THE LORD SIVA is not limited the way we humans are. Theological de scriptions of Siva emphasize that the many limitations we experience as embodied human beings in a state of bondage do not in any way affect Siva. Human beings are limited in time; Siva is eternal, without beginning, middle, or end. Our human bodies are confined in space; Siva is pervasive, omnipresent. As paSus, we are constrained by fetters; Siva is eternally with out mala, liberated without beginning. Humans are characteristically agi tated by psychic disturbances, alternately attracted and repulsed by the things of the world; Siva is completely calm. We humans are always de pendent on and subordinate to other beings; Siva is the one completely independent, autonomous being. Humans possess finite capacities; Siva’s powers of knowledge and action are infinite. Ultimately, Siva is not bounded even by our capacity to conceptualize him. Siva is the one “whose domain surpasses our speech and mind.”
Such a transcendent god cannot, according to Śaiva siddhanta, be wor shiped directly. He cannot be said to have a particular form, and it is not possible for humans to meditate upon or offer worship to a completely form less being. According to a text quoted by Aghorasiva, “It is only to the extent that You possess a visible form that one is able to approach You. The intellect cannot approach something lacking any visible form.“1 Yet for Śaiva worship to take place, it is absolutely necessary that Siva enter into the ritual domain. He must be present to receive the offerings of his worshiper.
This is the problem at the heart of invocation (avahana): how does one summon a divinity that is by definition limitless into a limited sphere of ritual, so that a bound human of limited powers may offer him worship? The problem is both theological and procedural, a concern for both knowledge and action. And the solution Śaiva siddhanta texts offer, likewise, provides both a way of knowing Siva and of invoking his presence.
THE THEOLOGY OF SIVA’S PRESENCE
In its description of Siva’s “inherent form,” the Ajitagama pointedly pro claims that he is “not bound by space, time, or the like” and that “his domain surpasses speech and mind” (AA 2.26-27). Similarly, the Svayam bhuvdgama describes Siva’s “essence” (tattva) as “unfathomable, inde-
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scribable, incomparable, without defect, subtle, pervasive, eternal, firm, imperishable, and lordly.“2 As Sivagrayogin elaborates,
Siva is unfathomable because he is without end; indescribable because he is not to be characterized (alaksya); incomparable because there is nothing like him; without defect because he has no mala; subtle because he is not perceivable {anupalabhya)·, pervasive because ubiquitous; eternal because he is devoid of cause; firm because unmoving; imperishable because he is complete; lordly be cause he is master of the world. ($Pbh p. 62)
The emphasis that Śaiva theology places on the unlimited qualities of Siva raises a difficult question concerning human access to Siva. Character izations of Siva place him in a domain far beyond human powers of know ing and acting. If Siva is unfathomable, indescribable, incomparable, and imperceivable, what means do we have to know him? How can we offer worship to a god who is imperceivable, pervasive, unmoving, and com plete? How do humans of limited powers gain access to one who surpasses all limits?
Two Levels of Siva
The only ultimate resolution of this enigma lies in the liberation of the soul. When the soul attains mok$a, the limitations that normally inhibit its powers are removed, and the soul is able to approach Siva fully, just as he is. (Yet in liberation, the agamas remind us, one “does nothing” because “there is nothing to be done.“3 Offering piija, for instance, is an act appropriate to bound souls, not to liberated ones.) Since we are not liberated, however, it is necessary to address the quandary posed by Siva’s unlimited nature and our limited powers from the perspective of bondage. Human knowledge and action presuppose limitation, yet it is nevertheless crucial for us to approxi
mate the infinite as best we can.
Śaiva philosophers deal with the epistemological problem by first distin guishing two levels of Siva. The first level, said to be true in the highest sense (paramarthika), is the limitless, transcendent ParamaSiva (“Highest Siva”) described in the passages above: a formless, undifferentiated Para ma£iva “without parts” (niskala). Positive knowledge of Siva at this level is beyond human reach. Siva is said to be “unfathomable,” the Vatulagama tells us, “because he surpasses every human means of knowledge.“4 The Acintyagama elaborates, “Siva’s highest nature cannot be known through observation (adhyaksa), nor from its marks (IiAga), nor through verbal author ity (Sabda).“5 Descriptions of ParamaSiva are therefore essentially negative ones, pointing to the absence of any limiting qualities.
Similarly, worship of Siva at this level is impossible. “It is not possible,” says AghoraSiva, “to meditate on or give worship and the like to an entity114 · ChapterFour
without form” (TPV 6). Considered in his highest state, ParamaSiva sur passes the capacities of bound pasus.
The second level of Siva, true only as a partial approximation or synec doche (upacara), is Siva as he is understood to manifest himself and act in multiple ways upon the world: a differentiated Siva “with parts” (sakala). The agamas stress the completeness of Siva’s activities affecting the world and everything in it. He is the “unique seed of the world,” that is, the instru mental cause of all creation (TP 1), and the one who grants all grace. He performs the five fundamental activities that set in motion the most essential processes of the cosmos and of souls.
It is through this active presence in the world that Siva becomes accessi ble to humans. Embodied souls do not generally perceive Siva’s activities directly, but we are able to observe the many effects resulting from his ac tivities and to relate these effects to particularized aspects of his character. Siva’s effects on the world are pervasive and multifarious, and we posit a differentiated Siva composed of many parts to account for these. Hyposta tizing his activities, we may speak of the “powers” he uses to act and to know, the “faces” with which he carries out the five fundamental activities, the “limbs” whereby he acts upon the world.
We know Siva, then, through synecdoche and through partial approxima tion. Bhojadeva summarizes the two levels of Siva in this way: “In an ulti mate sense, the entity we call Siva is one, inlaid with hundreds of various powers. We postulate his divisions due to the diverse actions of his powers” (TP 33). Commenting on this passage, AghoraSiva elaborates: “Due to the diverse activities of Siva’s powers, we postulate his divisions such as SadaSiva and so on as a synecdoche, but this postulation (Mlpanika) is not true in the highest sense (paramartha)” (TPV 33). Humans are able to know and act toward this secondary, particularized Siva precisely because names and forms are applied to partial facets of a single integrated divinity. In this way Siva is given a metaphorical “body” that we are able to meditate upon and worship.
This epistemological division in our conceptualization of Siva’s character has no ultimate effect on Siva himself, of course. Siva’s ontology encom passes both levels. The texts point out that Siva is not only both “without parts” and “with parts,” but also “both with and without parts” (sakala nifkala). With Siva, there can be no contradiction between transcendence and activity, nor between states of integration and differentiation. The dis tinction we make between two levels is only an apparent one (upadhi)·, it is not fundamental. Siva surpasses these conceptual categories as well.
Siva’s Multiple Forms
Philosophical texts may caution us that the secondary Siva “with parts” is not the highest aspect of Siva. Nevertheless, since it is through this aspect
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that humans are able to comprehend Siva and act toward him, this secondary level is of intense interest. The agamas, in fact, speak of several different forms by which we are able to approach Siva.
The most comprehensive differentiated form of Siva is known as SadaSiva, the “Eternal Siva.” SadaSiva is virtually identical with Siva’s five fundamental activities. Siva accomplishes his most far-reaching effects on the cosmos, we have seen, through five activities: emission, protection, re
absorption, concealment, and grace. Yet it is not possible to act without a “body” of some sort. Accordingly, even Siva must employ an instrument (karana) to accomplish his purposes. For each fundamental activity, Siva uses a corresponding mantra power: for emission the mantra is SADYOJATA, for preservation it is VAMA, and so on. The five mantras through which Siva carries out his most profound operations in the world, collectively known as the five brahmamantras, constitute the five “faces” of Sadasiva. Thus, SadaSiva represents Siva’s most fundamental presence in the world, the “body of mantras” with which Siva acts. “As the soul comes and goes by means of the body, so one must acknowledge that Siva comes and goes through his body of mantras” (KA 4.356). Or as Ramakantha succinctly puts it, “Siva does everything using SadaSiva as his body” (KalAV 22.2-4).
The SadaSiva body is emphatically not a body like those of humans. It is made of mantras or of powers, and it is completely without bondage, which is the determining feature of human bodies. In Sarvadarsanasamgraha, Ma dhava admirably summarizes the conception of SadaSiva in his discussion of Śaiva siddhanta philosophy:
The body of Parame§vara is not a common (prakrta) one, since the net of fetters— mala, karman, and the others—is absent from it. Rather, it is a body of powers (Sakta), since its heads and other parts are composed of the five mantras begin ning with KANA, which have the forms of §aktis. As is generally known, Siva has KANA as his heads, TATPURUSA for faces, AGHORA as heart, VAMA for genitals, and SADYOJATA as feet. And his body, which is not like our bodies, is the instrument fashioned by his own will with which he performs the five fundamental activi ties: grace, veiling, reabsorption, maintenance, and emission, in that order. (SDS 7.57-63)6
As Madhava’s description implies, it is not strictly accurate (though for us it will be linguistically convenient) to refer to this body of powers as “SadaSiva’s body,” as if SadaSiva were a distinct being possessing a body. Rather, the mantra-constituted body is SadaSiva, and it is an instrumental part of the larger, encompassing Siva that Madhava refers to as the “Highest Lord” ParameSvara.
Uncommon though it may be, this SadaSiva body is nevertheless accessi ble to humans; it can be visualized and worshiped. We can give specific visual form to SadaSiva in meditation, impose this form onto some physical support, and present offerings to it. As we will see, SadaSiva’s body of
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mantras, imposed onto the linga, serves as the embodiment that the highest, inaccessible Siva comes to inhabit during daily worship. Sadasiva thereby stands at the meeting point between ParamaSiva and his human worshipers in Śaiva ritual.
While material representations of SadaSiva are comparatively rare in Śaiva temples, he does have a form (or forms) that humans may perceive through a process of visualization (bhavana).1 SadaSiva is most often por trayed as a single divinity with five-faces and ten arms.
One should meditate that SadaSiva has five faces, ten arms, and three eyes [in each face]. Crystal in color and calm, he has a crescent moon as his crest, and his hair is fastened with a snake. His seat is a lion-throne made of mantras, and he sits atop a white lotus. Ornamented with bracelets, earrings, necklaces, the aus
picious thread, waistbands, upper-arm bracelets, golden bracelets, and chest bands, he is a lovely, tranquil, smiling sixteen-year-old. In his right hands he holds trident, axe, sword, thundeibolt, and fire; the mudra of security and the noose, along with the bell, snake, and hook, are in his five left hands. (KA 4.329-34)
Each of the five faces can be visualized individually, either as separate vis ages of a single body or as independent figures. In addition, each mantra is associated with a portion of the body, arranged hierarchically: KANA is located at the head, TATPURUSA at the mouth, and so on, as Madhava out lined.
Siva’s capacities for action in the world are also instantiated in his six “limbs” (anga), corresponding to the six aAgamantras. These limbs, like the rays of the sun, are intrinsic extensions of Siva’s being by which he accom plishes his aims.8
Just as fire and the sun are powerful because of their rays, Siva is likewise invin cible and all-performing because of his limbs, which arise from his inherent na ture (svabhava). The heart (HRD) is existence, and his head (SIRAS) is his lofty preeminence. His topknot (SDCHA) is his autonomy. His armor (KAVACA) would be his protective powers. His weapon (ASTRA) is the power by which he annihi lates. The eye (NETRA) is his power of omniscience, which illuminates every thing. Thus the six divine qualities of the creator of the world, Siva, are stated here. (KA 4.362-65)
When the body of SadaSiva is visualized and constructed in ritual, these limbs are superimposed onto it as additional enhancements of his being. SadaSiva’s powers are also specified by the panoply of “weapons” (ayudha) he carries. According to one typical list, SadaSiva holds in his five right hands the trident, axe, sword, thunderbolt, and fire, and in his left hands he holds the snake, noose, bell, mudra of security, and hook (KA 4.332-33). However, Nirmalamani warns us, we should not imagine these
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to be everyday weapons of violence. Rather, these are weapons of grace; Siva uses them to destroy the bonds that ensnare the soul (KKDP pp. 100- 101). When visualizing SadaSiva, the worshiper meditates on them not sim ply as physical weapons, but in their inherent form of being (bhutasvarupa), as aspects of Siva’s power.9
His three-pronged trident is called the three qualities, and the axe is said to be existence. The sword would be the radiance of his lordship. The thunderbolt is his indivisibility. The fire is the power of reabsorption, which reduces fetters to ashes and illuminates the tattvas which lie above mahamaya. Holding the snake indicates his power to accomplish everything. His noose is the three fetters, known as maya, karman, and mala. The bell represents undifferentiated sound (tiada), denoting his mantra-body. The mudra of security is his power to protect all creatures. His hook represents the rule by which the soul obtains the conse
quences resulting from previous actions. (KA 4.335-39)
SadaSiva is the form that, for Śaiva theologians, most closely approxi mates the totality of Siva’s active presence in the world. His several super imposed layers of mantras and powers successively manifest portions of Siva’s presence: the five faces accomplish the five fundamental activi ties, the six limbs extend his capacities, and the ten weapons enable him to grant grace. Ultimately, even SadaSiva is a synecdoche for Siva’s complete nature, but it is the most comprehensive such form accessible to human powers.
SadaSiva is not the only form in which humans may perceive Siva. As MaheSvara (the “Great Lord”), Siva takes on many aspects or embodiments that are also manifest to humans. These aspects are distinct, individual forms of Siva related to particular aspects of his being or to his specific exploits in the world, and they are familiar to us through the iconic statu ary of Indian images and through the narrative descriptions of the puranas.10 The Rauravdgama, for instance, lists and describes thirteen typical forms of MaheSvara: Sukhasana, SomeSa, Somaskanda, Vr§arQdha, Tripurari, CandraSekhara, Kalahari, Kalyanasundara, Nrttamurti, Bhiksatana, Kankala, Ardhanari, and Dak^inamQrti.11
Where SadaSiva is a comprehensive body of Siva, the forms of Mahe Svara are partial embodiments or aspects of Siva’s character. Of Mahe Svara’s multiple forms, some specialize in emission, others in preservation, and still others in reabsorption. “First Somaskanda, then Sukhasana, and Kalyanasundara, CandraSekhara, Gangadhara—these five are called the ’emit ting embodiments’ (sr^timiirti). Vr§abhavahana, Ardhanari, Kirafa, VtreSa, and finally Bhiksatana are the five forms called ‘preserving embodi ments.’“12 Forms in which Siva carries out his more destructive activi ties, such as Tripurari and KiQaluiri, represent his “reabsorptive embodi ment.” Partial is always inferior to whole, so these individualized forms are
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distinctly ancillary to SadaSiva. Forms of Mahesvara are not generally cen tral liturgical objects, but they do serve as iconic representations of Siva within the scheme of any large Śaiva temple. A collectivity of these partial aspects of Siva’s totality, situated at appropriate places within the temple complex, further specifies his comprehensive character and makes it acces sible to his devotee.
In addition to these particularized bodily forms by which Siva acts, he also employs an energy or “instrument” (karcma) to accomplish his ends. This instrument of unlimited efficacy is known as Sakti: “By means of that instrument which is Sakti, Siva becomes powerful (sdkta), that is, capable of accomplishing the five fundamental activities so that the souls may achieve worldly pleasures and liberation” (TPV 3). Arising intrinsically from Siva as heat arises from fire, Sakti is essentially one, undifferentiated and without form. Like Siva, however, Sakti must perform many tasks in a variegated creation, and to do so she assumes a plethora of appropriate forms. When things are to be known (jneya), Siva’s energy adopts the form of JiianaSakti; when actions are to be undertaken (karya), it appears as Kriyalakti. According to one common classification, Sakti has five princi pal, hierarchically ranked forms: ParaSakti, Adisakti, IcchaSakti, Jnana Sakti, and Kriyasakti. In accomplishing the five fundamental activities, the five brahmamantras are said to have the “form of Saktis.” Another group of eight Saktis act as the governors of the Vidyesvaras, divine agents of Siva. The thirty-eight kalas, or “portions” of SadaSiva, are Saktis that differenti ate and constitute the active body of Siva’s highest manifest form. These forms of Sakti and other, still more differentiated Saktis are particularized aspects of a unitary Energy that adapts itself with infinite flexibility to the many circumstances of its activities.
This portrait of Siva’s bodies and his powers still does not depict com pletely his active presence in the world, since Siva does not always carry out his activities himself. He often acts through agents (adhikariri), whom he instigates (prerana) to act on his behalf, as an imperial king assigns lesser kings to perform the functions of sovereignty in smaller, encompassed por tions of the kingdom. These subordinate lords enact Siva’s universal lord ship in specific domains or parts of the world.
Siva’s agents are separate beings, not aspects of Siva. They are distinct souls whose fetters are almost completely removed, and whose powers of knowledge and action have been activated or enhanced by their proximity to liberation, enabling them to cany out the assignment (adhikdra) given them by Siva. Most powerful among them are the eight Vidyesvaras. These “lords of lords of kings of kings,” as Mrgendragama calls them, and particu larly their leader, Ananta, act as Siva’s agents over the entire impure do
main. “In the pure domain, Siva is called creator; in the impure, Ananta is the Lord” (KirA vidya 3.27). Each VidyeSvara is presided over or governed (adhisthita) by one of Siva’s eight Saktis. The VidyeSvaras in turn rule over
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a variety of subordinate lords—MandaIeSvaras, MantreSvaras, Bhuvane svaras, World Guardians, and so on—who exercise sovereignty in more re stricted domains. One group of MandaleSvaras particularly important in ritual is the group of five KaraneSvaras: Brahman, Vi§nu, Rudra, Mahelvara, and SadaSiva. These lords govern the domains of the five kalas and appear wher ever the kalas are. diva’s lordship is thus differentiated as it extends into particularized parts of the world.
Siva’s Special Presence
The specific purpose of invocation is to summon Siva to enter into a partic ular form for the duration of the ritual so that the worshiper may offer his services. The analogy used most frequently in the dgamas to conceptualize this process is that of a soul entering a human body. Siva, like the soul, is essentially consciousness (cit), while the linga, like the body, is composed of inanimate substance (jada). When properly invoked, Siva enters into the
transformed linga as a soul penetrates a newly born human body. Yet this very notion of entrance, implying that Siva might have previ ously been absent, raises a philosophical objection. It seems to contradict Siva’s pervasiveness. As the sages ask Siva in K&mikSgama, “How is it, O Lord, that one can invoke Siva who is omnipresent? If one acknowledges invocation, this would contradict his omnipresence” (KA 4.354). Is Siva not already in the object into which he is summoned? If not, then he would not be pervasive. But if he is already present, what is the point of invoking him? How can Siva enter into an object when he is already there? To solve this apparent dilemma, the dgamas distinguish two degrees of Siva’s presence. Siva is indeed present everywhere, but in some places he is more present than in others. Invocation is a rite that enhances or manifests (abhivyakti) Siva’s presence in some particular location. It establishes a spe cial or “marked” presence (yiiifta samnidhana) of Siva, or makes him “evi dent” (Svirbhdva) in a linga (MPAVkriya 3.26-29, AA 20.179). It persuades Siva to “face toward” or to “be favorable toward” (abhimukha, sammukha) the worshiper. Though Siva is already in the object, invocation in some sense alters the scope or intensity of his presence.
To describe this alteration, many Śaiva siddhanta texts cite an analogy comparing invocation to kindling fire in wood.
As fire, though present in a tree from its root to its tip, may become manifest in one place, just so the manifestation of consciousness in one place does not con tradict its pervasiveness. Just as fire is made to arise in wood by rubbing it and so on, Siva is manifested through the power of mantras and through devotion. (KA 4.355, 352)
Fire pervades wood in a latent or potential form. Kindling a flame through friction alters the character of the fire already present from latent to active,
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from immanent to manifest. Invocation likewise activates or manifests Siva, who is already present in the linga as he is present everywhere. A second analogy, given by the monist author Appayadiksita, concerns embers whose glow is obscured by a covering of ash. “One may manifest a heap of burning embers covered with ashes, even though the embers glow by themselves” (SAC p. 65). Similarly, invocation brings about a change in the palpability of diva’s presence. Blowing away ashes to reveal the burn ing embers does not alter the character of the fire itself. Rather, it makes the embers evident. It discloses the presence of a fire that was previously hidden. Invocation likewise reveals to the worshiper the presence of Siva where before he had been inaccessible to the worshiper’s perception. Invocation, then, is understood as a rite that makes Siva’s presence within the ritual domain “manifest” in two senses of that word. It alters the character of his presence from latent to active, and it changes the worshiper’s awareness of Siva’s presence, disclosing what was previously concealed.
Supportsfor Siva
Considering Siva’s all-pervading presence and unlimited potentiality, it is not surprising that he can manifest his special presence in many different material forms: not just in icons, but also in pots, flowers, human bodies, chalk diagrams, fire, and still other objects as well. Kamikagama provides one list of possible supports for Siva in puja. In addition to various types of linga, it advises,
A circular diagram, a painting on cloth, a sketch on a wall, a pedestal-shaped stone consecrated by mantras, fire, water, guru, tree, and so on, a book on its stand, in particular a naturally occurring linga-shaped stone or gem, a liftga formed from sand or some such material, and other objects also are said to be suitable for use as lingas. According to circumstances, one may prepare any of these individu
ally in order to worship Siva. (KA 4.270-72)
Similarly, in initiation Siva becomes present in five different supports. He is simultaneously in the diagram on the central altar, in a full water-pot, in the sacrificial fire, in the initiating guru, and finally he comes also to be present in the initiate.13
Yet not all supports are equal. Some texts, for instance, distinguish be tween “subtle” (sQksma) lingas, which are internal, mentally constructed forms, and tangible, “gross” (sthula) ones, which are external and substan tive, evincing a clear preference for the more subtle.
They say there are two types of lingas, exterior and interior. The exterior lifiga is tangible, O excellent sages, while the interior one is subtle. Persons devoted to external rituals and sacrifices, and those gratified by worshiping a tangible linga,
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are themselves gross. The tangible form is only for those unable to visualize. The inner linga is not perceptible to the dull-minded person who considers that exterior reality is everything and that nothing else exists. The unstained, unchanging sub tle linga is just as evident to persons of knowledge, however, as a gross linga made of some material like mud or wood is to those who are not practiced in yoga. (.LPur 75.19-22)
Subtle is always best in the Śaiva siddhanta scheme of things. However, such dismissive characterizations of gross worshipers, as we will see, fail to take into account the careful yogic visualization and knowledge of Śaiva theology necessary to transform even the most tangible linga into a ritually suitable embodiment of Siva. Gross may become subtle, Siva-like, through proper ritual action.14
The texts generally employ a threefold classification of the physical icons most suitable for Siva’s manifestation: undifferentiated (niskala), differenti ated (sakala), and mixed (sakalani$kala). “That which is undifferentiated is called the ’linga.’ That which is differentiated is termed ‘image’ (bera). The linga with faces (mukhalmga) is a mixture of the two and resembles the linga in height and form” (MM 33.1-2). An austere upright cylinder, the linga is physically nonpartite.ls An image, by contrast, is an anthropomorphic form with all the characteristic parts and marks of a body. Intermediate between these two forms, the linga with faces is in its basic shape and dimensions a linga, but with one or, more often, five faces partially emerging from the central shaft in the four cardinal directions. The fifth, upward face is not discernible to humans of limited visual acuity. The three categories of sup
ports are ranked according to the now-familiar criteria of emission and reab sorption, whereby the undifferentiated Mga is considered superior and the fully partite image is inferior.
Moreover, the texts assert that these different types of icons parallel the three levels or aspects of Siva’s totality.16 The undifferentiated linga, appro priately, corresponds to Siva in his most encompassing, transcendent, and undifferentiated aspect, Paramasiva. At the other end, the various human like images of Siva, depicting him iconographically as he has acted in the world and appeared to his devotees, correspond to the level of embodiment called MaheSvara. In between, where Siva is seen halfway between tran scendence and manifestation as it were, with five faces appearing from the once-undifferentiated linga, the mukhalinga clearly parallels five-faced SadaSiva.
Yet the question of accessibility once again arises. While the agamas cer tainly prefer the undifferentiated linga as the support for Siva par excellence, and a Śaiva temple almost always contains a linga as its liturgical center, Śaiva theology tells us that the ParamaSiva represented by the linga is beyond human powers of knowing and acting. Conversely, while Śaiva puja ap pears to be particularly directed toward SadaSiva as the fullest form of Siva
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niskala linga Paramasiva mixed mukhalinga Sadasiva
sakala image Mahesvara Fig. 8. Siva’s supports
accessible to humans, it is quite rare to encounter a mukhalinga as a central object of worship in a Śaiva temple.
This seeming disjuncture between theology and practice points us to a central fact of puja as Śaiva siddhanta formulates it. The Śaiva worshiper does not worship the object itself as Siva or as representing Siva; he directs his worship toward it as the physical support for Siva’s special presence. And before any object can serve as proper support for Siva, it must be trans
formed into a suitably divine, Siva-like state.
Accordingly, the ritual work of summoning Siva into the linga requires two main actions, the first constructive and the second more strictly invoca tory. First the worshiper must impose a series of mantras onto the linga and its pedestal, reconstituting them in the process as a divine body seated atop a divine throne. The undifferentiated linga is remade into Sadasiva, in effect. Then and only then, the worshiper may approach Siva in his highest Pa
rama&iva state, residing in the dvadasanta twelve inches above the wor shiper’s crown, and summon him to enter into that ritually prepared em bodiment. Siva in his grace descends, infusing the accessible form of Sada siva with the animating energy of ParamaSiva, which normally lies beyond our limited powers.
INVOCATION OF SIVA
After he has purified himself, the place of ritual, the substances to be of fered, and the mantras, the worshiper shifts his attention from the suitability of the overall ritual environment to that of the linga, the receptacle of Siva’s presence during daily worship. He has now reached the point where he must make ready to summon the Lord to the ritual domain.
Invoking Siva into the linga depends on considerable preparation. Prior to its use in any Śaiva ritual, the linga must have been subjected to a detailed
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ritual “establishment” (pratiftha) that activates it as a fit support for the divin ity.17 A proper stone is located and carefully examined, worked into the appropriate form, and ritually infused with the being of Siva. A sequence of eighteen distinct rites is required for the complete establishment of a linga. This elaborate procedure transmutes the physical, fabricated object into an icon worthy of receiving diva’s presence, much as initiation enables the initiate to offer worship directly to Siva. Only after this establishment has been performed may the linga be used in worship. It must thereafter be phys
ically purified during each ritual performance, to remove any impurities that may have infected it since the preceding ritual.
Yet establishment and purification of a linga are not sufficient in them selves. Before Siva may be summoned, both the linga and its pedestal must be ritually transformed. During each performance of daily worship, the worshiper superimposes a “construction” (kalpana.) of visualizations and mantras onto the stone icon. Over the pedestal is imposed a “divine throne” (divyasana), and the linga is infused with a “divine body” (divyadeha) com posed of mantras. These superimposed constructions enhance and perfect the physical forms of pedestal and linga, transfiguring them into divine ones.
In fashioning these divine forms, the worshiper articulates through his actions a highly concentrated, differentiated, organized theophany of Siva. Together the divine throne and the body of mantras embody the entire man ifest cosmos and the multiple aspects through which Siva pervades and ani mates it, compressed as it were onto the physical substratum of pedestal and linga.
A ritually constructed body encompassing within its parts the entire dif ferentiated cosmos, of course, hearkens back in India to the Vedic Puru§a, the cosmic Being whose primordial dismemberment in sacrifice emanated all the multifarious phenomena of the world. Śaiva puranas repeatedly assert that Siva is that Purusa, that he has usurped—or rather, has always held—the totalizing role that the Vedic texts claim variously for Purusa, Prajapati, and Brahman. It is no accident, therefore, that this Puru§a is ritually put back together again, daily, in Śaiva p«/a.18 Only such a comprehensive, divine form can serve as the appropriate support of Siva’s special presence during daily worship.
The Divine Throne
Siva’s divine throne is composed of five individual stages. To construct the throne, the worshiper begins by visualizing, in ascending order, each of these stages. Distributed hierarchically among the throne stages are the thirty-one tattvas of the impure domain (aSuddhadhvan), from Earth up to mdyd, as well as suddhavidya, the lowest constituent of the pure domain.19 The throne also includes within it other divisions of being: the five kalas,124 * Chapter Four
the multiple worlds (bhuvanas), the letters of the alphabet, and so on.20 The divine throne, much like the ritualist’s body in the rites of initiation and atmaiuddhi, is a condensed ritual instantiation of the manifest cosmos and all its constituents.
Each stage of the throne has one or more inhabiting powers who act as presiding lords of that stage and all the constituent realities arrayed there. The worshiper visualizes the form of each divinity and then imposes it onto the pedestal, using that lord’s proper mantra. Through this sequence of visu
alizations and impositions of mantras, the pedestal is systematically trans formed into a much more comprehensive divine throne fit for the Lord of All Creation.
The worshiper himself ascends toward Siva as he prepares the divine throne. Before he can honor Siva directly, he must first worship the differ entiated aspects of diva’s power, the forms through which Siva acts upon our cosmos. Following the order of reabsorption, which is always the route to approach Siva, the ritualist passes through all levels of manifest reality and does homage along the way to all manifestations of Siva’s sovereignty. As each upward stage of the divine throne is constructed, the worshiper reaches closer to the place where the highest Lord can be summoned.
The worshiper begins the construction of the divine throne at the floor stone that supports the pedestal. The throne rests on a “tortoise stone” base, and Adharasakti (the “Supporting Sakti”) is visualized there, “spotless as a moonbeam, gentle, with four faces and four arms, resembling the milk ocean” (KA 4.292).21 Atop the tortoise stone sits the throne of Ananta (anantasana), the first stage of the divine throne. The worshiper should here imagine- the VidyeSvara Ananta: “indigo-colored, crowned with many hoods, with one face and four arms, hands respectfully folded at his chest, like a lotus arising from the milk-ocean” (KA 4.293-94).22
The next stage is the square lion throne (simhasana), with handsome leo nine forms stationed at each of its four corners. These lions embody the four lordly powers of Ananta: dharma, jnana, vairagya (equanimity), and ai Svarya (dominion). The worshiper invokes each royal power onto the cor responding corner of the throne with its mantra. Also located on the lion throne in the cardinal directions are four more lions, which represent the contraries of these powers, adharma, ajnana, avairagya, and anaisvarya.
The yoga throne (yogasana) surrounds the lion throne. This stage is fre quently omitted, however, and instead two coverings (chadana) are placed atop the lion throne, at the boundary between pedestal and liiiga. Not coinci dentally, the coverings also serve to separate the impure and pure domains. According to Kamikagama, these coverings are themselves Saktis, whose purpose is to bind, liberate, and so on.
Above the two coverings at the very base of the linga, the worshiper con structs the lotus throne (padmasana), imagined as a horizontally unfolded
Summoning the Lord - 125
lotus of eight petals. The petals, AghoraSiva tells us, are the eight Vidye Svaras, and the eight Saktis that govern the VidyeSvaras are situated atop the petals in circumambulatory order.23 “They are brilliant as the rising sun, with three eyes, four arms, and crowns of twisted locks adorned with the crescent moon. With their lotus-hands they hold yak-tail fans, display the mudras of granting boons and security, and cling to Siva” (KKD p. 89). The Sakti Vama presides over Ananta on the eastern petal, the Sakti Jye§{ha pre
sides over Siiksma in the southeast, and so on. Various other constituent realities may also be imposed onto the petals: the eight yogic powers, the five elements and three qualities. In the center of the lotus sits Manonmam, the undifferentiated Sakti of SadaSiva.
The fifth stage, the stainless throne (vimalasana), is superimposed atop the lotus throne. The worshiper visualizes three concentric mandalas: the sun mandala on the tips of the petals, the moon mandala on the stamen tips, and the fire manda/aontheperimeterofthepericarp.ThesemaniiaZasareidentified with the three categories of impure tattvas: atman, vidya, and Siva.24 He invokes onto these mandalas their respective presiding deities, the Karane Svaras Brahman, Vi§nu, and Rudra. Again, the worshiper may also impose onto the three mandalas other groups of three, such as the three qualities, the three sacrificial fires, and the three Saktis Jnana, Kriya, and Iccha. Finally, the worshiper imposes Sakti in her highest form in the middle of the stain
less throne, completing the construction of the divine throne. “Thus,” says Kamikdgama, “ParamaSiva’s throne begins with Sakti and ends with Sakti” (4.313).
throne stage inhabiting powers
stainless throne Brahman, Vi§nu, Rudra, ParaSakti
lotus throne Manonmam, eight Saktis, eight MdyeSvaras two coverings unnamed Saktis
lion throne four lordly powers, four contrary powers Ananta’s throne Ananta
tortoise stone AdharaSakti
The divine throne, encompassing all constituents of the impure cosmos, be comes in this way suffused with the powers and agents through which Siva exercises his sovereignty. The throne that supports him in ritual is imbued with all the energies that support and enact his presence in the world.23
Body of Mantras
Only when the divine throne has been fashioned may a divine form sit upon it. As he has transformed the pedestal, the worshiper now superimposes onto the lihga a divine body, the body of mantras that is in fact SadaSiva, the most complete form of Siva humans are able to comprehend and worship.
126 · Chapter Four
This body occupies the tattvas of the pure domain (Suddhadhvan), just as Siva carries out his activities directly in that portion of the cosmos. The divine body is composed of mantras, unlike the impure, fettered bod ies of humans. It does, however, mirror the divine body that the worshiper has already imposed onto himself in atmasuddhi. Exactly the same mantras transform the ritualist’s body as enhance the linga. “He should impose man tras on the deity just as he has imposed them onto his own body,” directs Kamikagama (4.349). The resulting bodily parallelism of ritualist and Siva reinforces the state of relative equality that the two come to share during worship.
The worshiper begins by visualizing SadaSiva.26 “When he has thus con structed Siva’s throne, the priest with firm mind and restrained faculties should fill his cupped hands with flowers, and visualize an embodiment” (AA 20.158). Following meditation verses like the ones I quoted earlier to describe SadaSiva, the worshiper imaginatively puts together, portion by portion, a complete portrait of SadaSiva. He visualizes in order each of the five faces, ten weapons, and so on, then consolidates these parts into a uni fied image. He next transports the visualization into the linga. “When he has visualized the embodiment, the worshiper should then invoke it onto that previously described throne of Siva, using the flowers in his cupped hands and the MORTI mantra” (AA 20.164-65). The visualization is first transferred into the flowers, which are then scattered atop the linga. The constructed embodiment flows from the flowers downward into the linga. Simultaneously reciting the mantra of embodiment, MORTI, the worshiper invokes into the linga the full form that he has mentally constructed. The visualization infuses the Mga, supplanting it in the mind of the worshiper. “He removes [the phys ical form of] the linga from his imagination, since the shape of the linga inter feres [with his visualization of Sadasiva]” (KKD p. 99). The physical linga
has been transformed into the visualized form of Sadasiva. The worshiper now imposes the five mantras of SadaSiva onto their proper locations. On each section of the linga, now viewed as the body of SadaSiva, he places one of the brahmamantras: KANA on the head, TATPURU$A on the face, and so on in descending order. (See the photographs of brahmamantranyasa onto the linga, Plate 5.) He next places the thirty eight kalamantras, which further articulate the body of Sadasiva. According to some texts, he then imposes still more mantras: the angamantras, the man tras of the alphabet, VYOMAVYAPIN, and so on. Whatever mantras have been placed on the ritualist’s body in atmasuddhi should also be used here. Fi nally, the body of Sadaiiva is fully imbued with the powers of mantras, and the worshiper imposes the VIDYADEHA mantra, the mantra that unifies and completes this variegated construct.27
The body of SadaSiva, according to Kamikagama and Kriyakramadyo tika, is made up of two aspects, much as a human body is composed of both
Summoning the Lord · 127
a subtle and a gross body. These two must be invoked separately into the linga. First the worshiper visualizes the “subtle embodiment” (siiksmamurti): “an embodiment shaped like a staff of emanating energy (tejas), not divided into parts, pervading the highest bindu which is identical with the siva
tattva” (KKD p. 95). Next the worshiper visualizes and invokes the body of mantras known as vidyadeha (literally, “knowledge-body”), the super anthropomorphic body of SadaSiva with five faces and ten arms. “In the middle of this embodiment, at the top of the ^iva-Iinga, the priest should impose the vidyadeha that is SadaSiva. This Lord made of pure knowledge is endowed with the thirty-eight kalas, and has a body formed from the brahmamantras and the angamantras” (KA 4.326-27). These two aspects of SadaSiva’s embodiment represent two dimensions of diva’s active presence. The subtle embodiment corresponds to diva’s undirected potentiality, the vidyadeha to his active engagement in the world.
Throughout the construction of diva’s divine body, the worshiper follows the order of emission. He invokes first the undifferentiated subtle embodi ment, then the differentiated vidyadeha. In constructing the vidyadeha, he begins with ISANA and ends with SADYOJATA, following a descending path. After placing the five brahmamantras, he imposes the still more differenti ated kaldmantras, again proceeding from the head down. As indicated ear lier, emission is the general order for rites of construction, since ritual con struction is a form of emission.
The preparation of linga and pedestal for diva’s presence reconstitutes them as divine forms, which together substantiate an entire cosmos, concen trated within their physical support. Figure 9 summarizes the complex set of impositions that brings this about. First, all tattvas that make up the mani fest world are distributed between the body and the throne. Second, the forms are imbued with the mantras and powers that preside over these two
tattvas presiding power
mahamaya ISANA subtle
Pure ,
Domain linga Divine Body
isvara
suddhavidya
embodiment vidyadeha ·<
TATPURUSA AGHORA
VAMA
SADYCUATA
maya
Impure
Domain '
Divine
vimalasana Paramasakti padmasana — Manonmani yogasana ^ ® Saktis
Water
Throne simhasana 4 lordly powers anantasana Ananta
Earth base Adharasakti Fig. 9. Divine throne and divine body
128 · Chapter Four
domains. Onto the divine throne, composed of the impure tattvas, the wor shiper invokes the multiple Saktis and agents that govern the lower domain. The divine body is that of SadS£iva, the body of mantras with which Siva acts directly in the pure domain.
Ascent of the Mantra
Complete as they are, the divine body and throne remain inanimate until Siva himself enters. The central ritual act of invocation remains: to lead Siva into form. Siva in his highest aspect as animating consciousness must be summoned to inhabit and enliven his divine body.
The divine body is a highly differentiated embodiment of Siva’s active powers. Yet in his highest state, Siva is undifferentiated. To enter into this constructed form, Siva must be led from his undifferentiated realm into a particularized body.
When he has constructed this body of powers, the worshiper should make undif ferentiated Siva—the highest cause of this world, constant, eternal, consisting in knowledge, joy, and pleasure, pervading every tattva, immeasurable and incom parable, free from signifier and signified, whose domain surpasses our powers of
speech and cognition—specially manifest in a differentiated form, compelling him there with the SIVA mantra accompanied by the mudras of invocation and so on. (KA 4.349-51)
Siva descends from his formless state in the dvadasanta into the differenti ated body superimposed onto the linga. It is a passage by which unknowable, unworshipable Paramasiva unites with and infuses the more accessible SadaSiva.
To effect this passage requires two converse ritual movements: an ascent by the worshiper to approach Siva, and a descent of Siva into the linga. First, the worshiper recites Siva’s own mantra, rising from his own miilMMra up to the dvadaSanta. As he recites, the worshiper gradually reunifies the man
tra and finally merges it into ParamaSiva. This first movement follows the order of reabsorption traversing the worshiper’s body: simultaneously as cending along the central breath channel, reintegrating the differentiated mantra, and approaching Siva. Second, the worshiper leads Siva together with the mantra from the dvddasanta back into the worshiper’s body, and from there into the linga. This follows the order of emission. Siva descends from the dvadaHdnta into the linga and at the same time passes from an undif
ferentiated state into a manifest form.
The central mediator in all Śaiva invocations is the mantra. Mantras are effective for summoning divinities, the texts tell us, because of the inherent connection of signified (vacya) and signifier (vacaka). A mantra is a signi fier, and the divinity to which it refers is its signified. The two are part of the
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same reality; the mantra is often called the “form” or the sonant aspect of the divinity that it signifies. Thus, reciting the mantra of a divinity can automat ically render that divinity present.
When invoking Siva, the worshiper recites the MOLA (“root”) mantra, “Om haum, I bow to Siva.” Also referred to as SIVA and PRASADA (“lofty”), this mantra signifies Siva in his totality.28 For that reason it is the most important and most powerful of all mantras.
The worshiper employs the technique called “ascending pronunciation” (ιuccarana) when reciting the ΜOLA mantra. The term uccarana generally means “to raise up” and “to pronounce”; its specialized usage here combines both meanings. This method of pronouncing mantras is used at various points throughout this and other Śaiva rituals, always to reintegrate differen
tiated unities or to transport things to a higher level of being. In previous chapters we have seen ascending pronunciation utilized to protect the soul during atmasuddhi by transporting it upward to the dvadaSanta, and to merge temporarily the soul of the initiate with ParamaSiva at the conclusion of nirvanadtksa. It is used also to purify the mantras and to invoke Siva onto the hands and body during self-purification. According to Appayadlkgita, the worshiper employs it as well with each offering he makes in daily worship, as will be discussed in the next chapter. In invocation, ascending pronun ciation enables the ritualist to reunify the mantra within his own body and finally to merge the reintegrated mantra into the deity that it signifies, ParamaSiva.
Initially the MOLA mantra is spread out in twelve or sixteen “portions” (kolas again) throughout the worshiper’s body, distributed along the vertical axis formed by the central breath channel, and divided by its nodes. Each mantra portion has a name and a physical form or mark. Each extends a particular length in the body, has a characteristic color for purposes of visu alization, and is presided over by one of the KaraneSvaras.29 The first mantra portion, medhd, for instance, extends in the worshiper’s body a distance of twelve fingers between his navel and his heart. It consists in the sound A or Au of the syllable HAUM (which is the seed-syllable of MOLA) and is the color of a flaming fire. It is ruled by the lord Brahman. The next mantra portion, rasa, situated between the heart and the throat, eight fingers in extent, consists in the sound υ and is governed by Vi§pu. The portions of the mantra reach all the way up to the dvadasanta, twelve fingers above the worshiper’s head, where ParamaSiva resides. Figure 10 summarizes the twelve-λαάζ arrangement of the mantra.
Once again, all constituent tattvas of the manifest cosmos are contained within this differentiated unity, distributed among the mantra portions. As usual, they are vertically arranged in hierarchical order. All tattvas of the impure domain are situated in the three lowest portions, corresponding to the audible portions of the mantra. The five higher tattvas of the pure do-
Fig. 11. Locations of the twelve kalas
Summoning the Lord * 131
main are located in subtler, inaudible mantra portions. According to An antaSambhu, the live kaliis are also contained within the parts of the mantra. To perform the ascending pronunciation, the worshiper prepares himself physically and mentally.
He first makes his body firmly upright and restrains his mind and senses, request ing, “I wish to honor with mantras the Lord Isvara, who is immeasurable, !inde finable, without equal, without pain, subtle, ubiquitous, eternal, unchangeable, and imperishable.” He fills his body with wind via the Ufa and retains it. He places his flower-filled hands in anjali at the level of his heart, firmly forming the mudrS of invocation. (SAC p. 61)
Then he begins to recite the seed-syllable of the mantra. He draws out the initial H sound of HAUM from his mul&dhara and begins very gradually to enunciate the portions of the mantra. At the navel, the sound H is united with the sound A of the medha portion. At the heart, this HA is united into the υ of rasa. At the throat, the sound M is added. Thus all the audible sound components of the HAUM seed-syllable are reunited. As the mantra continues upward, still other subtler, inaudible portions of the mantra are reintegrated. Stage by stage, the portions of the differentiated mantra are reabsorbed into their more fundamental unity.
This ascending movement of reabsorption occurs simultaneously in sev eral dimensions. As the worshiper pronounces the mantra, he directs his breath upward along the su$umna, dismissing in order the KaraneSvaras along the way. He moves his hands filled with flowers upward, an outward corre late to the inward motion of the breath. He visualizes each mantra portion as well: medha is the color of a flame of fire, rasa is like the sun and moon, and so on. While joining together the portions of the mantra, then, the wor shiper must also unify his actions. Voice, breath, hand gesture, and mental visualization ascend together. If worship overall requires “the activities of mind, speech, and body,” as Suryabhatta tells us (&SPbh p. 37), invocation is a rite in which the ritualist must direct all these activities concurrently in a single direction and toward a single end. (See photograph sequence on avahana, Plate 6.)30
The target of these ascending movements is the dvadaianta, the point of reabsorption (Iaya). ParamaSiva resides there, twelve inches above the ritu alist’s body as he is also beyond all limitations of form. When the ascending pronunciation reaches the άνάάαέάηία, the fully reintegrated mantra is ab
sorbed into ParamaSiva. The worshiper visualizes Paramasiva becoming united with the mantra that signifies him. Just as the differentiated portions of the mantra have been reabsorbed into a unity through ascending pronun ciation, here the mantra itself is reunited with its referent. The fundamental unity of signifier and signified, mantra and divinity, is restored.
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With the union of mantra and Siva, the ascending phase of invocation is completed. The worshiper has used the MOLA mantra to approach Siva at the highest level. Pronouncing the mantra upward, he has reunified the differen tiated portions of the mantra and then merged it into ParamaSiva. At the same time he has fused all his own activities—of mind, speech, and body— and directed them along the same path of reabsorption. The whole process, requiring just a single long breath to perform, is itself a compressed meta
phor of reintegration.
Siva’s Descent into Form
When Siva and his mantra are reunited, the worshiper next leads Siva into the form that has been constructed for him. As Narayanakantha puts it, “One should convey Siva from the dvadaidnta, the place where the sound arising from the ascending pronunciation of the mantra ceases, into the embodi ment according to the order of emission” (MrAV kriya 3.12). The worshiper escorts Siva by means of the mantra.
Siva’s descent begins with the worshiper meditating on Paramaliva. “He imagines Paramaliva: all-accomplishing, undifferentiated, omnipresent, composed of knowledge and joy, intrinsically radiant” (KKD p. 101). Vis ual imaging of the deity is not possible at this level since ParamaSiva tran scends form; rather, the ritualist can only call to mind the unlimited qualities of Siva in his highest state.
Identifying the mantra and Siva, the worshiper leads Siva downward from the dvadaianta to the forehead, reversing direction along the same path that the mantra has just ascended. Once again he meditates on Siva, but now in a more visual form, that of an exceedingly radiant orb. AghoraSiva tells us that “Siva there resembles a crore of suns, whitening every direction with pieces of nectar that issue forth” (KKD p. 102). Appayadlksita describes him at this point as “a thousand flowing moons” (SAC p. 62). Midway between the dvadaianta and the linga, Siva is neither fully niskala nor fully sakala. He has a visual form that contrasts him with the formless Paramaliva. Yet the form is a single, undifferentiated glowing circle, not the highly differen tiated bodily form of Sada&va.
The worshiper next lowers his hands to the level of his heart and exhales. Siva passes from the forehead along the breath channel and out of the wor shiper’s body through the right nostril. He enters into the flowers held in the worshiper’s hands. Reciting the HRD mantra, the worshiper places the flowers atop the linga, and Siva enters into the divine body constructed for him, de scending from the brahmarandhra of the embodiment to its heart. Siva is now embodied as SadaSiva, in a differentiated divine body comprised of mantras, yet infused too with the presence of Paramasiva.
Summoning the Lord · 133
Once Siva is fully present in the linga, the worshiper immediately acts to keep him there. “He establishes him with the mudra of establishment, makes him present with the mudra of presence, and restrains him with the mudra of restraint He declares, ‘Welcome to you, O Great God.’ And he imagines the reply of the lord, ‘Greetings, my child’” {KKD pp. 103-4). The worshiper then humbly requests that Siva stay: " Ό Lord, protector of all the worlds, please remain present in this linga until worship is completed, out of your love (sampriti)’” (KKD p. 104). Even after the elaborate invoca tory work he has performed, the Śaiva worshiper still regards Siva’s pres
ence in the linga not as a matter of ritual compulsion, but as a manifestation of benevolent disposition, of Siva’s “love.” He then offers Siva the ritually prepared arghya water of hospitality, the first of many services he will per form for the manifest Lord before him
Siva’s Two Levels Reunited
The particular task of invocation, we have seen, is to bring Siva, who is described theologically as formless and without limit, into a limited form through which the ritualist may worship him. This descent of Siva is possi ble because Siva has more than one level of being. In his highest state, Siva is inaccessible to human powers. But Siva has a secondary level, through which he engages in activities and by which he comes within the range of our knowledge and action. Sadagiva, Siva’s body of mantras, is the most comprehensive form of Siva at this secondary level.
The rite of invocation treats these two aspects of Siva’s being as onto logically separate entities, then reunifies them within the linga. The first set of ritual actions transforms the linga and pedestal, the physical supports of Siva’s presence, into divine forms appropriate to Siva. The worshiper superimposes onto the linga a differentiated body of mantras, the precise form of SadaSiva. This complete embodiment of Siva’s secondary level serves as the form or body that Siva will inhabit during worship. The second set of rites summons Siva to enter into this form. The worshiper uses the MOLA mantra, reintegrated and finally merged into Parama&va, to lead Siva from his highest, undifferentiated state into the limited, particularized body of mantras. Like a soul entering a body, Siva inhabits and animates the di
vine body of mantras that the ritualist has constructed for him. From Siva’s point of view, this entry into form entails an apparent dimin ishment. Siva descends from his undifferentiated, all-pervading, formless ParamaSiva state into a differentiated, limited embodiment as SadaSiva. The diminishment is only apparent, however, since any subtraction from infinity leaves infinity as its remainder. And from the perspective of the human wor shiper, Siva’s descent enhances his presence. From an immanent but un-134 · Chapter Four
knowable and unworshipable divinity, Siva becomes accessible to the wor shiper’s powers of knowing and acting. It is this special presence of Siva in the linga that makes possible all subsequent acts of worship. Siva is made fully manifest, and the worshiper may now begin to offer his services of devotion.
COMMON GROUND
Śaiva daily worship consists, at its core, in a series of transactions between a human worshiper and the god Siva. Yet in the normal course of things, such transactions appear nearly impossible. The distance between human and god seems insuperable. The human worshiper is a soul encrusted with fetters that seriously impede his power of knowing and acting, and the soul is bound within an impure body that is a kind of congealment of its fetters. Siva, by contrast, is in his highest state utterly transcendent. Formless, not constrained by any of the limitations that affect humans, Siva is beyond all human capacities of knowledge and action.
Fortunately, there exist ritual means to bridge this gap. In the two preced ing chapters, I have discussed the procedures through which Śaiva daily worship reduces the difference in status between the worshiper and Siva, thereby enabling them to engage in direct relations with one another. These processes are, strictly speaking, merely necessary preparations for the rites of homage that follow. Yet in another sense they are central to the ritual. They articulate and enact fundamental metaphysical propositions of Śaiva siddhanta, which organize the world of ritual as well as the world itself.
In daily worship, two converging processes of transformation bring the worshiper and Siva from their very divergent initial states to meet on an equivalent plane of being. The worshiper first transfigures his own body, through the rite of atmasuddhi, into a body of mantras like that of Sadasiva. In the process, he enacts the passage by which his soul “becomes a Siva” in liberation. After transforming himself, the ritualist summons Siva to enter the linga prepared for him. He first superimposes onto the linga a body of mantras mirroring his own, and then he uses the MULA mantra to lead Siva from his highest, transcendent state into this body. The formless, inaccessi ble ParamaSiva becomes embodied as Sadasiva, a form of Siva that can be meditated on and worshiped.
These converging paths of transformation, as Figure 11 illustrates, corre spond to the orders of reabsorption and emission, respectively. The ritualist moves from outside the temple into the central sanctum. As he does so, he gradually attains a higher state of purity. In the rite of self-purification he systematically reabsorbs all the impure constituents of his body into their pure sources, a process that parallels the long-range passage of his soul toward liberation through the gradual removal of fetters. While invoking
WORSHIPER
plane of worship
Summoning the Lord · 135 SIVA
pasu
body of
fetters
outside
temple
constrained powers
reabsorption
muktatman
body of
mantras
inside
sanctum
• freed
Sadas’iva
body of •
mantras
Iinga
accessible•
emission
Paramasiva formless
dvadasanta inaccessible
movement of atmasuddhi
Fig. 11. The meeting of worshiper and Siva
movement of avahana
Siva, the worshiper again follows the path of reabsorption to approach Siva, first in constructing the divine throne and then in the ascending pronuncia tion of the MOLA mantra. Siva, on the other hand, descends from the dvada Mnta into the linga according to the order of emission. In this descent, Siva
passes from the undifferentiated niskala state to a particularized sakala one, from formlessness to embodiment, from completely subtle to relatively gross.
Through these two procedures, the worshiper and Siva are able to en counter one another on common ground, in a temporary condition of rela tive equality. No mediator—animal, human, or divine—is necessary, since the distance between the two parties has been ritually negated. In temple
worship performed on behalf of others, the priest capable of such self-trans formation acts as mediator for those who wish to make offerings to the Lord but who are not able (because not initiated) to engage in direct transactions with Siva. The worshiper who performs p&ja on his own behalf meets with and makes his offerings directly to Siva.
This pattern of daily worship, by which the worshiper and Siva follow converging paths to meet on a common ritual plane, parallels the modified dualistic metaphysics of Śaiva siddhanta and contrasts with both monist schools such as Advaita Vedanta and more bhakti-onented dualist schools. Ritual procedures do not negate the fundamental separateness of the wor shiper and Siva but do diminish the adventitious differences between them.
As we have seen, Śaivas presume an ontological separation between souls and Siva, both before and after liberation. Even when the soul becomes an autonomous Siva through moksa, it remains distinct from Siva. Similarly,
136 · Chapter Four
the ritual transformations of daily worship do not bring about any merging or unification of worshiper and Siva, as monist worshipers suppose. Siva and worshiper meet as separate beings in the domain of ritual.
We have seen as well that bound souls are distinguished from Siva by the fetters that constrain them. The passage of a soul to liberation gradually removes these fetters, and in so doing it effaces the differences between the soul and Siva. In liberation, the soul becomes equal in power and purity to Siva. The transformations of soul and Siva performed in daily worship sim
ilarly decrease the discrepancy that normally exists between the two. Puri fied Śaiva worshiper and embodied god approach one another as separate but relatively equal, unlike in the bhakti schools that presume and extol an eternal and unbridgeable hierarchy between the two. (Śaivas admit, how ever, that the condition of equality between soul and Siva can only be rela tive, never absolute, in ritual and in liberation.) The ritual transformations effected through atmaSuddhi and invocation enable the soul and Siva to meet face to face in worship as in liberation.