Śivasaṃhitā 1.83

Cosmic involution and non-dual vision are presented here together: the universe dissolves (in its cosmic aspect) and all gods are seen in Spirit (in its spiritual aspect). Both perspectives point to the same thing: multiplicity is provisional. The process of involution (pralaya) is not only a cosmological doctrine but the description of what happens in deep meditation when the elements dissolve into pure consciousness.

Śīrṇā (disintegrated, fragmented, dissolved) describes earth returning to water; magna (submerged, absorbed) describes water returning to fire. The sequence pṛthvī → jala → tejas → vāyu → vyoman (earth → water → fire → air → ether) is the reversal of creation. Paramātmani (in the great Ātman, in the Supreme Spirit) is where all gods—Śiva, Brahmā, Viṣṇu—are finally seen as manifestations.

This inclusive vision that places even Śiva within the Paramātman is significant: the Śivasaṃhitā is not a narrow Śaiva text that privileges Śiva over other gods. It is a non-dual text that places the Absolute beyond all particular form, including that of Śiva. The true Śiva of the text is not the four-armed god but the pure Consciousness that transcends all form.