According to various Indian schools of philosophy, tattvas are the elements or aspects of reality that constitute human experience. In some traditions, they are conceived as an aspect of the Indian deities. Although the number of tattvas varies depending on the philosophical school, together they are thought to form the basis of all our experience. The Samkhya philosophy uses a system of 25 tattvas, while Shaivism uses a system of 36 tattvas. In Buddhism, the equivalent is the list of Abhidharma which constitute reality, as in Namarupa.

Etymology

Tattva is a Sanskrit word meaning truth.

Hinduism

Samkhya

The Samkhya philosophy regards the Universe as consisting of two eternal realities: Purusha and Prakrti. It is therefore a strongly dualist philosophy. The Purusha is the centre of consciousness, whereas the Prakrti is the source of all material existence. The twenty-five tattva system of Samkhya concerns itself only with the tangible aspect of creation, theorizing that Prakrti is the source of the world of becoming. It is the first tattva and is seen as pure potentiality that evolves itself successively into twenty-four additional tattvas or principles.

Shaivism

In Shaivism, the tattvas are inclusive of consciousness as well as material existence. The 36 tattvas of Shaivism are divided into three groups:

Vaishnavism

Within Puranic literatures and general Vaiśnava philosophy, tattva is often used to denote certain categories or types of beings or energies such as:

Gaudiya Vaishnavism

In Gaudiyā Vaiśnava philosophy, there are a total of five primary tattvas described in terms of living beings, which are collectively known as the Pancha Tattvas and described as follows: "'Spiritually there are no differences between these five tattvas, for on the transcendental platform everything is absolute. Yet there are also varieties in the spiritual world, and in order to taste these spiritual varieties one should distinguish between them'."

Tantra

In Hindu tantrism, there are five tattvas (pañcatattva) which create global energy cycles of tattvic tides beginning at dawn with Akasha and ending with Prithvi: Each complete cycle lasts two hours. This system of five tattvas which each can be combined with another, was also adapted by the Golden Dawn (Tattva vision).

Panchatattva in Ganachakra and Pañcamakara

John Woodroffe (1918), affirms that the Panchamrita of Tantra, Hindu and Buddhist traditions are directly related to the mahābhūta or great elements and that the pañcamakara is actually a vulgar term for the pañcatattva and affirms that this is cognate with Ganapuja: "Worship with the Pañcatattva generally takes place in a Chakra or circle composed of men and women, Sadhakas and Sadhikas, Bhairavas and Bhairavis sitting in a circle, the Shakti being on the Sadhaka's left. Hence it is called Chakrapuja. A Lord of the Chakra (Chakreshvara) presides sitting with his Shakti in the center. During the Chakra, there is no distinction of caste, but Pashus of any caste are excluded. There are various kinds of Chakra -- productive, it is said, of differing fruits for the participator therein. As amongst Tantrik Sadhakas we come across the high, the low, and mere pretenders, so the Chakras vary in their characteristics from say the Tattva-chakra for the Brahma-kaulas, and the Bhairavi-chakra (as described in Mahanirvana, VII. 153) in which, in lieu of wine, the householder fakes milk, sugar and honey (Madhura-traya), and in lieu of sexual union does meditation upon the Lotus Feet of the Divine Mother with Mantra, to Chakras the ritual of which will not be approved such as Cudachakra, Anandabhuvana-yoga and others referred to later." "Chakrapuja" is cognate with Ganachakra or Ganachakrapuja.

Ayyavazhi

Tattvas are the 96 qualities or properties of the human body according to Akilattirattu Ammanai, the religious book of Ayyavazhi.

Siddha medicine

The Siddha system of traditional medicine of ancient India was derived by the Siddhars of Tamil Nadu. According to this tradition, the human body is composed of 96 constituent principles or tattvas. Siddhas fundamental principles never differentiated people from the universe. According to them, "Nature is people and people is nature and therefore both are essentially one. People is said to be the microcosm and the Universe is Macrocosm, because what exists in the Universe exists in people."

Jainism

Jain philosophy can be described in various ways, but the most acceptable tradition is to describe it in terms of the tattvas or fundamentals. Without knowing them one cannot progress towards liberation. According to the major Jain text Tattvartha Sutra, these are: Each one of these fundamental principles are discussed and explained by Jain scholars in depth. There are two examples that can be used to explain the above principle intuitively. This simple scenario can be interpreted as follows:

Buddhism

In Buddhism, the term "dhamma" is being used for the constitutional elements. Early Buddhist philosophy used several lists, such as namarupa and the five skandhas, to analyse reality. The Theravada Abhidhamma tradition elaborated on these lists, using over 100 terms to analyse reality.

Sources