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Tattva 7 — Limited Agency (Kalā)

The first cloak: infinite divine power narrowed to 'I can do only so much.'

Kalā is the first of five 'cloaks' that wrap the contracted self once it falls below the veil of māyā. It curtails the divine's unlimited creative power down to the limited capacity-to-act of an individual: where Śiva can do anything, the bound self can do only a little. This is the seed of the feeling 'I can do only so much' — the infinite power of action narrowed to a finite agency.

How it traveled

  1. Tantrasāra
    Śrīnagara (Srinagar), Kashmir · 1000
    explains

Key passages(7)

Tantrasāra · Abhinavagupta

Very high

Tantrasāra · Abhinavagupta

High

Śiva-sūtra · Vasugupta

High

Chāndogya Upaniṣad · Vedic Revelation (śruti)

High

The Hamsa said: 'Friend, I will declare unto you one foot of Brahman.' 'Declare it, Sir,' he replied. He said to him: 'Fire is one quarter, the sun is one quarter, the moon is one quarter, lightning i

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Vijñāna-bhairava · Anonymous (Bhairava Āgama / Tantra)

High

Spanda-kārikā · Bhaṭṭa Kallaṭa

Moderate

Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad · Vedic Revelation (śruti)

Moderate

Those who know him who is to be grasped by the mind, who is not to be called the nest (the body ), who makes existence and non-existence, the happy one (Siva), who also creates the elements , they hav

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