SAIVA-SIDDHANTA

SOME ASPECTS OF THE GOD-HEAD. 89
thoughts can be picked up from the most ancient and the
most recent books in Tamil and in Sanskrit. The typical
passage in the Upanishats is the one in the Atharvasikha.
Dhyayeetesanam pradhyayithavyam Sarvam idam Brahma
Vishnu Rudrendraste sarve samprasuyante sarvani chendriyanicha
saha bhutais, nakaranam Karananam dhata dhyata
Karanahtu dhyeyas Sarvaisvarya Sampannas Sarvesvaras
Sambhurakasa madhye Siva eko dhyeya : Sivankara:
Sarvam annyat Parityaja Samapta atharvusikha.
Taking another book at random, say the Mahimnastotra,
which is reputed to be by a very ancient sage, in praise of
Siva, we come upon the following passage also.
"The
mystical and immutable One which being composed
of the three letters, A. U. M. signify, successively, the three
Vedas, the three states of life
(awaking, dreaming and
sleeping), the three worlds (heaven, earth and hell), the three
Gods (Brahma, Vishnu and Rudra), and by its nasal sound
(ardhamatra) is indicative of thy fourth office as Supreme
Lord of All, (Paramesvara) ever expresses and sets forth thy
"
collective and single Forms.
And we to day only propose to quote similar passages
from only one book, and that the Tiruvachakam.
The first passage is the one occuring on p. 26, which we
have already quoted in reviewing the Minor Upanishats. Lest
that the three in this verse may be taken to mean Brahma,
Vishnu and some other God than Rudra, our saint himself
expressly sets forth his meaning more clearly in the following
verse.
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