Śivasaṃhitā 1.75

The cosmological section reaches its synthesis: everything proceeds from Consciousness. The elements, beings, gods, worlds—the entire architecture of the universe—are manifestations of the intelligence that is Śiva. Cosmogony does not lead to irreducible plurality but back to the unity of origin. Understanding this is beginning the inversion of the process, the return.

Māyā operates through two complementary śaktis: vikṣepa (the potency of projection, which throws diversity outward) and āvaraṇa (the potency of concealment, which veils the true nature). These two forces explain both the creation of the universe and individual ignorance: the same energy that projects the world veils the reality of the projector. The yogi works with both directly.

The vikṣepa-āvaraṇa pair is fundamental in Śaṅkara’s Vivekacūḍāmaṇi, where it describes the two aspects of māyā’s power. Āvaraṇa is the veil that obscures knowledge of the ātman; vikṣepa is the projection that creates the illusion of a multiple world. Yogic practice acts on both: śravaṇa and manana combat āvaraṇa; nididhyāsana and samādhi dissolve vikṣepa.