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XXXVII] Saiva Philosophy according to Bhoja 165 as the husk is burnt by fire or heat, so this mala also may be removed when the internal soul shines forth. This mala is responsible for our bodies. Just as the blackness of copper can be removed by mercury, so the blackness of the soul is also removed by the power of Siva.
Karma is beginningless and is of the nature of merit and demerit (dharma and adharma). Śrīkumāra defines dharma and adharma as that which is the special cause of happiness or unhappiness, and he tries to refute other theories and views about dharma and adharma. Māyā is regarded as the substantive entity which is the cause of the world. We have seen before that bondage comes out of the products of māyā (māyĒya); so māyā is the original cause of bondage. It is not illusory, as the Vedāntists say, but it is the material cause of the world. We thus see that the power or energy of God behaving as mala, māyā, karma, and māyĒya, forms the basic conception of bondage.
These are the first five pure categories arising out of Siva. The category of Siva is regarded as the bindu, and it is the original and primal cause of everything. It is as eternal as māyā. The other four categories spring from it, and for this reason it is regarded as mahāmāyā. These categories are the mythical superintending lords of different worlds called vidyeśvara, mantreśvara, etc. So, from bindu comes sakti, sadāśiva, īśvara, and vidyeśvara. These categories are regarded as pure categories. Again, in order to supply experiences to individuals and their scope of action, five categories are produced, namely, time (kāla), destiny (niyati), action (kalā), knowledge (vidyā), and attachment (rāga). Again, from māyā comes the avyakta or the unmanifested, the guņas, and then buddhi, and ahankāra, manas, the five conative senses and the five cognitive senses, and the gross matter, which make up twenty-three categories from māyā.
We thus see that these are in the first instance the five categories of siva, śakti, sadāśiva, īśvara, and vidyā. These are all of the nature of pure consciousness (cidrūpa), and being of such a nature, there can be no impurity in them. We have next the seven categories which are both pure and impure (cidacid-rūpa), and these are māyā, kāla, niyati, kalā, vidyā, rāga and puruṣa. Puruşa, though of the nature of pure consciousness, may appear as impure on account of its impure association. Next to these categories we
