Lord Siva resides in every one of us. When we acquire jnana, He reveals Himself to us, said R. Narayanan, in a discourse. Ghee is a by-product of milk, but do we perceive it, the moment we see a glass of milk? We have to first extract butter and from butter we get ghee. Likewise, we must have bhakti and jnana, for us to be able to realise Lord Siva, who remains hidden from us, like the ghee in milk.
The lustre of a Suryakanta gemstone is seen clearly in sunlight. If we cover the stone with a piece of cotton, its brilliance is hidden. If the Sun’s rays burn up the cotton covering it, then the effulgence of the stone becomes clear to us. In the same way, the atma (pasu in Saiva Siddhanta) is caught in the hold of worldly ties (pasam). A gemstone cannot by itself get rid of the cotton covering it. Only the bright rays of the Sun can burn up the cotton. Similarly, the pasu by itself cannot get rid of the pasam. Only the mercy of Lord Siva can save the pasu from pasam.
The atma is like a man caught in the depth of a river. If a man is in such a predicament, he will need someone to rescue him and bring him safely to the shore. The atma is caught in the impurities, known as malam in Saiva Siddhanta. Just as the man caught in the river requires a rescuer, so also Lord Siva, who is greater than any guru one can think of, is the only One who can rescue the atma from samsara. Upanishads, through their mahavakyas like ‘aham Brahmasmi,’ ‘tattvamasi’ etc talk of Soham. This means the state of realising “I am He.” The Siddhanta mahavakya ‘Shivatvamasi’ and Panchakshara upadesa convey the idea of ‘Shivoham’, that is “I am Siva.” These stages of ‘Soha bhava’ and ‘Shivoha bhava’ can be reached only through worship of Siva.
