Let us start with Prakahsa. Prakasha is cit and is self illuminating. It does not require the second for creation. It has created by its own will Vimarsha or shakthi or citi. Prakasha and Vimarsha combine is called the Absolute. Prakasha is just witnessing the activities of Vimarsha. But without Prakasha the creation of this universe is not possible, as its creation Vimarsha alone causes further creation. This universe is not possible without these two. That is why both put together is called the Absolute. To understand Prakasha we have to first understand the Vimarsha. As said earlier, Vimarsha causes further creation of this universe. Vimarsha creates the universe with maya. Maya is the combination of energies, or otherwise called shakthies. From vimarsha maya takes over.

We have discussed earlier about maya’s five components namely saadaakyam to prakrthi. Maya is illusion. Maya makes us not to understand the Absolute. It covers the Absolute. By its attractive covering, we are deceived. Instead of understanding the Self inside, our attention gets distracted to various earthly activities, instead of divine activities. At this stage, we do not have time or inclination to seek our inner Self. Purusha and prakrthi joining together induces the 24 tatwas. Out of this 24, anthakkaranam is important. As we know, anthakkaranam is made up of four namely manas, buddhi, chitam and ahankaram. That is mind, intellect, consciousness and ego. This has been discussed in self realisation. These cause attachment to the worldly objects. The net result is that we continue to have ego that is ‘I’ and ‘this’. For example we say the car is mine. We continue to be ignorant about the Self within. Instead, we spend more time with worldly things. We go to movies, watch TV or we get worried about our sons or daughters or parents, etc. We fall in love and develop sentiments. We never realise that all these will cease to exist later. Today the car is there, tomorrow the car may not be there due to various reasons. The car is mine today and tomorrow it may not be mine. Whatever is not permanent today, we feel that they are permanent. Anthakkaranam plays a major role here. How anthakkaranam acts? It acts through the other 20 tatwas.

These 20 tatwas was discussed under Self Realisation postings. Let us take the example of the car. Seeing another car is the starting point of buying a car for ourselves. Seeing is the job jnanaenthriam. Eyes are aiding us to see the car. We open the door of the car and touch the steering, gear, etc. Then we talk about the car to our family members and friends to have their view on a particular brand. The activities like seeing, touching, talking and hearing etc are the result of panchabhudas. Except Prakasha, everything is controlled by maya only. The maya makes us to identify ourselves with ‘this’. In other words ‘I’ is identifying the ‘this’. Subject is identifying the object that is perishable, or which may not exist at a later date. Maya is the embodiment of diversity around us. Maya never identifies itself with bliss or ananda. This is the reason for distraction from the Supreme Self. Moreover, to identify with the Supreme Self, we have to see internally. But maya makes us to identify with external objects. We rejoice with the external objects. In our happiness, we do not see within. When we identify ourselves with external objects, happiness and sorrow are the result. The whole thing is the work of maya. In order to identify ourselves with the Supreme Self, we have to first remove the maya. Let us see how?