SAIVA-SIDDHANTA

"
THE TWO GEMS
(SAT AND SAT-ASAT).
To each and every one, His own nature imparting
Our Lord stands alone , Supreme,
full of Grace."
Tiruvdchakam .
We proceed to explain the two verses quoted from
Tirumular at the close of our last article. The two verses
seem so alike that unless they are looked into more closely, their
meaning is likely to be lost. These verses explain in fact the
Bhanda and Moksha conditions of the soul, and the soul s
ascent through various stages, called Tattva Darsanam, Atma
Darsanam and Siva or Para Darsanam. The verse, "The
gold
was concealed in the golden ornament &c." has to be taken
first. The object before the seer is a golden ornament. The
thing can be looked at from two different points of view, in
two different aspects. It can be viewed as merely gold, and
then we are solely engaged in looking at its colour, its fineness,
specific gravity &c., and while we are so engaged, the other
view of it, whether it is a brooch, or medal or a bracelet &c., is
altogether
lost to view. And in the same manner when we are
viewing the object as a mere ornament, then all idea of the gold,
its fineness &c. is lost.
This happens when the object before us
is one and the same, and neither the gold as gold,
nor the
ornament as ornament can be said to non-exist, in either case,
can be said to be unreal or a mere delusion. We merely
change our point of view, and we are ourselves under no
delusion at either moment. The delusion is neither in the gold
nor in the ornament nor in ourselves. The object before us is so