Tattva
Every question on the site tagged Tattva, each answered from a timestamped source rather than a summary written from memory.
A fundamental principle or element, in both philosophical and ritual (elemental) contexts.
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What is the significance of Patali Bhairava?
In esoteric ferocity or protective-binding practices, Patali Bhairava represents Bhairava's earth-element (Prithvi Tattva) aspect, which stabilizes, protects, and grounds spiritual energy at the altar and within the practitioner's subtle body, preventing imbalances in the Nadis and doshas.
What cosmic elements (Tattvas) does the Shiv Puran describe?
The Puran details how Prakriti (nature) manifested, how Mahat-tattva emerged from it, the five gross elements (Pancha Mahabhuta), and the five sensory and five action organs corresponding to the body's fundamental components.
Do spirits live in cactus plants?
The speaker says it is 100% true: where pretas are present, cactus grows on its own and grows large. But a cactus flowering at home does not necessarily mean a Preta is sitting in your house. Guests, friends, relatives and neighbours keep coming, and among them some day someone will be affected. Of the 49 kinds of Marudgana, the winds of the vayu Tattva, one kind is related to pretas; if such a wind is blowing when a preta-afflicted or preta-maddened person enters your house and finds this plant, the entity is drawn to it in part — not living there 24 hours, but coming at certain times, because the plant attracts it.
What is the Panchakshari mantra, and where did it come from?
The speaker says Bhagwan Shiva's most famous mantra is the Panchakshari Mantra, whose mahatmya fills the Shiv Mahapuran. When Shiva first manifested his sakar, five-faced form, the Gayatri appeared from his five mouths and with it the Pranav; Pranav has two forms — the subtle one is Omkar, and the gross, direct one is this Panchakshari, born of the five swaroops Sadyojata, Vamadeva, Aghora, Tatpurusha and the rest. So a sadhak who does its japa gains the grace of all five mahaswaroops, their tattvas come to dwell in his Aura, and all four Purusharthas are accomplished — which is why it is a mahamantra. The Shiv Mahapuran also says, he adds, that at the most divine time of Mahashivratri, Shiva as guru and Jagdamba as guru-mata gave the Diksha of this very mantra to Vishnu and Brahma. He opens by saying that a human birth in which one does no Purashcharana of any mantra and gains no mahashakti's grace is wasted — even if only trouble drives us to it.
Whoever plays the negative part in the lord's leela is extremely dear to him
He mentions a post he wrote that day, in which he set down that in each of the lord's leelas, whoever acts the negative character, whoever becomes the villain, is extremely dear to the lord — the lord is extremely dear to him. He says he gave this clarity for this very reason.
Why is a shakti satisfied by bali at all?
A shakti is satisfied by bali, he says; that is her own prakriti. In this one should not merely ask why — why should it be so, why is she being satisfied, why should she be satisfied by bali. You eat, and by eating you get satisfaction; she is being satisfied by bali. It is a straightforward matter.
Why is everything not given to a disciple at the start?
Everything is never given at once at the beginning, the speaker says; when the capacity begins to come, then comes the controlling of energy through mudra — which energy is to be absorbed and which is to be removed. He gives the example that Bhagavan Suryanarayan's heat was very great, and Twashta, who is a form of Bhagavan Vishwakarma, is said to have cut it down on his lathe and thereby reduced Surya's energy and his heat.
Why does everyone need Shri?
Do this pujan in this manner, the speaker says, because everyone needs Lakshmi ji; Shri is wanted in everybody's life. If Shri will not be obtained by you and by us, then how will pujan and yajna be able to happen without her? All the works of life are to be accomplished by her alone. So take advantage of tomorrow's time in this manner.
Why does the ark prayoga work as it does?
Because whenever ark is used, he says, three kinds of tattva become present there just so: the gandh becomes most intense, and because of the gandh, both below the ground and in the air, the presence of the shakti tattvas that have been employed is formed.
Moving from sakar to nirakar, all things come to be gathered in one place
This is a matter of dvait and advait, he says. When you begin to move ahead, all things will come and gather in one place; then there is no separateness among Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh. This is a true subject that we merely read in the Puranas — that here Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh are all one, that all are manifest from Bhagavati. Actually, when you go from dvait toward advait, that is from sakar toward nirakar, when our bhakti begins to bear fruit, these things really begin to manifest, and then all these statements appear meaningful.
How should the worship of Mahishasura be understood?
Mahishasura's pujan is happening already, he says. That we may take it in a negative way is a separate subject; the form of tantra is a separate subject, the siddhi of Bhainsasura is all a separate subject — leave it. The one who produced all is Mahadev alone; tantra itself is the source of every energy, Mahadev alone is the source of every energy, and Bhagavati alone is present in the nuclear circle of every energy. Nothing will remain positive or negative for us once we go that far up.
What is the difference between Brahma ji and Brahm?
The speaker says that Parabrahma Parameshwar is Brahm; Brahma ji is his amsha, the swaroop to which the responsibility was entrusted of creating the srishti and bringing it forth.
Which eight tattvas do the eight murtis represent?
The eight murtis represent eight tattvas: among them are bhumi, jal, agni, pavan and akash; besides these, the sixth swaroop is that of Pashupatinath, and the Pashupati swaroop is the kshetragya of all the kshetras of this whole world; the Ishana swaroop is of Surya; and Mahadev is of the Chandrama. Or, the speaker says, put it this way — they are themselves present in these forms.
What each of the first seven murtis does
Sarva, the first of the Ashtamurti, holds the entire vishwa. Bhava gives life to the whole world. Rudra performs the bharan-poshan. Ugra, after the bharan-poshan, gives them samarthya. Bhima is the one who gives happiness to everyone, is present everywhere, gives avakash, and is the piercer of the pancha mahabhutas. Pashupati is the adhipati of all those who are the dwelling place of all kshetras. And Ishana illuminates the entire jagat.
What is the eighth murti, Mahadev?
The eighth murti, Mahadev, is held to be the foremost swaroop of all: this eighth form is the atma itself. That portion within us, that particle of Bhagwan Shiva by reason of which we are able to speak and able to walk, is this eighth form. It is for this reason that the entire charachar jagat has been called the swaroop of Shiva.
Watering the root nourishes the branches — serving the world is worship of Ashtamurti Shiva
It is said here that just as when water is poured at the root of a tree and it is watered, its branches thereby become nourished — in the same way this entire world is the body of Ashtamurti Shiva. When we do their shivarjan, that is, when we give happiness in the world, Shiva ji becomes pleased by this very thing.
Why must the Bhairav come before the devi does?
Because the body is made of the panchtattva. The speaker says that if you do pujan-path, the elements in that body must be in their correct proportion so that when the kula shakti or any devi comes upon you, there is no impure imbalance in the body and you suffer no affliction. For this purpose the kul Bhairav come first — whether for an instant, one or two minutes, or five or ten minutes.
Why does the body burn and grow heavy when a great shakti comes?
The speaker says such a shakti's vega is very swift and her weight considerable, because she will never be endowed with vayu tattva but with agni tattva. Since she is coming upon a human body, in which the most abundant element is prithvi tattva, the joining of prithvi and agni makes the body very hot and very heavy — and even after such powers leave, the body aches for two or three days.
Why does a shakti sometimes come upon a body but not speak?
The speaker, speaking only of positive powers — a kula shakti, a lok shakti, the shakti of some place — says that if the energy in your body is not balanced, if your panchtattva are not balanced, then in that state she will not be capable of speaking. She will come, weep, and go away.
Which tattva does Kanya lagna belong to?
Asked whether Kanya lagna is air, water, earth and so on, the speaker says the question is incomplete — if there is a particular reason for knowing the tattva of Kanya lagna, tell it and he will answer; what will you do with the tattva? Ask the full question. He adds that in any case the tattva is related to prithvi tattva.
What are the three bhavas, and what is pashu bhav?
Three kinds of bhav have been spoken of: pashu bhav, veer bhav, and divya bhav. In pashu bhav the state of a sadhak is the state up to fifteen years of age — because up to fifteen years there is not very much kaam bhav in the body, nor do you know how to be very envious of anyone, nor do you know right from wrong; in a manner of speaking you have no knowledge of worldly affairs, and so the state up to fifteen years is called pashu bhav.
What does the agni tattva do within a woman who becomes rajaswala?
Know what the cause is, the speaker says. When a woman becomes rajaswala, then Kamrup Kamakhya, who is the chief swaroop of Bhagavati, is the swaroop of the kamanas and the swaroop of agni. The quantity of agni tattva rises within a woman — he has said this before too — and the swaroop of the devas is itself connected with agni tattva. Now, a woman filled with agni tattva, who has herself become the very swaroop of shakti, and in an ordinary woman, on account of the predominance of agni tattva, becomes irritable — any woman will be very irritable at that time, anger will come, she will weep, she will be very emotional, that is, her ordinary level will be displaced. In such a condition, when she sits down to do pujan, maryadas will be violated.
What happens when a woman filled with agni tattva touches a deva vigraha?
The second thing is that a woman filled with agni tattva, touching a deva vigraha filled with agni tattva, performing pujan and the archan of flowers and the rest, or doing japa and smaran of their name seated at the puja place, will suffer distress from it — because agni will increase agni, and coolness will not be obtained at all, the speaker says. For this reason too it is forbidden. Secondly, if a lok shakti is present there, then the lok shakti at once moves away from that place: as with the Mohan Ram Baba someone asked about, if such shaktis are worshipped in someone's house and a rajaswala woman goes to their place, those things at once withdraw.
A life spent on talk of maran and of affairs passes away to nothing and ends with a tantric binding you.
Life will pass in nothing but such matters, he says — that so-and-so did a maran, that so-and-so's daughter is beautiful and an affair is running there. Afterwards you will be eaten up and nothing will happen. You will die and rot; some tantric will bind you too and will keep driving something over you, and you will go on doing this your whole life — alive and yet dead, and after death as well. Nothing will change and the state will become worse. Make a little effort, he says, to know your own atma swaroop, your own atma tattva.
Is a devata awakened in a photo frame?
Akshay Tanwar ji says a deva becomes awakened in a photo frame if pujan-archan is done before it daily. It has been said that a chhaya chitra has one day's pratishtha, the speaker answers, and by daily pujan prana is present in it until the next day, so it is absolutely awakened too. There are the five tattvas: all five tattvas are present in paper as well — we can see it. It is not solid to that level, but it is there, so they are in it too. But if there is a vigraha, that is far superior. As is said of gold: pratishtha in it lasts up to a hundred years from being done once.
The bound atma keeps its power because Bhairav's tattva stands awakened behind it
Because the tattva of Bhairav is powerful behind it, he says: the mantra, the bhog and the rest of such tattvas of Bhairav — the tantra kriyas of that kind have been done in such a way, awakened in such a way, that the person, that atma, has shakti, but in bondage. It is completely controlled.
Can a curse touch Shiva, Vishnu or Bhagavati at all?
No. He says Bhagavan Shiva himself states that he has no concern with curse or boon and that no curse can attach to him; no curse can attach to Bhagavan Shri Hari Narayana, and no curse can attach to Bhagavati. They accept and take one on merely for the sake of leela.
After the family and the temples are saved, the next duty is that everyone become mantra siddha
So first save yourself, your children and your family, he says; then save the temples near you. And after that the next duty is that all should become mantra siddha. By the samarthya of mantra the invocation of the devatas takes place, the tattvas of the devatas become present, and it is on their account that you will be able to secure yourself properly in such a calamity.
What is the earthing analogy for the Shivling?
However far science has advanced, the speaker says, whatever machine you use that runs by electricity needs a ground, an earthing; without earthing it cannot run — it needs that negative power, and negative power is not quickly obtained in dryness. Engineers in that field know that the environment at the earthing point is kept wet so that no obstruction quickly arises in the flow of current. In exactly the same way the Shivling of Bhagavan Sadashiva is symbolically taken as positive and Bhagavati as negative.
What does Dharani Garbha Sambhodi mean?
When we read the pauranic mantra, the speaker says, we read Dharani Garbha Sambhodi. What is the meaning of dharani garbha? He whose birth took place from the womb of the earth is the graha Mangal, whose father is Sadashiva. So Sadashiva is positive and Bhagavati is present below in the negative form, in the form of rinatmak shakti, upon whom Shiva is situated.
What lies at the root of every purana's account of creation?
Whoever you accept, listen to them; they have said the very same thing, the speaker says — the speech of all is alike. The form is becoming different but all are somewhere one. When you look at the beginning of all of them: recite the Shrimad Devi Bhagavat and it is told there that all the devi devta are manifesting through Bhagavati; in the Shiv Mahapuran all are manifesting through Shiva ji; read other Vaishnav puranas and all the devi devta are manifesting through Vishnu ji. But at the root of all of them comes one thing — that first Ishwar was nirakar, a wish arose in him, and he manifested his sakar form.
The child shaktis are undergoing their own prarabdha, so the notion of being bound by mantra or tantra does not apply to them
A child's word only a child will accept. In their child form they are undergoing their own prarabdha — so do not apply the notion here that a mantra worked, a tantra worked, they were bound or not bound. If their death occurred in the womb or from any cause, that is their prarabdha, and it is the prarabdha of the family they are in that they had to go into that yoni. Our body is complete with five elements; theirs is of one, of the vayu tattva.
Should one feel impure after taking medicine?
Understand the meaning of that mantra, he says, and hold that bhavana in it. Even if you take medicine and it seems that the body has now become impure, do not bring that bhav. The body is the annamaya kosha, and to run it, brother, medicine has to be taken — we are not endowed with the capacity, so take the medicine.
How are the tattvas within us connected to the Saptashati?
He says to the listener Abhishek that all the tattvas are within us, and in the Saptashati the relation of these tattvas is also with that shakti which is present there. Agni, Vayu, Sur Tattvani — when you go into the Navarna it comes with the three tattvas. Although, he notes, in the prevalent Saptashati the viniyoga and nyasa with the tattvas has not been given.
How does the mool Saptashati differ from the prevalent one?
But in the mool Saptashati, the old ones, he says, the Argala Stotra and the Keelak and all of it are much larger — greatly different from the prevalent one we look at — and in it the whole subject of all this is present. Secondly, he says, it is not only the three charitas and the six angas; there are further subjects as well, which go according to each adhyaya, and in those too there is a broad treatment of the tattvas, and those tattvas are directly connected with the principal energy, the principal shakti in it.
Whom does Bhagwan Shiva meditate upon?
Asked whom Shiva always meditates upon, since his form is always shown in dhyan, he says that whom Bhagwan Shiva meditates upon is only his leela, that dhyan. In reality, if it is seen, he neither meditates upon anyone nor is he himself other than the direct Paramatma; that state of dhyan of his is only called dhyan. He abides in shunya. He compares it to a question asked in an earlier live about the state of Ramakrishna Paramahansa and how he attained the siddhi of Bhagavati, where he had explained how the state of shunya came to him: that state which he was attaining, the state of samadhi, is that state. There is no need to meditate on anyone. And for reading this fully with shastrokta proof, he says, read the Linga Mahapuran.
Who is the supreme shakti?
Whoever you accept is the one, he answers Anuj ji. Do not get stuck in dvaita and advaita about who the supreme shakti is; this question itself is useless and full of foolishness. Whoever you read about is the supreme. Whoever is your ishta is supreme. Just as for a wife her husband is supreme, but the rest of the family are not low — they too have their own honour and dignity and she carries everyone along; in the same way your ishta will be supreme for you, and the rest will remain respected lifelong.
Why do all three tattvas reside inside Bhagavan Datta?
The form of Bhagavan Narayan whose body had decayed before Shiva's anger was the amsha given to Bhagavati Mahasati Anusuya — which is why that form could not be born or produced completely. To make it complete, Brahma ji and Mahadev absorbed their own shaktis into it, and so the entire shaktis of the Tridevas came to reside in Bhagavan Datta.
Which tattvas are present within Bhagavan Datta?
Within Bhagavan Datta, the speaker says, the tattva of Brahma ji the creator is present; the Shri tattva of Narayan, the sustainer, is present; and the Rudra shakti, the Rudra tattva of the deity of dissolution, is present. So if you need the capacity for creation within you — to become a teacher, a scientist, an engineer, to go into the medical profession, into any creative field at all — Bhagavan Datta will grant grace there.
What should be done when one is settled in dvaita bhaav?
If you find yourself settled in dvaita bhaav, then make the request of your own aradhya, your ishta, the speaker says. And remember one thing: when you begin to advance on the sadhana marga, the feeling of dvaita slowly begins to come to an end of itself. It may be that for some time you have become fixed in one place, but that will not remain always. There will be onward motion, and that very labour will turn into advaita.
When a puja is bound, how will Bhagwan hear the prayer?
Attend to this, he says: there is a difference between Bhagwan and devata. Devata is a yoni, and Bhagwan is the param mahashakti, the param satta. As manushya is a yoni and pashu is a yoni, so devata too is a bhog yoni. Manushya alone is a karma yoni: the karma you do here, and the fruit that comes of it, decides the next yoni you obtain. Do base karma, do wrong work, and you go into the lower yonis — pashu, pakshi, jad, chetan; do high karma and you go into yaksha, kinnar, gandharva, devata. These are yonis; Bhagwan is not. Bhagwan is Bhagwan — adi, imperishable, with no form and no shape, though he came in the sakar form for us.
Pratyangira's energy strikes the sadhak and the household first, and must be digestible
The speaker says bhav and kriya are two different things: bhakti done from bhav is one path, but in tantra bhav comes later and kriya comes first. When one recites the Mahapratyangira svarup of Bhagavati Bagla, the tattva of the eight shaktis named in Pratyangira falls first on the sadhak's own body, Aura and Sukshma Sharir, and everything depends on whether the sadhak and the family members of the house have the capacity to digest that energy. If no Rudrabhishek of Sadashiva was ever done in that home, no Shivling ever kept, no Shiva pujan, no Shivratri vrat, no kalash sthapana or special puja in Navratri, not even an aarti, and one went straight to Pratyangira upasana out of over-enthusiasm, then the energy that forms will do what it does.
Why does Bhagavan himself perform upasana?
People will not digest that Krishna needed to worship Mahavidya Tara — he is Bhagavan himself. He is Bhagavan, the speaker replies, but he is presenting an example; you too are Bhagavan. If the Bhagavan within you departs, will anything of you remain? You are hearing this speech only because that Bhagavan is within you, and you are his amsha — you too are Shiva, you are Narayan, you are Brahma; but see and understand where and how.
How does Prakriti divide herself into three forms?
Bhagavati Prakriti, when she manifested herself, has divided herself into three separate forms. Take it as a division of tantra, or of kalpa, he says — different tantras carry different accounts — but the essence is that in one kalpa Bhagavati, with reference to Bhagavan Shiva, surrendered all her shaktis to him and herself came under his control in one form, not in her mula swaroop.
What limit does the speaker set on the distinction between forms?
Limits are in their own place and should always be remembered, he says. The distinction of form is certainly there so long as we are in the dvaita state and are progressing towards advaita; while in the dvaita state, bheda exists, and that is fine. But knowledge of the forms and respect for them must certainly be there, smaran must always remain, and one should not insult them.
Are Sita, Radha and Lakshmi one at the root?
Why are you not thinking, he asks, that the root is the same? Whether it be Bhagavati Sita, or Bhagavati Radha, or Bhagavati Lakshmi — is it not the same? They are the companion of Narayan, they are his shakti. He says he does not understand why that form is being extolled in this roundabout way, nor what is being sought to be proved.
What does the word jayanti actually mean?
Posts have been made about it several times, he says: jayanti is the correct word. The very meaning of jayanti is the giver of victory; Bhagavati has a Jayanti form. There is no jayanti-vanti of dead people — people only began writing it later. Jayanti is the right word; janmotsav is not, because these beings did not take birth, they are deva swaroop.
Many things have been forced into this subject, so keep your own buddhi pure instead of setting out to prove there was labour pain
Many kinds of things have been forced into this subject too, he says, so discussing it is pointless. At the least keep your own buddhi pure. Do not now set about proving that there was labour pain, that this happened — in that durbuddhi, he says, we cannot join you. Come out of these things and carry the greatness of the devi forms with you accordingly.
Why is shakti necessary as vamangi?
Why did Bhagavan Surya Dev have him married to Bhagavati Suvarchala, he asks, and which siddhi did both of them obtain by it; why did this have to be met only after the panigrahan sanskar; how does the importance of shakti arise in shakti upasana; why does shakti become necessary here as vamangi, and for a woman the purush tattva, a man, become necessary. The atma has no gender, he says — the purush and stri forms are of the body the atma has assumed, and for the completeness of the one who performs karma and tries to attain siddhis, each being only half, this becomes unavoidable.
Does every deity have all three gunas?
Within every devi there are all three forms, the speaker says: all our devi-devatas and mahashaktis have all three forms — sattvik, rajasik and tamasik. Bhairav ji too has all three. People know only that he is Shamshan Bhairav and stays only in the shamshaan — no, brother. He too has all three forms, and there is a dhyana of all three forms. Trigunatita — beyond the three gunas, past the three gunas, and he is within the three gunas as well. So Bhagavati too has all three forms, and can be worshipped in all three forms.
Why should two mantras or stotras not be combined even for one deity?
Because the purposes of the two may be different, the vidhis of the two may be different, the devatas of the two may be different — so why would one do it? In our body only one tattva should awaken. And even if both stotras or mantras belong to one and the same devata, if their purpose is somewhat different, what benefit is there then? Do one only at one time; not two.
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