Lakṣmī Tantra Chapter 12—The Fivefold Divine Functions
Channel: Consciousness Research Centre
Date: 01/12/2020

This series is classified Vivartha-vāda | Rāja-yoga | Suśupti | Viśuddhi-cakra
Śakra: “O Saroruhā (lotus-goddess), if the beginningless jīva is Thy power of pure consciousness, why does it suffer from the effects of kleśa, karma and āśaya? What are these kleśas? How many are they? What is the nature of deeds and how do they operate? What is āśaya, O Goddess, and what are its consequences? O daughter of the ocean, I bow down to Thee again and again. O omniscient Goddess, Thou alone canst explain these to me.” [12.1–3]
Śrī: “I am Goddess Nārāyaṇī consisting of pure and infinite consciousness; I am Viṣṇu’s independent and absolute Śrī. I have created two distinct categories: one relates to Īśa, the Lord; the other to īśitavya: that which is governed. Again, on My own initiative I have split up the īśitavya into two groups, through the power of consciousness evolving on one hand as bhoktṛ, the enjoyer and on the other, as bhogya, the object enjoyed. In this latter group I again make two classifications—kāla and kālya: time, and those influenced by it.” [12.4–6]
“Between time and those influenced by it, the Śakti representing kālya acts as a temptress. She captivates, and is at the same time the primordial source, prakṛti. Bhoktṛ, the Śakti of consciousness is fettered by Her and by all Her vikārāḥ (evolutions). There are five ways in which the Śakti of consciousness bhoktṛ is subjected to suffering; and these five are called kleśas. Now hear their names: tamas, moha, mahāmoha, the darkness called andha, and avidyā. These are the five phases of the supreme course of kleśa: darkness or illusion. Though the Śakti of consciousness is essentially aloof, pure and changeless, She manifests Herself in a form that is affected by kleśa.” [12.7–10]
Śakra: “l find the notion of connecting the Śakti of consciousness with kleśa confusing. My mind is baffled. O Padmajā, please dispel my confusion.” 
Śrī: “I am the eternal, independent Śakti of Nārāyaṇa—the source of all achievement, the mysterious Goddess, continuously engaged in creating. O king of the gods, I have five ever-existing functions: tirobhāva, sṛṣṭi, sthiti, saṁhṛti and anugraha. O Śakra, hear a systematic description of these functions. 
Tirobhāva is said to be appearing differently, disguising one’s own nature. That particular śakti of Mine called tirobhāva is also known as avidyā-śakti. Through Her influence my cit-śakti, the śakti of consciousness called the enjoyer, though pure by nature, is affected by prakṛti. Tirobhāva is the influence of nescience covering the real nature of Self, which leads to all sorts of false notions of individuality, agency and involvement.” [12.11–16]
“In accordance with My firm resolve I differentiated Myself; I have already revealed to you the descending order of My differentiated forms [in Chapter 5]. Cit-śakti is called jīva (the individual self) by the learned. Its multiplicity is due to My own free will. The supreme avidyā-śakti, referred to as tirobhāva, is the śakti by which I identify My modification caitya—created by Me in accordance with My firm resolve—with cit-śakti (cognition). Tirobhāva has five components, now hear Me describe them. Tamas is indeed its first component, named avidyā. It represents the element of cognition whereby the jīva identifies itself with material objects other than souls or the Self inherent in the jīva.” [12.17–21]
“This tamas or avidyā is regarded as the jīva’s ego (sva) and self-consciousness (aham). When a material object is identified with the self-consciousness of the jīva, the ego-consciousness thereby originated is the second component of kleśa: mahāmoha, also referred to as asmitā. The identification of consciousness with material objects through the influence of avidyā is termed moha, asmitā and mahāmoha. Vāsanā (impressions) combined with asmitā, which causes pleasant recollections, is called rāga, whose objects are pleasant things; and that is the third component of kleśa.

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