Śivasaṃhitā 1.80

The complete catalogue of sensory qualities as a map of the experiential universe. Each element is not an abstraction but a texture of experience: ether as resonant space, air as mobile caress, fire as ardent vision, water as nourishing taste, earth as rooted fragrance. This map is not for memorizing: it is for feeling and recognizing in each sensation the same Consciousness.

Śabda-sparśa-rūpa-rasa-gandha are the pañca-tanmātra (the five subtle elements of perception), corresponding respectively to ākāśa, vāyu, agni, āpas, and pṛthivī. When māyā operates without cit (consciousness, the spirit’s light), it is acit—matter without soul—and becomes the ‘dark night’ (andhakarāyate) of ignorance. The difference between illuminated and dark māyā is the recognition of the consciousness that animates it.

The list of tanmātra (subtle perceptions) that appears here is the technical vocabulary of Sāṃkhya cosmology adopted by the Śivasaṃhitā. But the text adds a dimension that Sāṃkhya does not have: the quality of māyā depends on whether it is illuminated by Consciousness or not. This has direct practical implications for yoga: the same sensations can be veils or windows, depending on the level of attention that accompanies them.