí§¸¡ ¿£Ã¢¨¼
 ¨Åò¾ ÁÄò¾¢ý ̨ŧ¡ ¨ÅòÐì 
 ¸ðÊ ¿ÃõÀ¢ý ¸Â¢§È¡×¼õÀ¢üÌð
 À¢Ã¢Â¡ ¦¾¡ÚìÌõ À¢½¢§Â¡î ¦¾Ã¢Â¡
 ¾¢ýɾ¢ ¡¦Éý ÈÈ¢§Â ¦Éý¨É
 ±íÌó §¾Ê§Éý ¡¾¢Öí ¸¡§½ý
 ..........................................................
 Áí¨¸ Àí¸ ¸í¨¸ ¿¡Â¸ ¿¢ý
 ¦¾öÅò ¾¢ÕÅÕû ¨¸ÅóÐ ¸¢¨¼ò¾Ä¢ý
 Á¡öô À¼Äí ¸£È¢ò àÂ
 »¡É ¿¡ð¼õ ¦ÀüÈÀ¢ý ¡Ûõ
 ¿¢ý¦ÀÕó ¾ý¨ÁÔí ¸ñ§¼ý ¸¡ñ¼Öõ
 ±ý¨ÉÔí ¸ñ§¼ý."

"In the tiny hair that grows in clusters
  In the surface skin that spreads and saves,
  In the flesh beneath, sore and ruddy,
  In the gushing blood that streams within,
  In the bones that form the skeleton frame,
  In the fat and brain that are white,
  In the oozing slimy pus and phlegm,
  In the germs and cells and worms found there,
  In the sickening heaps of squalor and dirt,
  In fluids foul in flowing fountain squirt,
  In nerves, sinews and ligaments main,
  In ceaseless ills that cleave to the heart,
  In all I searched and searched in vain:
  I found not self, nor know it is what.
  ..........................................................
  O God, Whose part is Sakti! Lord of Ganga!
  Thy lustrous Light with benign Grace
  Pierces the murky clouds of Maya
  And all Thy Glory when I thus perceive,
  That Self is known, (and a sigh I heave!)"

    This knowledge of the soul and its true nature alone will enlist one to the path of devotion and service to Siva.  As long as one wastes his life without a thought for his soul and its duties, he will not become a servant of Siva and realise His Divine Presence.  Apparently this may seem to be arguing in a vicious circle.  Without the Grace of God, one cannot know himself.  Without knowing himself, one cannot know God.  And when will God's Grace come to us?  There is no question of coming or going of God's Grace.  God's Grace is inexhaustible, ever ready and is flooding the world to profusion.  The difficulty is the soul has not left its damned embrace of the deluding Maya, nor designed to look at the splendid shower of the elixir of Grace.  One man can bring a horse to the water-side, but twenty men cannot make it drink.  Hence the trials and tribulations of the soul, undergone in successive births, constitute a necessary part of the process of purification.  Beaten by the slings and arrows of outrageous karma, the soul will realise the presence of the Almighty, and this understanding will beget love for Him; and love for Siva, the Almighty, will enlist His never failing Grace for the soul.  This is called the bestowal of Grace by God.  But we should know that He has already bestowed it and only we are delaying to take delivery of the same.  If the soul supplicates before Siva as His irretrievable slave, it will become enabled to drink the fountain of His Grace and know itself.

St. Appar says:

"±ý¨É §ÂÐ ÁÈ¢ó¾¢Ä ¦ÉõÀ¢Ã¡ý
 ¾ýÉÉ ¿¡ÛÓý ²Ð ÁÈ󾢧Äý
 ±ý¨Éò ¾ýÉÊ Â¡¦Éý ÈÈ¢¾Öõ
 ¾ý¨É ¿¡Ûõ À¢Ã¡¦Éý ÈȢ󦾧É."

"Of me my Lord didn't note a jot,
  And of Him, then, I knew so not;
  When He my service claimed and noted
  I knew my Lord and am His slave devoted."

    The soul undergoes five avastas or states, viz, Jakra, Swapna, Sushupti, Turiya and Turiyateetha.  In the Jakra state of the soul, it is in the region of the forehead and it functions with 35 active organs, including the ten external organs.  In its Swapna state, it is in the region of the throat and functions with 25 organs only, excluding the ten external organs.  In the Sushupti state, when in the region of the heart, it commands only 3 organs, Chittam, Pranavayu and Purusha.  In the Turiya state, when it retires to the region of the navel, Chittam drops out; and in Turiyateetha, when it is in the region of the Mulathara, it is pure Purusha, having none of these organs.  It is also observed that the soul undergoes all the five states in the Jakra avasta itself, when in the region of the forehead.  So these Sutta avastas also are five in number.

    Between Matter and God, the soul is supported like a piece of iron between two magnets, the one pulling it higher and the other pulling it lower.  And in the human state or petta condition the iron is in closer contact with the lower magnet and in the Moksha, with the higher magnet.  In Moksha, the power of Maya to undergo births alone is destroyed, by the Karma having been eaten up.

    In its original condition, i.e., Turiyateetha state, the soul is pure Purusha, sans consciousness and sans body, but completely enwrapped in Anavamala.  This is the stage before evolution has commenced.  In the next condition, viz, Turiya state, the Purusha is placed in a living breathing body, but stills without consciousness.  In the next stage of the evolution, i.e., Sushupti, the soul gets the first dawn of consciousness and gains the faculty of Chittam.  At the stage its objective body is called Karana Sarira.  At the next or the Swapna state all the faculties excepting the Gnana and Karma Indriyas or external senses are fully developed and the objective body is called Sukshma or astral body.  In the final stage of evolution where man'l consciousness has been fully developed, all the 36 tatvas, formed of Maya have been also fully developed.  This is the Jakra state and the body is called Stula or gross body.  While this evolution is being carried out, there is no transference of the soul at all.  Similarly when the soul and its body undergo resolution, subjective and objective consciousness ceases little by little, or is drawn in as it were, just as a spider or tortoise draws all its legs and organs into itself.  These five states and the bodies they give must be studied with the background of three other states, called Kevala, Sakala and Sutta.  The Kevala state is the original state before evolution.  The Sakala state is that when the soul, taking innumerable bodies, works out its Karma.  In the Sutta state, the soul attains purification and beatitude, i.e., Moksha.

    The eternal and internal senses and the soul are placed in an ascending order.  The soul can only perceive and know what is subordinate to itself.  It cannot know itself nor know God.  The sensory organs and the Antakarana are evolved from matter.  They have no independent action.  They must be influenced and acted on by the soul.  The soul perceives through the senses, but the senses do not know the soul.  That which stands to the soul, as the soul stands towards the organs of cognition, internal and external, is God or Supreme Intelligence or Siva Sat or Chit Sat.  Siva makes the soul perceive through His Arul Sakti, which in this aspect is called Tirotana Mala.  This Arul Sakti of God is also treated as an impurity that obscures the soul.  The Siddhantins speak of it as an impurity because of its association with impurity, with a view to its removal.  This Sakti enables the soul to see things subordinate to it but the soul cannot know itself or God.  God is the Life of life and Intelligence of intelligence.  All actions are God's actions, that is, God is He Who sustains our very being and our actions, as he vivifies our intelligence.  But though the soul is dependent on God for its Itcha (will), Gnana (intelligence) and Kiriya (action), yet the soul's self-action and responsibility are unaffected.  His Presence produces these effects but He remains unchanged.  He is self-luminous and illumines others.  Some Atheistic schools of philosophy try to treat God as a purely personal or human one.  On the other hand, in the Idealistic school, God is brought down to the level of man.  In the view of the Siddhantin, both those types are Nastikas.  The ignorant do not recognise and feel it by withdrawing more and more from themselves and bringing themselves more and more into contact or rapport with Him, aided thereto by His Arul Sakti.  The approximation of man to God results in the end in Adwaita relation.  In  day-light the light of the star is completely lost to all sight and yet not lost.  The light of the star blends with and becomes indistinguishable from the light of the sun.  Its identity is lost and not itself.  There is no annihilation of the soul but its individuality or Egoism is lost, its karma having been eaten.  This is Moksha or Veedu according to Saiva Siddhanta.  But the soul is not God.  It is not even a particle of God.  God and soul belong each to a different order or plane of existence.  The following verse in Sivagnana Siddhiyar succinctly puts forth what is done to the soul by God.

"º¢ò¾¡ó¾ò§¾ º¢Åý¾ý ¾¢Õ츨¼ì¸ñ §º÷ò¾¢î
    ¦ºÉÉ ¦Á¡ýÈ¢§Ä º£Åý Óò¾Ã¡¸
 ¨Åò¾¡ñÎ ÁÄí¸ØÅ¢ »¡Éšâ
    ÁÎò¾¡Éó ¾õ¦À¡Æ¢óÐ ÅÕõÀ¢Èô¨À «ÚòÐ
 Óò¾¡ó¾ô À¡¾ÁÄ÷ì ¸£ú¨ÅôÀý ±ýÚ
    ¦Á¡Æ¢ó¾¢¼Åõ ¯Ä¸¦ÃøÄ¡õ ã÷ì¸Ã¡¸¢ô
  À¢ò¾¡ó¾ô ¦ÀÕõÀ¢¾üÚô À¢¾üÈ¢ô À¡Åô
    ¦ÀÕíÌƢ¢ø Å£úó¾¢ÎÅ÷ þЦÅýÉ À¢Ã¡ó¾¢."

    The essential nature of the soul is described in Sivagnana Siddhiar as follows:-   

"«È¢ó¾¢Îõ ¬ýÁ¡ ¦Å¡ý¨È ´ýȢɡø «È¢¾Ä¡Ûõ
 «È¢ó¾¨Å ÁÈò¾Ä¡Ûõ «È¢Å¢ì¸ «È¢¾Ä¡Ûõ
 «È¢ó¾¢Îó ¾ý¨ÉÔó¾¡ý «È¢Â¡¨Á ¡Û󾡧É
 «È¢ó¾¢Îõ «È¢Åý «ýÈ¡õ «È¢Å¢ì¸ «È¢ÅÉý§È"

"The soul understands with the aid of the Supreme Intelligence as it understands through some sense or other, forgets what it has learnt, learns from others, is not conscious of itself, does not understand of itself."

    God illumines all souls.  Karma itself acts through God, though God cannot change Karma.  The Siddhantin does not accept the theory that the soul is self-luminous or self-intelligent, for the soul is only conscious when in union with the senses.  When it derives Sivagnanam from Siva, who would stand before a matured soul in the guise of a Guru, the soul surrenders to Siva in that spirit which characterised Portia, as she knelt before Bassanio, her Lord, in the casket scene.  It is a picturesque delineation, coming from the pen of Shakespeare.  Here are the lines, as spoken by Portia to her husband:-

"You see me, Lord Bassanio, where I stand,
  Such as I am; though for myself alone
  I would not be ambitious in my wish,
  To wish myself much better; yet, for you
  I would be trebled twenty times myself;
  A thousand times more fair, ten thousand times
  More rich;
  That only to stand high in your account,
  I might in virtues, beauties, livings, friends,
  Exceed account; but the full sum of me
  Is sum of something, which, to term in gross,
  Is an unlesson'd girl, unschool'd, unpractised;
  Happy in this, she is not yet so old
  But she may learn; happier than this,
  She is not bred so dull but she can learn;
  Happiest of all is that her gentle spirit
  Commits itself to yours to be directed,
  As from her Lord, her governor, her king.
  Myself and what is mine to you and yours
  Is now converted; but now I was the lord
  Of this fair mansion, master of my servants,
  Queen o'er myself; and even now, but now
  This house, these servants and this same myself
  Are yours, my lord."

                        (Merchant of Venice: Act III, Scene II).

    If we can substitute the soul for Portia and God for Bassanio, we get here a clear picture of the condition of a soul that is ripe to recieve Sivagnanam or Supreme Intelligence from Siva Himself.  The Tamil saints have often compared the soul to a lady-love who surrenders her all and her whole self to her lover.  She finds bliss in her voluntary self-abnegation and true love.  This worldly love between a lover and his lady is mere Sirrinbam or ephemeral pleasure.  But the love that the soul develops for God is Peribam or Supreme Happiness.  A true Bakta's love for Siva knows no bounds.  The very name of Him melts his heart and he drowns himself in the Supreme Bliss of His Glory and Grace, rising above all wordly ties and conventions.  This is best exemplified in a Tevaram verse of Saint Appar who portrays the soul as a lady in love:- 

"ÓýÉõ ÁÅÛ¨¼Â ¿¡Áí §¸ð¼¡û
    ã÷ò¾¢ ÂÅÉ¢ÕìÌõ Åñ½í §¸ð¼¡û
 À¢ý¨É ÂÅÛ¨¼Â Å¡å÷ §¸ð¼¡û
    ¦ÀÂ÷òÐõ ÁÅÛ째 À¢îº¢Â¡É¡û
 «ý¨É¨ÂÔ Áò¾¨ÉÔ Áý§È ¿£ò¾¡û
    «¸ýÈ¡ý «¸Ä¢¼ò¾¡÷ ¬º¡Ãò¨¾ò
 ¾ý¨É ÁÈó¾¡û ¾ýÉ¡Áí ¦¸ð¼¡û
    ¾¨ÄôÀð¼¡û ¿í¨¸ ¾¨ÄÅý ¾¡§Ç."

    All that can be seen are evanescent, i.e., changeable.  So, that which is perceived by the senses is Asat.  That which is not so perceived does not exist.  God is neither the one nor the other and so He is Siva Sat or Chit Sat, i.e., Chit or Siva when not understood by the human intelligence and Sat when perceived with Divine Wisdom.  Sat means the only Truth, that which subsists.  What is not Sat is Asat.  God is Satchitanandam.  He is inconceivable by the human intelligence or Pasu Gnanam and imperceptible to human powers.  If He can be known by human intelligence, then He would become liable to change.  But He is immutable.  He is immanent in all.  He is the internal informing entity in all existence, including name and forms.  He can be known only by Patignanam, only by the aid of His Arul Sakti.

    The conception of Sakti in the Siddhantic system is wonderful and of inestimable value.  The Siddhantin's conception of God is Siva, as endowed with all auspicious qualities as nondifferent from and in constant union with Para Sakti.  With the aid of His Sakti, Siva can take all forms, engage in all actions and yet not suffer.  He is unity-in-duality, and identity in difference; a personality that is unlimited; a grade of Bliss that is untrammelled, a self that is its own other.  Without the mention of his name, Siva, the world will come to nought; thus asseverates Saint Appar:-

"º¢Åý ±Ûõ ´¨ºÂøÄÐ «¨È§Â¡
 ¯Ä¸¢ü È¢Õ¿¢ýÈ ¦ºõ¨ÁÔǧ¾."

    "Without the intonation of the Sound or Word of Siva, I vow, will there be any good lasting in this world?"  Siva sapta (sound) is the 'Word of Life', "which was from the beginning, which the Siddhantins have heard, which they have seen with their eyes, which they have looked upon, and their hands have handled."  That which they have seen and heard declare they unto us that we also may have fellowship is with Siva and with His Sakti.  The glory of Para Sakti is endless.  She is the form of Lord Siva, of His very nature, figuring as His wisdom, strength and activity.  She is the form of the intelligent and non-intelligent worlds that express His Glory; She is existence, knowledge and bliss.  She is unrestricted and undefined.  It is she indeed that constitutes the forms and the qualities of Sivam.

    But for Her, neither the eight attributes nor the names of endless glory would be predicable of Siva.  To greater heights than this, it is difficult to rise in the conception of a diety.  It has been rightly said that Theism is essentially the voice of the religious consciousness.  Religion, however, is more than philosophy, as life is more than logic.  In Silappadikaram, a work of the 2nd century, A.D., Para Sakti is praised  as follows:-

"Å¡§É¡÷ Å½í¸ Á¨È§Áø Á¨È¡¸¢
 »¡Éì ¦¸¡Øó¾¡ö ¿Î츢ýÈ¢§Â ¿¢üÀ¡ö."

"«Ã¢Â¡ý â§Á§Ä¡ý «¸ÁÄ÷ §ÁøÁýÛõ
 Å¢Ã¢ ¸¾¢Ãï §º¡¾¢ Å¢Ç측¸¢§Â ¿¢üÀ¡ö."

"¸í¨¸ ÓÊ츽¢ó¾ ¸ñϾ§Ä¡ý À¡¸òÐ
 Áí¨¸ ÔÕÅ¡ö Á¨È§Âò¾ §Å¿¢üÀ¡ö."

      So one can easily understand now that how vital this doctrine of Sakti or Arul or Grace of God is in Saiva Siddhanta.

    I cite here a verse from the Sacred Hymns of Tevaram:-

"¨ÁôÀÊó¾ ¸ñ½¡Ùó ¾¡Ûí¸îº¢
    Á¡Éò¾¡ý Å¡÷º¨¼Â¡ý ±ýÉ¢ÉøÄ¡ý
 ´ôÒ¨¼Â ÉøÄý ´ÕÅÉøÄý
    ´åÃÉøÄý ´ÕÅÁÉ¢øÄ¢
 «ôÀÊÔõ «ó¿¢ÈÓõ «ùÅñ½Óõ
    «ÅÉÕ§Ç ¸ñ½¡¸ì ¸¡½¢ÉøÄ¡ø
 þôÀÊÂý þó¿¢Èò¾ý þùÅñ½ò¾ý
    þÅý þ¨ÈÅý ±ý¦Èؾ¢ì ¸¡ð¦¼¡½¡§¾."

"God of Kanchi, with Lady of eyes dyed fair,
  He haunts cemetries with matted hari;
  We know this much for He is one-less,
  Of no one place, incomparable and peerless:
  In this manner, form and colour alone
  With eyes of His Grace can see one;
  Beyond this, His form, nature and grit
  Not in any word or picture are truly writ."

    Unless you can see Him with His Grace as your eye, you cannot describe Him in words or picture as this is the God possessing such and such forms, attributes and qualities.

    In Tiruvasakam, Saint Manickavacakar says:-

"â¾í¸û §¾¡Ú¿¢ý È¡¦ÂÉ¢øÄ¡ø
    §À¡ì¸¢Äý ÅÃÅ¢Äý ±É¿¢¨Éô ÒħšÃ
 ¸£¾í¸û À¡Î¾ø ¬Î¾ø «øÄ¡ø
    §¸ð¼È¢ §Â¡õ¯¨Éì ¸ñ¼È¢Å¡¨Ãî
 º£¾í¦¸¡û ÅÂüÈ¢Õô ¦ÀÕóÐ¨È ÁýÉ¡
    º¢ó¾¨ÉìÌõ «Ã¢Â¡ö ±í¸û ÓýÅó
 §¾¾í¸û «Úò¦¾õ¨Á ¡ñ¼Õû ÒâÔõ
    ±õ¦ÀÕÁ¡ý ÀûÇ¢¦ÂØó ¾ÕÇ¡§Â."

"'Thou dwell'st in all the elements', 'tis said; and yet
  'Thou goest not, nor com'st;' the sages thus have sung
   Their rythmic songs.  Though neither have we heard nor learnt
   Of those that Thee by seeing of the eye have known.
   Thou King of Perunthurai, girt with cool rice-fields,
   To ponder Thee is hard to human thought.  To us
   In presence come! cut off our ills!  In mercy make us Thine!
   Our mighty Lord!  From off Thy couch in grace arise!"

    The Saint here says: "The sages can only sing Thy praises as the One immanent in all Nature, and withal as being the immutable and unchangeable; we have not heard of any persons who have seen Thee except in this way:  Thou art beyond the reach of all thought."

    There is a saying which often comes to the lips of any common man in the street in our parts:-

"¸ñ¼Å÷ Å¢ñÊÄ÷: Å¢ñ¼Å÷ ¸ñÊÄ÷"

'Those who have seen Him, have not spoken:
 Those who speak, have not seen His token.'

    This also forms a mighty weapon in the arsenal of Atheists.  After all, human knowledge is very much limited and our concepts are those of finite experience.  They should not be applied, measure for measure, to the comprehension of the Infinite Bliss.  God cannot be proved by an inductive process or syllogism.  Those who have attained Siva-gnanam have had the entrancing experience of celestial visions of the Refulgent Light.  These glimpses of entrancing experience have evoked ejaculations of ineffable joy which have melted into hymnal and honeyed Tamil verses.  These Tamil verses we cherish as the Tamil Veda, the Sacred Scriptures of saintly revelations.  We chant, sing and meditate on them.  They are Tevaram and Tiruvacakam.  To the unfaithful they are mere words.

    Siva transcends all forms and thought.  There is no truth in the statement that Siddhanta gives countenance to idolatry; far from it.  In fact it is only in Siddhanta we meet with the true and only definition of God.  No doubt Saivies worship idols and there are innumerable temples in South India.  But all those idols are mere symbols which have been found necessary to give a proper training for the soul.  The infirmities of the soul require these outward agencies.  Images have become a dire necessity for the soul to practise in the path of mental concentration and meditation.  Even those who prohibit all objective worship of idols, unconsciously worship idols of the ear or of the heart or and idol-less building.  To tear itself from the clutches of earthly cravings and move to the vicinity of Sivam, the soul wants some object to support its unsteady gait.  The soul always wants something to lean upon.  It cannot subsist by itself.  And its perennial contact with Anavamala has left for it very little independence.  And now too, when it has understood its real condition, it tries to shake off the support of Pasa, only to lean forward towards Sivam.  It remains always inclined, either this way or that. When the manifestation of God in all forms is granted, then no one can deny His Presence in temple images also.  From that diminutive form or symbol, the soul, by degrees, learns to perceive God in all other forms, within and without.  The temple is only a training-ground for the naughty soul and not the closed citadel of the Divinity.  Temples should not be used as hot-beds for breeding caste-and-creed cleavages.  It is not to be viewed as a superstitious structure that screens within its Sanctum Sanctorum the Transcendent Almighty.  The Divinity of Sivam cannot be immured within walls of stone and mortar.  God is a bird not to be caged in temples but to be trapped with the toils of our devotion.  There is no meaning in confining God to stone and copper alone.  Saint Pattinattar is very definite and clear on this point:-

"¦º¡øÄ¢Öõ ¦º¡øÄ¢ý ÓÊÅ¢Öõ §Å¾î ÍÕ¾¢Â¢Öõ
 «øÄ¢Ö Á¡ºüÈ Å¡¸¡Âó ¾ýÉ¢Öõ ¬öóРŢ𧼡÷
 þøÄ¢Ö ÁýÀ â¼ò¾¢Öõ ®ºÉ¢ÕôÀ¾øÄ¡ø
 ¸øÄ¢Öï ¦ºõÀ¢Ö §Á¡Å¢ÕôÀ¡ ¦Éí¸û ¸ñϾ§Ä."

     

    Mere outward forms and temple worship alone will not do.  What is wanted is a real change of heart.  The mind should be trained in the right path of sincere love and true devotion.  Saint Appar dispels this self deception with a touch of pathos:-

"ÌÈ¢¸ ÙõÁ¨¼ ¡ÇÓí §¸¡Â¢Öõ
 ¦¿È¢¸ ÙõÁÅ÷ ¿¢ýȧ¾¡÷ §¿÷¨ÁÔõ
 «È¢Â ¬Â¢Ãõ ¬Ã½õ µ¾¢Öõ
 ¦À¡È¢Â¢ Ä£÷ÁÉ ¦Áý¦¸¡ø Ò¸¡¾§¾."

    Our heart is the shrine where God is enthroned.  The temple deity is only a reflection of the Inner Divinity dwelling in us.  The sanctity of the temple should not be polluted as a separate storage of our sectarian secrecies.  The sacred shrine is a symbol of unity and fellowship,  a standing monument of the Brotherhood of Man and the Fatherhood of God.  It is a sacred retreat for the solace and comfort of the tired soul which is lashed by the thongs of karma.  It is the proper spot where we may let down the fardels of our heart and be in holy communion with the Almighty.  It is a place common to the sinful and the righteous, the pure and the impure, rich and poor, high and low, for the Jivan Mukat and the cast-out Chandala.  God is above wants.  He has no likes and dislikes.  He is equally graceful to all.  He makes no invidious distinctions.  He is easily grasped by love and is far from the reach of hatred.  He is Love and Love is Blissful.

    Unless the soul can distinguish itself from God, it cannot attain Moksha.  God is Sat and Maya is Asat or Sunyam.  But Sunyam does not mean a non-existent non-entity or illusion, but only means ever-changing.  Maya is inanimate and non-intelligent.  So Asat cannot know God.  God Who is Sat, remains unaffected by Maya.  The soul is in an intermediate state.  Both Sat and Asat are known by the soul.  So the soul is neither Sat nor Asat.  Then, what is it?  It is Satasat.

    The subject of Atma Darsan above discussed shows how the soul can be seen and perceived.  It is physically impossible to perceive the soul with the eye or the lens.  It is by learning to distinguish itself from other things that it can know what it really is.  The soul is set between Sat and Asat.  One primary quality of the soul is to get itself completely drowned in the thing it comes in contact with.  It is Asat when it is in Adwaita relation with Anava.  When it is able to wrench itself from the tentacles of the evil Mala, thereby exalting itself to the plane of Sivam, by dint  of His Grace, it coalesces with the virtues of the Lord, forgets itself and in this Adwaita relation, becomes Sat.  But in the intervening evolutionary state, the soul is Satasat.   Saint Tayumanavar says:-

"¬½Åò§¾¡ ¼òÐÅ¢¾ Á¡ÉÀÊ ¦ÁöﻡÉò
 ¾¡ÏÅ¢§É¡ ¼òÐÅ¢¾ Á¡Ì¿¡û ±ó¿¡§Ç¡."

    "O for the day! when I can join in Adwaitic union with the Supreme Intelligence, as Iam united now in Adwaitic bonds with Anava mala!"

    When the soul shakes off the shackles of world's allurements, it reaches the Feet of Siva.