Essential Nature of the Great Lord

The essential nature of the great Lord (Parameshvara) is the fullness of His consciousness. This fullness of consciousness is His Shakti, which is known as body (kula), capacity (samarthya), wave (urmi), heart (hrdaya), essence (sara), vibration (spanda), glory of power (vibhuti), the three-formed Goddess (Trishika), the cause of kalana (Kali), one who minimizes (Karsini), dreadful (Chandi), speech (vani), enjoyment (bhoga), knowledge (drk), and the superintending Deity of lunar phases (Nitya). This Shakti is expressed by these and other appellations based on various grammatical, derivations, which are technical terms used in the Agamas. Let this Shakti abide in any of these forms in the heart of a meditator. If this Shakti is viewed collectively, as consisting of the totality of all Shaktis, the fullness of consciousness becomes manifest. The Lord possesses innumerable dynamic Shaktis. What more can we say? The entire universe is His Shakti. Therefore, it is impossible to enumerate all of them in this instruction.

However, the whole universe can be summed up under three main Shaktis. The supreme energy (Parashakti) of the Lord is that Shakti by means of which this universe, beginning with Shiva and ending with earth principle (prithivi tattva), is born, seen, and manifested by the Lord in indeterminate consciousness. Paraparashakti of the Lord is that Shakti by means of which He projects the universe just like the reflection of an elephant, etc., in a mirror: as different-cum-nondifferent. The glorious Aparashakti is that Shakti by means of which He manifests this differentiated universe, in which all these objects appear as different from one another.

Tantrasara of Abhinavagupta, Chapter 4  

H.N. Chakravarty, 2012

OM Sauh Parayai Namah