Saiva Siddhanta is a religio-philosophical system of Hinduism under the rubric of Saivism and Sivagrayogin (16th century) is one of its accredited representatives. Although Sivagrayogin’s profound contribution to the tradition is undisputed, not much, if any, special study has been done on what can be called its magnum opus, the Sivagrabhasya.

This work is a commentary to the Sivajnanabodham, perhaps one of the shortest religio-philosophical treatises, comprising only twelve two line verses. In drawing largely from the commentary this book attempts to present Saiva Siddhanta through Sivagrayogin’s ideas, albeit concentrating on one specific central problem of the entire system, viz, the notion of atman/pasu, which comprises the tradition’s philosophical anthropology insofar as it is directly related to what constitutes a definition of man in the world. A definition is furnished which accounts for both man’s situation in the world and the condition of the possibility of unhindered expression and manifestation of man’s essential nature. It is in this sense that Sivagrayogin makes a significant contribution to the basic issues of philosophical anthropology.

The book puts into perspective the fundamental concepts and presuppositions of the Saiva Siddhanta tradition and develops its thematic study on the basis of a clear presentation of the terminological framework supporting Saiva Siddhanta philosophical anthropology.