After having said that the Yogī experiences Bliss while attaining the highest state, what this can do with his will power, explains this sūtra.

Icchāśaktirumā kumārī इच्छाशक्तिरुमा कुमारी (sūtra I.13)

This sūtra is to be split into – icchāśakti + umā + kumārī.

Icchāśakti – the energy or the power of will; umā – splendour of Śiva or the power of Śiva; kumārī – a maiden.

In this sūtra (aphorism), icchāśakti refers to the will power of the Yogī. This Yogī always stands united with Śiva. In other words, there is no difference between the consciousness of this Yogī and the consciousness of Śiva. Śiva is full of cit śakti and ānanda śakti. According to the thirty six tattva-s, first tattva Śiva is cit śakti and the second tattva, Śakti is full of ānanda śakti. As Śiva and Śakti are the same, Śiva is said to be full of cit śakti and ānanda śakti.   This means that Śiva is full of energies of consciousness and bliss and they are inseparable in Him. This has been explained in detail in sūtra I.1. In fact, the icchāśakti of Śiva comes immediately after cit śakti and ānanda śakti. When theYogī is perpetually united with Him, the Yogī’s consciousness is not different from Śiva’s consciousness. Obviously, if two jars of water are mixed, the water of both the jugs becomes one.

The Yogī, by his sheer will power, also known as icchāśakti, aligns his consciousness with that of Śiva. What happens if the Yogī’s consciousness is united with Śiva’s consciousness? The Yogī realizes the splendour of Śiva, referred here as umā. Umā comprises of U + mā, where U meansŚiva and mā means Śakti, the svātantrya śakti of Śiva. It is this svātantrya śakti that forms all His five śakti-s - cit śakti (cit means foundational consciousness), ānanda śakti, icchā śakti, jñāna śakti and kriyā śakti. Therefore, umā refers to svātantrya śakti of Śiva, which is also explained as the splendour of Śiva.

Kumārī is interpreted in several ways. If taken as Umā kumārī, it then refers to Śakti, the independent power of Śiva, His svātantrya śakti. As far as this sūtra is concerned, kumārī is used to mean the destruction of duality, also known as māyā.  The Yogī, by his will power is able to align himself with the cit of Śiva, because, the influence of māyā in him has been completely withdrawn by Her. Kumārī also means a virgin. In that sense, Śakti is referred here as a virgin because, She has established Herself with Śiva, as svātantrya śakti of Śiva, which is unique and not available to anyone else.

It is primarily the will power or icchāśakti of the Yogī that is highlighted in this sūtra. His will power is totally different from the will power of others, because the Yogī’s will power has become one with Śiva Himself and therefore it is totally unobstructed, free from the influence of his mind.  His mind remains as transparent as Śiva Himself, as his mind is totally pervaded by Śiva. He sees Śiva everywhere and universal consciousness dawns on him. The above interpretation is based on non-dualistic point of view also known as abheda (non-dualism) and comes under śāmbhavopāya. Śāmbhavopāya is the means that exists in icchāśakti.  

Kṣemarāja also interprets this sūtra from bhedābheda (monism cum dualism) and bheda (dualism) points of view. Bhedābheda comes under śāktopāya. Here kumārī is used to mean the destroyer ofmāyā. Śakti, as the svātantrya śakti of Śiva referred here as kumārī, is the destroyer of māyā in the mind of the Yogī. Ku (out of kumārī) refers to the act of destruction and mārī (from the word māra) means the one, who destroys the effects of māyā. In other words, the destroyer and the act of destruction are known as kumārī. This is called bhedābheda (bheda + abheda) because duality and non-duality exist together. She is called kumārī or virgin, because She always remains in Her own nature (duality, because she at this state is different from Śiva), enjoying the Cit (of Śiva) (non-duality). Hence, She remains in Her own self.

The third interpretation, bheda (dualism) comes under āṇavopāya. In āṇavopāya one has to continue with his practice to remain united with Śiva. Here the word Umā is taken to mean the consort of Śiva, who severely practiced austerities to become one with Śiva. Since Śiva and Umā are considered as different before their union, this explanation comes under bheda or dualism.

The three interpretations affect the means or upāya of Yogī’s power or energy of will.  Spanda Kārikā (I.8) says, “A jīva (individual soul) cannot drive away the desire without coming into contact with the Power of the Self, known as svātantrya śakti. But by connecting to His power, he becomes the Self.” This means that without Śakti’s approval, one cannot attain Him.  That is why, Lalitā Sahasranāma (a non-dualistic Scripture) (nāma 727) says, “śiva-jñāna pradāyinī”, which means She imparts knowledge of Śiva, the Absolute.

There is difference between māyā śakti and svātantrya śakti. The former belongs to jīva-s and the latter is the universal energy.