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Freedom in Saiva Siddhanta is not the soul disappearing into God. It is the soul, free of its bonds, living in Siva's presence forever, in love and service.
✦One, and yet two
Siddhanta teaches that the freed soul is never lost. The soul is eternal, so it cannot cease to be. When freed, it is so united with Siva that it is never apart from Him, yet it is still itself. This is the Siddhanta meaning of : "not two", meaning inseparable, not "one and the same".
Other schools hear "not two" differently. Advaita Vedanta, for one, teaches that the self was never truly separate from Brahman, and that freedom is knowing this; nothing is lost, because the separation was never real. Siddhanta holds that the Lord and the soul are two, and inseparable. To see the two readings side by side, in their own words, read "I am That".
✦Free while living
A soul can be freed while still in the body: . The body continues until the karma that shaped it has run its course, but the freed one no longer acts from "I" and "mine". They act as Siva's instrument, in , "the Lord's service", and they honour Siva's devotees, the , as Siva Himself.
Sanchitam
karma stored from past births
burned by grace
Prarabdham
karma already bearing fruit in this life
lived out
Agamiyam
new karma being made now
after grace, none is made
Bound lifenew karma added every day
Free while livingonly prarabdham remains; no new karma
After the body fallsfreedom without a body
The gold line: the moment grace descends
Grace burns the stored karma and no new karma is made; only the karma that shaped this body is lived out, and the body continues until it is spent.Tirumular, Tirumantiram, verse 270 (numbering differs between editions)
Rendering: The unknowing say that love and Siva are two. No one knows that love itself is Siva. Once they know that love itself is Siva, they rest in love, as Siva.
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