Evolution of Shaivism

Of the several religious systems which have played their part in the history of Indian thought and life; Shaivism and Vaishnavism stand out more prominently than others. They are the two religions which have succeeded in establishing their domain over the entire Hindu race and in influencing Indian thought for several centuries. They are today the two great living religions of India with numerous sub-sects under them.¹

Origin of Shaivism

According to R.G.Bhandarkar, the begining of Shaivism can be traced back to the Vedic god Rudra who personified the dreadful and destructive phenomena of ‘the storms that uprooted trees and even demolish houses, accompanied by the thunderbolt which strikes down men and beasts dead in a moment and the epidemics that rage and carry off numbers of men.’ Rudra (from the root ‘rud’ to howl) went about howling with stormy winds (Maruts) who were his sons (Rudriya). These dreadful phenomena were the result of the wrath of Rudra which however could be appeased with prayer, praise and offering. Rudra then became Shiva or the benignant one. In the Rigveda, Rudra stood for the destructive agency of lighting. But when he was duly propitiated with prayers, he became Pasupa ‘protector of the cattle’. Rudra caused diseases, but he also possessed the healing remedies. This ambivalent character of Rudra was often emphasized in the Rigveda.²

According to R.N.Dandekar this theory put forth by R.G.Bhandarkar is characterised by the two common assumption of early Indology namely, that the origin of every thing Indian has ultimately to be traced back to the Veda and that the Vedic gods are basically personifications of natural phenomena.³

Rudra, a pre-Vedic popular god

N.Dandekar emphasises that long back before the Vedic religion, there prevailed in various parts of India, widely spread and deeply rooted popular religious cults; one of which was the Muni-Yati cult with its emphasis on Yoga-Tapas-Sanyasa and which was a characterstic feature of pre-Vedic Shiva religion.⁴ They suffered a kind of setback on account of the onslaught of the Vedic way of life and thought but some of them proved influential enough to compel the sponsors of Vedism to accommodate them in one form or another, in the framework of their religious ideology and when Vedism began gradually to decline, these popular religious cults again came into their own and confirmed themselves as the religion of the people. Such in broad outline is the genesis of Vaishnavism and Shaivism.⁵

According to R.N.Dandekar, Rudra was essentially different from the normal hieratic Vedic gods and he belonged to a milieu which was foreign to the Vedic poet-priests. The Vedic poet-priests must have accommodated him in their religious complex under the pressure of circumstances and therefore reluctantly and almost under protest. While doing so, they either supressed or transformed many of Rudra’s essential traits and as a result of this only one aspect of Rudra’s original complex character namely that of the god of death came to be generally emphasized in the Vedic literature.⁶

There is sufficient evidence to justify the assumption that Rudra is but the Vedic version of a well-established pre-Vedic popular god. The followers of this god worshipped him in the form of some concrete symbol which was installed either in the open or within some temple like structure which were usually erected away from the main settlements. The mode of worship consisted mainly of puja, that is besmearing the icon of the god with some sacred substance, and bali that is the offering made directly to the god of raw flesh and blood. Some of the other features of the pre-Vedic religion which clearly differentiated it from the Vedic religion were Yoga, penance and austerities, phallic cult, the god’s overlordship over animals and association with serpents, fertility rites, importance given to Mother Goddess and to female divinities and the propitiation of the spirit of the dead and their leader. Most of these features are present in one form or another in the religious ideology relating to Vedic Rudra.⁷

Shiva, a South Indian God

The pre-Vedic Indian god was celebrated as ‘red god’ in some circles in south India. They called him by the Shiva (which in the Tamil language means the ‘red one’) as they worshipped him by pouring over his icon the blood of the animal particularly the buffalo which was offered to him. As a consequence of this the god actually looked red. The word chivap/chivappu in Tamil means red (colour) and from it Chivan or Shiva could have been derived. Vedic Rudra has borrowed not only the name but also some characteristic of the red god. The word Rudra has to be derived from a hypothetical lost root, rud which must have meant ‘to be ruddy or red’. Thus, Rudra like the south Indian Shiva also means the red god. When the Vedic poet-priests felt constrained by the force of circumstances to admit the popular south Indian god to their pantheon, they naturally sought either to suppress or to transform many of his characteristic features. For instance, they called him Rudra instead of Shiva and specifically stressed the frightful, demonic aspect of Rudra’s character in the Vedic literature. They gave him the epithet Shiva which in Sanskrit meant ‘gracious’, ‘benevolent’. Several other Vedic gods also were characterized as Shiva, but it was only in the case of Rudra that the epithet became in course of time, the proper name of the god.⁸

Considering all the above aspects, R.N.Dandekar concludes that Rudra is not a storm god as R.G.Bhandarkar supposes, but represents just the Vedic version of the pre-Vedic Shiva and Pashupati of the Indus Valley and it is the latter god and not the Vedic Rudra that the origin of Shavism is to be traced back. Indeed, most of the essential features of Shaivism are anticipated by the pre-Vedic religion of Shiva-Pashupati and consequently by the religious complex pertaining to Vedic Rudra.⁹

The view that Rudra was a pre-Vedic god is also shared by other eminent scholars. According to R.C.Hazra a critically study of the Rig Veda shows that Rudra is presented in this work mainly and basically as an extremely malevolent deity mercilessly killing not only the innocent Vedic people without making any distinction of their age, gender, social relation or worldly prosperity but also their domestic animals of all kind.¹⁰ Rudra was antagonistic to Vedic sacrifices and destroyed it even in the absence of the least provocation from the sacrificers. In order to advance this sinister work of his Rudra took more care to kill those men of wealth among the Vedic people who encouraged and financed the performance of these generally expensive religious rites.¹¹ To avoid the terrible atrocities perpetrated by him some pre-Rig-Vedic people were compelled to accept Rudra, who was originally an outstanding non Vedic deity for worship in order to earn his favour.¹²

Similar is the view of N.R.Bhat who says that the basic character and personality of the epic and puranic Shiva have been derived from a divine proto type which had existed in India, even from the pre-Vedic period and which had been represented differently in different religious complexes: as Yogishvara-Pashupati of the Indus Valley religion, as the red god (Shivan) of south India, as the Vedic Rudra, as Sharva of eastern Indian and the Bhava of the Valhika region (in Punjab) and as the god associated with such cults as the Muni cult, Vratya cult and the Brahmachari cult.¹³

Background of Lord Shiva

Lord Shiva resided in the vicinity of Himalaya Mountain and his religious outlook was non-Vedic. He had numerous followers all over India who were designated as Asuras, Rakshasas and Danavas by the Devas (Manavas). In winter he would leave Kailasa and travel widely via Gangotri or Haridwar to Benares and various places in the south where people eagerly awaited his arrival and worshipped him. He was a champion of the poor, diseased and the tyrannized. He made no distinction between the high and low. He would solace them in their sorrow, encourage them to be good, nurse them with his own hands and treat them with medicines which were infallible. For Lord Shiva there was none untouchable including the beasts; he hated nobody, made no distinction between the high and the low. His love for the poor, kind words to the distressed, nursing for the sick endeared him to them. He brought life and joy wherever he went. His blessings to the childless would always fructify. He was adept in the use of bows and fatal weapons, he knew bana which would hypnotise an army and defeat it without killing the soldiers.¹⁴

These followers of Shiva constantly clashed with Devas and caused hindrance to the sacrifices performed by the Brahmanas. Sati the daughter of Prajapati Daksha, a king who ruled over the middle part of the Himalayan territory fell in love with Shiva and married him though opposed by her father. Once when Sati heard that her father was performing a sacrifice, though uninvited she wished to attend it. At the venue of the ceremony Sati was humiliated by her father who used offensive words against Shiva. Unable to bear the humiliation Sati swooned never to regain her senses. When Shiva heard this, he was furious and in rage desecrated the sacrificial ground. All these incidents mentioned in the Puranas are interpreted as a revolt against the domination of Brahmins and their sacrificial modes of worship. After this incident there was reconciliation between the followers of Vedic religion and followers of Shiva and the latter was included one among the Trinity and yoga prescribed as a method for spiritual advancement.¹⁵

Rudra associated with distinct rituals

That even after his acceptance by the Vedic followers, Rudra was not a much-respected god in the Rig Vedic pantheon and that his position as a Vedic deity was sufficiently low, are evident from the factors that he was never allowed the privilege of drinking Soma in any Vedic sacrifice and no Saman was sung in his praise. This attitude of the Rig Vedic people to Rudra shows that originally, he was a highly dreaded god, whom the early Rig Vedic people took up for worship much more out of a feeling of fear than that of love and respect.¹⁶

The fact that Rudra is treated in the ritual differently from other gods is attested by several sacrificial details. First of all, to him are generally prescribed the offerings called balis, as opposed to havis, which is the name given to the oblations made to other gods. It is laid down in one of the sutras (Paraskara Grhyasutra, iii.8.6.11) that arka leaves filled with blood should be offered to Rudra and his hosts. Blood is indeed always associated with this god. In the shrauta ritual, offering of oblations to Rudra was not performed with much cordiality. Consideration was shown to him merely because it was inevitable. For it was by giving him a share that he was to be gotten rid of. Tryambaka-homa is the only shrauta ritual in which Rudra is given a distinctive place, but even there his character is represented as different from that of other gods. The ucchista offerings to Rudra in rituals is offered not in the burning sacred fires, but upon coals and offering to Rudra are always confines to areas outside the village. Also when an offering is to be made to Rudra or when a Vedic verse of formula is to be recited for him, the sacrificer is asked to touch water. Most probably this touch of water is meant symbolically to wash away all taint which may have adhered as a result of the contact maintained with Rudra during the rituals.¹⁷

Ascendency of Shiva

In the Brahmanas, the concept of Rudra gives place to Prajapati and Pashupati. This change is found in the Shatapata Brahmana and more significantly in the Aitareya Brahmana and Kausitaki Brahmana. The mantras here are different from mere nature-invocation made out of wonder or fear; they are meaningful incantations, expressing faith in a personal relationship with the deity.¹⁸

The Shvetashvatara Upanishad

The Shvetashvatara Upanishad represents a very significant landmark in the history of Shaivism. That Upanishad is in respect of Shaivism what the Bhagavad Gita is in respect to Vaishnavism. The Shvetashvatara Upanishad is chronologically earlier than Bhagavad Gita and many concepts occurring in the Shvetashvatara Upanishad have been further developed in the Bhagavad Gita. The Shvetashvatara Upanishad is essentially monotheistic in character. According to Shvetashvatara Upanishad, This One God (Eko devah), that is Rudra is beyond all contingency and variation and yet he is the creator as well as destroyer of the world. He sustains everything, is immanent as well as transcendent. This Rudra represented in the Shvetashvatara Upanishad as the Supreme Being, is also known as Shiva, Hara, Maheshwara, Bhagavat and Mahanpurusha. Shvetashvatara Upanishad emphasizes that it is through meditation on, application to and identification with Hara that the unreality, that the world is, finally comes to an end and moksha can be attained by means of the knowledge of the Rudra.¹⁹

The Shvetashvatara Upanishad explicitly declares the identity of Shiva with the highest Brahman. This Upanishad is therefore sometimes called a Shaiva Upanishad or an Agamic Upanishad. In this we may see the seeds of the thought that ultimately matured into the literature of Shaivism.²⁰

Agamas, the literature of Shaivas

For an understanding of Shaivism, the Agamas are as important as some of the Upanishads. Some of the Agamas have an artistic and intellectual appeal as they are in the form of dialogues between Shiva and his consort Uma. The Agamas are as old as the Brahmanas perhaps even older. Constant additions have however been made to them till the eighth century A.D. The Agamas had the same authority as the Vedas. They were written in Sanskrit, Prakrit and some of the Dravidian languages. They are however available today only in Sanskrit. The Agamas are monotheistic and cover both karma and jnana in sensible proportions.²¹

According to the classification of the Shaiva thought by Abhinavagupta in his Tantraloka there were threee Shaiva systems, namely Dualism (Dvaita), Dualism-cum-non-Dualism (Dvaitadvaita) and Monism (Advaita) and they were based upon ten, eighteen and sixty-four Shaivagamas respectively. Thus, there are 92 Shaivagamas.

Each Shaivagama is generally divided into four sections.

• Jnana which deals with the philosophy.

• Yoga which deals with the Yogic practices necessary for the realization of the goal that the philosophy promises.

• Kriya which is concerned with the method of building the temples and sculpturing the images of the deities and

• Carya which deals with the rituals.²²

The next important body of Shaiva literature is formed by the Shaiva Puranas. Of the eighteen Puranas six are usually styled as Shaiva Puranas. They are Vayu, Linga, Skanda, Angi, Matsya and Kurma.²³

The Origin and source of the Agamas

There are three different theories of the origin and source of the Agamas. According to the first theory Agamas rose out of the Brahmanas and developed in the same way as the Upanishad. The age of the Agamas being contemporaries with that of the Aranyakas. Many great acharyas of Shaiva Siddhanta like Tirumular, Haradatta Shivacharya and Shrikantha and others are at great pains to reconcile the contradictions between the Agamas and the Vedas. They try to establish the unity between the Agamas and the Vedas. The second view is that the Agamas interpret the Upanishads and elaborate their teachings. Thus, the first two theories maintain the Vedic basis and origin of the Agamas. The third view is that the Agamas are an independent literature and in no way connected with the Vedas. According to this view the present Agamas are based on the Tamil originals now lost.²⁴ An examination of the contents and philosophy of the Agamas and the Vedas reveal their contradictions.

Agamas, distinct from the Vedas

Firstly the Vedic religion consists in the performance of sacrifices and all Vedic rites and rituals are concerned with the performance of sacrifices while the Agamic religion consists in the worship of the deities Shiva, Shakti or Vishnu.

The Vedic deities were the forces of nature and propitiation was by means of sacrifices and offering into fire regarded as the mouth of the deities. Whereas the Agamic deities was a personal deity that controlled the forces of nature.

While fire was an intermediary between the worshipper and the worship in the Vedic religion, in the Agamic religion the worshippers were in direct communion with the deity and required no intermediary.

The oblation in case of Vedic worship were consumed by the fire considered as the mouth of gods while in Agamic worship the offering was exhibited to the gods and consumed by the worshippers as prasada or grace of God.

While Vedic religion was polytheistic, the Agamic religion was monotheistic.

While the Vedic deities being forces of nature had no physical representations, the Agamic deities were represented by means of a visible emblem or image.

The followers of the Vedic religion performed the sacrifices on the banks of rivers or groves of trees in temporary mandapas raised for the purpose, the followers of Agamic religion worshipped the idols of their gods in temples.

While Vedic rites were restricted to certain class of people, the Agamic rites were open to all including women.²⁵

The Linga Worship

Shaivism is unique in that it has prescribed the worship of its Supreme deity Shiva in two main visual forms, through the anthropomorphic images such as those of Nataraja and Somaskanda and the Linga. The worship of Shiva through the Linga form has been prevalent all over India. But in his anthropomorphic images is on the other hand found to be mostly restricted to south India.²⁶

According to R.N.Dandekar, the Shiva cult and the Linga cult organically constituted a single religious complex and the Linga signifies the phallus. From the proto-Indian period to the historical period Lord Shiva has been worshipped in two forms-in the human form or in the Linga form.²⁷

The tradition of phallus worship in India says R.N.Dandekar is indeed very ancient. It has been suggested that the Neolithic people in south India were primarily worshippers of Linga. Evidence is produced in this connection of the Kapagallu hill in Bellary district where one sees a Linga together with a bull in a crouching position. Phallus worship was known to the Vedic poet-priests who abhorred it as is indicated by their attitude towards the Shishnadevas.²⁸

According to Rabindra Kumar at the earliest stage of mankind, people were anxious to worship their gods in human form. As they failed to form any human shape due to their lack of skill and experience, they preferred to make the symbols of their gods. They chose the marked pieces of stones found in the river Gandaki as the symbol of Lord Vishnu and the pieces of stones found in the river Narmada and else where as the symbol of Lord Shiva. As time passed on, the devotees used to make other types of symbols of Lord Shiva which they built sometimes with stones and on other occasions with gold, silver or some other metal or even with pure earth. To each of the kinds of the said symbols they gave the name Shivalinga and they worshipped the same with due devotion. This type of Linga worship originated long before the origanation of image worship.²⁹

Swami Vivekananda was of the view that the worship of Linga originated from the Yupasthamba or the sacrificial post which was a sign of eternal Brahman.³⁰ The Linga actually represented a pillar of fire writes S.Rangachar. It is to make men understand that God has no form and yet has form for worship, enlightenment and upliftment of the adorers of God, he adds.³¹

According to T.M.P.Mahadevan, the word Linga means mark or sign and signifies the symbol of God. Just as the Omkara is the sound symbol representing Brahman, the Linga is the form symbol signifying the most High. There are other pratikas or images of God. But the excellence of the Linga consists in its suggestion of the formlessness and infinitude of the Supreme. Properly speaking there is no image of God who is a Linga (without distinguishing marks). But man requires for the purpose of concentration or meditation some mark which will stand for deity. And of all the visible representations the Linga is the least objectionable, because it serves to convey the idea of a God who transcends all distinctions. The Linga may be regarded as a representation of a column of light. As alternative explanation are available it would not be right to state dogmatically that the Linga was evolved out of the primitive phallism.³²

Shaivism as a popular cult

The earliest historical record to mention the worship of Shiva is that of Megasthenes, the Greek envoy at Pataliputra (300 B.C.). He describes two Indian deities under the names of Dionysus and Herakles generally identified with Shiva and Krishna respectively. Patanjali in the 2nd century B.C. refers in his Mahabhashya to Shiva Bhagavatas and also to images of Shiva and Skanda which were sold by the Mauryas to raise money. This shows the popularity of the cult. In his early life Ashoka was a worshipper of Shiva. The temple of Pashupati in Nepal was already in existence when Ashoka visited the valley in 250 B.C. His daughter Charumati who had accompanied him later built a convent to the north of Pashupatinatha. Among the successors of Ashoka, we come across one Jalauka who was a Shaiva. In the early centuries of the Christian era some of the Kushana kings became ardent Shaivas and caused their coins to be minted with the images of Shiva and of his emblems like the trident and the sacred bull on them.³³

Harshavardhana the ruler of Thaneshvara and his contempories like king Shashanka of Bengal and Bhaskaravarman of Kamarupa were worshippers of Lord Shiva. Also king Amshuvarman of Nepal was a devotee of Lord Pashupati. Different kings of Kashmir belonging to the Karkota and Utpala dynasties were Shaivas and they erected Shiva temples and made valuable grants to it. Many temples of Shiva constructed by the early Chalukyas of Badami and Rashtrakutas of Malkhed and the Kailasa and other cave temples at Ellora and Badami shows the popularity of Shiva and his worship in the Deccan from 7th to 10th century A.D.³⁴

During the early medieval period Shaivism was very popular in northern India. Majority of Gahadavala, Chedi, Chandella and Orissa kings were styled as Parama Maheshwara. Harjaravarmma and Vaidyadeva or Assam, Vijayasena, Vallalsena of Bengal, Devapala, Paramara and Bhartrivadha Chahamana of western India also bore this religious epithet. Several rulers dedicated their kingdoms either to Shiva or to Shaiva ascetics. Thus, Avantivarmman of the Mattamayura region and a Chedi king of Dahala had presented his kingdom to the pontiffs of the Shaiva Siddhanta school. The Prabandha Chintamani records a tradition that a Solanki chief had given whole of the Malava province as a present to Mahakaleshvara of Ujjain and appointed the Paramaras to administer it. Some of the ascetics belonging to the Guhavasi line of Shaiva Siddhanta were very influential. They gave initiation to the kings of Varman dynasty in the Punjab and to the Chedi, Paramara and Chanderi-Pratihara dynasties of Central India.³⁵

The Paramara period which appears to have started around 9th century A.D. is when Shaivism achieved a rapid growth. Among the Paramaras, who patronized the Shaivas, the outstanding ruler was Bhoja (1018-60 A.D.), the author of the Saiva treatise Tattva-Prakasha. His reign is sometimes regarded as a golden age in the history of Shaivism in Malva.³⁶

The Cholas were also great patrons of Shaivism. Rajaraja I built the monumental Rajarajeshwara temple at Tanjore and gave the revenue of many villages for its maintence. His devotion to Shiva was so great that he assumed the title Shivapadashekara. His successor Rajendra I settled many Shaivas of north India in Kanchi and other parts of his kingdom.³⁷

Shaivism vis-a-vis Vaishnavism

Vishnu is benevolent and a friend and ally of Indra while Rudra on the other hand has no special friends among gods. While Vishnu is engaged in vanquishing the demons, Rudra does not come into conflict with them.³⁸

Vasudevism-Krishnaism (Vaishnavism) originated from and centred round a human hero who came to be deified in course of time. One of the purposes of the Avatara theory seems to have been to provide a kind of rationalisation and also substantiation for such godship of a human being. Shiva on the other hand has been conceived as a god from the very beginning and hence we do not find any incarnation of Shiva.³⁹

Just as Vaishnavism absorbed various cults like the Vittala cult and Jagannatha cult, many independent cults like Shakti, Karttikeya and Ganesha were over time absorbed into the more pervasive and influential religion of Shiva and soon became the vital aspect of that religion.⁴⁰

While a Shaiva temple is dedicated exclusively to him, that of a Vaishnavite temple may host either Vishnu or his various avataras, the popular being Narasimha, Rama, Krishna and also Venkateshwara, Vittala, etc.⁴¹ The parivara (family) devatas for Shiva are Ganesha and Kartikeya, while for Vishnu and his avataras it is Hanuman.

In the temples of Vishnu, opposite to the central shrine, his vehicle Garuda’s image is installed while in Shiva temples, the image of Nandi is set up opposite to the shrine of Shiva.

In rituals there is a saying that Shiva is as fond of bathing as Vishnu is fond of decoration. Hence in Shiva temples over the Linga we find a copper vessel from which drops of water fall over the Linga continuously.⁴² While the Tulasi plant is considered sacred by the Vaishnavas, for the Shaivas, it is the Bilva plant.

While the symbol of Shiva is the Linga, that of Vishnu is the Saligrama. But unlike the Linga which is worshipped in a temple Saligrama are meant for worship in individual houses.⁴³ The sacred mantra for Shaivas is ‘Om Namah Shivaya’, while that of Vaishnavas is ‘Om Namo Narayana’.

The Vaishnavas conceive the God in the form of Lord Narayana or Lord Krishna and take his energy in the form of Lakshmi or Radha. They do not preach the existence of God without a form and believe in the existence of some particular abode of God which is made of pure substance and name it Vaikunta. So, in spite of being strictly theistic the outlook of the Vaishnavas is more mythological than philosophical. The Shaiva theory on the other hand is not only strictly theistic but absolutely philosophical. The Shaivas believe that the real Self alone is metaphysically true. There is no limitation of any kind in that Self and time and space do not limit it. The Self alone has a real existence and everything else has only an imaginary existence.⁴⁴

There is no doubt that Shaivism is more ancient than Vaishnavism; but the latter is said to be more expansive, more attractive and more favourable to community of worship and religious sentiment. Both Shaivism and Vaishnavism sponsor a personal monotheism, but ritual practices are perhaps more in evidence in Shaivism than Vaishnavism.⁴⁵

While Shaivism regards the universe as the source of pain and misery, as the pasa of the pasu and therefore as worthy of being repudiated, Vaishnavism looks upon the universe as evidence of the Lord’s omnipotence and therefor as worthy of being cherished. Probably on account of this attitude of Vaishnavism towards the universe, its contributions to arts and literature have been richer and more profuse than those of Shaivism.⁴⁶

During 12^th and 13^th century in south India there was intense religious activities by the Shaivas and Vaishnavas. To avoid bitterness among the followers of these two sects, the thoughtful men of the society made an attempt to reconcile the two rival sects by propagating the cult of Harihara which was already popular to some extent in north India where to counter Buddhism, Shaivas and Vaishnavas had come up with the cult of Harihara by amalgating Shiva and Vishnu. The earliest thinker of the south who endeavoured to provide a common meeting ground for the Shaivas and Vaishnavas was the poet, Tikkana, a minister of Manumasiddha II, the Telugu Chola king of Nellore. Tikkana impressed on the minds of the people that there was but one Supreme deity who was neither Shiva nor Vishnu but Harihara, a deity in whom both Shiva and Vishnu were united.⁴⁷

Shaivism is known to have dominated the religious scene in India till the 11th century A.D., but thereafter Vaishnavism which had been infused with new life in respect of both philosophy and devotionalism by the Acharyas beginning with Ramanuja, started to look up and thought today Shaivism may reckon more sanctuaries, it is Vaishnavism which is generally in ascendancy. Whatever that may be, perhaps the greatest glory of the Shiva religion is that it can justifiably boast of the longest continuous and living tradition among the religions of the civilized world.⁴⁸

Impact of Shaivism on Indian religion and culture

The advent of Mahesha or Ishwara as a prominent figure or conception of divinity marks an epoch in ancient Hindu civilization. A new method of worship and a new methodology were inaugurated which developed into the Tantras and the tantric system.⁴⁹

In the old method of worship prayers or hymns to divinity consisted mostly in asking for worldly boons and pardon as also for moral advancement. The new method of worship consisted of contemplation of divinity and merging of the smaller individual self into the higher ego (Brahman).⁵⁰

Shiva being inseparable from Shakti, Shaivism gave impetus for the popularity and worship of female deities like Kali and Durga.

As a Mahayogin, Shiva was the originator of Yoga and meditation. Nataraja meaning king of dance is another name of Shiva and tradition ascribes Shiva to be the originator of dance and dramatic arts. The Siddha system of medicine prevailing in Tamilnadu is said to have originated from Lord Shiva. The glory and legends of Lord Shiva sung in epics, Puranas, dramas and stotras; the Shaivagamas and the philosophical system of various Shaiva sects have all enriched Indian literature. Thus Yoga, arts, medicine and literature were all getting a new life and a new form.⁵¹

Shiva is believed to operate either directly or through the medium of the Guru. The peculiar concept of Guru, which incidentally is not of Vedic origin constitutes one of the most important characterstics of the Shavia religious ideology.⁵²

Having originated as a religion of the people, Shaivism has been more or less non-conformist in character in the sense that it generally did not make much of the traditional varnashramadharma. It also promoted equality of sex. Some of the Shaiva sects like the Lingayats even went to the extent of denouncing Vedapramanya, Brahminic orthodoxy, image worship and the doctrine of transmigration. They removed the bar to widow remarriage and strongly protested against child marriage.⁵³

The term Shaivism is sometimes understood to comprise the Shaiva religion as it is found in the four main period of the religious history of ancient India, namely the pre-Vedic, the Vedic, the period of heterodox religions and the period of Hinduism and at other times it denotes the Shaiva philosophy as represented by the various Shaiva systems such as Pashupata, Virashaiva, Shiva Siddhanta, etc.⁵⁴

Sects of Shaivism

The Vayusamhita of the Shivapurana mentions four sects of Shaivas or the Maheshvaras, namely Siddhantins, Pashupatas, Mahavratadharas and the Kapalikas. Gunaratna in his commentary on the Saddarshana Samuchaya of Haribhadra also refers to the four sects but he substitutes the Kalamukhas for the Kapalikas of the Vayusamhita.⁵⁵

Pashupata Sect

The earliest Shaiva sect was the Pashupata sect which itself gave rise to different sects. In the Mahabharata mention is made of the Pashupata along with the system of Samkhya, Yoga, Pancharatra and Veda and it is said that the consort of Uma, namely Pashupati, Srikantha or Shiva, son of Brahma revealed the jnana known as the Pashupata. It is the belief of the Shaivas to whatever school they might belong, that Shiva himself was the first preceptor of their doctrines.⁵⁶

Meaning of Pashupati

According to the Varaha Purana, Lord Shiva is called Pashupati for the reason that he resides inside the body of all the living beings (Pashus) as their protector (Pati). In the Agama Shastras also the name Pashupati is found to be explained as the protector of living beings.⁵⁷

R.G.Bhandarkar regards Lakulisha as the founder of the Pashupata school which means that the story of the promulgation of the Pashupata doctrine by Srikantha is but a fiction. But according to V.S.Pathak, the tradition of Srikantha as a teacher of the Saiva religion occuring in the works of various schools of Shaivism from different parts of the country, the mention of his name in the list of teachers, his description as ‘unique teacher on earth’ and lastly quotations from works attributed to him are very strong indications in favour of his historicity.⁵⁸

As references to the Pashupata school occur centuries earlier than Lakulisha it seems that the Pashupata school was founded by Srikantha from which later on several branches sprung forth. The branch started by Lakulisha was named after him as Lakulisha Pashupata.⁵⁹

Many other scholars also feel that a pre-Lakulisha Pashupata school existed prior to Lakulisha. J.N.Banerjea has suggested that the Shiva Bhagavatas mentioned by Patanjali in his comment on Panani were pre-Lakulisha Pashupatas and opines Lakulisha as the systematiser of the earlier Pashupata order.⁶⁰ According to K.A.N.Sastri the date assigned to the time when Lakulisha lived was the first half of the 2^nd century A.D. while that of Patanjali was assigned a date in the middle of the 2^nd century B.C. Hence Prof. Sastri opines that an order not dissimilar to the Pashupata in some of its religious practices was in existence long before the time of Lakulisha, the reputed founder of the Pashupata sect. It is also probable that what Lakulisha really did was to systematize an already existent Shaiva order, much as Basaveshwara at a much later date organised the Virashaivas, a sect existing in some form long before his time.⁶¹

There was also some fundamental difference between the Pashupata school mentioned in the Mahabharata and that which was founded by Lakulisha. The epic Pashupataism decries the varnashrama dharma while the Pashupata Sutra (of Lakulisha) enjoins that a devotee should not talk to a Sudra or a female and if by chance he touches any one of them he should perform the pranayama and then mutter the Raudri Gayatri or the name of Vahurupi. The Lakulisha Pashupataism was thus of an orthodox character.⁶²

According to K.C.Pandey there was a dualistic Saiva system before the rise of Vedanta as presented by Badarayana and it was followed by the founders of the Nyaya and Vaishesika systems and this was known as Pashupata which is distinct from the Lakulisa Pashupata and it was a leading school of thought in pre-Christian era. But unfortunately no independent work on this system has so far been discovered. It seems to have been a system that arose before the Shaiva tradition assumed a systematic form in the Shaivagamas which are generally ascribed to the early centuries of the Christian era.⁶³

The philosophy of Lakulisa Pashupata system as presented in the Pashupata Sutra with the commentary of Kaundinya is a dualism cum non-dualism (Dwaitadvaita) while the Pashupata (the earliest) is Dvaita (dualism).⁶⁴

Gist of the Pashupata philosophy

As no literature of the Dualistic Pashupata philosophy is available, we get an idea of the fundamentals of the Pashupata dualism only through the references to it by Shankaracharya in his commentary on the Vedanta Sutra and its commentators such as Vacaspati and Anandagiri.

The Pashupata dualism is the philosophical interpretation of the Vedic conception of god Rudra as Pashupati. Of the five categories (Karana, Karya, Yoga, Vidhi and Duhkhanta) admitted by this system, the first two are called Pati and Pashu or Karana and Karya. The individual souls are conceived to be under the control of and dependent on the Lord (Pati) exactly as are animals under the control of their masters. This system admitted the Lord (Pati) to be the efficient cause only and asserted the independent existence of the material cause, that is Pradhana. It accepted the individual souls to be co-eternal with both the material and efficient cause that is Pati and Pradhana. It admitted that the Lord in the creation of the diversity of the empirical world is influenced by karma and moksha according to it is nothing but the end of all miseries.⁶⁵

Lakulisha Pashupataism

During the age of the Kushans the Pashupata form of Shaivism prevailed in the north-western part of India and in the present state of Bihar. A new sub-sect of the Pashupatas came into existence about the early years of the 2^nd century A.D. under a teacher named Lakuli who lived in the country of Lata which was under the rule of the Saka Kshtrapas of Ujjain.⁶⁶

There are a few inscriptions which speak of a teacher of Shaivism by name Lakulin or Nakulin who is regarded by his followers as an incarnation of Shiva. In an inscription dated 971 A.D. in the temple of Natha near that of Ekalinga a few miles north of Udaipur it is stated that Shiva became incarnate as a man bearing a club (Lakula) in his hand in the country of Bhrigukachchha. There is another inscription of the 13^th century A.D. which records that Shiva became incarnate in the form of Bhattarak Sri Lakulisa and dwelt in Karohana/ Kayorohana or Kayavatara (in the Lata country) which is identical with Karvan in the Dabhoi taluq, Baroda state. He had four pupils, Kaushika/Kushika, Gargya/Garga, Kaurushya/Kaurusha and Maitreya/Mitra who became the founders of four branches of the Pashupata school. Thus it is evident that there was a person by name Lakulin who taught a form of Shaivism which has come to be known by his name. He is said to have written a work Panchadhyayi or Panchaartha Vidhya.⁶⁷

By the time of Harshavardhana and probably as early as Gupta times there were Pashupata temples in most parts of India. Sanskrit writers from Bana onwards mention them frequently and from about 10^th century epigraphical references also become numerous. Post-Gupta sculptures of Lakulisha have been found throughout India.⁶⁸

Sources of Lakulisha Pashupata system are the Pashupata vow of the Atharvashiras Upanishad, Pashupata Sutra with Kaundinya’s Panchaartha Bhashya, Ganakarika with Ratnatika commentary attributed to Bhasarvajna and Nakulisha-Pashupata-Darshana chapter of Sayana-Madhava’s Sarvadarshana Sangraha.⁶⁹

The Pashupata Sutras contain very little metaphysical speculation and elaborately deal with the rituals practiced by the Pashupata ascetics. They regard the Brahmanas alone as eligible for initiation into the Pashupata spiritual discipline and look upon women and sudras with disrespect.⁷⁰

A special feature of the sect is that it lays special emphasis on yoga and bhakti and states that the god should be meditated in the hearts. It also ordains that a Pashupata ascetic should besmear his body three times with ashes, should live in a lone house or in a cave or a cremation ground, should wear a single garment and have senses under control and should live by begging. The eating of meat is sanctioned provided the food is not procured by himself killing the animal. It may be noted that in this Pashupatism we meet with many practices that may be detected in the life of the left-hand Shaktas.⁷¹

As the Pashupata Sutra embodying the tenets of the orthodox class is stated to have been promulgated by Lakuli who lived in the beginning of 2^nd century A.D. when India was under the domination of the foreigners, we may infer that the heterodox Pashupatas who observed no caste barriers became impure by imbibing alien customs and thus it became necessary to check the impurities in the sect and this was done by a reformer Lakuli.⁷²

Gist of the Lakulisha Pashupata Philosophy

The commentary on the Pashupata Sutra of Lakulisha by Kaundinya is called Panchaartha Bhashya because it deals with the five primary categories (padarthas) namely karana (cause or Pati), karya (effect or Pashu), yoga (union), vidhi (ritual) and dukhanta (liberation).⁷³

Karana or Pati or Brahman is eternal and is the cause of all that is of the nature of effect (karya). He is the material as well as the efficient cause of the universe. From him the universe springs up (Bhavodbhavah) exactly as does a sprout from a seed. Pati is the cause of both the coming into being and the dissolution of the world. Creation, dissolution and grace are mere manifestations of his playfulness. He is higher than the liberated and those who are striving for liberation and those who are in bondage. Pati pervades the individual selves through the power of knowledge. The relation of the individual with body, action and inaction, etc. depends upon His will.⁷⁴

Karya or effect which springs up from Pati contains three dependent categories namely Vidya (attribute or knowledge), Kala or matter and Pashu or the individual subject which is subjected to five kinds of mala (impurities). The cause (karana) and the effect (karya) exist together but maintain their respective entities because they have distinctive beings though both of them are pervasive. Every sentient being except the Siddha and Ishvara is Pashu, so called because it is in bondage and not free. Its bondage is beginningless. The knowledge of Pashu is limited and that of the Pati is omniscient. But when Pashu ascends the higher spiritual level he gets united with the powers of knowledge and action, becomes omniscient and capable of creating and destroying things at his own will.⁷⁵

Yoga, the third primary category of Lakulisa Pashupata system, aims at giving the discipline which brings about union with the Lord which takes place in successive stages.⁷⁶

Vidhi is the fourth category which includes ascetic life, devotional rites and control of senses,⁷⁷ while Dukhanta, the end of all miseries is the fifth and last category of this system. Dukhanta is ultimately due to His grace and it cannot be obtained through knowledge and detachment. It is of two types; Anatmaka and Satmaka. The first is mere cessation of all miseries while the second consists not only in the freedom of all miseries but also in the attainment of powers of knowledge and action which characterize a Siddha. It is attained when the individual penetrates the Lord so that the powers pass into him.⁷⁸

Somasiddhanta Sect

Somasiddhanta school is mentioned in the Prabhasapatana inscription of Kumarapala, the Veravala inscription of Bhima II and the Chhatrachandeshvara (Nepal) inscription of Jishnugupta. This sect seems to be quite influential in ancient times although no literature of this school is available now. Somasharmma is credited with the founding of a Shaiva school at Prabhasa and he is described as the preceptor of Akshapada the founder of Nyaya system and Kanada, the originator of Vaishesika system. Thus Somasharmma is associated with logic also. There is a great possibility of Soma being a historical figure who founded a Shaiva school of devotion and a Nyaya school of thought before Akshapada who has been placed variously in fourth, third and second century A.D. Satishchandra Vidyabhushana places Akshapada in 150 A.D. which is the most plausible date and the Soma school therefore might have originated before 2^nd century A.D.⁷⁹

The Prabhasapatana inscription records that Soma had constructed a golden temple of Somanatha at Prabhasa and after originating his cult, at the instance of Shiva gave the place to the Pashupatas. This cult declined in due course and later Vishveshvara made vigorous attempts for the propagation of Somasiddhanta in the 13^th century A.D. and during that period it prevailed in Gujarat and Nepal. The ascetics of this school worshipped Shiva in the form of Uma-Chandrashekara.⁸⁰

There were a number of sectional groups among the Pashupatas and of them were the Kapalikas and Kalamukhas.

The Kapalikas

No religious texts of the Kapalikas have survived and information on this sect must be drawn from accounts of their opponents.⁸¹ The antiquity of the Kapalikas seems to go back to the 7^th century A.D. or even earlier. The worship of Shiva as Kapaleshvara was prevalent in distant regions of India as evidenced in the inscriptions.⁸² Sanskrit sources usually portray Kapalikas as charlatan ascetic who wander about with a skull begging bowl and drink liquor freely for mundane as well as ritual purposes. They also wear the ashes of the dead.⁸³

Ramanuja in his bhashya on Brahmasutra mention the name of Kapalikas and Kalamukhas as being Shaiva sects of an anti-Vedic character. Anandagiri a contemporary of Shankara speaks of two schools of Kapalikas, one Brahmanic and the other non-Brahmanic. But Kapalikas, whether they were Brahmanic or non-Brahmanic indulged in horrid practices of drinking and indulging in sex-appetite and living in an unclean manner. All the Kapalikas ate meat and drank wine in skulls as part of their rituals. Shankaracharya did not hold any discussion with the Kapalikas as their views were professedly anti-Vedic, says Anandagiri The Mahavrata meaning the great vow, consisting in eating food placed in a human skull and smearing the body with the ashes of human carcasses is attributed to the Kalamukhas by Ramanuja and on the authority of Shiva Mahapurana, R.G.Bhandarkar thinks that the Kalamukhas were the same as the Mahavratadharas.⁸⁴ But Vaddadi Appa Rao says that Mahavratins are to be identified with Kapalikas and not Kalamukhas and the Kapalika Vrata is the Mahavrata.⁸⁵ David N Lorenzen also says that the term Mahavratin is normally used to denote the Kapalikas and the Mahavrata was both a propitiatory penance and a reenactment of the penance of Shiva.⁸⁶

Gist of Kapalika philosophy

Bhakti or personal devotion to a personal god was the keystone of the Kapalika faith and this god was Shiva in his terrific form Bhairava incarnation. The rituals of the Kapalikas were either propitiatory, imitative or a combination of both. The aim of these rituals was a mystical communion of the worshipper and his god and the rewards of this communion were twofold. One, the devotee gained supra human magical powers (Siddhis) and two, attained liberation from the cycles of birth and death.⁸⁷ By the time of Shankaracharya, the Kapalikas developed a strong centre in Ujjain. Bhavabuti refers to Srisaila as an important Kapalika centre.⁸⁸

The Kalamukhas

The Kalamukha sect is believed to have been founded by Kaurusya and is generally regarded as Vamachara Pashupata.⁸⁹ Information about them is drawn from epigraphical grants to their temples. Majority of the grants to the Kalamukha temples have been found in Karnataka state and date from the 11^th century and 12^th century A.D. In general they provide mere information about the history rather than the doctrine and cult of the sect.⁹⁰

The name Kalamukha may refer to a practice of marking their forehead with a black line or stripes. Sriparvata was an important pilgrimage centre for the Kalamukhas.⁹¹

The Kalamukha based their doctrines on the Agamas and practiced various Yoga type rituals.⁹² The essential feature of their faith seems to be personal devotion or bhakti to Shiva rather than metaphysical speculation or a religion of sacrifice and ritual observance.⁹³ According to V. Subbiah the Kalamukha originated in Kashmir and later migrated to south India. The reasons could be due to missionary zeal, loss of patronage, unsettled political conditions due to invasion of Muslims and famine.⁹⁴

At the Kodiya Matha in Kedareshvara temple at Belagave in Shimoga district under the control of the Kalamukhas the list of subjects studied or taught at the matha includes nearly the whole of traditional Sanskrit learned with the addition of two slightly less orthodox subjects, Lakula-Siddhanta and Patanjali Yogashastra. Also ascetics belonging to various faiths like Buddhists, Jainas, Shaivas and Vaishnavas were given alms here. This shows that the Kalamukhas were not anti-Vedic or sectarian in character.⁹⁵

According to T.V.Mahalingam, in the course of the 9^th and 10^th century A.D. the Pashupatas (Kalamukhas) began to adopt milder religious practices. This change was evidently due to the contempt and ridicule to which their practices were subjected in the period of the Shaiva and Vaishnava revival in south India led by the Nayanars and the Alwars. As a result we find the popularity of the Kalamukhas rise in south India. We find them in a flourishing condition in Karnataka during the days of the Hoysalas and Chalukyas of Kalyana and in Andhra region during the rule of Eastern Chalukyas and the Telugu Chodas. The pontiffs of this school were the rajagurus (spiritual preceptors) of the eastern and western Chalukyan kings as well as the kings of Chedi, Malwa and the Kakatiyas of Warangal. The royal preceptor of Harihara I and Bukka I, the founders of the Vijayanagara empire was one Kashivilasa Kriyashakti who was a Pashupata/Kalamukha, The Kalamukhas became largely connected with temples and its management and most likely were also associated with the conduct of worship in them.⁹⁶

The Kalamukha teachings spread and mathas were established all over India. They built mathas and chatras where education was freely imparted to the students who were also fed and clothed. They built temples and encouraged architects, sculptors and painters. They presided over vidya mantapas or assemblages where tests of scholarship of savants in various branches of learning were held and rewards distributed for the learned and the successful. They built hospitals with maternity wards and nursing homes. They influenced their royal disciples to make liberal grants to agraharas to learned Brahmans, where provision was also made for the encouragement of artisans and various other craftsmen.⁹⁷

Several similarities between the Kalamukha sect and the Virashaiva sect like the organization into large mathas, emphasis placed on Linga worship and priests of their respective sects being called as Jangamas and also several Kalamukha mathas transformed into Virashaivas mathas has led Lorenzen to infer that a reformist group within the Kalamukha sect under the leadership of Basaveshwara formed the Virashaiva sect.⁹⁸

The Kalamukhas who were the rajagurus till 12^th century A.D. disappeared after that time as all Pashupatas including the Kalamukhas were absorbed in Golaki Matha Sampradhaya known as Shuddha-Shaiva-Sampradaya.⁹⁹

The Raseshvara Shaivism

The Raseshvara system is so called because its followers though they admit the essential identity of soul with Maheshvara, assert that liberation in life (Jivanmukti) depends upon the stability of the bodily frame and that it is possible to have perdurable body through the use of the processed and purified mercury.¹⁰⁰

The cause for the rise of Raseshvara system

It appears that seekers after liberation felt frustrated in their efforts because of short life and disease. Hence there seems to have grown a tendency to look upon the effort of liberation as futile. Raseshvara Darshana therefore sprang up to fight this tendency. It emphasized the importance of a healthy and durable body for the successful practice of yoga. It gave the processed and refined mercury and mica as a means to the attainment of a perdurable and healthy body. As majority of the writers on Raseshvara Darshana were Shaivas and as the origin of Raseshvara (mercury) has been mythically attributed to Shiva’s semen, the Raseshvara system is referred as a Shaiva system.¹⁰¹

The Raseshvara system arose about the commencement of the Christian era, particularly because Nagarjuna is a recognized authority on it and he was a contemporary of king Kanishka.¹⁰²

Raseshvara system is more a science than a school of philosophy. It does not propound any new metaphysical, ethical or epistemic theory. But still it is included amongst the system of philosophy as it is concerned with a way to final emancipation (mukti).¹⁰³

Though Raseshvara system is represented as a Shaiva system non Shaivas have made substantial contribution to it. The most important being Nagarjuna, the Buddhist philosopher who is referred as an original contributor to the mercurial science among the 27 such persons by Vagbhata in his work Rasa Ratna Samuchchaya.¹⁰⁴

The Raseshvara system presents an advance on the earlier conception of Rasayana. According to Charaka, Rasayana was efficacious in prolonging life, strengthening memory, etc. and restoring youth. But the Raseshvara system holds that mercury (Rasendra) processed and purified in accordance with the ways and means, stated in the authoritative texts on the system is capable of giving immortality (Amaratva) to the user.¹⁰⁵

Though we have not been able to trace a text in which the philosophy of this system as such has been dealt with, on the stray references we can conclude that it follows a dualistic system. Accordingly the highest Lord Maheshvara is omniscient and omnipotent and free from all impurities. The entire university springs from Him. The individual self is essentially identical with the Supreme. It has innate impurities and can get freedom from them through His grace. It can acquire an immortal body by following the direction given in the texts and get liberation in the very lifetime on the earth. Liberation is the awareness of the identity of the soul with Shiva.¹⁰⁶

Shaiva Siddhas

As a common noun, Siddha means realized, perfect one, a term generally applied to a practitioner (sadhaka, sadhu) who has through his practice (sadhana) realized hid dual goal of superhuman powers (siddhis, realizations, perfections) and bodily immortality (jivanmukti). As a proper noun Siddha become a broad sectarian appellation, appellation applying to devotees of Shiva in Deccan (Maheshvara Siddhas), alchemists in Tamilnadu (Siddhara or Sittar), a group of early Buddhist tantrikas in Bengal (Mahasiddhars, Siddhacharyas), the alchemists of medieval India (Rasa Siddhas) and most especially, a mainly north Indian group known as Nath Siddhas.¹⁰⁷

Was Siddha Sect influenced by Vajrayana Buddhism?

According to T.G.Prabha Shankar after the 7^th century A.D. Vajrayana gave rise to the Siddha cult which was opposed to varnashrama, bahyachara (externalism) and never believed in mantra, devata, agnihoma and tirtha yatra. Their sadhana is of Sahajamarga which is the path to sthithprajna. They did their sadhana in the midst of their routine work. The Siddhas were classically known as Chourasi Siddhas (84 Siddhas) and lived between 700 A.D.- 1175 A.D. Gorakhnath’s guru Matsyendranatha was a Siddha. The Siddha tantric practice like vamachara and voluptuary pleasure led to its unpopularity.¹⁰⁸

Gorakhnath the founder of the Natha Panth opposed vamachara and guhyakriyas and formulated the Natha creed. Gorakhnath merged Buddhist ideology with Shiva and Shakti. He condemned idol worship, casteism and worship of many gods and goddesses.¹⁰⁹

Genesis of Vajrayana Buddhism

The Buddhist sect of Vajrayana grew when secret enclaves of Buddhist monks who violated Buddha’s strict rules of morality formed into an organization called Guhyasamaja. The main tenets of Guhyasamaja was that emancipation does not depend on bodily sufferings and abstinence from all worldly enjoyment and Buddhahood could be attained within the shortest time possible and even in one birth by indulging in all objects of enjoyment. They prescribed a number of mantras, mudras, mandalas and introduced elements of yoga into ordinary worship; permitted use of wine and meat and considered women as a manifestation of divine energy particularly for obtaining emancipation through yoga and samadhi. In short, the followers of this organization introduced several tantric practices into their system and composed a new Sangiti or collection of verses all of which were to be taken to have been delivered by Buddha in an assembly of the faithful and named it Guhyasamaja Tantra. The probable date of the Guhyasamaja Tantra is about 3^rd century A.D. and it was based on an early work Manjushri Mulakalpa which is dated in first or second century A.D. This system was called Vajrayana or the vajra path to salvation.¹¹⁰

Siddhas, a purely Shaiva Sect

With regards to the influence of Buddhism to Siddha cult we have facts which contradict the same. First of all the founder of Tantra is Lord Shiva. He is known as Adi Guru, a great ascetic (Maha Yogi) and a great Tantrika (Maha Kaula). He attained occult power through Tantra sadhana.¹¹¹ Secondly Shaivism and Shaktism are the two aspects of Tantra. Shaktism represents the beginning of Tantra sadhana and Shaivism is the culminating point of the spiritual march.¹¹² Thirdly, many orthodox scholars believe that the Tantras may have existed from the time of the Vedas or may be even older than the Vedas. Of course the language of the Tantric texts presently available is the post Vedic Sanskrit systematized by Panini, which might suggest that Tantras are post Vedic. But almost all the traditions in ancient India existed first in oral form and were handed down from guru to disciple or from generation to generation. Hence it is reasonable to believe that the Tantra philosophy existed in oral form from the time of the Vedas if not earlier and was only written down after the time of the Vedas¹¹³ and lastly the Atharva Veda mainly deals with the Tantric cult and covers all the branches of Tantrism.¹¹⁴ Another point to consider is that the Siddhas acquired Siddhis through practice of hatha yoga and yoga being the teaching of Lord Shiva it is difficult to believe that the cult of Siddhas were inspired by the Vajrayana sect.

Most probably the Hindu Siddhas who existed prior to the founding of Vajrayana sect were inspired to compose their own texts and organise monasteries on the lines of the Vajrayana sect. Hence Kalyani Mallik opines that Natha gurus are often called Buddhists by mistake as there was similarity in practice and in rites and rituals between Buddhist Sahajias and the Natha yogis; for instance Matsyendra is deified in Nepal as Avalokitesvara.¹¹⁵

Main feature of the Siddha cult

The main feature of the Siddha cult is to attain supernatural powers through yogic practices. They are believed to be experts in yoga and have possessed the eight siddhis namely Animaa, Mahima, Garimaa, Laghimaa, Praapti, Praakaamya, Istava and Vaseekarana. The Siddhas were also experts in Rasayoga or alchemy, the science of converting base metal into gold. The treatise Rasaratnaakara of Nityanaatha states that there existed a chemical laboratory at Srisailam where experiments were made regarding alchemy.¹¹⁶

According to David Gordon White, the Rasa Siddha and Nath Siddha group overlapped one another, with many of the most important Nath Siddhas- Gorakh, Matsyendra, Carpati, Dattatreya, Nagnath, Adinath and others- being authors or transmitters of a wide array of revealed yogic and alchemical teachings. The medieval Nath Siddhas and Rasa Siddhas further interacted with a third group, a Shakta sect developed to the worship of the goddess Kubjika which was based mainly in Nepal, also incorporated tantric, yogic and alchemical elements into its doctrines and practice.¹¹⁷

Maheshvara Siddhas

As their name indicates this group defines itself by its devotion to Shiva, the great Lord (Maheshvara). The Maheshvara Siddhas were generally alchemists who did not seek bodily immortality (jivanmukti) as the final goal of their practice but rather aspired to another sort of liberation namely paramukti. Rather than a perfected Siddhadeha or unbreakable physical body (vajradeha), the Maheshvara Siddha’s goal was a divine body (divyadeha) of a more ethereal, even incorporeal nature.¹¹⁸ The Maheshvara Siddhas were concentrated in the Deccan and western coastal region of India. A Siddheshvara temple was dedicated in 1030 A.D. in coastal Karnataka.¹¹⁹ According to David Gordon White, Sriparvata or Srisailam in Andhra and western India was the cradle of alchemical art in India.¹²⁰ The alchemy of the Maheshvara Siddha was more therapeutic than transmutational; for which reason it funneled directly into south Indian Siddha medicine.¹²¹

Siddhars of Tamilnadu

The Siddhars of south India were for all purposes semi-divine persons who walked the length and breadth of south India healing the soul and body of the suffering either from trammels of samsara or from bodily pain of any character. Tradition asserts that Nandi and Agastya learnt the Siddha system of medicine and also Shiva yoga from Shiva and imparted in their turn to a number of disciples. Generally the Siddhagana comprised 18. Though this number is mentioned in several books like the Kamigagama and Abidhana Chintamani, the names are not the same.¹²² According to R.Venkatraman, the tradition of 18 Siddhas which prevails in the Tamil country is a very late one, perhaps after the 18^th century and the number of the Siddhas certainly exceeds this traditional number of 18 and probably we have more than 30 Siddhas.¹²³

Among the Tamil Siddhars, Tirumular, the celebrated author of Tirumantiram takes the foremost place and is the earliest Siddhar. These Siddhars were adepts in the practice of yoga and equally adepts in rasavada or the science of alchemy and enriched the indigenous medical science.¹²⁴

The Siddhas of Tamilnadu were not an isolated body of free thinkers and were an integral part of a pan-Indian Siddha movement known as the Nath Siddha movement.¹²⁵ As mentioned above the alchemy of the Maheshvara Siddha was transmitted into south Indian Siddha medicine.

All the works of Siddhar system are in poetic form and in Tamil language. In the composition of medicines the Siddhars made use of minerals, metallic preparations and medicinal plants.¹²⁶

The Nathapanthis

One section of the Siddha cult was called Nathapanthi yogis. The Natha gurus are nine in number of whom Adi Natha the first guru is Shiva himself, Mina Natha alias Matsyendra Natha, Goraksha Natha, Caurangi, Megha Natha, Virupaksha Natha, Siddha Nagarjuna, Khanika Natha and Vyali Siddha. It is said that Mina Natha heard while in the womb of a fish, a discourse on yoga taught by Shiva to his consort Parvathi and after he was born he entreated Lord Shiva, the parama yogin to teach the yoga and bless him. Shiva who was kindly disposed towards him taught the yoga and made him an expert in all vadas (sciences), all mantras (magical formulas), all medicines and all the siddhis. Svatmarama Yogindra in his Hathayoga Pradipika refers to Matsyendra Natha and his disciple Goraksha Natha as the first teachers who propagated the science of Hathayoga.¹²⁷

The Natha gurus taught their doctrines to the rich and the poor alike. Kings like Gopichandra of Bengal (11^th century A.D.) and Bhartrhari of Ujjain in western India renounced their thrones and became yogis, Bhartrhari was initiated by Jalandhari who according to tradition of the yogis was the prince of Hastinapura. Another Natha yogi initiated by Matsyendranath was the son of king Devapala of the Pala dynasty of Bengal.¹²⁸ Jnaneshwar, the famous commentator of the Gita known as Jnaneshvari was initiated into the Natha cult by his elder brother Nivrittinath.¹²⁹

The institutionalization of the Nath Sampradaya via the recognition of Gorakhnath and other figures as its historical founders took place in the 13^th century A.D.¹³⁰ This Sampradaya comprised of the Naths; that is various Shaiva groups like Pashupatas, Kapalikas and Shaktas for whom Shiva had long been called Nath (Lord) and Siddhas; (Maheshvara, Rasa Siddhas, Sittars and the Buddhist Siddhacharyas.¹³¹ This order which inherited the techniques of tantric alchemy from Rasa Siddhas would transform that discipline into what we have termed Siddha alchemy, the melding of external alchemy with internal hatha yogic practice, as such was taught by the 10th century Matsyendra and systematized by the 12^th /13^th century Gorakhnath.¹³²

Gist of the philosophy of Natha cult

Some Sanskrit works such as Goraksha Samhita, Goraksha–Shataka, Hathayoga Pradipika, Shiva Samhita, Ghenanda Samhita, Siddha Siddhanta Paddhati of Gorakshanatha, Yoga Vishaya of Minanatha, Amaraughaprabodha and Yogamartanda of Gorakshanatha, Goraksha Upanishad, Matsyendraji Ka Pada, Bharathariji ki Sabdi, etc. Are some of the works which gives information about Nathism.¹³³

The Natha cult is fundamentally based on the belief of the two aspects of the absolute Reality, represented by the sun and the moon; where the sun stands for the principle of destruction through the process of death and decay and the moon stands for the principle of immutability. The final aim of the Natha Siddhas is the attainment of a non-dual state, through the attainment of immortality, in a perfect and divine body. This non-dual state of immortality which is the state of the great Lord (Maheshvara) can be attained only through the union or rather the commingling of the sun and the moon and this is attained through the practice of hatha yoga.¹³⁴

In hatha yoga the human body is conceived as a microcosm in which everything found in the macrocosm has a parallel. Accordingly Shiva and Shakti reside in the body. Below the navel in the lowest part of the nerve centre (muladhara chakra) lies Shakti in its dormant state. It is Shakti which leads to change and decay through bhog (enjoyment). The region of Shiva is above the navel (sahasrara chakra) and is the domain of rest or tyag (renunciation). The aim of the yogi is to arouse the Shakti and unite it with Shiva through the central nerve susumna which connects the muladhara chakra with sahasrara chakra. Thus Shiva and Shakti unite in samarasa which is the final aim of Natha yogis.¹³⁵

Natha cult to Sant cult

Nathapanthis were mostly from weaver communities and even Gorakhnath is described as a weaver. Kabir the founder of Sant cult was a Natha panthi Muslim weaver. The Santa cult of Kabir took jnanavada from Vedanta, premavad from Sufism, ahimsavada from Vaishnavism, hatha yoga from Nathism and formed a new and popular cult in north India.¹³⁶

Shaiva Sects based on Agamas

Three schools of Shaivism namely Kashmir Shaivism, Shaiva Siddhanta and Virashaivism are based on a body of canonical texts called Agamas. The Shaiva Siddhanta and Virashaivism rely on a group of 28 agamas and Kashmir Shaivism rely on a group of 64 agamas. The school of Kashmir Shaivism organised itself in the 9^th century while the Kannada literature of Virashaivas and Tamil text of Shaiva Siddhanta are much later. They start respectively with Basaveshvara and with Meykandadevar in the 12^th century A.D.¹³⁷

Abhinava Gupta in his Tantraloka classifies the Agamas in three groups of ten, eighteen and sixty-four texts respectively. His commentator Rajanaka Jayaratha relates the first group of ten with the name of Shiva and a doctrine of dualism, the second group of 18 with the names of Rudra and a doctrine of dualism-cum-non dualism, the third group of 64 with the name of Bhairava and a doctrine of non-dualism.¹³⁸

Trika or Kashmir Shaivism

Kashmir Shaivism is a monistic philosophy whose basic tenet is that the entire universe is nothing but conscious energy and that everything in the universe is that consciousness expressed in different forms. This philosophy is called Kashmir Shaivism because the Shivasutras on which it is based were revealed in the state of Kashmir and many of the philosophers who studied and wrote about this system lived in Kashmir.¹³⁹ Kashmir Shaivism took its root in the 9^th century A.D. and developed till about the 13^th century A.D.¹⁴⁰

The monistic school of Kashmir Shaivism was founded by Tryambaka. It is pointed out that Shiva himself in the form of Srikantha imparted this doctrine to Durvasas who in his turn passed it onto Tryambakaditya who in course of time settled in Kashmir and formalized these teachings. Somananda the author of Shivadristi, the first philosophical treatise available on Kashmir Shaivism was the 29^th in line of teachers from Traymbakaditya.¹⁴¹

Literary works of Kashmir Shaivism

The literature of Kashmir Shaivism may be broadly classified under three heads. Agama Shastra, Spanda Shastra and Pratyabhijna Sashtra.¹⁴²

Agama literally means what has come down from remote antiquity. This literature is believed to have been revealed from teacher to pupil or conversation between Shiva and Shakti. The notable instance is Shivasutras said to be revealed by Shiva to Vasugupta. The knowledge of Kashmir Shaivism is mostly based on Shaivagamas.¹⁴³

Spanda literally means vibratory movement or speeding. It has reference to the fact that the whole universe in all its states and aspects- physical, psychic, spiritual is nothing but a system of speeding in the science of the universe. This literature consists of Spanda Karikas which elaborate the principle of Shivasutras. Examples of Spanda Karikas are Spanda Sandaha and Spanda Nirnaya by Kshemaraja.¹⁴⁴ Bhatta Kallaka, a disciple of Vasugupta composed Spanda Karika which expresses the secrets of the theory and practices of Shaivism as taught by the Shivasutras.¹⁴⁵

Pratyabhijna primarily means recognition. This has reference to the fact that man’s recognition of himself as he essentially and truly is. This is just the recognition of Shiva who has hitherto remained forgotten and unrecognized even though residing all the time in the deepest of his own being or consciousness. Pratyabhijna principles were first enunciated by Somananda in his Shivadristi by interpretation of the main doctrines. An important work in this category is Isvara Pratyabhijna composed by Utpaladeva. Later on Abhinavagupta wrote Pratyabhijna Vimarsini. Next comes Kshemaraja, a disciple of Abhinavagupta who wrote Pratyabhijna Hrdrayam an important digest on this system.¹⁴⁶

Tantraloka in twelve volumes by Abhinavagupta deals with all the important doctrines and disciplines of the system. Kashmir Shaivism has no caste restrictions and is meant for all aspirants in whom desire for spiritual knowledge and liberation has arisen.¹⁴⁷

Many scholars are of the view that Agama, Spanda and Pratyabhijna are the three sub-schools of Kashmir Shaivism which according to B.N.Pandit is not correct. Spanda is that intrinsic character of the absolute reality, the Self of every being, which is to be realized by an aspirant by the means of Pratyabhijna or self recognition, to be brought about through yogic practices prescribed in accordance with Agamas, the scriptural works on Shaivism.

Also Kula, Trika and Krama are being correlated with the so- called three sub schools of Kashmir Shaivism. Kula and Trika are no doubt two different systems of practice prescribed in Shaivism. But neither of them can be strictly bound to any of such ‘sub-schools’. As for Krama it is not at all any independent system of practical Shaivism but is an integral part and parcel of both Trika and Kula system.¹⁴⁸

Gist of the philosophy of Kashmir Shaivism

According to Kashmir Shaivism, the Supreme or absolute reality is known as Paramasiva which is an unlimited, all-pervading, all containing and ever conscious luminosity. The nature of this consciousness is Spanda or subtle vibratory sensation. By virtue of this stir or vibration the universe emerges out of Paramasiva and appears objectively and gets again merged into it at his freewill. Paramasiva manifests himself out of his freewill to be a limited soul on the one hand and as the objective universe on the other hand and appears like that simultaneously. The limited soul recognizing his Sivahood realizes its innate Godhead Paramasiva. He is ever playing a drama of descent from Godhead to the position of individual self and also of ascent from that position to absolute Godhead. This play of the Lord is going on in countless forms with respect to countless souls and this playfulness is his nature.¹⁴⁹

Shaiva Siddhanta

The term Shaiva Siddhanta is first mentioned by Tirumular who lived in the fifth century A.D. in his Tirumantiram. Although the samaya acharyas do not mention the term we learn from inscriptions that the Pallava king Rajasimha (688-705 A.D.) ruled from Kanchi and built the famous Kailasanatha temple there, called himself a follower of Shaiva Siddhanta, Agamapriya and Siva Chudamani. These make it clear that historically Shaiva Siddhanta was a well established term in those days as the distinct name of the philosophy of the Tamil people.¹⁵⁰ Unlike the theistic schools of Vedanta the Shaiva Siddhanta has for its basic texts not the Upanishads or the Gita but the mystical writings of the great Saiva saints.¹⁵¹

Sources of Shaiva Siddhanta

The chief sources of Southern Shaivism is the 28 Shaivagamas of which the chief is Kamika including the section dealing with knowledge called Mrgendra Agama; the hymns of Shaiva saints compiled by Nambi Andar Nambi and called Tirumurai and the works of later theologians.¹⁵² Of the 63 Shaiva poet-saints called Nayanmars, four namely Appar (Tirunavukkarasu). Sambandar, Sundaramurti and Manickavackar are called Samayacharyas who wrote and sang soul-inspiring and beautiful devotional songs in praise of Shiva in Tamil.¹⁵³

The hymns of the first three Samayacharya are known as Tevaram and collected into seven Tirumurais. The eighth Tirumurai is Tiruvacakam by Manikavacakar. These four saints, considered as the apostles and regenerators of the Shaiva creed, took pilgrimage to every holy shrine and Shiva temple all over India and preached and propagated the faith of Shiva. They were champions of the Bhakti cult. They believed in real spiritual experiences and not in abstract philosophies. The 12^th Tirumurai is the Periyapuranam composed by Sekkilar wherein is reconstructed the life history of the 63 Nayanmars.¹⁵⁴

The standard exposition of the Shaiva Siddhanta views is contained in the Shivajnanabodham composed by Meykandar who lived in the 13^th century A.D. This work is regarded as an expansion of twelve verses of the Raurava Agama. Arulnandi Sivacarya, the first of the 49 disciples of Meykandar is the author of the important work Shivajnanasiddhiyar. Umapathi’s Shivaprakasam is another important work of this sect.¹⁵⁵

Background of Siddhanta

According to tradition, Siddhanta’s first prophet appears to have been Kadambaguhadhivasi, (the dweller in the Kadamba cave) sometimes said to be of Daruvana and usually known as Guhavasi. He was an accomplished one or Siddha and reputed to be an incarnation of Siva. Guhavasi was succeeded by Shankhamathadhipathi, followed by Terambipala and Rudrashambhu or Amardaka. From Amardaka time (775 A.D.) the Siddhanta acquired three monastic orders (called after their birth places) which were instrumental in its diffusion. These areas were Amardaka in Ujjayini, Mattamayura, the capital of Chalukya dynasty near the Punjab and Madhumateya in Mahua, south of Terahi.¹⁵⁶

The Amardaka order was founded by Rudrashambu sometimes identified with and sometimes distinguished from the sage Durvasa. From the ascetics of this order were drawn the royal preceptors of the Kakatiya kings of Andhra.¹⁵⁷

The Mattamayura order was founded by Purandara, the successor of Rudrashambhu and produced the royal preceptors of the Varmas of the Punjab, the Pratiharas and Paramaras of Central India.¹⁵⁸

The Madhumateya order order connected somehow to Durvasa was founded by one Pavanashiva and this order produced the royal preceptors of the Kalachuris of Central India.¹⁵⁹

The Kalachuri dynasty (also known as Haihaya) often referred to as the kings of Dahala mandala (or the Chedi country) had their capital in Tripuri, now a village known as Tewar, six miles west of Jubbulpore in Madhya Pradesh. Durvasa founded a monastery here called Golaki. Its high priest at the time of Yuvaraja I who ruled in the second quarter of 10^th century was Sadbhavashambhu known sometimes as Prabhavashiva. Prabhavashiva came to Yuvaraja’s kingdom from Mattamayura and his royal patron gave him a monastery built at a great cost and richly endowed along with a large number of villages for its maintenance.¹⁶⁰

The Paramara period which appears to have started around 9^th century A.D. is when Shaivism achieved a rapid growth. Among the Paramaras, who patronized the Shaivas, the outstanding ruler was Bhoja (1018-60 A.D.), the author of the Saiva treatise Tattva-Prakasha. His reign is sometimes regarded as a golden age in the history of Shaivism in Malva.¹⁶¹

The Siddhanta ascetics full of missionary zeal used the influence of their royal patrons, the most noteworthy being the Chalukya Avanivarman (9^th century A.D.) to propagate their teachings in the neighbouring kingdoms and established monasteries in Maharashtra, the Konkan, Karnataka, Andhra and Kerala. The Siddhanta flourished in the areas where it spread until it was devastated by the Muslim invasions or supplanted by other forms of Hinduism.¹⁶²

Works on Shaiva dualism

Some of the important authors who professed Shaiva dualism are Sadyojyoti who lived before 9^th century A.D. and wrote commentaries on two Agamas, Raurava and Svayambhuva. Other dualist authors were Bhatta Ramakantha I and his disciples Srividyakantha and Srikantha. While Srikantha’s work was Ratnatraya, Bhatta Narayanakantha, son of Srividyakantha was the author of a commentary on Mrgendragama. Bhatta Narayanakantha’s son- Bhatta Ramakantha II wrote a commentary on Matangaparameeshvaragama. One Somashambhu who lived in central India and was connected with the Golaki Matha was the author of Somashambhupaddhati, a compendium on rituals. One Aghorasivacharya who lived in the middle of 12^th century in Tamilnadu may be in Chidambaram wrote commentaries on the works of Sadyojyoti, Bhatta Narayanakantha and Bhatta Ramakantha II.¹⁶³

Gist of Shaiva Siddhanta philosophy

One of the cardinal tenets of Shaiva Siddhanta Reality consists of three eternal substances of God, soul and matter. At the time of creation, God makes the cosmic stuff take on the form of the universe and He also invests souls with bodies. The Siddhantin’s concept of creation consists in God giving form to already existing substances.¹⁶⁴

The Pati

The Absolute in Shaiva Siddhanta is given the name Siva who is one, all-pervasive, omniscient, omnipotent and controls the soul and matter. God is Pati who protects the Pasu (souls). He is neither form nor is formless. He is nirguna without attributes yet eight attributes are attached to Him so that the mind of man may be able to contemplate on Him. He has no beginning and no end.¹⁶⁵

The Pasu

The soul is called Pasu as it is bound by fetters (pasa) they are infinite in number and have no beginning and are eternal. They are not the creation of God. God creates only their bodies, organs and spheres of activities and experiences and the objects therefor. From the very beginning they are bound by three classes of bonds (malas or impurities) which are anava, karma and maya.¹⁶⁶

Anava is said to be an inherent pre cosmic evil. It is not the nature of the soul but only an accretion or impurity which obscures the consciousness of the soul. It is mula mala. Karma both good and bad is the cause of all births and deaths and are of three categories namely Prarabdha- the part out of the large mass of accumulated karma that is being currently experienced. Sanchita- the balance of that mass which is to be experienced in future births and agamya- accumulated afresh through our current actions. This is usually explained by the analogy of rice that is being cultivated for food. The paddy harvested formerly and stored in the granary is sanchita. That which we have taken out, dehusked into rice, cooked and have served on the table for eating now is prarabdha and lastly the paddy that is now maturing in the field for a future harvest is agamya. Maya is the third of the bond. The maya of Shaiva Siddhanta is different from the maya of the Advaita Vedanta. Their maya is non-existent, mere illusion and on its removal the soul sees itself as the Brahman. But in Shaiva Siddhanta, it is ever existing, it is the material cause, the cause from which all things are evolved and into which all things are dissolved. It is the first cause for creation. From the subtle principle of maya all matter is created, God’s shakti is the instrumental cause and God is the efficient cause.¹⁶⁷

On liberation the soul does not merge with Siva and become absolutely one but is liberated from bonds and from births and deaths. If it is one then the souls cannot be distinct and eternal and the state of bliss does not arise. The released soul is experiencing infinite bliss without taking part in the five-fold functions of Siva. The experience of bliss is eternal and Siva is the giver and the soul the receiver of bliss. In that state anava mala no longer binds the released soul like a fried seed which has lost its power of germination anava exists but no longer obscures the consciousness of the released soul.¹⁶⁸

Aradhya Shaivism

The Aradhyas are a small sect found in Andhra Pradesh who profess and practice Shatsthala and Ashtavarna and call themselves Veerashaivas. They observe caste distinction, wear on their bodies Linga and also the sacred thread, repeat Gayatri mantra and follow the sixteen samskaras.¹⁶⁹

The sect of Aradhya Shaivism gained momentum during the Kakatiya period though the Kakatiya kings did not extend patronage to this creed. The three acharyas popularly known as Panditatraya namely Sripati Pandita, Mallikarjuna Pandita and Manchanna Pandita (Shivalenka) flourished during this period and preached Shaivism throughout Andhra. Those who followed the Shaiva school of these acharyas are called Aradhyas or Lingadharis because they bear the Linga on their bodies.¹⁷⁰

The Aradhyas are staunch Shaivas worshipping no other god but Shiva. They wear both the Linga and the sacred thread and offer their food as naivedya to the Linga. Like other Brahmins they observe caste and vedic ceremonies and accept Vedas and Smrtis as their sacred scriptures. They bury their dead in the sitting posture like the Lingayats and observe death pollution for ten days but do not give up Linga worship during that period. The Aradhyas like the Veerashaivas worship the Linga, Jangamas, have a diksha ceremony similar to the Veerashaivas and forbid intercourse with the non-Shaivas.¹⁷¹

The Sampradhaya of the Aradhya Shaivas

As mentioned earlier, missionaries of the Shaiva Siddhanta and those belonging to the Mattamayura clan were patronized by the kings of Dahala mandala, the name given to the Chedi country. It may be recalled that during the reign of Yuvaraja I of the Kalachuri dynasty, one Sadbhava Shambhu founded the Golaki matha in 10^th century A.D. The Chola kings, Rajaraja I and Rajendra I became highly impressed with the Shaivite cult which was prevalent in the regions of north India during their campaign. Rajendra I invited and settled many Shivacharyas in Kanchi and preceptors of the Golaki school became the rajagurus of the Chola rulers. For instance Ishana Shiva was the rajaguru of Rajaraja I and Sarvashiva of Rajendra I.¹⁷²

Before the coming of the Golaki school, there were Pashupata and bhakti cults and also sects like Kapalikas and possibly Kaulas in the Tamil country. As a result there was a modification in the Golaki school at the religious level and the term ‘Dakshina Golaki’ used in the epigraphs obviously refer to the modified cult. This happened in the Andhra country also and we hear the terms Nava Golaki and Abhinava Golaki which are indicative of some kind of transformation of the original Golaki school.¹⁷³

To ascertain the religious trends that modified Golaki matha sampradaya in Tamilnadu, we must understand the religious trends of Pallava and Chola kings that ruled Kanchi. Offering worship to the Shiva Linga in the temple, partaking in the temple rituals and singing hymns of the praises of the lord appears to have been the order of the day. Thus a kind of Maheshvara cult, very likely of the Pashupata type prevailed. A study of inscriptions shows that in accordance with the earlier practice of Shaivites the Pallavas were wearing Linga on the head after worshiping them. The practice of wearing Linga on the head was prevalent among the Pashupatas. The word jangama and aradhya were applied to Pashupatas. The Pallavas claimed to be Brahmins and they were wearing along with Linga, the sacred thread like the present day Aradhya Brahmins. They were followers of varnashrama dharma and were performing Ashwamedha yajnas.¹⁷⁴

Thus the modified Golaki matha was following the tenets of the Shuddha-Vaidika-Shaiva sampradaya and its followers were called Aradhya Shaivas or Aradhya Brahmins. They were the early emigrants from the Telugu districts to the kingdom of Vijayanagar and after its downfall became dependent on the Palegars and after their decline they emigrated to the province of Mysore.¹⁷⁵ The Golaki matha later merged with the Kanchi and Sringeri mathas.¹⁷⁶

Veerashaivism or Lingayatism

The word Veerashaiva seems to refer to the heroic attitude of the followers of Shaivism in defense of their faith and philosophy.¹⁷⁷

The early history of the sect is obscure and no authoritative book on the subject written before 11^th century A.D. is available and this has led scholars to conclude that it was founded by Basaveshwara. But none of the books on Veerashaivism either in Kannada or in Sanskrit ascribe the foundation of the sect to Basaveshwara. Probably Veerashaivism existed prior to 12^th century with another name and was a small sect with many features in common with other Shaiva sects which perhaps contemporary writers before 12^th century A.D. took it to be identical with one of the existing Shaiva sects. Therefore Madhava, the author of the Sarvadarshana Sangraha in whose days the post-Basava Veerashaivism certainly existed has not mentioned it at all. Perhaps he thought it to be identical with Lakulisha Pashupata, a sect which was very prominent and influential in the Kannada country.¹⁷⁸

Basaveshvara was the founder of Veerashaivism

According to traditions, Veerashaivism was founded by five acharyas namely Renuka, Daruka, Ekorama, Panditaradhya and Vishvaradhya whose mutts are located at Balehonnur (Rambhapuri) in Kadur district, Ujjain in Bellary district, Kedara in the Himalayas, Srishaila in Kurnoor district and Kashi in Uttar Pradesh.¹⁷⁹ But the absence of the names of these five acharyas by Basava and his colleagues in their vachana literature makes Prof. Sakhare doubtful about these acharyas as founders of Veerashaiva sect. While Basava and his colleagues have mentioned in their writings the names of the 63 Nayanmars (who are called Puratanas) with great reverence though they happened to be only Shaivas, they would have mentioned with equal affection and reverence the names of the panchacharyas if they had really founded the Veerashaiva religion before them. Hence Sakhare opines that the five pontifical throne of the five acharyas were established later to propagate the Veerashaiva religion and to protect it against aggression.¹⁸⁰

With regards to the existence of Veerashaiva religion before Basaveshvara, Prof. Sakhare argues that if there were the Veerashaiva religion before Basava then there was no necessity on the part of Basava to revolt against the Varnashramic faith. It would have been enough for him to become a convert to the Veerashaiva religion and he would have lived contentedly in that fold. But as it was his very revolt led to the rise of the Veerashaiva faith.¹⁸¹ Secondly there is no mention of Veerashaiva religion in vachana literature which is nothing but Veerashaiva literature. Basava and his colleagues who were known for their modesty would have mentioned in their vachana about the existence of Veerashaiva religion before them, if it did exist before them.¹⁸²

If there were the Veerashaiva religion before Basava and 12^th century history would have referred to it just as it had spoken of Jainism, Vaishnavism and various forms of Shavism like Kapalika and Kalamukha. The same hold true in the case of literature where there is no mention of Veerashaiva before Basava.¹⁸³

Again no where there is any mention of Basavanna having got lingadiksha from anybody. He himself was responsible for his lingadiksha as the cult of ishtalinga was started by him. The vachana of Allamaprabhu says that he and Channabasava belong to the tradition of Linga started by Basava. The first Veerashaiva pontifical throne known as Shunyasimhasana was established by Basava for Allamaprabhu.¹⁸⁴

Basaveshvara organized a religious institution ‘Shivanubhavamantapa’ which was presided over by Allama Prabhu. It was here that many sharanas flocked to it to take part in the discussion and as a result the doctrines of Veerashaiva religion were shaped and formulated. From it did emerge the Shatsthala philosophy, the essential feature of the faith and Chennabasava (nephew of Basaveshvara) was the creator of Shatsthala. Another important doctrine ‘Ashtavarna’ was systematized by Kaliketa Brahma and all these information we get from the vachanas of Basaveshvara and other sharanas.¹⁸⁵ The Veerashaiva scriptures basically comprise of the vachanas and the new part called uttaravisheshabhaga of the 28 Shivaagamas.¹⁸⁶ On the basis of all these facts Prof.Sakhare has come to the conclusion that it was Basaveshwara who founded the Veerashaiva religion.

According to S.C.Nandimath, references either to Veerashaivism or to the Satsthala Siddhanta, etc., in the available Saivagamas are not many, yet most of the cardinal points in the doctrines of the Veerashaivism are visible here and there in them. However the available fragments do not lend support to the theory that the 28 Saivagamas preach Veerashaivism. Also the claim that the later parts (uttara bhaga) of the 28 Saivagamas deals with Veerashaivism cannot be justified at this stage as they are not available.¹⁸⁷

Veerashaivism influenced by Nayanmars?

According to S.C.Nandimath the vachana writers, the apostle of post-Basavanna Veerashaivism, hardly saw any differences between their creed and that of the Tamil Shaiva saints of the pre-Meikandan period. Indeed the Veerashaiva saints claimed the Tamilians as their own; and the Kannada Veerashaiva literature teems with the accounts of the Tamil Shaiva saints. The Basava Purana devotes its major portion to the accounts of the Tamil saints, who must have influenced the Kannada vachana writers immensely for in the vachanas the influence and imitation of the songs of Tiru-Jnanasambandha and Manikkavacagar can be traced. The intense bhakti to Shiva was the central point in both Shaiva Siddhanta and Virashaivism.¹⁸⁸

From about 9^th century A.D. the Kalamukha sect flourished in Karnataka. Its priests controlled the leading educational institutions and Shaiva temples. But the teachings of this sect were in Sanskrit and their gurus or priests were generally Brahmins and hence their teachings failed to appeal to the masses. At the same time the teachings and achievements of the Tamil saints spread in Karnataka also. Frequent wars between the Chola and Chalukya kings in the 11^th century A.D. and the conquest of a portion of Mysore by the Cholas furthered the intercourse between the Kannadigas and the Tamils. As a result of the spread of Tamil Shaivism in Karnataka, several devotees of Shiva rose in Karnataka. But the new movement lacked organization and political support and good leadership. At this stage came Basaveshvara who gave a definite shape to its teachings, organized it on a strong and popular basis and attracted all classes of people, learned and ignorant, Brahmins and non-Brahmins to join it and bring it political support. The Shaiva movement as shaped and reformed by him was known as Veerashaivism or Lingayath religion.¹⁸⁹

Veerashaivism influenced by Golaki Matha Sampradaya?

Basaveshvara’s father was a Aradhya Brahmana¹⁹⁰ and the Aradhya Brahmins had been reformed to a great extent by Golaki Matha Sampradaya according to which Shiva deekshitas were required to observe neither asoucha nor shraddha. Sivamahapurana of which Vayaveeya Samhita is a section had allowed Lingas to be given to all including Shudras. The Vayaveeya Samhita was dubbed as Tantrika-Vaidika probably due its liberal outlook towards Shudras. The fact that a succession of Shaiva teachers who had dared to preach the equality of men in the eyes of Shiva whom they proclaimed the One God enabled Basaveshvara to bring about the reformation smoothly and the reformed sect treated their old gurus with respect.¹⁹¹ For instance the Lingayats in all their social and religious ceremonies (when a child is tied with a Linga or when diksha is given) invoke the pancha acharyas and during marriage place five kalasha (jars) filled with various items representing the five acharyas.¹⁹² Though Sakhare says that no where there is any mention of Basava having got lingadiksha from anybody, we have information about a great saint called Jatavedamuni, also known as Ishanya Guru who came from Kudala Sangama to bless the newly born Basaveshvara with a symbolic Linga and initiated him into the new path. As he already was wearing a Linga, when his parents started making preparations for his Upanayana (thread ceremony), Basaveshvara firmly opposed it saying he had already been initiated with the Linga at the time of his birth.¹⁹³

Gist of Virashaiva philosophy

In Veerashaivism the Ultimate Reality is addressed as Sthala. It is the Brahman or Parashiva, the source of all from which the whole universe with its movable and immovable objects emerges, is sustained and in which it is submerged. This Supreme Reality or Shiva bifurcates Himself into Linga and Anga and the divine power into shakti and bhakti. Linga is upasya, the worshipped and Anga the upasaka, the worshipper and bhakti is upasana, the worship.¹⁹⁴

According to Veerashaiva philosophy the soul is produced directly from Sadashivamurthi along with the five great elements, Mahabhutas. The technical name for soul is Anga which becomes jiva when reflected in avidhya. Like Advaita, Veerashaivism holds that avidhya to be the cause of entanglement in the samsara. But unlike Shaiva Siddhanta, Veerashaivism does not consider that the soul is born with original impurity. Strict observances of Veerashaiva doctrines will lead the soul, step by step to complete liberation.¹⁹⁵

Shatsthala, the six-fold steps

The word sthala is also used in the sense of stage, step or halting place for the soul on its spiritual journey and each sthala is a preparation for a further rise. Veerashaivism has devised six such steps, shatsthalas (Bhaktasthala, Maheshasthala, Prasadisthala, Pranalingasthala, Sharanasthala and Aikyasthala) which the soul must climb to achieve realization.¹⁹⁶

Panchachara and Ashtavarana

The practice of Lingayat religion comprises of Panchachara and Ashtavarana. Panchachara are five codes of conduct namely- Lingachara, Sadachara, Shivachara, Bhrtyachara and Ganachara, which lay down the rules of behaviour for the individual members of the Lingayat community as social beings.¹⁹⁷

Astavarna means the eight-fold shield that protects the devotee from the onslaught of ignorance and guides him safely to final enlightenment. The Astavarnas are guru, linga, jangama, padodaka, prasada, bhasma, rudrakshi and mantra.¹⁹⁸

Veerashaiva religion lays more stress on the spiritual and ethical than on the philosophical aspect of religion. It believes that the proper observances of prescribed duties purifies the soul and elevates it step by step during the course of which the soul gaining knowledge is automatically freed from Maya and Avidya, on the complete removal of which it becomes united with Shiva. This union consists in becoming entirely one without distinctness or separate existence. This union is called mukti (Bayalu) and to attain it there are six steps (Sthalas-stages) or rung of ladder which form the centre of Veerashaiva philosophy.¹⁹⁹

Though the ultimate goal of the Veerashaiva philosophy is merging the soul in the Supreme, it begins with a belief in the distinctness of the soul from God. It is probably on the basis of this that the Veerashaiva philosophy is styled Bhedabheda or Dvaitadvaita by Sripati Pandita, the author of a commentary on Badarayan Sutras named Srikara. Sripati Pandita calls the Veerashaiva philosophy Visheshadvaita, monism with its own speciality as they believe in the unity of the soul with God after full realisation and achievement or in the Aikya Sthala only and not before which is not the case in the Advaita Vedanta.²⁰⁰

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64. Ibid, p.9

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67. R.C.Majumdar, Op.Cit, p.454

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72. Ibid

73. K.C.Pandey – Op.Cit, pp:119,120

74. Ibid

75. Ibid, p.124-133

76. Ibid, p.140

77. Ibid, p.143

78. Ibid, p.145

79. V.S.Pathak – Op.Cit, pp:23,24,25

80. Ibid

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87. Ibid, p.83

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91. Ibid, pp:97,99

92. Ibid, p.110

93. Ibid, p. 107

94. Ibid, p.108

95. Ibid, pp: 97,105

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101. Ibid

102. Ibid, p.55

103. Ibid, pp: 186,187

104. Ibid

105. Ibid, p.189

106. Ibid, pp: 192,193

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109. Ibid, pp: 183, 184

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112. Ibid, p.3

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114. Lalan Prasad Singh-Op.cit, p.23

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118. Ibid, pp: 102,103

119. Ibid, p. 103

120. Ibid, p. 77

121. Ibid, pp: 102,103

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129. Ibid, p. 6

130. David Gordon White – Op.Cit, p.97

131. Ibid, p.99

132. Ibid, p.100

133. Haridas Bhattacharyya – Op.Cit, p. 269 and Kalyani Mallik – Op.Cit, p.29

134. Haridas Bhattacharyya – Op.Cit, p. 297

135. Kalyani Mallik – Op.Cit, pp: 19-21

136. T.G.Prabha Shankar- Op.Cit, pp: 184,185

137. Pierre Sylvain Filliozat – A Dualistic school of Shaivism, QJMS, vol 69 (3-4), 1978, p.180

138. Ibid

139. Introduction to Kashmir Shaivism, Gurudev Siddha Peeth, 1979, p.1

140. J.Rudrappa- Kashmir Shaivism, Prasaranga, University of Mysore, 1969, p.11

141. R.N.Dandekar- Op.Cit, p.306

142. J.Rudrappa- Op.Cit, pp: 1,2

143. Ibid

144. Ibid

145. B.N.Pandit – Op.Cit, p.26

146. J.Rudrappa- Op.Cit, pp: 1,2

147. Ibid, pp: 2,8

148. B.N.Pandit – History of Kashmir Shaivism, Utpal Publications, Srinagar, 1990, pp:xxii,xxiii)

149. J.Rudrappa- Op.Cit, pp: 18,19

150. M.Arunachalam – Peeps into the Cultural heritage of Hinduism, The Kasimath, Tamilnadu, 1962. pp:178,179

151. P.Nagaraja Rao – Introduction to Vedanta, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Bombay, 1958, pp: 177,178

152. S.Radhakrishnan, Indian Philosophy, vol II, pp:722.723,724

153. G.Subramania Pillai – Introduction and History of Saiva Siddhanta, Collected Lectures on Saiva Siddhanta, 1946-1954 Republished by the Annamalai University, Annamalainagar, 1965, pp:9,10,11

154. Ibid

155. S.Radhakrishnan, Op.Cit, pp:722.723,724

156. Rohan A Dunuwila – Op.Cit, pp:34,35

157. Ibid

158. Ibid

159. Ibid

160. Ibid

161. Ibid

162. Ibid

163. Pierre Sylvain Filliozat – Op.Cit, pp: 181,182,183

164. V.Paranjoti – Saiva Siddhanta, Luzac & Co Ltd, London, 1954, pp:36,39)

165. M.Arunachalam – Op.Cit, p.180

166. Ibid, p.181

167. Ibid, p.182

168. Ibid, p.184

169. M.R.Sakhare– Op.Cit, pp: 7,8

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172. T.N.Mallappa – Suddha Vaidika Saiva Golakimatha Sampradaya at the time of the establishment of Vijayanagar Empire, QJMS, vol.71, July-December, 1980, pp: 134,135

173. Ibid, p.136

174. T.N.Mallappa – Op.Cit, QJMS, vol.72 (1-4), 1981, p.37

175. T.N.Mallappa – Op.Cit, QJMS, vol.71, July-December, 1980, p.136

176. T.N.Mallappa – Op.Cit, QJMS, vol.72 (1-4), 1981, p.45

177. K.C.Pandey –An Outline of History of Saiva Philosophy, Motilal Banarsidass, 1986, p.37

178. S.C.Nandimath – A Handbook of Virasaivism, The Literary Committee, Dharwar, 1942, pp:3,6,7

179. K.C.Pandey – Op.Cit, p.38

180. M.R.Sakhare– Op.Cit, pp:413,426

181. Ibid, p.424

182. Ibid, p.425

183. Ibid, p.413

184. Ibid, pp: 425,426

185. Ibid, pp: 416-418

186. Ibid, p. 677

187. S.C.Nandimath – Op.Cit, pp: 12,13

188. Ibid, p.13

189. R.Rama Rao – Op.Cit, p. 285

190. Ibid, p.287

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192. R.Rama Rao – Op.Cit, p. 286; S.C.Nandimath – Op.Cit, p.69

193. H.Thipperudraswamy – Basaveshwara, Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi, 1991, pp:5,6

194. Haridas Bhattacharyya – (Editor) –The Cultural Heritage of India, vol – IV, Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Calcutta, 1956,, pp: 103,104,105; S.C.Nandimath – Op.Cit, pp:163,164

195. S.C.Nandimath – Op.Cit, pp:159,160,161

196. Ibid, p.164

197. Haridas Bhattacharyya – Op.Cit, pp: 101,102

198. Ibid

199. S.C.Nandimath – Op.Cit, p.93

200. Ibid, pp: 96,97