According to various Indian schools of philosophy, tattvas (Sanskrit: तत्त्व) are the elements or aspects of reality that constitute human experience.[1] In some traditions, they are conceived as an aspect of deity. Although the number of tattvas varies depending on the philosophical school, together they are thought to form the basis of all our experience. The Samkhya philosophy uses a system of 25 tattvas, while Shaivism recognises 36 tattvas. In Buddhism, the equivalent is the list of dhammas which constitute reality, as in Nama-rupa.
The Samkhya philosophy regards the Universe as consisting of two eternal realities: Purusha and Prakrti. It is therefore a strongly dualist philosophy. The Purusha is the centre of consciousness, whereas the Prakriti is the source of all material existence. The twenty-five tattva system of Samkhya concerns itself only with the tangible aspect of creation, theorizing that Prakriti is the source of the world of becoming. It is the first tattva and is seen as pure potentiality that evolves itself successively into twenty-four additional tattvas or principles.
In Shaivism the tattvas are inclusive of consciousness as well as material existence. The 36 tattvas of Shaivism are divided into three groups:
Shuddha tattvas
The first five tattvas are known as the shuddha or 'pure' tattvas. They are also known as the tattvas of universal experience.
Shuddha-ashuddha tattvas
The next seven tattvas (6–12) are known as the shuddha-ashuddha or 'pure-impure' tattvas. They are the tattvas of limited individual experience.
Ashuddha tattvas
The last twenty-four tattvas (13–36) are known as the ashuddha or 'impure' tattvas. The first of these is prakriti and they include the tattvas of mental operation, sensible experience, and materiality.
Vaishnavism
Within Puranic literatures and general Vaiśnava philosophy tattva is often used to denote certain categories or types of being or energies such as:
Viṣṇu-tattva
The Supreme God. The causative factor of everything including other Tattva(s).[citation needed]
In Gaudiya Vaishnava philosophy there are a total of five primary tattvas described in terms of living beings, which are collectively known as the Pancha Tattva and described as follows:
"Spiritually there are no differences between these five tattvas, for on the transcendental platform everything is absolute. Yet there are also varieties in the spiritual world, and in order to taste these spiritual varieties one should distinguish between them".[4]
Tantra
Air is blue circle. Earth is yellow square. Fire is red triangle. Water is silver crescent. Spirit is the black egg.
In Hindu tantrism there are five tattvas (pañcatattva) which create global energy cycles of tattvic tides beginning at dawn with Akasha and ending with Prithvi:[5]
Akasha (Spirit tattva) – symbolized by a black egg
Tejas (Fire tattva) – symbolized by a red triangle
Apas (Water tattva) – symbolized by a silver crescent
Prithvi (Earth tattva) – symbolized by a yellow square
Each complete cycle lasts two hours.[6] This system of five tattvas which each can be combined with another, was also adapted by the Golden Dawn (→Tattva vision).
Arthur Avalon (1918) [7] affirms that the five nectars of Tantra, Hindu and Buddhist traditions are directly related to the mahābhūta or Five Elements and that the pañcamakara is actually a vulgar term for the pañcatattva and affirms that this is cognate with Ganapuja:
Worship with the Pañcatattva generally takes place in a Chakra or circle composed of men and women, Sadhakas and Sadhikas, Bhairavas and Bhairavis sitting in a circle, the Shakti being on the Sadhaka's left. Hence it is called Chakrapuja. A Lord of the Chakra (Chakreshvara) presides sitting with his Shakti in the center. During the Chakra, there is no distinction of caste, but Pashus of any caste are excluded. There are various kinds of Chakra -- productive, it is said, of differing fruits for the participator therein. As amongst Tantrik Sadhakas we come across the high, the low, and mere pretenders, so the Chakras vary in their characteristics from say the Tattva-chakra for the Brahma-kaulas, and the Bhairavi-chakra (as described in Mahanirvana, VII. 153) in which, in lieu of wine, the householder fakes milk, sugar and honey (Madhura-traya), and in lieu of sexual union does meditation upon the Lotus Feet of the Divine Mother with Mantra, to Chakras the ritual of which will not be approved such as Cudachakra, Anandabhuvana-yoga and others referred to later.
"Chakrapuja" is cognate with Ganachakra or Ganachakrapuja.
The Siddha system of traditional medicine (Tamil: சித்த மருத்துவம், Citta maruttuvam) of ancient India was derived by Tamil Siddhas or the spiritual scientists of Tamil Nadu.[8] According to this tradition, the human body is composed of 96 constituent principles or tattvas. Siddhas fundamental principles never differentiated man from the universe. According to them, “Nature is man and man is nature and therefore both are essentially one. Man is said to be the microcosm and the Universe is Macrocosm, because what exists in the Universe exists in man.”[9]
Jain philosophy can be described in various ways, but the most acceptable tradition is to describe it in terms of the tattvas or fundamentals. Without knowing them one cannot progress towards liberation. According to major Jain text, Tattvarthsutra, these are:[10]
Each one of these fundamental principles are discussed and explained by Jain scholars in depth.[11] There are two examples that can be used to explain the above principle intuitively.
A man rides a wooden boat to reach the other side of the river. Now the man is Jiva, the boat is ajiva. Now the boat has a leak and water flows in. That incoming of water is Asrava and accumulating there is Bandha. Now the man tries to save the boat by blocking the hole. That blockage is Samvara and throwing the water outside is Nirjara. Now the man crosses the river and reaches his destination, Moksha.
Consider a family living in a house. One day, they were enjoying a fresh cool breeze coming through their open doors and windows of the house. However, the weather suddenly changed to a terrible dust storm. The family, realizing the storm, closed the doors and windows. But, by the time they could close all the doors and windows some of the dust had been blown into the house. After closing the doors and the windows, they started clearing the dust that had come in to make the house clean again.
This simple scenario can be interpreted as follows:
Jivas are represented by the living people.
Ajiva is represented by the house.
Asrava is represented by the influx of dust.
Bandha is represented by the accumulation of dust in the house.
Samvara is represented by the closing of the doors and windows to stop the accumulation of dust.
Nirjara is represented by the cleaning up of already collected dust from the house.
Moksha is represented by the cleaned house, which is similar to the shedding off all karmic particles from the soul.
In Buddhism the term dhamma/dharma is being used for the constitutional elements. Early Buddhist philosophy used several lists, such as namarupa and the five skandhas, to analyse reality. The Abhidhamma tradition elaborated on these lists, using over 100 terms to analyse reality.
^"tattva - of the truth" from BG 2.16 2007-02-23 at the Wayback Machine
^"Mahattattva, Mahat-tattva: 5 definitions". Wisdom Library. February 10, 2021. Mahattattva (महत्तत्त्व) or simply Mahat refers to a primordial principle of the nature of both pradhāna and puruṣa, according to the 10th century Saurapurāṇa: one of the various Upapurāṇas depicting Śaivism.—[...] From the disturbed prakṛti and the puruṣa sprang up the seed of mahat, which is of the nature of both pradhāna and puruṣa. The mahattattva is then covered by the pradhāna and being so covered it differentiates itself as the sāttvika, rājasa and tāmasa-mahat. The pradhāna covers the mahat just as a seed is covered by the skin. Being so covered there spring from the three fold mahat the threefold ahaṃkāra called vaikārika, taijasa and bhūtādi or tāmasa.
^Chaitanya Caritamrita, Adi-lila 7.5 2007-02-28 at the Wayback Machine
^Rama Prasad: Nature's Finer Forces. The Science of Breath and the Philosophy of the Tattvas. 1889 / Kessinger Publishing 2010, ISBN978-1162567242
^John Michael Greer: The New Encyclopedia of the Occult, Llewellyn Publications, 2003 (p. 470-471 [1])
Osto, Douglas (January 2018), "No-Self in Sāṃkhya: A Comparative Look at Classical Sāṃkhya and Theravāda Buddhism", Philosophy East and West, 68 (1): 201–222, doi:10.1353/pew.2018.0010, S2CID 171859396
Prasad, Ram (1997). Nature's Finer Forces: The Science of Breath and the Philosophy of the Tattvas. Kessinger. ISBN1-56459-803-9
Ramacharaka Yogi (1997). Science of Breath. Kessinger. ISBN1-56459-744-X
Singh, Jaideva (1979). Siva Sutras: The Yoga of Supreme Identity. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidas.
Avalon, Arthur (Sir John Woodroffe) (1918). Shakti and Shâkta. Full text available online: [3] (accessed: Monday July 9, 2007)
January 26, 2023
tattva, other, uses, disambiguation, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, schola. For other uses see Tattva disambiguation This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Tattva news newspapers books scholar JSTOR June 2021 Learn how and when to remove this template message According to various Indian schools of philosophy tattvas Sanskrit तत त व are the elements or aspects of reality that constitute human experience 1 In some traditions they are conceived as an aspect of deity Although the number of tattvas varies depending on the philosophical school together they are thought to form the basis of all our experience The Samkhya philosophy uses a system of 25 tattvas while Shaivism recognises 36 tattvas In Buddhism the equivalent is the list of dhammas which constitute reality as in Nama rupa Contents 1 Etymology 2 Hinduism 2 1 Samkhya 2 2 Shaivism 2 3 Vaishnavism 2 3 1 Gaudiya Vaishnavism 2 4 Tantra 2 4 1 Panchatattva in ganachakra and pancamakara 3 Ayyavazhi 4 Siddha medicine 5 Jainism 6 Buddhism 7 See also 8 References 9 SourcesEtymology EditTattva ˈ t ʌ t v e is a Sanskrit word meaning thatness principle reality or truth 2 Hinduism EditSamkhya Edit Main article Samkhya The Samkhya philosophy regards the Universe as consisting of two eternal realities Purusha and Prakrti It is therefore a strongly dualist philosophy The Purusha is the centre of consciousness whereas the Prakriti is the source of all material existence The twenty five tattva system of Samkhya concerns itself only with the tangible aspect of creation theorizing that Prakriti is the source of the world of becoming It is the first tattva and is seen as pure potentiality that evolves itself successively into twenty four additional tattvas or principles Shaivism Edit Main article Tattva Shaivism In Shaivism the tattvas are inclusive of consciousness as well as material existence The 36 tattvas of Shaivism are divided into three groups Shuddha tattvas The first five tattvas are known as the shuddha or pure tattvas They are also known as the tattvas of universal experience Shuddha ashuddha tattvas The next seven tattvas 6 12 are known as the shuddha ashuddha or pure impure tattvas They are the tattvas of limited individual experience Ashuddha tattvas The last twenty four tattvas 13 36 are known as the ashuddha or impure tattvas The first of these is prakriti and they include the tattvas of mental operation sensible experience and materiality Vaishnavism Edit Within Puranic literatures and general Vaisnava philosophy tattva is often used to denote certain categories or types of being or energies such as Viṣṇu tattva The Supreme God The causative factor of everything including other Tattva s citation needed Kṛṣṇa tattva Any incarnation or expansion of Sri Narayan Krishna citation needed Sakti Tattva The multifarious energies of Sri Kṛṣṇa It includes his internal potency Yoga Maya and material prakṛti citation needed Jiva tattva The living souls jivas Siva tattva Sri Siva excluding Rudra s is not considered to be a jiva citation needed Mahat tattva The total material energy prakṛti 3 Gaudiya Vaishnavism Edit Main article Pancha Tattva Vaishnavism In Gaudiya Vaishnava philosophy there are a total of five primary tattvas described in terms of living beings which are collectively known as the Pancha Tattva and described as follows Spiritually there are no differences between these five tattvas for on the transcendental platform everything is absolute Yet there are also varieties in the spiritual world and in order to taste these spiritual varieties one should distinguish between them 4 Tantra Edit Air is blue circle Earth is yellow square Fire is red triangle Water is silver crescent Spirit is the black egg In Hindu tantrism there are five tattvas pancatattva which create global energy cycles of tattvic tides beginning at dawn with Akasha and ending with Prithvi 5 Akasha Spirit tattva symbolized by a black egg Vayu Air tattva symbolized by a blue circle Tejas Fire tattva symbolized by a red triangle Apas Water tattva symbolized by a silver crescent Prithvi Earth tattva symbolized by a yellow squareEach complete cycle lasts two hours 6 This system of five tattvas which each can be combined with another was also adapted by the Golden Dawn Tattva vision Panchatattva in ganachakra and pancamakara Edit Main articles Ganachakra and Panchamakara Arthur Avalon 1918 7 affirms that the five nectars of Tantra Hindu and Buddhist traditions are directly related to the mahabhuta or Five Elements and that the pancamakara is actually a vulgar term for the pancatattva and affirms that this is cognate with Ganapuja Worship with the Pancatattva generally takes place in a Chakra or circle composed of men and women Sadhakas and Sadhikas Bhairavas and Bhairavis sitting in a circle the Shakti being on the Sadhaka s left Hence it is called Chakrapuja A Lord of the Chakra Chakreshvara presides sitting with his Shakti in the center During the Chakra there is no distinction of caste but Pashus of any caste are excluded There are various kinds of Chakra productive it is said of differing fruits for the participator therein As amongst Tantrik Sadhakas we come across the high the low and mere pretenders so the Chakras vary in their characteristics from say the Tattva chakra for the Brahma kaulas and the Bhairavi chakra as described in Mahanirvana VII 153 in which in lieu of wine the householder fakes milk sugar and honey Madhura traya and in lieu of sexual union does meditation upon the Lotus Feet of the Divine Mother with Mantra to Chakras the ritual of which will not be approved such as Cudachakra Anandabhuvana yoga and others referred to later Chakrapuja is cognate with Ganachakra or Ganachakrapuja Ayyavazhi EditMain article Tattva Ayyavazhi Tattvas are the 96 qualities or properties of human body according to Akilattirattu Ammanai the religious book of Ayyavazhi Siddha medicine EditMain article Tattva Siddha medicine The Siddha system of traditional medicine Tamil ச த த மர த த வம Citta maruttuvam of ancient India was derived by Tamil Siddhas or the spiritual scientists of Tamil Nadu 8 According to this tradition the human body is composed of 96 constituent principles or tattvas Siddhas fundamental principles never differentiated man from the universe According to them Nature is man and man is nature and therefore both are essentially one Man is said to be the microcosm and the Universe is Macrocosm because what exists in the Universe exists in man 9 Jainism EditMain article Tattva Jainism Jain philosophy can be described in various ways but the most acceptable tradition is to describe it in terms of the tattvas or fundamentals Without knowing them one cannot progress towards liberation According to major Jain text Tattvarthsutra these are 10 Jiva Souls and living things Ajiva Non living things Asrava Influx of karma Bandha The bondage of karma Samvara The stoppage of influx of karma Nirjara Shedding of karma Moksha Liberation or SalvationEach one of these fundamental principles are discussed and explained by Jain scholars in depth 11 There are two examples that can be used to explain the above principle intuitively A man rides a wooden boat to reach the other side of the river Now the man is Jiva the boat is ajiva Now the boat has a leak and water flows in That incoming of water is Asrava and accumulating there is Bandha Now the man tries to save the boat by blocking the hole That blockage is Samvara and throwing the water outside is Nirjara Now the man crosses the river and reaches his destination Moksha Consider a family living in a house One day they were enjoying a fresh cool breeze coming through their open doors and windows of the house However the weather suddenly changed to a terrible dust storm The family realizing the storm closed the doors and windows But by the time they could close all the doors and windows some of the dust had been blown into the house After closing the doors and the windows they started clearing the dust that had come in to make the house clean again This simple scenario can be interpreted as follows Jivas are represented by the living people Ajiva is represented by the house Asrava is represented by the influx of dust Bandha is represented by the accumulation of dust in the house Samvara is represented by the closing of the doors and windows to stop the accumulation of dust Nirjara is represented by the cleaning up of already collected dust from the house Moksha is represented by the cleaned house which is similar to the shedding off all karmic particles from the soul Buddhism EditMain articles Abhidharma and Dharma theory In Buddhism the term dhamma dharma is being used for the constitutional elements Early Buddhist philosophy used several lists such as namarupa and the five skandhas to analyse reality The Abhidhamma tradition elaborated on these lists using over 100 terms to analyse reality See also EditMahabhuta Pancha Bhoota Achintya Bheda Abheda Tattva vision Tat Tvam Asi Tathata Buddhism References Edit Osto 2018 p 204 205 tattva of the truth from BG 2 16 Archived 2007 02 23 at the Wayback Machine Mahattattva Mahat tattva 5 definitions Wisdom Library February 10 2021 Mahattattva महत तत त व or simply Mahat refers to a primordial principle of the nature of both pradhana and puruṣa according to the 10th century Saurapuraṇa one of the various Upapuraṇas depicting Saivism From the disturbed prakṛti and the puruṣa sprang up the seed of mahat which is of the nature of both pradhana and puruṣa The mahattattva is then covered by the pradhana and being so covered it differentiates itself as the sattvika rajasa and tamasa mahat The pradhana covers the mahat just as a seed is covered by the skin Being so covered there spring from the three fold mahat the threefold ahaṃkara called vaikarika taijasa and bhutadi or tamasa Chaitanya Caritamrita Adi lila 7 5 Archived 2007 02 28 at the Wayback Machine Rama Prasad Nature s Finer Forces The Science of Breath and the Philosophy of the Tattvas 1889 Kessinger Publishing 2010 ISBN 978 1162567242 John Michael Greer The New Encyclopedia of the Occult Llewellyn Publications 2003 p 470 471 1 Source 2 accessed Monday July 9 2007 Team visits Government Siddha Medical College Archived 2013 11 05 at the Wayback Machine The Hindu Saturday 20 Feb 2010 Siddha a unique system Dr R Kannan Jain 2011 p 3 Mehta T U Path of Arhat A Religious Democracy Volume 63 Page 112 Faridabad Pujya Sohanalala Smaraka Parsvanatha Sodhapitha 1993 Sources EditJain Vijay K 2011 Acharya Umasvami s Tattvarthsutra Vikalp Printers ISBN 978 81 903639 2 1 Non Copyright Osto Douglas January 2018 No Self in Saṃkhya A Comparative Look at Classical Saṃkhya and Theravada Buddhism Philosophy East and West 68 1 201 222 doi 10 1353 pew 2018 0010 S2CID 171859396 Prasad Ram 1997 Nature s Finer Forces The Science of Breath and the Philosophy of the Tattvas Kessinger ISBN 1 56459 803 9 Ramacharaka Yogi 1997 Science of Breath Kessinger ISBN 1 56459 744 X Singh Jaideva 1979 Siva Sutras The Yoga of Supreme Identity Delhi Motilal Banarsidas Avalon Arthur Sir John Woodroffe 1918 Shakti and Shakta Full text available online 3 accessed Monday July 9 2007 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Tattva amp oldid 1132277298, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
