SWAMIJI: Lord Śiva (God), has prabhāvitam (created) four andas (four circles) of this universe: ‘Prthvī-anda’ is the lowest circle, and outside that there is another circle which is called ‘Prakrti-anda’. Outside that is another circle called ‘Māyā-anda’. Outside that there is a circle called ‘śakti-anda’.
And the fifth is ‘Śāntātītā kalā’. In ‘Śāntātītā kalā there is no world, there is only the glamour of Lord Śiva. There is no residence of anybody else, this is only the residence of Lord Śiva.
JOHN: These are egg-shaped circles?
SWAMIJI: Huh?
JOHN: These circles. ‘Anda’ means ‘egg-shaped’?
SWAMIJI: Egg-shaped, yes.
JOHN: Why does he call them ‘egg-shaped’? Why are they egg-shaped? Why not round?
SWAMIJI: Because it is an egg, it is creative, it has to create, it has got creative strength. It creates, so it is an egg. It is just like an egg ‘anda’.
‘Vastupindo’ndamucyate’, anda is that, the egg is that, where there is so much existing in undifferentiated form. For instance, there is the egg of the peacock. That is also a white substance in the egg, but you will find so many colours in that peacock, all colours.
JOHN: The whole existence of that peacock is in that one white substance.
SWAMIJI: Yes. In the same way, everything is white there, but, at the same time of expanding into manifestation these colours appear separately.
JOHN: ‘Sańkoca’ and ‘vikāsa’.
SWAMIJI: Sańkoca is in seed form, vikāsa is in manifestation.
(Excerpt from: Abhinavagupta’s Paramārthasāra – Essence of the Supreme Reality. Revealed by Swami Lakshmanjoo. Edited by John Hughes.)
(Painting: Cosmic Egg – Salvador Dali)