Tattvas

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.

Etymology

Tattva (/ˈtʌtvə/) is a Sanskrit word meaning 'thatness', 'principle', 'reality' or 'truth'.^[2]

Hinduism

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.^{[citation needed]}

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.^{[citation needed]}
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]}
Kṛṣṇa-tattva
Any incarnation or expansion of Śrī Narayan / Krishna.^{[citation needed]}
Śakti-Tattva
The multifarious energies of Śrī Kṛṣṇa. It includes his internal potency, Yoga Maya, and material prakṛti.^{[citation needed]}
Jīva-tattva
The living souls (jivas).
Śiva-tattva
Śrī Śiva (excluding Rudra(s)) is not considered to be a jiva.^{[citation needed]}
Mahat-tattva
The total material energy (prakṛti).^[3]

Gaudiya 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

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
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 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).

Panchatattva in ganachakra and pañcamakara

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.

Ayyavazhi

Tattvas are the 96 qualities or properties of human body according to Akilattirattu Ammanai, the religious book of Ayyavazhi.

Siddha medicine

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]

Jainism

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