Tattva
Tattva (IAST)Translation: "principle / that-ness"
A Concise Dictionary of Indian Philosophy
Sanskrit: तत्त्व
Transliteration: Tattva
Translation: "category; truth; the essence of things; reality; principle; “that-ness” (from tat – the nominizing suffix + tvam – “ness”)"
Definition:- It is the essence of anything. It is a thing’s essential being, Its “that-ness.”
- Each school in Indian philosophy names a certain number of elements (Tattva) as fundamentals in its system of thought. Advaita Vedānta lists two (from the empirical, relative point of view): Tat and Tvam. Sāṅkhya lists twenty-five Tanmātra, the five Mahābhūta, the five Karmendriya, the five Jñānendriya, Manas, and Puruṣa. Kashmir Shaivism lists thirty-six: Śiva, Śakti, Sadāśiva (Sādākhya), Īśvara, Śuddha-Vidyā, Māyā, Kāla, Nyati, Rāga, Vidyā, Kalā, Puruṣa, Prakṛti, Buddhi, Ahaṅkāra, Manas, five Karmendriya, five Jñānendriya, five Tanmātra, and five Mahābhūta.
- That which is the essence of each stage of manifestation. The process of creation, according to Kashmir Shaivism, contains thirty-six Tattva: Śiva, Śakti, Sadāśiva, Īśvara, Śuddhāvidyā, Māyā Tattva, Pañca Kañcukas (the five cloaks), Puruṣa (individual soul), Prakṛti (primordial nature, the basic stuff of the material universe), Buddhi (intellect), Ahaṅkāra (ego), Manas (mind), the five powers of sense perception, the five powers of action, the five Tanmātra or rudimentary elements, and the five gross elements. These comprise creation from Śiva to the earth.
The Science of Yoga (I.K. Taimni)
"The word Tattva as used in the Hindu philosophical systems is one of great and subtle significance. Literally, it means ‘that-ness’. The essential quality of a thing which distinguishes it from all other things constitutes its ‘that-ness’ and so the word Tattva stands for the essential qualities which are embodied in different measures in different things. Instead of a quality, a Tattva may also mean a principle which is embodied in a number of things in different degrees which acquire on this account a sameness of nature in certain matters though differing in degree and mode of expression. Tattva may also refer to a function and ‘that-ness’ in this case may consist in a group of things having a common function. But this must be a particular function common to a number of things though differing in degree and manner of expression.
It will be seen therefore that Tattva is a word of very comprehensive meaning and cannot be translated by any single word in English. Its significance is based really upon the fundamental doctrine of Hindu philosophy according to which the manifested Universe is an emanation of an Ultimate Reality, which pervades and energizes it all the time, everywhere. When the manifested Universe comes into being there must be underlying it a vast number of principles, functions, laws etc. which serve as the foundation for the ever-changing phenomena which constitute the World Process. Without such laws, principles and functions the manifested Universe could not be a Cosmos but would be a chaos which we know it is not. These different fundamental modes of expressions which define the relations of different parts to one another, determine their mutual actions and reactions and ensure a harmonious, ordered and continuous World Process are the Tattva of Hindu philosophy. Though these Tattva are innumerable they are not unrelated to one another, because they are all derived by progressive differentiation from the One Principle which constitutes the very essence of Divine nature. Though they differ from each other and sometimes counteract each other they form an integrated whole in which each Tattva is harmonized and balanced by its opposite. When Pralaya takes place and the manifested Universe disappears these Tattva are resolved into their Ultimate source to remain there in their balanced and latent state until another Universe is born and the World Process begins again."
References:
- Grimes, John (1996). A Concise Dictionary of Indian Philosophy: Sanskrit Terms Defined in English. Albany: State University of New York Press
- Taimni, I. K. (1975). The Science of Yoga: The Yoga-Sūtras of Patañjali in Sanskrit with Transliteration in Roman, Translation in English and Commentary: Theosophical Publishing House. p. 311-312
