22 Śaivism

Devaraj P.I

Introduction

Hinduism, as a philosophy, as a way of life and also as a course of faith has served the whole world like a light house. It is basically a progressive religion and has left its impact in all the spheres of life. Hinduism is unique in the sense that it has no single founder or a single source book. It grew gradually over a period of several thousand years. When we go deeply into it we will find that it is the product of a number of races and a number of cultures with several forms of practices. It evolved out of the varying faiths of various groups of the community as it was absorbing and assimilating all the diversified social movements and cultural practices of India. Hence it is often referred as ‘Sanātana Dharma’ which means in English as endless custom or endless religion. According to Karan Singh, “Hinduism calls itself Sanātana Dharma or eternal faith because it is based not upon the teachings of a single preceptor but on the collective wisdom and inspiration of great seers and sages from the very dawn of Indian civilization.” Philosophers often do not want to refer it as a mere religion as it permits free thinking and includes an indefinite number of customs. As a system, Hinduism is as vast and amorphous as the sea. It is based upon a theory of the immanence of God in all things. Generally Hinduism is associated with a multiplicity of Gods, and it does not advocate the worship of one particular deity. Deities are represented by a complexity of images and idols symbolizing divine powers. The most fundamental of Hindu deities is the Trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Śiva. Other popular deities comprise Ganeśa, Krişņna, Hanumān, Śrī Rāma and a number of Goddesses. But the common belief of Hindu people is that three Gods rule the world-Brahma, the creator, Vishnu, the preserver and Śiva, the destroyer. These three Lords have consorts and they are Goddesses too. Consort of Brahma is Saraśwati, goddess of learning, Vişņu’s consort is Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity and Śiva’s companion is Parvati who is worshipped as Durga or Shakti. Hinduism encourages the worship of many Gods in many forms but it must be understood that behind these myriad forms is the same all-pervasive divinity that is mirrored in thousand different ways.

2. Śaivism : An Overview

Today the popular Hindu worship revolves around three major deities- Śiva, Vishnu as himself and his major incarnations and the Goddesses. Śaivism and Vaişņavism are the very popular forms of Hindu faith with large number of followers. Śaivism worships Śiva as the Supreme Being and he worship of Śiva is probably the oldest of Hindu traditions. Śaivism regards Śiva as the source and essence of the universe. The temples dedicated to him are characterized by Linga (phallus) which is symbolic of the attributes of Śiva. The name Śiva signifies ‘auspiciousness,’ and he is adored as an embodiment of grace and wisdom. But he is also referred as Rudra or the fierce.

Śaivism is more than mere theology. It is a philosophy that attracted the attention of ancient and modern sages and thinkers. The characteristics of Śaivism are the exaltation of Śiva above all other Gods, the highly concrete conception of the deity, and the intensely personal nature of the relation between him and his devotees. According to some scholars, the most typical expressions of Śiva worship have been found in Indus civilization sites and some of the seals found there were interpreted as representing Siva Mahayogi and Śiva Pasupati. From the excavations in Mohenjo-Daro- Harappa sites, Sir John Marshall says, “Side by side with this earth or Mother Goddess, there appears at Mohenjo-Daro, a male god, who is recognizable at once as a prototype of the historic Śiva.” But some other scholars like K .A. Nilakanta Sastri have a counter-opinion and they advocate the Vedic origin of Śaivism. They believe that the word Śiva has been derived from Rudra, one of the Vedic deities. In Rig Veda the word ‘Śiva’ is not used as a proper name, but as an attribute of various deities. The name came to be applied euphemistically to the God of terrors and there is none more powerful than Rudra. The qualities of Rudra, as in Ŗgveda, reveal that he was an atmospheric God, quite fierce destructive, and physically attractive. He is the Lord of animal sacrifices and is associated with the distinctive powers of nature such as the storms, lightning and forest fires.

Just as the Gita reflects the intense theism of Vaişņavism, so also the Svetasvatara expound the supremacy of the Śiva as the result of the theistic strain of thought developed in the Upanishads. On the one hand, Śiva is identified here with the eternal Absolute. On the other hand, he is the God of all Gods, potent for good and evil. He is the great Master, the giver of boons, Rudra, the great seer, the supreme Lord and so on. He is attained by true tapas and then comes the removal of all bondage. The evolution of Śiva is found in Yajur Veda where around hundred names are attributed to him. These names include Pasupati or God of animals, Nilgriva or the blue-necked etc. In the great epics also we find references of Śiva and the Mahabharata refers to one thousand and eight names of Śiva. In the Rāmāyaņa, Śiva is associated with origin of Gaṅga. In Purāņas, Śiva is described as Ardhanāreeśwara, mixture of male and female principles. He is also presented as a teacher of truth and as silent yogic who meditates in peace. In this position facing South, He is known as Dakshinamurti. Siva as a Dancing Lord (Natarāja) is another powerful representation. The reference to Śiva in ancient Sangam literature onwards is a witness to his powers and popularity in Tamil country. The literature of Tamil Śaivism describes him very exalted terms and with strong moral emphasis. In this Śaivism all harsh elements of the Śiva have practically disappeared and he is considered to be the compassionate father of to all things living. A bhakti movement of Śaivism is only traceable to South India and it reached a great height. Thus we see that Śaivism developed in the course of time, in ritual practices and in philosophical concepts of God, soul and world. Now we will deal the different schools of Śaivism.

3. Different Sects of Śaivism

Śaivism is not just a dominant religious tradition, but it is also a philosophy which has evolved metaphysical doctrines on different issues of universal concern. It considers Śiva (Pati) as the ultimate Reality and it deals with relation between Pati with the ‘Individual Soul’ or Pasu and the world at large and among themselves. According to G.V.Tagare, Śaivism is a school of Indian philosophy which believes that there is some ultimate principles-Paratattva: at the basis of the universe, which, within itself creates, sustains and withdraws within itself (annihilates) the universe. It believes: that principle is both immanent and transcendent to the universe. For the sake of convenience of linguistic expression, it is called ‘Śiva,’ (the Auspicious). Hence the school came to be designated as Śaiva (Śaivism).” The sacred literature of Śaivism is called Śaivagama and it is placed side by side with the Vedas. Mādhvacharaya refers to four schools of Śaivism- Nakulisa-Pashupata, Śaiva, Pratyabhijna and Raseshvara. Besides these we find mention of two more sects- Kapalika and Kalamukha. Śaivism of the ‘Śaiva’ type is further divided into Vīra Śaivism and Śaiva Siddhānta. For the sake of convenience we can say that Kaşmir Śaivism or Pratyabhijňa system is monistic and idealistic. The dualistic school of Śaivism is Śaiva Siddhāntism and their school is Siddhānta Śaivism. The Śaiva school of Srikantha propounds qualified monism or qualified non-duality like Viśiṣṭādvaita of Rāmānuja. This school of Śaivism is called Śivādvaita. Another powerful school is Vīra Śaivism or Liṅgāyata. Hence we can say that the most important schools of Śaivism are – Kāşmir Śaivism, Siddhānta Śaivism, Śivadvaita and Vīra Śaivism. These are originally based on Śaivāgamas. The Vedic School of Śaivism is Pāsupatism. Śaivism Vedic or Āgamic, shares some common fundamental concepts and technical terms. They are Pati, Pasu and Pāśa. The śaivites believe that both the Vedas and the Agamas are poured by Lord Śiva and no human author has been attributed for their existence. Though Pāsupatism shares the fundamental concepts of Śaivism along with others, it is treated separately as it is non-āgamic. Now let us have a detailed look in to these schools of Śaivism.

4. The Pāśupatism

The Pāsupatas are the oldest Śaivite tradition in the North. In them ascetic tendencies were much in evidence. The term Pāsupatas means ‘pertaining to ‘Paśupati.’ Paśupati is the ‘the Lord of Pasu’s and in the Vedic literature Paśupati is the name of Lord Śiva. The historical founder of Pāśupatism is Lakulisa. He explained his system in 168 pithy sūtras. He composed five sūtras and they are:

1.  sadyojatam prapadyami

2.  sadyojataya vai namah

3.  bhave bhave nati bhave

4.  bhajasva mam

5.  bhavodbhavaya namah.

It was Rasikara kaundinya, another commentator of Pāsupatasūtras, who created a philosophical school on the basis of these Sutras.

4.1. Main Tenets of Pāśupatism

Although the doctrines of Pāsupatas express closeness to the doctrines of Sāṃkhya and Yoga philosophy, they distinguish themselves from these schools as they emphasize their Śaiva monotheism. The Pāśupatas recognize the reality of God (Pati), the individual souls (Paśu) and the world. God is the Lord (Pati) and he has the supreme power of knowledge and activity. He is the independent cause of the world. His will is absolute and He is the First Cause or the cause of the causes.

Five categories recognized by the Pāsupatas include effect, cause, yoga, vidhi and mokşa. The effects are ten kinds. They are the five elements of earth, water, fire and ether and the five qualities of smell, taste, color, touch and sound The Pāśupatas recognize thirteen causes also. They are the five organs of knowledge, the five organs of action and the three internal organs-manas, buddhi and ahamkāra. Yoga is the relation of soul to God through the mind. It consists in activity such as recitation of mantras, meditation etc and also in consciousness of God without any activity. Vidhi is the observance which achieves virtues. Mokşa is absolute extinctions of pains. It is also attainment of super human powers of knowledge and activity. The super normal powers of knowledge include the supernormal vision or darśana, super normal hearing or śravaņa, knowledge or all intelligible objects or manana, complete and undoubted knowledge of the scriptures or vijňāna and omniscience or Śaivajňātva. The three kinds of supernormal powers of activity are manojavatva, karmarupitva and vikāraņaşarmitva.

God is independent. The souls are dependent. They are produced by him and are eternal products. They are called Pasu because they are fettered by bonds (Pāśa). The impurity (mala) defiling the souls are five folds. They are false knowledge, demerit, attachment, causality and lapse. It is the root of sin as it binds the souls to the samsara. Purity is the complete removal of these malas and the means for it consists in-observance, recitation of mantras, meditation on God, constant recollection of Him and achievement of fruits. Their Yogic practice consists of a meditative contact with Śiva in solitude. Mokşa is not mere absolute negation of pain. But it is also achievement of divine sovereignty. It is proximity or sāmīpya or God, which puts an end to rebirth.

Though Pāśupatism is considered as the most ancient and the only Veda based school of Śaivism, it is not seen in its pristine purity today. The followers of this school of Śaivism were slowly transformed into the school of Vīra Śaivism.

5. Kaşmir Śaivism

Kaşmir Śaivism the fourth main system of Advaita is based on Śaiva agamas or taņtras which are accorded the same authority and status as the Vedas. Vasugupta, Sammananda, Uptaladeva, Abhinavagupta and Kshmeraja are the most eminent writers of this system and it has voluminous literature. Kashmir Śaivism is also known as Spanda or Trika system. The Trika is so called either because it accepts as most important triad, Siddha, Namaka and Mālini, out of the ninety-two Agamas recognized by it or because it explains three modes of knowledge or Reality,, i.e., non-dual (abheda) non-dual-cum-dual (bedha bheda) and dual (bedha). It is also called the Pratyabhijňa system. The details of this system are given in another module and so let us pass on to the next important School of Śaivism.

6. Śaiva Siddhānta

The chief sources of Śaiva Siddhānta are the 28 Śaivāgamas and the hymns of the Śaiva Saints. The great period of Śaivism was when the 63 saints called adiyars showed the people the way of devotion to Śiva. Meykanda Devar’s Śivajňānabodham is the basic text of the Śaiva Siddhānta. Arulnandi’s Śivajňānasiddiyar is commentary on Śivajňānabodhanam. Nīlakanta who wrote a commentary on the Brahmasūtra interpreted that work in the light of Śaiva Siddhānta. The main categories of Śaiva Siddhanta are Pati (god), Pasu (soul) and Pāśa. According to this system God, soul and matter are all real (anadinityaporul). So it is a pluralistic realism.

6.1. God or Pati

The supreme reality is called Śiva. He is referred to as ‘Pati’ which means that he is the Lord of all beings. He is regarded as beginningless, uncaused, the all doer and the all knower who frees the individual souls from the bonds which fetter them. God is designated by such names as Mara and Śiva. He is called Śiva because he is the supreme bliss. Eight qualities are usually attributed to Śiva. They are independence, purity, self knowledge, omniscience, and omnipotence, freedom from malas, benevolence and bliss. Sakti is the intermediate link between Śiva, the pure consciousness and matter, the unconscious. Absolute in itself is called Śiva and the Absolute in relation to objects is called Sakti. Śiva described is Śaiva Siddhānta is featureless (nirguņa) in the sense that he transcends the qualities of sattva, rajas and tamas. He is the Turīya for the fourth stage. He has eight forms (aştamūrti) and five functions. The eight forms are earth, water, air, fire; sky the sun, the moon and the sentient man. The five functions are śŗsṭi (creation), stiti (preservation), samhāra (destruction), tirodhana (obscuration) and anugraha (grace). The whole evolution of the world is for the sake of the soul’s release through the grace of God. The Siddhānta does not favour the concept of avatāra.The most fundamental category of Śaiva Siddhānta is that of Pati The other two namely Pasu and Pāśa are dependent in him. Pasu is individual soul and is also a reality. Souls are by nature infinite, omniscient and all pervasive but because of their association with impurities or malas they experience themselves to be limited and become subject to birth and death. The soul is called Pasu because they are bound by the Pāśa or rope of impurities just like the cattle are bound by the ropes.

Pāśa means the bond that binds a jīva to the course of transmigration. It is otherwise called as mala in Śaiva Siddhanata. It has three aspects- āņava, karma and māyā. They are known as the pāsājāla. Āņavamala corresponds to nescience or avidyā in Advaita. Due to these impurities the infinite soul thinks it to be finite or atomic. This avidyā is present in all beings beginningless and multi form. Only by the eradication of these the jīva can attain liberation.

Karmamala is produced by activities of beings. The soul bound by āņava is engrossed in activities. Actions bring merit and demerit leading to future birth. Māyāmala is the material cause of the world. It makes the soul enjoy the worldly pleasures. Māyā or Prakŗti is the stuff of which the world is made.

The three malas together constitute the bondage of the soul. A soul is either sakala, pralayakala or vijňānakala, according to as the nature of impurities present in it. The soul as it exists with all the three impurities is called sakala. The soul when it is rid of māyā alone is called pralayakala. The vijňānakala, is the soul in which only āņava remains. It is fit for release. It attains release when through the grace of Śiva, the impurity of āņava is removed from it. According to this system sin is the threefold bond from which we have to attain emancipation. We must get rid of āņava or avidyā which darkens the light of the soul, neutralize karma which produces re-birth, and remove māyā which is the basis of all impurities. The grace of God (arul) is the road to freedom. It demands child like trust in Śiva. He is full of, love and is waiting to receive the recognition of the soul. The teacher or the guru plays an important role in the scheme of salvation. Śiva himself is said to live in the guru looking at the discipline through the eyes of the guru. The path to release consists of four stages-carya, kriyā, yoga and jňāna. The first stands for external act of worship like cleaning the temple, gathering flower etc. This is called Dasamarga. Its goal is salokya, residing in the realm of god. The next stage is kriyā which means intimate service to God, first like a good son. It is known as satputramārga and the objective is samīpya, attaining nearness to god. The third discipline is yoga. Through this method one become more intimate with god, as a friend with a friend. It is called sakhamārga. It leads to sārupya, or gaining the forms of God. The fourth is jňāna which is the direct means to perfection. It is known as sanmārga because it takes the soul straight to God. Its aim is sayujya, union with god. This union is called Advaita in Śaiva Siddhanta. It regains its infinitude and omniscience. It enjoys the bliss of Śiva though it does not share with the latter his five functions. Thus without becoming identical with god, the soul enjoys his nature.

7. Śivādvaita

As distinguished from the teachers of Kaşīmir Śaivism and Śaiva Siddhānata, Srikanta, the exponent of Śivādvaita, adopted Brahmasūtra, and not agamas as the authoritative text to establish his theory. He interpreted the Prasthānatraya in terms of Śaivism rather than Vedanta and here we see that Brahman has been replaced with Śiva. He was probably a contemporary of Rāmānuja and his philosophy resembles to a great extent, the qualified monism of Rāmānuja. Srikanta’s Brahma Mīmāmsa-bhāşya resembles Rāmānuja’s Śrībhaşya in many ways. He refutes Śańkara’s doctrine of the ‘attributelessness’ of the Brahman. For him, the Brahman is the basis of all auspiciousness and is hence called Śivatattva.

In Brahma Mīmāmsā-bhāşya, Srikanta tries to reconcile Śruti and Āgamas. He affirms the equality of authority between the two. According to him, Śiva is the author of both Sruti and Agamas. Like other Śaiva sects, Srikanta also builds his system on the three main categories of Pati, Pasu and Pāśa.

Brahman is called Śiva because it is full of all auspicious qualities and free from taints. He is the Lord of all jīvas (Pasus) and is hence called Paśupati. He is the cause of creation, preservation and destruction of the world, concealment or embodiment of souls and bestowal of grace on them. Hence the five functions or pańcakrtya of Śiva are creation, maintenance, destruction of the world, tirodana and anugraha. He is the supreme reality. He is imminent in the world, which is transformation of his supreme energy (parā-śakti). He transcends it as its Inner ruler. Śiva and Śakti together is Brahman. The Supreme Lord is qualified by Sakti. It cannot exist apart from Brahman. As heat is inseparable from fire, so Śakti is inseparable from Śiva or Brahman. Śakti is different from and identical with Śiva, the energizer. Causation is transformation or pariņāma. It is a transformation of Cit-Śakti, which is non-different from Brahman.

Srikanta does not believe in the creation or origination of Pasus or individual souls from Śiva or Brahman. The jīva has co-status with but not identity with Brahman. Srikanta holds that the embodiment of the jīva, despite this co-status with Brahman, is due to some beginningless transgression on the part of the jīva that the Lord willed to conceal the true nature of the jīvas. He points out that the jīva is soiled by beginingless ajňāna or āņava, karma and māyāmalas. He recognizes four malas- āņava, karma, māyā and rodha. He regarded karma as a beginingless and the most powerful bond. Rodha or absuration is the power of the Lord but due to its effect it is regarded as Pāśa. The soul is forced to enter or leave a body assigned to him for experiencing the fruits of acts committed by him according to his good or evil predilections. Srikanta states that jīva is atomic in size but is encased in a lińgaśarīra constituted of the seeds of his future body. He transmigrates to another species with his lińgaśarīra. Like a lamp illuminating a room of any size, this atomic jīva enlivens all the body irrespective of its size.

Lord conceals the true nature of the jīva and entangles it in bondage. He removes the veil and grants its release. Bondage and release depend upon his will. Srikanta strongly recommends the path of bhakti. When Śiva becomes pleased, all the malas or bondage is destroyed by His grace. When all the malas are washed off, the original Brahman like qualities or powers of jīva which were so long veiled become manifest. Srikanta emphasized that the released soul enjoys bliss like the Śiva but not become merged in Śiva or Brahman. The similarity between the two is in the sameness of bliss. The liberation is called sāyujyata and it is similarity in appearance and enjoyment. Thus we see that Srikanta reconciled the āgamic and Upanişadic teachings in his of Śivādvaita.

8. Vīra Śaivism

Vīra Śaivism is said to have been emerged in Karnataka region to curtail the significance of Jainism. Vīra Śaivism or Lińgāyata religion gained momentum during the beginning of the 12th century and was based on the twenty eight Śaivāgamas. The term Vīra Śaivism means ‘a staunch follower of Śaivism’ and it insists on the worship of Śiva in the Śivalińga form only. The lińga is not necessarily a phallic symbol of the Lińgāyata, rather it is regarded as a concentration of fire and light which purifies the body and mind of the individual.

There are two views among Vīra Śaivism as to the founders of their sect. According to one view, it was founded by five ascetics or teacher saints, namely, Revanasiddha, Marulasiddha, Ekorama, Panditaradhya, Visvaradhya. They are believed to have been born out of the Śiva-lingas. The other view regarded Basava as the founder of Vīra Śaivism. He broke from traditional Hinduism and vehemently protested against meaningless rituals by refusing to undergo the sacred thread ceremony. He advocated equality of status to women, abolition of caste system, dignity of labour and such other advanced views in those days. His vacanas express his intense devotion to Śiva. His visualization of Śivalińga as ‘more brilliant than a thousand suns, incomprehensible yet blissful which renders him speechless’ certainly show that he was a great mystic saint.

A   systematic presentation of Vīra Śaiva philosophy is found in Sripati Pandits, Srikara Bhasya, a commentary on the Brahmsūtra. He wrote a lucid commentary on the Brahma Sutra and has shown that the agama-based faith; i.e., Vīra Śaivism has full support of the Brāhmanical prasthāna, the Brahmasūtra. It is a synthesis of Vedas, Upanişads and Āgamas and this Bhāşya is like a wish-yielding tree to mokşa seeking Śaivas.

Like the other Śaiva sects, Vīra Śaivas also regard Śiva as the Supreme principle who controls both Pasu and Pāśa. His specialty is that he is a synthesis or receptacle of contradictory characteristics such as sat, asat etc. Sripati adopts the term Brahman for Pati which is characterized by five functions i.e., creation, maintenance and annihilation of the universe, concealment and grace. According to him Lord is the cause of the world and world is the effect. The Lord extends the universe at the time of creation and withdraws it within at the time of pralaya. He held that the world is real and eternal.

Though the relation between jīva and God is like that of the body and the embodied, God is eternally free. All things are accommodated in akāsa or the sky but it is free from all blemishes etc of those worlds contained within it. The supreme Śiva, though the cause of everything and immanent in everything is untouched by their blemishes. Though there is difference in terminology almost all sects of Śaivism recognize 36 tattvas or categories out of which the first twelve are esoteric and the next twenty-four are those of sānkhyās. All these tattvas are evolved out of the śakti-the will power of Śiva. The Supreme Śiva is independent and his body is not karmika. Jīvas are seen to experience miseries etc due to their beginningless karmamala. Śiva removes this and absorbs the jīva within him. Due to the beginningless mala, the jīva and Śiva are at first separate but like rivers merging in to the sea, the Pasa or jīva becomes one with Śiva. Attainment of such a state is the culmination of spiritual experience.

Śaivism holds that mokşa is liberation from three type of bonds or malas i.e. āņava, karma, and māya. Vīra Śaivism believes that it is only due to Śiva’s grace that one can get liberated. It has prescribed dīkşa or initiation into the Śaiva spiritual path as the condition precedent for all aspirants to mokşa. Sripati asserts that by the knowledge about God one gets release from all bonds. By realization one attains the supreme Śiva-tattva. He holds that even by bhakti or devotion to Śiva one can achieve the four types of liberation like sālokata, sāmīpata, sārupata and sāyujyata. He recognizes the jīvanmukti concept of liberation and says that the jīvanmukta realizes that Śiva is in everything. The realization is that he is the Brahman and he is always absorbed in the results of the karmas. After the fall of his body or death he loses his individuality and merges into or become identical with Śiva.

To conclude, we can say that Śaivism which insists on the worship of Śiva is not just a dominant religious tradition. It is also a philosophy which has evolved metaphysical and other doctrines including the concept of mokşa which shows the necessity of the descent of god’s grace or anugraha for liberation.

Summary

Śaivism is an ancient religion in the broad sense of the term. It has many followers in all strata of society all over India. The supreme reality is called Śiva and Śivaliṅga is the symbol of the ultimate Reality which Śaivas designate as Pati. Śiva is regarded as beginningless, uncaused free from defects, the all-doer and the all-knower, who frees the individual soul from the bonds which fetter them.

Web links

• www.Saivism.net
• www.hinduismtoday.com
• www.shaivism.org
• www.wikipedia.org
• www.allshaivism.tripod.com
• www.hinduwebsite.com

 Bibliography

• Bibliography  Bhattacharya, Kalidas. (ed.) “The Religions’ in The cultural Heritage of India. Vol. IV. Kolkotta: The Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, 2006.
• Dasgupta. S.N. History of Indian Philosophy. Vol. IV. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1959.
• Pandit. B.N. Aspects of Kashmir Saivism. Sri Nagar: Utpala Publishers, 1977.
• Radhakrishnan, S. Indian Philosophy. Vol. II. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2013.
• Sinha, Jadunath. Indian Philosophy. Vol. I. Delhi: Motialal Banarsidass, 2006.
• Singh, Karan. Essays on Hinduism. Delhi: Primus Books, 2014.
• Tagare G.V. Śaivism: Some Glimpses. New Delhi: D.K. Printworld (P) Ltd, 2001.
• Verma, Rajeev. Faith and Philosophy of Hinduism. Delhi: Kalpaz Publications, 2010.