Satyam – Shivam – Sundaram Act I – IV 2016 Acrylic on paper 190 x 140mm
This work is symbolises a scene in the conceptual reality described in the Brahma-saṁhitā, where the womb of Māyā is being penetrated by the glance of Śrī Viṣṇu.
The fundamental fabric of reality revealed in the Veda is consciousness, Sat – Chit – Ananda. Consciousness is it’s most concentrated state is personality and concentrated personality takes form of Sat – Chit – Ananda.
The personality of the glance of Viṣṇu entering the material energy is revealed to be Shiva.
This is a very different type of creation narrative, that focuses upon consciousness as the predominating principle, not matter and the phantasmagoria of the material world is a by product of the ripples of consciousness.
In His form of Viṣṇu, Kṛṣṇa casts His glance upon māyā. Through His glance He throws His power, His liṅgam [male potency] into prakṛti, the material nature.
Tal-liṅgaṁ Bhagavān Śambhur (Bs: 5.8)
The personification of that reproductive potency thrown by Viṣṇu is Śambhu, Lord Śiva.
~ Swāmī. B.S Govinda
When Viṣṇu casts His glance over māyā, the form of Śambhu appears, and it is Śambhu who directly touches māyā, the material energy. Through Śambhu, Viṣṇu’s neutral power made up of the jīva-souls enters into the womb of material nature and comes out in a divided way in millions and millions of parts. In this way all the jīva-souls enter into the material world and activate the material energy.
In Vaisnava ontology Shiva Tattva ~ the Truth of Shiva is considered very hard to understand because He is the personality of the divine directly interacting with the illusionary energy ~ personified as the Goddess Māyādevī. The Jiva Souls are entwined within this relationship as they pass through countless incarnations in the wheel of Samskara, searching for their eternal identity and connection within the divine play.
As an artist I find this realm fascinating as understanding of the dance of conscious intent into the material energy is integral in your practice. The transition from the formless realm into the beautiful chaos of abstraction that can be focused through mark making to create forms of art.
Artist work within the framework of their conception of reality in the stories they tell, the works they create, and the gift of Satyam – Shivam – Sundaram is a beautiful one.
Satyam is the land of the conception of existence, Śivam is the land of good, and Sundaram is the land of beauty. Śivam means maṅgalam, that is, that which is safe from mortality—unassailable existence. There is existence in mortality; the material energy also exists.
But there is a land where there is no death, and that is considered to be śivam or maṅgalam. And sundaram is the positive life of attraction. One aspires to live such a life. Sundaram is a life worth living.There is such a land in the highest quarter. Mahāprabhu and Bhāgavatam called us for that: “Here is a soil, and you are a child of that soil. If you analyse yourself deeply, you will find that you are a child of that soil. You are not created for this land where you are always suffering from uncertainty and apprehension.
~ Swāmī. B.R Śrīdhar
Apprehension and uncertainty are always troubling you; you must cross beyond them, go up, and you will find śivam—no apprehension, but the positive life. If you really like to have it, you will have to enter into the area of Goloka, the land of beauty and love.
No consideration of calculation, no necessity of calculation or anything else. There, no fraud or deception can ever be dreamed of, so calculation and reasoning have no place at all. Automatically, all is good, all is fulfillment.
