Creation as per Shaiv Sidhant

As per Veersahivsidhant creation takes place in a very special way which is as per Shaiv Agam. In this explanation of Cosmic creation three divisions are discussed, which are

1. Naad, Bindu and Kala

2. Sadakhya

3. Adhwa

1.  Naad, Kala and Bindu

In the beginning, when nothing existed, when there was no time even at that point one entity alone was spread everywhere. This single Entity was intelligent, Omnipresent, Ominscinet and it was everything. It was in total equanimity. As it was spread everywhere, there was nowhere to be reached.  Hence no movement was needed and there WAS no movement. Since to understand anything some language or phrase has to be associated and in accordance our great ancient seers called.This entity as SHUNYA. Though it was shunya yet it has everything lying inside it thought in latent form. At the surface no movement was observed, yet it had two inherent aspects so closely knit together like the warf and weft of a piece of cloth. The intelligent aspect of it was named as SHIVA while the dynamic aspect of it was called SHAKTI. Hence we can say that in that SHUNYA state of existence Shiva and Shakti co-existed in perfect balance.

When the intelligence or SHIVA desired to create, SHAKTI sensed the need and moved to fulfill it.  Its movement took place at some point and at some time. Thus KAAL or time and BINDU came into existence. This can be explained with the help of an example. Visualize a big surface of water with no current of air flowing over it and in stock still position. It is like a shunya. If we drop a pebble into it, it hits the surface of water at some point generating a point. As it goes down into the water surface, waves or ripples are formed which travel outward concentrically from the central point where the pebble hit the surface. In the light of this example we can understand our original theme. In the state of shunya Shiva and Shakti were totally balanced like the still surface of water. When Shiva desires to create and Shakti senses this need, this very aspect may be called NAAD. When Shakti moved to fulfill this desire, she created a BINDU in the Shunya like pebble created a Bindu in the water surface. From that Bindu, waves of creation were spread outward and our Rishis named it as KALA, same way as waves were formed over the water surface. Thus for Cosmic creation to take place NAAD, BINDU and KALA are most important aspects. These three form a triangle out of which whole creation comes and this triangle is called as Cosmic womb or Vishwa yoni. The three corners of this triangle carries the three primordial forces Mahakali, Mahasaraswati and Mahaluxmi.

2. SADAKHYA:

Next state in the process of creation was Sadakhya. They emanate from the Bindu and are five in number, namely Shivsadakhya1, Amritsadakhya2, Moortisadakhya3, Kartarisadakhya4, Karmsadakhya5.

Shivsadakhya is subtles and Karmsadakhya is grossest. During the process of creation different states arise sequentially in each sadakhya. They are Shakti, Kala, Ang, Panchakshar, Panchmukh, Kalamurti and Adhidevta.

Shivsadakhya:  From nishkal Shiv tattva comes Parashakti à Shantyateet kalaà Prasad ling à 

Shivsadakhyaà Mahadevà Kshetragyaà Sadashivà Ether or Akaash tattva.

Amritsadakhya: Nishkal tattvaà Adishaktià Shantikalaà Jangam lingà Amoortisadakhyaà Bheemeshwarà Kartar Pramlingà Ishwarà Air or Vaaayu.

Moortisadakhya: Nishkalshivà Iccha shaktià Vidya kalaà Shiv lingà Moottisadakhyaà Maharudraà Bhavprasadià Rudraà Fire or Agni.

Kartarisadakhya: Nishkal Shivà Gyan shaktià Pratishtha Kalaà Guruligà Kartari sadakhya à Sharvà Kalamurtià Chaitanyaà Maheshwaarà Vishnuà Water or Jal.

Karmsadakhya: Nishkal Shivà Kriya shaktià Nivritti kalaà Achaar lingà Karmsadakhyaà Bhuv kala murtià Antaryami Bhaktà Brahmà Prithvi or Earth.

Once they are generated then their controllers also take form. Thus their adhidevtas are Sadashiv, Ishwar, Rudra, Vishnu and Brahma. These sadakhyas are more widely known then the five faces of Panchvaktra Shiv which represent the mantra “NAMAH SHIVAYE”. Sadyojaat face represents  NA, Vamdev represents MA, Aghor represents SHI, Tatpurush represents VA and Ishan represents YA. From Na comes Nivrittikala, Ma comes forth Pratishtha kala, from Shi comes Vidya kala, from Va comes Shantikala and from Ya comes Shantyateet kala. From these kalas there grosser form of Shakti come out. From Nivritti.comes Kriya Shakti, from Pratishtha comes Gyan Shakti, from Vidya kala comes Iccha Shakti, from Shanti kala comes Adi Shakti, from Shantyateet kala comes Parashakti. These five shakti’s in turn give birth to the five causal elements. Kriya shakti generates CHIT, Gyan Shakti BUDHI, Iccha Shakti AHAM or EGO, Adi Shakti MANN or MIND and Para Shakti generates GYAN. These five causal elements then give rise to five tanmatras. Chit creates GANDH(smell), Budhi creates RAS(taste), AHAM creates ROOP of FORM, Mann creates SPARSH(touch) and Gyan creates SHABD(sound). These five tanmatras are then responsible for creation of five gross elements which  are the building blocks of the whole creation. Gandh forms PRITHVI or EARTH element, Ras forms WATER or JAL element, Roop forms AGNI or FIRE element, Sparsh forms VAAYU or AIR element and Shabd forms AKAASH or SPACE element.

The five faces of Shiv has been explained further in the Shivpuran, page 449, which are being explained hereunder for understanding.

Sadyojaat: In the 19^th kalp when Brahma was sitting in dhyan a white steel coloured child was born. This child was Sadyojaat Shiva. He generated wisdom filled and great four children which were the form of Parbrahm only. They were named as Sunand, Nandan, Vishnand and Upnanad.

Presiding deity of Pran, genital organs and earth element.

Vamdev: 20^th kalp which was famour for RAKT, when Brahma was meditating for creation of son, that very moment a male child appeared before him. He was red in colour, his eyes were red, his clothes were red, he was wearing red ornaments and was named as Vamdev. After four children were born, all of which wore red clothes and their names were Virja, Vivah, Vishok, Vishwabhawan. When Vamdev got happy with Brahma he alone gave him wisdom and power to create.

Represents ego and always does all kinds of things. Presiding deity of water, taste etc.

Tatpurush: In the 20^th Kalp which was called PEETVASA. Brahma was wearing yellow clothes. He desired a son. So extremely effulgent and older form of a Kumar with great arms was seen. He was Tatpurush and also wore yellow clothes. Brahma appeased Him with japa of Shankar Gayatri “Tatpurushaye vidmahe, Mahadevaye dhi mahi, tanno rudra prachodayaat”. From his back four children appeared they were are also dressed. All of them were followers of yog marg.

Supporter of all the qualities and residing in all the things to be experienced. Presiding deity of touch, air element.

Aghor: After the above kalp came SHIV kalp. In the state of Ekarnav when 1000 divine years passed , an idea to create came to the mind of Brahma. As he could not think of anything , he felt sad. At that moment a child appeared in front of him. He was totally black, wearing a black turban, having a black yagyopaveet, adorned with a black tilak on his forehead and waering a black tiara/mukut on his head. Brahma performed His stuti. AGHOR got happy and provided Brahma four children. They were great thinkers and their names were Krishna, Krishnashikh, Krishnasya and Krishanknathdhrik. They also spread yog by the name of Aghor in the creation.

Resided in the budhi tattva along with the limbs of dharma. Presiding deity of form and agni.

Ishan: Next kalp was of the name Vishwaroop. During that when Brahma was meditating on Shiv with desire of a male child, at that moment Vishwaroopa saraswati appeared doing singhnaad. Same way bhagwaan Ishan also appeared there. His colour was crystal white and he was adorned with many ornaments. Brahma bowed down to him and lord got happy and deliverd him a great sermon along with Saraswati. Then he bestowed four children on him and their names were Jati, Mundi, Shikhandi and Ardhmundi. They followed the path of yog and took up sad-dharam and achieved yog-gati.

Ishan was the greatest of all and resided in the prakriti bhikta kshetragya , controlled ear, speech and ether element.

Om Haum Ishanaye Namah – represents MUKUT,

Om Haim Tatpurushaye Namah – represents FACE,

Om Hum Aghoraye Namah – represents HEART,

Om Hrim Vamdevaye Namah – represents GUHYA,

Om Ham Sadyojataye Namah – represents FEET of the lord.

3. ADHWA:

This is the third state of creation. After its establishment only the movement of actual gross cosmic creation takes place. Its literal meaning is Path or Way or Base. The path through which sadakhya appears into the world is called Adhwa. It can be explained with the help of an example of spider web. In that web there are many concentric circles which are joined by straight lines proceeding to the centre of the web from the outer most circle.  These straight lines are for movement from one circle to another. Same way our Adhwas are simple straight paths in the creation of Sadakhyas. Shakti coming from Paramshiv traveling on these adhwas enter the creations sadakhya.

These adhwas are divided in to six categories. Mantra¹, Pad², Varna³, Tattva⁴, Bhuvan⁵, Kala⁶ . Out of these some are subtle and some are gross. Mantra, Pad and Varna are subtle in nature and come from Naad; Bhuvan, tattva and Kala are gross and come from Bindu. They join together in various ways to generate a vriety of creation. When Naad and Bindu join together Kala takes birth.

As per teachers of Agam, Mantradhwa, padadhwa and Varnadhwa are known as Shabdroop while other three are know as Arthroop. First ones are called Shaktyatmak, while others are called Swaroopatmak. First ones are also called Shudhadhwa while the others are called Ashudhadhwa. Kaladhwa is the grossest and mantradhwa is the subtlest. As they expand from one division to the next they overlap. Thus we can say that Mantradhwa has padadhwa in it, Padadhwa has Varnadhwa in it, Varnadhwa has Bhuvan adhwa in it, Bhuvanadhwa has Tattvaadhwa in it and Tattvadhwa has Kaladhwa in it.  According to the knowers of Agams only that who has the knowledge of these adhwas goes beyond mahamaya. Ashudh adwa disappears in Bindu while Shudhadhwa goes in to Naad. Later Bindu enters Naad and Naad disappears in to Parashakti, parashakti disappears in Parshiv. Thus one travels past the whole web of Shadadhwa creation and gets moksha, which is the real goal. The adhwa components have been explained as below:

Mantradhwa: It has Hridya¹, Shir², Shikha³, Kavach⁴, Netra⁵, Astr⁶, Ishan⁷, Tatpurush⁸, Aghor⁹, Vamdev¹⁰, 

Sadyojat¹¹, eleven mantras are there. They combine further to form 70,000,000 mantras developed by Shiva.

While doing Nyas we cover  first six cleansings.

Padadhwa: There are Vyom, Vyomvyapini, Vyomrupa etc, 94 pads in it. They all are the cause of Mantradhwa.

Varnadhwa: There are 52 letters in it and are cause of Padadhwa. From pad, mantras are developed. Mantras are everywhere.

Jyoti or light or effulgence of Om is in six forms as below:

Stambhakriti: Carries four varnas, Ham Ksham, Ham and Lam

Darpanakriti: It carries 16 swaras from A to AH.

Chandrakriti: It carries 12 Vyanjans/consonants from KA to THA.

Kundalakriti: It carries 10 Vyanjans/Consonants from DA to PHA.

Dandakriti: It carries 06 Vyanjans from BA to LA.

Tarakriti: It carries 04 Vyanjans , VA, SHA, SHHA and SA.

Bhuvanadhwa: In it anashrit, anant, anadi etc. 224 Bhuvans reside. It permeates the whole cosmos.

Tattvadhwa: It carries Shiv, Sadashiv etc. all the 36 tattvas which are the cause of whole cosmic creation.

Kaladhwa: It carries Nivritti, Pratishtha, Vidya, Shanti, Shantyateet etc. five kalas.

Nivritti kala: When in humans knowledge arises, then this kala gets generated. Sadhak leaves his bad desires and wants to meet god. Its adhidevta is Brahma.

Pratishthakala: On arising of this kala sadhak becomes strong willed to meet god. Its adhidevta is Vishnu.

Vidyakala: When this arises, sins are annihilated and mind becomes purified. Anavmal also gets removed. Its adhidevta is Rudra.

Shantikala: When this kala arises in one, ego gets annihilated and peace reigns every where. Its adhidevta is Maheshwar.

Shantyateetkala: By this sadhak develops divine love and receives His grace. HE starts playing with the sadhak. It is the pinnacle of state of peace and happiness.

Bhuvan, Tattva and Kaladhwa are generated from Bindu. All the above adhwas are interconnected and divided in to many. J oining together they run the trade of whole of the creation.

Yatha Brahmande Tatha Pinde. As per this saying our body is also a miniature cosmos. Various chakras located in our spine, in Sushmana and inside that also on the Brahm nadi are associated with adhwas as shown below:

Mooladhar: Located at the base of the spine, has four petals. Mantradhwa is Sadyojaat (Om Ham Sadyojataye Namah); Vyomvyapini, Vyomroopa, Sarvvyapini, Shivay are four pads of Padadhwa;  Vam, Sham, Shham, Sam are the four Varnadhwas; Anashrit, anadi, anant etc are 16 bhuvans of Bhunadhwa; five elements are Tatvadhwas; Nivritti kala is Kaladhwa.

Swadhishtha: It has six petals. Om Hrim Vamdevaye Namah, Vamdev mantra is Mantradhwa, Ishan etc 6 are Padadhwa, Ba, Bha, Ma, Ya, Ra, La are Varnadwas; Suksham, Vamdev etc are 24 Bhuvandhwa; Five tantmatras, Shabd, Sparsh, Roop, Ras, Gandh are Tattvadhwa; Pratishtha kala is Kaladhwa.

Manipur:  Located in the spine at the level of navel and has ten petals. Om Hum aghoraye Namah is the mantradhwa; Guhyateet, guhya etc are Padadhwa; Da to Pha are the Varnadhwa; Ekpingalekshandi etc are the 12 Bhuvandhwas;Vak, Pani, Pad, Payu, Upasth etc. are five Tatvadhwa; Vidyakala is Kaladhwa.

Anahat: Located at the level of heart and has twelve petals. Om Haim Tatpurushaye Namah is the mantradhwa, Vyapini, Rupini etc. 12 are Padadhwa; Kato Tha, 12 varnas are Varnadhwa; Sthaleshwar etc. 12 are Bhuvnadhwa; Shrot, tvak etc. are the five Tattvadhwa; Shantikala is Kaladhwa.

Vishudhi: Located at the level of neck and has 16 petals in it. Om Haum Ishanaye Namah is the Mnatradhwa; Abhasm etc are 16 Padadhwa; A to AH, are the 16 Varnadhwa; Vibhavadi 64 Bhuvans are Bhuvanadhwa; Budhi, chit, Ahmakaar are the three Tattvadhwa; Shantyateet is Kaladhwa.

Agya: Located between the brows, has two petals. Hridya(Ham), Head(Heem), Shikha(Hoom), Kavach(Haim), Netra(Haum), Astra(Hah) are six mantras are Mantradhwa; Parmatma etc 40 pads are Padadhwa; Kartri etc. 32 Bhuvnas are Bhuvnadhwa; Shiv/Shakti/Sadashiv/Ishwar/ Shudhvidya/Maya/Kaal/Niyati/Kala/Vidya/Raag , these eleven are Tattvadhwa; Shatvteetotarkala is Kaladhwa.

Hence we can see that each adhwa is a combination of all the five adhwas.

The above mentioned 36 tattvas has been explained by Shaiv Sidhant as below:

1. Shivtatv: In the waveless ocean of the shunya of creation, shiva’s gyan and Kriya Shakti exist in perfect equilibrium. The point where they exist, thus, together is called Bindu or Shivtatva. At the time of creation the first vibration which takes place is called ShaktiVarious kalas like Nivrityadi and various Shaktis like Iccha, Gyan, Kriya etc reside inside it.
2. Shaktitattva: First vibration of Shivas desire towards creation is called Shakti tattva. It is one with Shiva. It being dynamic aspect of Shiva and cause of various bhuvnas, hence it is evident.
3. Sadashivtattva: Without the agitation of Gyan Shakti and Kriya Shakti of Shiv, whatever second sfuran or vibration that takes place is called Sadashiv. Cosmic creation starts from here.
4. Ishwartattva: This is the third expansion of Bindu. During this period Gyan  shakti becomes a little less but kriya shakti becomes more evident. This state is called Ishwar.
5. Shudhvidya tattva: During the 4^th expansion of sfuran of bindu, kriya shakti decreases and gyan shakti increases again. It is called Shudh vidya. Here knowledge becomes evident.
6. Mayatattva: This is the cause of cosmic creation and is also called parigrahshakti. It is the division less form of Kaaltattva group. Kaal appears as bhokta or Purusha while our atma is a witness. Due to its nature alone, ‘maya’ creates mortality, pain, duality etc in THAT which is immortal, joyous and non-dual.
7. Kaaltattva: From the powerful maya, KAAL comes out first. It is responsible for counting or Kalna, hence is named KAAL. It divides time into before, now and after i.e past, present and future.
8. Niyatitattva: This is the secod power which establishes or controls all the cosmic things and hence called Niyati because of its work of niyaman.
9. Kalatattva: It converts a part of inherent shakti of Purusha and brings forth Gyan (knowledge), Kriya (dynamism) shakti i.e it removes the curtain over atma a little and making it realize its karma to experience their fruit. Due to its act of removing mal or ignorance, its called kalatattva.
10. Ashudhtattva: It removes the curtain of kriya shakti over atma and makes it see the object  world and the atma gets busy in the karm for bhog. To experience the fruits of the world budhi (intellect) is needed. The cause of pain and pleasure is experienced by intellect when it matures enough.
11. Raagtattva: To own anything one has to have desire for it. This force of desire is called raag.
12. Purushtattva: When atma acquires the five tattva i.e kaal, niyati, kala, vidya, raag, only then it is called Purusha.
13. Prakrititattva: It creates indriyas for Purusha to experience and is the cause for everything from budhi (intellect) to prithvi (earth).
14. Budhishakti: This is the power which ascertains the objects and their real nature.
15. Ahamkaartattva: It experiences all the other things which are different from its own inherent nature, even as similar. It is a cuase of me and mine. It causes all the pranas to move and hence called LIFE. Due to their movement it is called SAURAMBH. For their movement an effort is required which is called PRIDE. This aham is also of three kinds, namely Satvik, Rajasik and Tamsik. Also known as Tejas, Vaikarik and Bhootadi. From the tejas satvik ahamkaar MANN (mind) comes forth, from Vaikarik Rajsik ahamkaar INDRIYA (senses) come out, from Bhootadi Tamsik ahamkaar come five tanmatras.
16. Manahtattva: It is responsible for generation of smakalp and vikalp in us. Due to it ikes-dislikes, shame, anger etc. arise. It is connected to ten sense organs and without it they can not acquire the knowledge of all things around us.
17. 5-sense of perception: They are generated from stvik ahmkaar and are extremely subtle. They can not work without gross body.  
18. 5-senses of action: They work on the impulse of gyanindriya or senses of perception. They also can not work without gross body. All the ten indriyas and mind are generated from satvik ahamkaar.
19.  5-tanmatras: They are essential for generation of five elements and helpful to five senses of perception.
20. 5-bhoottattva: Earth, water, Fire, Air and Ether are the building blocks of whole creation. They are generated from the tams ahamkaar.

The above 36 tattvas are divided into three divisions: Shivtattva(1), Vidyatattva(10) and Kalatattva(25). When we are doing achman, we always do three achmans chanting Atmatattva shodhyami namah swaha, Vidyatattva shodhyami namah swaha, Kalatattva shodhyami namah swaha. Thus the meaning of those three achmans is to cleanse all the 36 tattvas in our body. Thus while performing them, one must generate such a feeling strongly in ones self to reap the good effect of it.

Hope the above article will help answer many questions of our sadhana. Though sadhana is an ongoing process and one must improve every moment.

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