A jivatma is without beginning, just as the Supreme One is without beginning. What then do we mean when we say that the Supreme One is the One who creates?
All it means is that atmas that are in a subtle state are given a body and sent down to the earth, elaborated T. Rajarathinam in a discourse. Saiva Siddhanta talks of pasu, pathi and paasam. Pasu refers to the various jivatmas. Pathi refers to the Paramatma. Paasam refers to the various ties that keep us bound to worldly life. Jivatmas have the capacity to discern, but this is only on a small scale, whereas the Paramatma is the embodiment of knowledge and there is nothing that is beyond His knowing.
As we sow, so do we reap, and Jivatmas are born on this earth according to their karma. No jivatma has the right or privilege of choosing in what form it wants to come to this earth. That is entirely dependent on the jivatma’s previous acts of merit and acts of sin. Manickavachagar says, “I was born as a blade of grass, as a worm, a tree, as birds, as snakes. I took every kind of birth, and suffered.” And if this is the lot of every jivatma, then misery is assured to all jivatmas.
But it need not be so, for there is a way out, and that is to seek the feet of God. “There is a name, which when uttered, gets rid of birth. That is the name of Muruga,” says Pamban Swami. He says that the mind that is susceptible to envy, anger, and other unpalatable qualities should be focused on Lord Muruga’s feet. And this focus must be an unwavering focus, never distracted by anything. And the bhakta knows that once he seeks the Lord’s protection, the Lord will never forsake him.
Pamban Swami says that even if the sky should fall, Lord Muruga’s grace is guaranteed to him. “Will my mind ever think of separation?” he asks.