Sanatkumāra’s Bhāgavata Tantra: Tattvas, Māyā-Bonds, Embodiment, and the Necessity of Dīkṣā
शक्तयः करणं चात्र मायोपादानमिष्यते । नित्यैका च शिवा शक्त्या ह्यनादिनिधना सती ॥ ४३ ॥
śaktayaḥ karaṇaṃ cātra māyopādānamiṣyate | nityaikā ca śivā śaktyā hyanādinidhanā satī || 43 ||
此处教示:诸种神力(śakti)为运作之器,而摩耶(Māyā)被承认为质料因。然而,湿婆女神(Śivā)——唯一且永恒——作为湿婆之力而存在,真实无始无终。
Sanatkumara (teaching Narada in a doctrinal exposition)
Vrata: none
Primary Rasa: shanta
Secondary Rasa: adbhuta
It distinguishes levels of causality: śaktis function as the operative instruments of manifestation, Māyā is treated as the material basis of the world-process, and yet the supreme Śivā-Śakti is affirmed as eternal—beginningless and endless—pointing the seeker toward the unconditioned reality beyond change.
By presenting Śivā-Śakti as the ever-abiding divine principle behind all powers and appearances, it supports devotion that is not limited to transient results; bhakti is directed to the eternal source (Śiva with Śakti) rather than to merely worldly expressions of power governed by Māyā.
It uses precise doctrinal causality terms (karaṇa, upādāna) important for śāstric reasoning as applied in Vedānta-style analysis; the takeaway is learning to classify causes—instrumental vs material—so one does not mistake Māyā’s products for the eternal principle.