Sambhava Deeksha is the primary and auxiliary initiation given to aspirants simultaneously. These auxiliary initiations are performed together to those who are given the primary initiation and separately to those who are not given the primary initiation. The nature of diksha given to those aspirants only through the auxiliary is known as vijnana-diksha.
Sivagrayogin, in addition, speaks of kriya (action) and jnana (knowledge) diksha. The first one removes the bondage caused by moral deserts. The second one enables the atma to acquire the divine wisdom. The initiations thus purify the atma and restore its original nature of all pervasiveness and omniscience. The role of sambhava diksha is imminent in the sense that the seekers after release must be initiated in the angi and anga types.
In Shaiva Siddhanta, the role of the guru (preceptor) is very significant, for he removes the inner darkness of the disciples and makes them realize divine grace in abundance through a special technique called diksha (initiation).
There are two major types of initiation – primary and secondary. The primary kind of diksha is known as angi, which is also known as hautri-diksha. This process involves igniting the sacrificial fire and the initiating the disciples. The symbolism is that, even as fire destroys all that is placed before it, the disciples’ inauspicious traits are destroyed in the sacred fire of wisdom. The second type is auxiliary, pertaining to various special types of initiation, which are performed along with primary initiation. They are nayana (by sight), sparsha (by touch), vacaka (by words), manasa (by mind), sastra (by knowledge texts) and yoga (by meditation). It is imperative that the auxiliary initiations are performed along with the principal initiation.