The Light of the Tantras

Therefore, he is 'protected'—or rather, filled—by the 'five' faces, which are consciousness, bliss, desire, knowledge, and action:

'The face of Shiva is spoken of here...'<

By these powers, his 'desire' ruci is consistently present, as it has no specific object other than the five-fold act. The meaning is that he is always performing the five-fold activity. It is said:

'The one who creates and destroys, who causes both dissolution and maintenance; the Lord who grants grace and destroys the suffering of those who bow down.'<

Thus, here, the state of the union of Shiva and Shakti—which is the essence of the seed of the diversity of the universe due to its nature of creative emission—and which is called the Supreme Trika Parātrika, is invoked for the destruction of the mass of obstacles. It is said:

'Even there, when the Great Lord, united with Shakti and centered in his own self, reaches the supreme union...'<