The True Form of the Jiva

  Devi Lakshmi, called 'Shree', narrates how She has created the Universe and the 'true form of the jiva' to Shakra, Indra (See Lakshmi Tantra Ch. 13). She says, "O Shakra, the Anugraha shakti is traditionally known as my fifth power, besides the other five- ichha, srushti, sthiti, laya, tirodana. She assures that She will bestow Her 'grace' on Her ardent devotees, the moment they look to Her for it. She laments, but these jiva are deluded by avidya. This avidya is not actually ignorance, but knowledge covered by desire for worldly pleasures that are insatiable. This avidya is subjected to the (illusion) asmita and overwhelmed by by My anugraha shakti called tirodhana.  These jiva rise and fall and are subjected to bondage in the three realms of their existence. The more a jiva is evolved, the more it gets involved in worldly pursuits and some try to escape this! Only a pure sattvika person transcends the material body.

  To quote Lakshmi Tantra, "Broiling in their own deeds, aaaaa9they, the jiva) are in the very centre of the hot coal that represents mundane life; they inveterately seek happiness but  (instead), owing to ignorance, get crushed by misery. ".... ..  they continuously pass through an endless chain of birth. Inextricably enmeshed in the miseries of the body, senses, mind and intelligence through the results caused by certain deeds or some previous actions (prarabhda karma phala)  jivas are ever subjected to recureent births and deaths and undergo affliction through systematic exertion...."

  These indulgences of the jiva "engender in me endless compassion for these jivas.  I obliterate their sins and ensure that such jivas escape beyond the clutches ofmisery. (this is Her anugraha!)

However, "The precise moment of the descent of this anugraha shakti is known only to Me. It cannot be brought about by human effort, or by any other means." (See also Ka. Upa. 2.23)