PERSONALITY OF GOD.

    God, Rudra-Siva is spoken of as the Lord of songs and Lord of sacrifices in the Rig Veda.

    'Gatha patim medha patim'.

    And as such the supremacy of God Siva as Pasupati is made out.

    In the Yajur Veda, He is spoken of as one Rudra without a second.

    "Ekaeva Rudra Nadvityaya theaste" which latter on is spoken of in Chandogya and Taitriya Upanishats as the Sat, Brahma and one without a second.

    "Sadeva Soumyathamagra Asit Ekamevadvitiyam Brahma".

    St. Tirumular postulates His oneness in this verse.

        "ஒன்றவனன்றானே யிரண்டவனின்னருள்

        நின்றனன் மூன்றினுள் நான்குணர்ந்தானைந்து

        வென்றவனன் ஆறுவிரிந்தனனேழும்பர்ச்

        சென்றவன்றானிருந்தான் உணர்ந்தெட்டே."

 

        The only One is He; The second is His Sweet Grace (Sakti).

        He stood in the Three; He uttered the four (Dharmas).

        He conquered the five (Senses); He spread Himself out as the six (Adharas).

        He stood transcendent as the seventh, knowing the eight.

 

    St. Meykandan says.

 

        "ஒன்றென்றது ஒன்றேகாண் ஒன்றேபதி, பசுவாம்

        ஒன்றென்றநீபாசத்தோடு வேகாண் – ஒன்றின்றால்

        அக்கரங்களின்றாம் அகரவுயிரின்றேல்

        இக்கிரமத்தென்னும் இருக்கு."

 

    "The Vedic text means there is only one Supreme Being without a second. And this one is the Lord. You who say 'there is one,' are the Pasu bound up in Pasa. The word 'second-less' means that, beside God, nothing else will exist, as when we say that there will be no other letters (consonants) when the vowel is not.'

    'God is one and one alone. This one is the Lord.'

    So that Saivaism, which is the most ancient Form of Hinduism holds strongly that god is One and One alone without a second. God's powers or Saktis are said to be manifold but they are usually classed as His Jnana Sakti, (supreme intelligence), His Ichcha Sakti (supreme will), His Kriya Sakti (Supreme power). All this is said to be His Arul or Kripa Sakti or that God is Love.

        அன்பும் சிவமும் இரண்டென்பர் அறிவிலார்

        அன்பே சிவமாவதாரு மறிந்திலார்

        அன்பே சிவமாவ தாருமறிந்தபின்

        அன்பே சிவமா யமர்ந்திருந்தாரே.

 

        "The ignorant say, Love and God are different.

        None know that Love and God are the same,

        When they know that Love and God are the same,

        They rest in God as Love."

 

    God is therefore spoken of shortly as Sat Chit Ananda or Satchidananda Sivam.

    He wills to create the worlds. He creates them and resolves them again and again. He could not do this purpose less or out of his mere whim and pleasure, and, as we know, He is all love. He could do it only out of such love, to help to lift up the erring and ignorant souls, by giving them their bodies and senses, so that they, themselves, may will, act and taste the bitter fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, be chastised and purified by suffering and sorrow and learn to submit their will to the Will of the Supreme.

    St. Manickavasagar has the following verse:-

        " நிலம்நீர் நெருப்புயர் நீள்விசும்பு நிலாப்பகலோன்

        புலனாயமைந்தனோடு எண்வகையாய்ப் புணர்ந்திநின்றான்

        உலகேழெனத்திசை பத்தெனத்தானொருவனுமே

        பலவாகிநின்றவாதோ ணோக்கமாடாமோ."

 

        Earth, Water, Air, Fire, Sky, the Sun and Moon,

        The sentient man, these eight forms, He pervades

        The seven worlds, Ten quarters, He the One

        And Many, He stands so, let us sing.

 

    He pervades these eight forms, they form His eight bodies and hence Siva is called Ashtamurti. By this is established His Antaryamitvam or omnipresence, or Immanence in all nature, as He is chit. But he is beyond all these forms, and beyond all nature and man, Transcendent.

    As pervading these eight forms, he gets eight names also.

    "Prithivyo Bavah, Apah Sarvah, Agne Rudrah, Vayor Bhimah Akasasya Mahadevah, Suryasya ugrah, Chandrasyasoma, Atmanah Pasupatih."

    3.    Brahman is called Bhava because he exists everywhere at all times, the root "Bhu" meaning sata or existence. We are taught that Brahman is the Existent, running through all things.

    4.    Brahman, the destroyer, is designated by the word Sarva derived from the root "Sri" to destroy.

    5.    Brahman is called Rudra as expelling the malady of Samsara.

    6.    Brahman is called ugra or Fierce, because He cannot be overpowered by another.

    Luminaries, as taught in the passages:

    "Not there the Sun shine, nor the moon, and stars."

                            - (Sveta. Up. VI. 14).

    7.    As the regulator and the source of fear to all sentient beings Brahman is known by the name of Bhima or Terrible. The Smriti says: "By fear of him does the wind blow."

                            - (Tait. Up. II.8).

    8.    As great and luminous, Siva is called Mahadeva. So the Atharvasira Upanishat says:- "For what is then called Mahadeva? As having abandoned all things, he is adored for his Atma Jnana or spiritual wisdom for his yogic glory, wherefore he is called Mahadeva.

    9.    The supreme is adored as the creator, Hara; as protector Sankara; as destroyer, or reproducer, Rudra; and as bliss-giver Siva. God is called எண்குணத்தான் as possessing the eight attributes and they are as follows:-

    Self-dependence, Purity, Self-knowledge, Omniscience, Being-ever-free from-Sin, Supreme Graciousness, Unlimited Power, Unlimited Bliss.

    10.    Omniscience (Sarva-jnana) consists in all things becoming objects of direct perception of stainless intuitive experience – independent of all external organs of sensation.

    11.    Ever-contentedness (nityatriptata) consists in being replete with unsurpassed Bliss, wherein there is not the slightest trace of distress.

    Hence the revelation "Bliss is Brahman" (Tait. Up. iii:6).

    12.    The possession of unsurpassed knowledge which is Svatas-Sidha, self-existing, or inherent, - constitutes what is called anadibodhatva or beginning less wisdom.

    13.    Independent (Svatantrata).

    Consists in freedom from servitude to others and from other marks of inferiority in all things other than Himself being brought under his own control. The never-failing potency (Nityaluptasaktitva) consists in all potencies being inherent in His own nature. The possessing of unlimited potentialities is what is called Endless potency (ananta Saktita). It is in virtue of these endless potencies that Brahman is the producer and the ruler of the world.

    According to Saiva Siddhanta God is personal, as meaning True Being both concrete and spiritual, a living being and not a dead material energy. God is not impersonal. God is Nirguna and Gunatita, meaning that he is not clothed in the three gunas – Satva, Rajas and Tamas – Sarguna meaning clothed in these gunas.

    God is neither He, nor She nor it, though He is addressed in all the three forms. God is neither Rupa, nor Arupa nor Ruparupa but he can show His grace to us by appearing in any form formed out of his own grace. God Siva is not one of the Hindu Trinity, brahma, Vishnu and Rudra but is 'The Sivam Chathurtam Santam advaitam' of the Upanishats. God can have no human incarnation, as he not being born from the human womb, is not clothed in matter like us and he cannot die, and hence called Aja and Amrita or Immortal in the Veda and Upanishats.

        பிறப்பிலி பிஞ்ஞகன் பேரரு ளாளன்

        இறப்பிலி யாவர்க்கு மின்ப மருளும்

        துறப்பிலி தன்னைத் தொழுமின் தொழுதால்

மறப்பிலி மாயா விருத்தமு மாமே

 

    "The unborn, with the braided hair, supreme grace, the undying, bestowing bliss on all, O thou worship! If worshipped, thy Maya will vanish without doubt." (Saint Tirumular).    

    To sum up, according to true Vedanta Siddhanta Philosophy, God is sat, chit, Ananda, not material nor enveloped in matter. Nirguna and personal, ever blissful and all Love, and all his acts such as creation, etc. are proposed by such Love. He is neither He, She nor It, nor has He any material Rupa or Arupa, and he can reveal his grace and majesty to those who love Him. He cannot be born nor can he die, and as such, indeed, He is the pure and absolute and infinite being, able to lift up humanity wallowing in the bonds of mala, maya, and Karma. To know Him as our true Heavenly Father and Brother and love Him as such is the only panacea for all the evils of erring mankind.