Śivasaṃhitā 1.85

The epistemological root of error: māyā veiled by its own power of concealment produces the illusion of the finitude and qualification of objects. The universe of objects—each with its name, form, and qualities—is the result of this double operation: the veil (āvaraṇa) that prevents seeing reality and the projection (vikṣepa) that fills that space with apparent distinctions.

Avijñānarūpiṇī (of the form of non-cognition, whose essence is non-knowledge) describes māyā veiled by āvaraṇa: when the power of concealment acts, Consciousness darkens and produces the illusion of being a finite entity in a world of finite entities. ‘Only through words and names’ (nāmamātreṇa) indicates that the distinctions we experience are conventional, linguistic, not ontological.

The doctrine that distinctions are ‘only words and names’ (nāmarūpa) is central in Chāndogya Upaniṣad VI.1-4, where the sage Uddālaka teaches that all forms are only transformations of a single sat (Being). The Śivasaṃhitā inherits this teaching and articulates it in terms of the dynamics of māyā. Yoga practices—especially dhyāna and samādhi—work directly with the dissolution of these nominal constructions.