Shiva Purana (Books 1 & 7)

कैषा प्रकृतिरित्युक्ता क एष पुरुषो मतः अनयोः केन सम्बन्धः कोयं प्रेरक ईश्वरः

What is this prakṛti that is spoken of? Who is considered the soul? By what connection do they relate, and who is this impelling Lord?

माया प्रकृतिरुद्दिष्टा पुरुषो मायया वृतः संबन्धो मूलकर्मभ्यां शिवः प्रेरक ईश्वरः

Māyā is designated as prakṛti; the soul is enveloped by māyā. Their connection is through primordial action; Śiva is the impelling Lord.

केयं माया समा ख्याता किंरूपो मायया वृतः मूलं कीदृक् कुतो वास्य किं शिवत्वं कुतश्शिवः

What is this māyā that is spoken of as equal? What is its nature, and how is one enveloped by māyā? What is its root, and from where does it arise? What is Śivatva, and from where is Śiva?

माया माहेश्वरी शक्तिश्चिद्रूपो मायया वृतः मलश्चिच्छादको नैजो विशुद्धिश्शिवता स्वतः

Māyā is the power of Maheśvara; one enveloped by māyā is of the nature of consciousness. Mala, the innate impurity, veils consciousness; purity is innate Śivatva.

आवृणोति कथं माया व्यापिनं केन हेतुना किमर्थं चावृतिः पुंसः केन वा विनिवर्तते

How does māyā cover the all-pervading one, and for what reason? For what purpose does this covering occur in a person, and by what means is it removed?

आवृतिर्व्यपिनो ऽपि स्याद्व्यापि यस्मात्कलाद्यपि हेतुः कर्मैव भोगार्थं निवर्तेत मलक्षयात्

Even though it is all-pervading, there is concealment, because even for the all-pervading, karma alone—arising from kalā and the rest—serves as the cause for experience, and ceases when impurity is destroyed.

कलादि कथ्यते किं तत्कर्म वा किमुदाहृतम् तत्किमादि किमन्तं वा किं फलं वा किमाश्रयम्

What is called kalā and the rest? What is karma, and how is it described? What is its beginning and end? What is its fruit, and what is its support?

कस्य भोगेन किं भोग्यं किं वा तद्भोगसाधनम् मलक्षयस्य को हेतुः कीदृक् क्षीणमलः पुमान्

By whose experience is what enjoyed, and what is the means for that enjoyment? What is the cause of the destruction of impurity, and what is the nature of a person whose impurity is destroyed?

कला विद्या च रागश्च कालो नियतिरेव च कलादयस्समाख्याता यो भोक्ता पुरुषो भवेत्

Kalā, knowledge, attachment, time, and order—these are known as the kalā and the rest; the experiencer is called the person.

पुण्यपापात्मकं कर्म सुखदुःखफलं तु यत् अनादिमलभोगान्तमज्ञानात्मसमाश्रयम्

Karma, consisting of merit and demerit, yields pleasure and pain as its fruit; it is said to have no beginning, ends with the exhaustion of impurity, and is based in ignorance.

भोगः कर्मविनाशाय भोगमव्यक्तमुच्यते बाह्यांतःकरणद्वारं शरीरं भोगसाधनम्

Experience exists for the destruction of karma; the unmanifest is called the field of experience. The body, through the external and internal organs, is the means for experience.

भावातिशयलब्धेन प्रसादेन मलक्षयः क्षीणे चात्ममले तस्मिन् पुमाञ्च्छिवसमो भवेत्

Impurity is destroyed by the special grace obtained through the excellence of inner states; when the impurity of the self is destroyed, the person becomes equal to Shiva.

कलादिपञ्चतत्त्वानां किं कर्म पृथगुच्यते भोक्तेति पुरुषश्चेति येनात्मा व्यपदिश्यते

What is the karma of the five principles beginning with kalā, and how is it distinguished? Who is called the experiencer, and who is called the person by whom the self is designated?

किमात्मकं तदव्यक्तं केनाकारेण भुज्यते किं तस्य शरणं भुक्तौ शरीरं च किमुच्यते

What is the nature of that unmanifest, and in what form is it experienced? What is its refuge in experience, and what is called the body?

दिक्क्रियाव्यंजका विद्या कालो रागः प्रवर्तकः कालो ऽवच्छेदकस्तत्र नियतिस्तु नियामिका

Knowledge reveals direction and action; time initiates attachment; time is the delimiter there, and order is the regulator.

अव्यक्तं कारणं यत्तत्त्रिगुणं प्रभवाप्ययम् प्रधानं प्रकृतिश्चेति यदाहुस्तत्त्वचिंतकाः

That which is unmanifest is the cause, possessing the three qualities, the source and dissolution of all; it is called the primary substance and nature by those who contemplate the principles.

कलातस्तदभिव्यक्तमनभिव्यक्तलक्षणम् सुखदुःखविमोहात्मा भुज्यते गुणवांस्त्रिधा

From kalā arises that which is manifest, characterized by the unmanifest; consisting of pleasure, pain, and delusion, it is experienced in threefold ways by those possessing the qualities.

सत्त्वं रजस्तम इति गुणाः प्रकृतिसंभवाः प्रकृतौ सूक्ष्मरूपेण तिले तैलमिव स्थिताः

Sattva, rajas, and tamas are the qualities arising from nature; in nature, they exist in subtle form, like oil in sesame seeds.

सुखं च सुखहेतुश्च समासात्सात्त्विकं स्मृतम् राजसं तद्विपर्यासात्स्तंभमोहौ तु तामसौ

Happiness and the cause of happiness are generally considered sāttvika; the opposite is rājasa, while inertia and delusion are tāmasa.

सात्त्विक्यूर्ध्वगतिः प्रोक्ता तामसी स्यादधोगतिः मध्यमा तु गतिर्या सा राजसी परिपठ्यते

Upward movement is said to be sāttvika, downward movement is tāmasa, and the movement that is in between is described as rājasika.

तन्मात्रापञ्चकं चैव भूतपञ्चकमेव च ज्ञानेंद्रियाणि पञ्चैक्यं पञ्च कर्मेन्द्रियाणि च

The five subtle elements, the five gross elements, the five organs of knowledge, and the five organs of action—these are enumerated.

प्रधानबुद्ध्यहंकारमनांसि च चतुष्टयम् समासादेवमव्यक्तं सविकारमुदाहृतम्

The four—primary substance, intellect, ego, and mind—are thus, in summary, the unmanifest with its modifications.

तत्कारणदशापन्नमव्यक्तमिति कथ्यते व्यक्तं कार्यदशापन्नं शरीरादिघटादिवत्

When in the state of cause, it is called unmanifest; when in the state of effect, it is called manifest, like a pot or a body.

यथा घटादिकं कार्यं मृदादेर्नातिभिद्यते शरीरादि तथा व्यक्तमव्यक्तान्नातिभिद्यते

Just as a pot or other effect is not entirely different from clay and the like, so too the body and such manifest things are not entirely distinct from the unmanifest.

तस्मादव्यक्तमेवैक्यकारणं करणानि च शरीरं च तदाधारं तद्भोग्यं चापि नेतरत्

Therefore, the unmanifest alone is the single cause; the instruments and the body are its support, and what is to be experienced by it—not anything else.

बुद्धीन्द्रियशरीरेभ्यो व्यतिरेकस्य कस्यचित् आत्मशब्दाभिधेयस्य वस्तुतो ऽपि कुतः स्थितिः

What real existence could there be, separate from intellect, senses, and body, for that which is denoted by the word 'self'?

बुद्धीन्द्रियशरीरेभ्यो व्यतिरेको विभोर्ध्रुवम् अस्त्येव कश्चिदात्मेति हेतुस्तत्र सुदुर्गमः

Indeed, there is certainly some distinction of the self from intellect, senses, and body, for the all-pervading one; but the reason for this is extremely difficult to grasp.

बुद्धीन्द्रियशरीराणां नात्मता सद्भिरिष्यते स्मृतेरनियतज्ञानादयावद्देहवेदनात्

The wise do not accept the identity of self with intellect, senses, or body, because memory, knowledge, and other faculties are uncertain and last only as long as bodily awareness.

अतः स्मर्तानुभूतानामशेषज्ञेयगोचरः अन्तर्यामीति वेदेषु वेदांतेषु च गीयते

Therefore, that which is the inner witness of all remembered and experienced things, and the field of all knowables, is called the 'Inner Controller' in the Vedas and Vedānta.