36 tattwas of tantra ( A repost )

[Guest guest]

adi_shakthi16

 

 

 

Tantra accepts the 24 tattwas or categories of the 'sankhya' system

from *prakriti* down to the mahabutas and adds 12 more , taking them

from the saiva system with some modifications , and makes them 36 .

 

 

 

THESE 36 TATTWAS ARE divided into three groups...

 

 

 

1) five pure tattwas

 

2) seven partly pure and partly impure tattwas

 

3) the 24 impure tattwas as in the sankhya.

 

 

 

the first group consists of

 

 

 

1) siva

 

2) sakti

 

3) nada

 

4) bindu and

 

5) shudda vidya

 

 

 

and here is where we see the tantric modification- for, in the

saiva

 

system, corresponding to these, we have

 

 

 

1) siva

 

2) sakti

 

3) sadasiva

 

4)ishwara

 

5) suddha-vidya

 

 

 

in the tantric scheme, siva-tattwa and shakti tattwa are really

 

*****ONE*****

 

 

 

**************************************************

 

TANTRIC PHILOSOPHY HAS BORROWED THE IDEAS OF

 

1) vedanta

 

2)sankhya

 

3)saiva systems

 

 

 

but has also relied on mimasaka and yoga.

 

 

 

the mimasakas believed that both shabda and artha - words and their

 

meanings - are ****ETERNAL****.

 

 

 

THE DENOTATION OF A WORD , ACCORDING TO

 

MIMASAKA SYSTEM OF THOUGHT., DID NOT DEPEND

 

ANY HUMAN CONVENTION, BUT BELONGED TO THE

 

NATURE OF THE WORD ITSELF. the word is eternal and so also

 

its denotation. thus, the word is not different from the letters

composing

 

it, though when it is pronounced one hears only a unity of sounds.

 

furthermore, the mimasaka believed thatboth sabda and artha were

 

****inanimate****.

 

 

 

now, the tantras accepted the mimansaka's theory of the 'eternal'

nature

 

of sabda and artha, but went one step further by asserting

that 'sabda'

 

and 'artha' were as much the embodiment of siva-sakti as the

 

UNIVERSE itself.

 

 

 

***sabdartha- brahman*** instead of mere ****sabda-brahman

 

****. for, for it is the ****source**** of both words and things-

 

sabdha as well as artha - words as well as objects- are all

 

manifestations of SAKTI.

 

 

 

AND AS SABDAS WAS OF THE NATURE OF THE 'VARNAS'

 

COMPRISING IT, THE TANTRA SYSTEM OF THOUGHT

 

AFFIRMS THAT THE CREATIVE FORCE OF THE UNIVERSE

 

RESIDED IN ALL THE LETTERS OF THE ALPHABET.

 

 

 

thus, the different letters of the alphabet symbolizes the

different

 

functions of the creattive force, and their totality was designate

matrika

 

or the MOTHER in miniature.

 

 

 

therefore, a "mantra" is not a mere combination of sounds , but is

the

 

subtle form of the presiding deity herself. thus the object of

one's

 

meditation on the mantra is to identify oneself with the deity of

the

 

mantra.

 

 

 

A pure thought has to pass through several stages before it

becomes a

 

concrete creative force! similarly, the sound has to pass through

several

 

stages before it is actually heard by the ***EAR***-

 

 

 

THESE STAGES ARE CALLED

 

1)para

 

2) pasyanti

 

3) madhyama

 

4)vaikhari

 

 

 

 

 

it is against this background, one needs to understand...

 

 

 

1)mantra-varna rupini

 

2) para , pasyanti, madhyama , vaikari rupini

 

 

 

names of sree lalita devi in the sree lalita sahasaranama !

 

 

 

 

 

sunelectric101

 

 

 

Namaste Adi Shakti,

 

 

 

Thanks for your post on the 36 Tattvas in relation to Tantra. This

is one

 

area of Tantric Philosophy that I have always had a hard time

getting

 

my mind around. Could you dilate on the each of the groups of

Tattvas,

 

their function and how they fit into the Tantric scheme and what

bearing

 

they have on Tantric Sadhna?

 

 

 

 

 

adi_shakthi16

 

 

 

The 36 Tattvas

 

 

 

1.. pR^ithvI - the earth, possessed of solidity

 

2. ap.h - water, possessed of fluidity

 

3. tejas.h - fire, possessed of heat

 

4. vAyu - air, characterizing perpetual motion

 

5. AkAsha - ether or sky, with character of space

 

6. gandha tanmAtra - smell in the form of subtle earth

 

7. rasa tanmAtra - taste in the form of subtle water

 

8. rUpa tanmAtra - form, in the form of subtle fire

 

9. sparsha tanmAtra - touch, in the form of subtle air

 

10. shabda tanmAtra - sound in the form of subtle ether

 

11. shrotra - the auditory sense that perceives sound

 

12. tvac - the tactile sense that perceives touch

 

13. cakshus - the optic sense that perceives form

 

14. jihvA - the gustatory sense that perceives taste

 

15. ghrANa - the olfactory sense that perceives smell

 

16. vAc - speech, the motor organ of articulate expression

 

17. pANi - the hand, the motor organ of grasping and leaving

 

18. pAda - the foot, the motor organ of locomotion

 

19. pAyu - the motor organ of evacuation

 

20. upastha - the motor organ of generation

 

21. manas - the mind, the inner sense that is attained, when

rajas, the

 

mobility of misery is more dominant over sattvA, the rhythm of

 

happiness and tamas, the inertia of delusion [we can say manas is

the

 

root of all volition)

 

22. buddhi - the intellect, the inner sense that is attained when

sattvA

 

(the rhythm) is more dominant than rajas (the mobility) and tamas

(the

 

inertia). [we can say buddhi is the root of all

 

conviction.]

 

23. ahaMkAra - the ego, the inner sense that is attained when tamas

 

(inertia) predominates over sattvA (the rhythm) and rajas (the

mobility).

 

[we can say that ego is the root of all fancy and converges

towards the

 

self.]

 

24. citta - which is attained by the equipoised state of sattvA,

rajas and

 

tamas.

 

25. puruSha or the jIva (of the microcosm) - this is, although

full in

 

itself, commands only to a limited extent the five powers that are

 

detailed below.

 

26. kalA - the kriyA shakti - the power to do things but to a

limited

 

extent, inherent in the jIva

 

27. avidyA - also called vidyA, the jnAna shakti - in a veiled

form and

 

thus limited in its operation, inherent in the jIva

 

28. rAga - the icchA shakti, perpetual satisfaction, which

operates only

 

partially and thus limited in operation, also inherent in the jIva.

 

29. cit shakti - perpetuity inherent in the jIva, when limited by

the

 

operation of the six changes ('exists', 'takes

birth', 'grows', 'ripens',

 

'wanes', and 'perishes')

 

30. niyati - that which causes avidyA to veil the Anandashakti, the

 

sat-cit-Ananda, inherent in the jIva

 

31. mAyA - the condition operating upon the Ishvara, causing it to

look

 

upon the phenomenal world as 'this', i.e. an entity separate from

itself

 

32. shuddha vidyA - the condition operating upon the sadAshiva,

 

causing it to identify itself with the phenomenal world with the

 

impression, 'I am this'

 

33. maheshvara - that which is operated upon by the mAyA

 

34. sadAshakti - that which is operated upon by the shuddhavidyA

 

35. shakti - the desire which is but the impression of the world

to be

 

created

 

36. shiva - the absolute non-differentiated existence, when

conditioned

 

by the shakti