The Self and s'iva

&va is the abode or substratum and also the lord of the self. In all its activities and experiences, the self is controlled

by &va. Even the facts of bondage and liberation of the self are said to be due to the will of Siva, the ultimate cause. Of course, &va controls the self in accordance with the merits and demerits accruing from its past actions. The self undergoes bondage because of its own bad actions conjoined with the displeasure of God. In a like manner, it attains liberation because of its own endeavour—penance, meditation, worship etc.—conjoined with the command and grace of God¹⁰. Kalas comprising the five physical elements and the sense-organs are the fetters by which the self is bound. When the self is entan­gled by these elements, it becomes dependent, non-sovereign, overpowered by ignorance, attached to the effects or wordly objects, and confined to an embodied life. Vidya or true knowledge destroys these entanglements, reveals the real nature of the self and thereby helps it attain liberation¹¹. The idea of bondage and liberation found in this system implies that the divine powers of knowledge and lord-ship are inherent in the self. They are suppressed in the state of bondage because of the influence of the fetters, and are manifested in the state of libe­ration. According to the Pgsupata philosophy, a liberated self is omniscient and, hence, is endowed with the knowledge of itself and also of other selves¹³. Here, liberation is not only the total extinction of pains and sufferings, as in Samkhya, but also the acquisition of absolute independence, lordship and super-natural or divine powers of knowledge and action all of which are, however, granted by &va¹³. Again, liberation is not merely the self's dissociation from prakrti and its modification, as in Samkhya, but also its union with &va. This union of the self with &va, which is the ultimate end of life, is called Yoga. Yoga in the PaSupata system means both the suppre­ssion of mental modes, as in the Patanjala philosophy and the union of the individual self with Siva, through trance or com­plete absorption of the mind in him¹*. According to the Pasupatas, the liberated self does not merge in Siva and become •one with him. Liberation accepted here is a form of sayujya-

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mukti, in which the self remains in perpetual association with the Lord &va¹⁵, and acquires omniscience, omnipotence, lord­ship and other qualities belonging to him. Thus, liberation, according to the Pasupatas, is on the one hand deliverance from worldly pains and sufferings and on the other hand the attainment of all the excellent qualities of Siva¹⁰. Garia-karikd says that the liberated self acquires miraculous powera of knowledge and action. Kaundinya, therefore, describes the liberated self as beyond the jurisdiction of Pasupati¹⁷. A libe­rated self is, however, not quite similar to &va, because the qualities of omniscience, omnipotence etc. pertaining to the liberated self are acquired, while they are essential or natural to ."-iva, and because the liberated self is devoid of the cosmic activities of creation, sustenance etc., whereas Siva is endowed. with them.

10 tasmat prasadat sa duhkhantah. prapyate. na tu jSana-vairSgya-dharmaisvarya-tyaga-matrat—ibid, 1.1; apramadl gacched duh-kba-nam antam Isa-prasadat—ibid, 5. 40.

11- cf. vidya-.-sva-paranya-prakasika pradipavat—ibid, 4. 1; see also, ibid, 3. 19. and 5. 47 ; Sinha, opcit, p. 87.

12. eka jnana-saktih aparimitena jneyena anekena anekadha upacaryate. sphatikadityavat ca asya sarvatah pravartate ityarthah.—PB, 1. 22 ; see also -ibid, 5. 40.

13. asya tu jnanam asti—duhkhanam atyantaih paramapoho gunavaptis ca param bhavatiti—tasmat prasadat sarva-duhkhapoho gunavatis ca—ibid, 5. 40.

14. ayam tu yukta eva na muktah—ibid, 5. 8 ; atmesvara-samyogo yogalj —ibid, 1.1.

15. rudra-sayujya-nirdesat—ibid, I. 24; labhate rudra-sayujyam— Pasupata sntra, 5. 33 ; saksat rudrena saha sarhyogah, sayujyam— PB on ibid.

16. kriya-saktir-api asti net! ? ucyate—asti_sarva-jnana-sakti-rupa—PB, 123 ; prabhutvarii vibhutvam gunadharraitvarii ca vyakhyatam—ibid, 1. 26 ; see ibid, 1. 27 ; see 13 above.

17. Ganakarika, 6 and Ratna-tlkS on it; sarvatra capratihatagatir bhavati —PaSupata-sutra, 1. 37; mahesvarenapi apratibandha-dharmitvam aptatighatah—PB on ibid; see ibid, I. 2, 8.

REFERENCES

1. J. N. Sinha, Schools ofsaivism, p, 81.

2. pasutvat karyatvena vyakhyatah—PB, 5. 47.

3. cetane atma-sabdah—purusas cetanah—ibid, 5. 3; see 12 below.

4. saca grota spras^a dras(a rasayita ghiata manta boddha-'-purusas cetano bhokta ksetrajBah pudgalo janah. anirvedo' mrtah saksi ji vatma paribhulj parah'—PB, 5. 3.

5. pasyanat pasanat ca pasavah tatra pasaft nama karya-karanakhyah kalah—tabhih pasitah baddhah sanni-ruddhah sabdadi-visaya-para- vasas ca bhutva avati.^hante ity-atah avagamyate asvatantryam anaisvaryaih bandhah—ibid, 1. 1. 1.

6. nityatma—Pasupata-sutra, 5. 3 ; ajah—ibid, 5. 4 ;. aksayalj—ajarah— ibid, 1. 35 ; amarzfy—ibid, 1. 36.

7. cf. sati vibhutve—PB, 5. 3 ; vibhutve api—ibid, 1.1.

8. Sinha, op cit., p. 86.

9. tasya sukha-duhkheccha-dvesa-prayatnarcaitanyadibhir lingair adhigamah kriyate ity-arthah— PB, 5. 3.

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CHAPTER

19

THE SELF IN S'AIVA SIDDHANTA