Śaiva Teachings

The Vāyavīya Saṃhitā of the Śiva Purāṇa teaches the eight-limbed path of yoga as a way to union with Śiva through dhyāna, meditation.

The Pañcabrahma are Śiva's five great forms, Sadyojāta, Vāmadeva, Aghora, Tatpurusha and Īśāna, through whom he creates, sustains, dissolves, conceals and gives grace.

The Pañcākshara mantra, Namaḥ Śivāya, is the highest mantra of the Śaiva tradition. The Vāyavīya Saṃhitā calls it the very name and body of Śiva, open to all.

Pañcāvaraṇa pūjā is the fullest form of Śiva pūjā in the Vāyavīya Saṃhitā, honouring all the devatās in five rings around the Śivaliṅga as the body of Śiva.

Paśu-Pāśa-Pati is the basic Śaiva teaching of three realities: the bound soul (paśu), its bonds (pāśa), and Śiva, the Pati, who sets it free.

Shaḍadhva, the six paths, is the Śaiva map of all existence in six levels, purified during dīkshā to free the soul from bondage at every level.

In Śaiva teaching, dīkshā is the initiation through which Śiva, working through a true guru, cuts the soul's bond and plants the seed of liberation.

In the Vāyuvīya Saṃhitā the Śivaliṅga is more than a sacred form: the liṅga is Māyā, the source of the world, and the liṅgī who bears it is Śiva, pure consciousness.

Śivaliṅga Pratishṭhā is the ritual that installs a Śivaliṅga for lasting pūjā, turning a stone or metal form into the living presence of Śiva.

The Vāyuvīya Saṃhitā is the seventh and last part of the Śiva Mahāpurāṇa, told by Vāyu to the ṛshis of Naimishāraṇya. It sets out the whole Śaiva path.

The Vāyuvīya Saṃhitā names twenty-eight avatāras of Śiva as human teachers of yoga in the present manvantara, each with four disciples, from Śveta to Lakulīśvara.