Śivasaṃhitā 1.67

Māyā as the sole and sufficient cosmogonic principle. This verse is the Śivasaṃhitā’s response to pluralist systems that posit multiple independent principles. There is no primordial matter separate from Spirit, no external creator God: only māyā—the illusory potency of the Absolute—is sufficient to generate the apparent multiplicity of beings.

The term viśvajananī (mother of the universe, she who generates the world) gives māyā a feminine and generative character. Tattvadhiyā (with understanding of the tattvas, of real principles) indicates that whoever knows the true nature of the tattvas recognizes māyā as the only source. The single Spirit appears diversified into father, son, teacher, disciple: differentiations of a single being.

The doctrine that the universe is ‘māyā’s play’ (māyā-vilasita) is fundamental in both Advaita Vedānta and Śaiva Tantrism. However, both schools interpret it differently: for Śaṅkara, māyā is inexplicable (anirvacanīya); for Śaiva Tantrics, māyā is Śiva’s own śakti unfolding. The yogi who destroys māyā does not annihilate the world but the error of identifying with it.