It is held that Tirumoolar learnt the Siva Yoga Sastra from the Lord in Kailasa and has conveyed this knowledge in the 3,000 verses of the Tirumandiram. In this unique siddhanta text comprising nine sections that are classified as nine tantras, Tirumoolar establishes Siva as the Supreme Deity, the sole Master and Lord, the Para Tatva, pointed out Sri C. Balu in a discourse.
In the Para State, Sivam together with Shakti is responsible for the five functions — creation, srishti, sustenance, stithi, destruction, samhara, tirodana, veiling, and anugraha, grace. Though engaged in creation etc, Siva along with Sakti stands beyond all this. None can fully fathom His inexplicable greatness. But He can be realised in one’s inner self by one who is keen to seek His grace. Tirumoolar describes the birth of deities such as Muruga, Vinayaka, and others but states that Siva is ‘pirappili,’ one who has no birth and is ‘anadi’, the one without ‘aadi’ and ‘antham,’ beginning and end. He also explains with great clarity the truth in the three basic concepts of Saivism — Pati, Pasu and Pasam. All three are considered ‘anadi’, meaning, without any beginning. Pati is the Lord, always Supreme and independent. He is eternally free and the Master who should liberate the jiva. The jiva, the soul, is called Pasu, and it is tied by the Pasa or rope of bondage. The Pasa itself is owing to the three malams or impurities. These are the ‘anava or avidya mala’ which is the primordial ignorance attached to the jiva, the ‘karma mala,’ the result of the good and bad deeds of the jiva, and the ‘maya mala,’ which is manifest as the jiva’s attachment to the world. Though the jiva can be rid of karma and maya malas by following the path of devotion and self discipline, it is only God’s grace that can remove the soul’s anava mala.
