DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.636#0085
CHAPTER IV.
A
atvtsm.
Saivism, as we have already seen, may be defined as the
setting aside of the triune equality of Brahma, Vishnu, and
Siva, and the merging of the former two gods in the god Siva.
But it is also more than this. It is the exaltation of Siva
(whether regarded as one person or as associated with a
consort) to the position of a Supreme Being, infinite, eternal,
and exempt from subjection to the law of ultimate absorp-
tion into the Universal Spirit. It is his identification with
Brahma as well as with Brahma; with the one impersonal
Spirit as well as with the one personal God ; with the Atmkh
and Maya of the Vedanta philosophy; with the Purusha and
Prakriti of the Sankhya system; with the male and female
generative energies operating in the Universe; with every
conceivable force and form in nature.
Yet it ought to be clearly understood that the identifica-
tion of Siva with the one impersonal Spirit of the Universe
is rarely asserted categorically by Saiva sectarians; for
it must always be borne in mind that the very meaning
of Saivism is exclusive devotion to a personal god Siva,
who, unlike the impersonal spiritual Being, possesses a bodily
form, and can think, feel, and act. In entering, therefore, on
the subject of Saivism we are passing from pantheistic to
theistic ideas.
The Saiva bible or supposed inspired authority for this
elevation of the god Siva to the highest position in the Hindu
system must be sought for among the eighteen Puranas.
These writings are more generally in favour of the supremacy
A
atvtsm.
Saivism, as we have already seen, may be defined as the
setting aside of the triune equality of Brahma, Vishnu, and
Siva, and the merging of the former two gods in the god Siva.
But it is also more than this. It is the exaltation of Siva
(whether regarded as one person or as associated with a
consort) to the position of a Supreme Being, infinite, eternal,
and exempt from subjection to the law of ultimate absorp-
tion into the Universal Spirit. It is his identification with
Brahma as well as with Brahma; with the one impersonal
Spirit as well as with the one personal God ; with the Atmkh
and Maya of the Vedanta philosophy; with the Purusha and
Prakriti of the Sankhya system; with the male and female
generative energies operating in the Universe; with every
conceivable force and form in nature.
Yet it ought to be clearly understood that the identifica-
tion of Siva with the one impersonal Spirit of the Universe
is rarely asserted categorically by Saiva sectarians; for
it must always be borne in mind that the very meaning
of Saivism is exclusive devotion to a personal god Siva,
who, unlike the impersonal spiritual Being, possesses a bodily
form, and can think, feel, and act. In entering, therefore, on
the subject of Saivism we are passing from pantheistic to
theistic ideas.
The Saiva bible or supposed inspired authority for this
elevation of the god Siva to the highest position in the Hindu
system must be sought for among the eighteen Puranas.
These writings are more generally in favour of the supremacy