शिवज्ञानबोध (मेय्कण्डार - शैव सिद्धान्त का आधारभूत दार्शनिक सूत्र ग्रन्थ)

EIGHTH SUTRA. 89
other advanced souls, Vignana Kalars are concerned, He induced
Gnanam in them intuitively. The necessity so far as man is
concerned arises, because man cannot know otherwise.
Again the sinner to expect salvation, as he lisps, while he
dies, some dead names and words is absurd, as also to expect
that some dead names will produce such effects for all time to
come. Tested by the truth as laid down in this Sutra, the
ordinary observances and beliefs of almost every religions, Saiva
and other Hindu Religions included, will be a mere mockery and
sham; but still it will be observed, that even among Hindu
Religions, the Saiva Religion does not tolerate hierarchy in
any form.
3. The human soul is compared to the son of a king
stolen by savages, at his very brith and living among them and
who can never understand his identity until informed recognized,
by the King himself. The soul, in its nature, of pristine purity,
developes itself only, as its cosmic covering also evolves, and will
recover itself only with the touch of the Divine Guru. The soul is
again compared to a painted glass or mirror in which the identity
of the mirror is lost and will not be recovered unless the paint
is washed away.
4. The language 'Reaching the Feet of the Lord' is signi-
ficant. The freed soul does not become co-extensive (if we can
use the word) with God. It simply becomes imbedded in it, a
mere drop in the vast ocean, a mere trace as it were. Even
among Saivas, not to say of other schools among Hindu Philo-
sophers, even among the commentators of this very book, there
are differences of opinion as regards the condition of the freed
soul in union with God. The opinion of the author may be
however taken as stated above. The soul is like the flickering
lamp tossed by the wind and darkness and which loses itslf com-
pletely in bright noon day light and remains still and quiet.
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