Hinduism: A Short History (32 page)

ŚAIVA SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT

“The Śaiva Philosophy,” writes S. S. Suryanarayana Sastri,
⁷²
“is, in a sense typical of the entire range of Hindu thought. While in all its forms it subscribes to the belief in three
padārthas
and thirty-six
tattvas
, in the reality ascribed to
tattvas
and in the independence assigned to souls and matter, it varies from idealistic monism at one end of the scale to pluralistic realism at other end. But all through there will be found the typically Hindu insistence on knowledge as essential to salvation.”

In Śaivism the
Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad
occupies about the same position as the
Bhagavadgītā
in Vaiṣṇavism; while its philosophical position is more monistic, dualistic elements are not lacking.
⁷³
Different schools developed early within Śaivism, associating the various
darśanas
with Śaiva tenets. There are some early authors who call the
darśanas
of Yoga, Nyāya and Vaiśeṣika, Śaivite.

Various titles and epithets of Śiva, used already in Vedic literature, would suggest that there had been definite groups of Śiva worshipers bearing these names. In the case of Pāśupatas and Kāpālikas we have early testimonies to this effect.
⁷⁴
Many of these sects may not have developed any specific system of thought but may have differed from other sects only through certain external signs and practices. Śaiva systems of philosophy are comparatively few.

Śaṅkara in his commentary on
Vedānta-Sūtra
II, 2, 37, as well as Vācaspati Miśra in his
Bhāmati
upon the
Śaṅkara-bhāṣya
, mention four non-Vedāntic Śaiva systems, which are condemned as erroneous: Śaiva, Pāśupata, Kāruṇika-siddhāntina, and Kapalika. Rāmānuja mentions at the same place only two systems: Kālamukhas and Kāpālikas. Mādhava, in his
Śarva-darśana-saṁgraha
, deals extensively with four systems: Nakulīśa (Pāśupata), Śaiva (Śaiva-Siddhānta), Pratyabhijñā (Kāśmīr Śaivism), and Raseśvara.

The earliest among the Śaiva sects were the Pāśupatas; they were divided into various subsects, but possessed a common basic philosophy. The Pāśupatas believe that Śiva himself originated their system.

Paśupati is one of the oldest names of Śiva. The
Mahābhārata
narrates that Paśupati, the consort of Umā, also called Śrīkaṇṭha or Śiva, the son of Brahmā, revealed the
jñāna
known as Pāśupata.

The
Vāyu Purāṇa
, in its enumeration of
Śiva-avatāras
, mentions as the last one Nakulin: Śiva tells Brahmā that in the twenty-eighth Mahayuga, when Viṣṇu will incarnate as Vāsudeva, he will incarnate as a
Brahmacarin
, by name Nakulin, after entering a dead body at a burial ground. He will have four disciples – Kuśika, Garhya, Mitraka, and Ruṣṭa – who, after initiation into Maheśvara-yoga, will reach Rudraloka, from where there is no return. The Śiva Purāṇa and the Liiiga Purāṇa have the same narrative, calling the
avatāra
Lakulin instead of Nakulin.

That Lakulin was regarded by the Pāśupatas as a
Śiva-avatāra
is testified by inscriptions.
⁷⁵
There is little doubt that Lakulin had been a historical figure and he probably was the founder of the Pāśupata system. Modern research places him in the second century C.E. The basic text of the Pāśupatas are the
Pāśupata-sūtras
, not necessarily the oldest text, since we find elements of Pāśupata doctrine already in the
Mahābhārata
and numerous chapters on Pāśupata-
vrata
in several
Purāṇas
, notably the
Vāyu, Śiva, liṅga, Brahmā
, and
Skanda Purāṇa
.

Mādhava devotes a chapter to the
Lakulīṣa-darśana
, in which he restricts himself to an exposition of a few of the
sūtras
of the
Pāśupata-sūtras
. There is an old (fourth to six century C.E.)
bhāṣya
on the
Pāśupata-sūtras
by a certain Kaundinya which is much more philosophical than the
sūtras
themselves, which deal mainly with rituals. Most of the Purāṇa texts dealing with the Pāśupata-
vrata
are also almost exclusively concerned with certain practices of Śaiva-Yoga. All agree that Śiva taught five topics whose knowledge is essential for the total annihilation of all sorrows:
kārya
(the soul in bondage),
kārana
(the Lord who redeems),
yoga
(ascetical practices),
vidhi
(ritual), and
duḥkhānta
(final release). Pentads play a great role in this system; apart from the five basic categories the whole process of liberation is again represented in eight pentads. Bondage is due to fivefold
mala
(“stain”), in this system called
pāśutva
(“bovine-ness”). The five
malas are mitbyd-jñāna
(false thinking),
adharma
(unrighteousness),
āsaktihetu
(attachment),
cyuti
(“fall”), and
pāśutva mula
(basic bovine-ness). Liberation consequently consists in the removal of these “stains.” The means for this are
vasācaryā
(ethical life),
japa
(repetition of a sacred formula),
dhyāna
(meditation),
rudra-smṛti
(remembering Śiva), and
prapatti
(self-surrender).

paśu
is eternal and the
malas
are superimposed on it: their removal can only be effected when
īśvara
so desires, after the
paśu
has practiced the
Pāśupata-yoga
and performed
Pāśupata vidbis
. These consist largely of practices like
japa, dhyāna
, bathing in ashes, lying upon ashes, laughing and dancing like a madman, singing, muttering
hum hum
, “like the bellowing of a bull,” snoring, trembling, limping, acting absurdly, and talking nonsense.

Duḥkhānta
, final liberation, in this system is twofold: “impersonal” and “personal.” It consists in “being like
īśvara”
with regard to knowledge and active power. The Pāśupatas emphasize that the
summum bonum
is not
kaivalya
, but being with the Supreme Lord who terminates all pain. They also insist that works do bring real fruit, depending on God’s will. Therefore the
pdsupata-vrata
, as expressing God’s will, is the only way to
mokṣa
.

The Pāśupata system as explained in the
Śiva Purāṇa
differs in several important details. The
Śiva Purāṇa
seems to contain various versions of Pāśupata religion in its different parts. In one chapter the whole process of liberation is reduced to a knowledge of
paśu, pāśa
, and
pati
. All sorrows are due to ignorance.
jīvas are Akṣara
(indestructible), while
pāśas
are destructible. The
jīvas
are
puruṣa; pāśas
are
prakṛti;
and the Supreme Lord,
pati
, moves both to action.
Puruṣa-paśu
is encircled by
prakṛti-māyā-pāśa. pāśa
or
mala
consists in the power of
prakṛti
to conceal the true self-consciousness. When the
paśu
is freed from this
mala
, he attains to his former pure condition. The association of
puruṣa
and
mala
is due to previous evil deeds.

In another section the process of emancipation is described as follows: renouncing the fruits of
Karma
, one becomes associated with Śiva faith, either through a
guru
, or without one. Knowing Śiva means to realize the sorrows of
saṃsāra
. The consequences are
vairdgya
and
bhāva
toward the Lord. The devotee becomes inclined to meditate on Śiva. Concentrating on the nature of Śiva, the devotee attains
yoga
, which in its turn further increases devotion and draws down more of Śiva’s grace. Finally the
jīva
becomes
śiva-sama
.

The
Śiva Purāṇa
also knows two kinds of final emancipation, corresponding to the “impersonal” and “personal” ones in Mādhava’s description. The monistic version says that at the
mahāpralaya, Māyā
itself will vanish and with it the whole universe and all the individual
jīvas
will merge into Śiva.

The other version distinguishes four kinds of
mukti: sārūpya
(assuming the same form as Śiva),
sālokya
(dwelling in the same place with Śiva),
sānnidhya
(sharing Śiva’s contemplation), and
sāyujya
(becoming one with Śiva). Śiva alone grants
mukti
. The ultimate aim is to be “similar” or “equal” to Śiva, not to be identical with him. The interaction of God’s will and personal effort is one of the most prominent features of the Pāśupata system. Śiva’s will is the criterion of the goodness or wickedness of acts. Śiva does not remain indifferent but punishes evil and rewards good. Śiva’s will acts in consonance with the intrinsic nature of things, and he delivers a person only after he or she is prepared for liberation. Grace only provides assistance; a person’s exertion is as essential for liberation as Śiva’s help.
Jīvas
are different on account of the difference in their
malas
, which are the root cause of all suffering. The more free
jīvas
are from
malas
, the clearer they can perceive Śiva. Śiva, the true doctor, leads the soul through true knowledge away from impurities.
⁷⁶

The
darśana
that Mādhava introduces as Śaiva
⁷⁷
is better known under the name of Śaiva-Siddhānta. It is the predominant form of Śaivism in South India today. It is based upon the twenty-eight
Śaiva Āgamas
and also incorporates the teaching of the eighty-four
Nāyanārs
. Mādhava quotes from the most important Śaiva Āgamas – the
Mṛgendra, Kāmika, Kārṇna, Kiraṇa
, and
Pauṣkara
– but he does not mention the famous teachers of Śaiva-Siddhānta: Meykaṇḍa (thirteenth century), Haradatta Śivācārya (c.1050), Śrīkaṇṭha (c.1125), Bhojarāja (c.1125), Aghoraśivā-cārya (c.1150). In addition to the
Āgamas
and the teachings of the
Nāyanārs
, Meykaṇḍa’s
Śivajñānabodham
has acquired a high authority and has been commented upon by many other authors.
⁷⁸

Śaiva-siddhānta acknowledges three principles:
pati, paśu
, and
pāśa
. It accepts four
pddas
or means of liberation:
vidyā, kriyā, yoga
, and
caryā
. Śiva is the supreme reality: he is greater than the Trimūrti of Viṣṇu-Brahmā-Rudra and is the only eternal being. Śiva has eight qualities: independence, purity, self-knowledge, omniscience, freedom from
mala
, benevolence, omnipotence, and blissfulness. The most comprehensive terms to circumscribe the essence of Śiva are
sat
and
cit
. Śiva
aṣṭa-mūrti
means the immanence of Śiva in the five elements, in sun, moon, and sentient beings. Śiva is male-female-neuter; he is also
viśva-rūpa. Kvzry
important feature to note is that Śaiva-Siddhānta does not accept Śiva
avatāras:
Śiva cannot incarnate, because that would mean birth and death, which are the results of
Kūrma
and
saṃsāra
, whereas Śiva is eternally independent. Śiva appears only in a bodily form as the
guru;
as such he can be worshiped by his devotees. Out of his great love for the souls he comes as a
guru
to save his people from
saṃsāra
. The Siddhāntins constantly emphasize that Śiva is Love, and the whole system of Śaiva-Siddhānta has only one great theme, the Grace of God. One more interesting feature of Śaiva-Siddhānta is its insistence that Śiva’s activity with regard to the
paśu
depends on the
Jīva’s Kūrma
.

Śiva’s fivefold activities –
anugraha
(giving grace),
tirobhāva
(concealment),
ādāni
(binding),
stbiti
(maintenance), and
sṛṣṭi
(creation) – are exercised through his forms as Sadāśiva, his body formed out of pure Śakti. “The Supreme has Īśāna as his head, Tatpuruṣa as his mouth, Aghora as his heart, Vāmadeva as his secret parts, Sadyojata as his feet.”
⁷⁹
The purpose of his assuming the Śakti body is to be able to give grace to the
bhakta
. The title “Śiva” includes all beings “who have attained to the state of Śiva,” Mantreśvara, Maheśvara, the
muktas
who have become Śivas, the
vācakas
and all the means to obtain the state of Śiva.

Despite this universal use of the word Śiva the Śaiva-Siddhānta is a pluralistic system, and it insists on the individuality of the souls even after they have reached
śivatva
, the highest aim. That
śivatva
is the highest aim is only known through
śruti
, which alone also provides the means to attain it – hence the great importance of the
Āgamas
. The Śaiva-Siddhāntins explicitly reject other understandings of
jīvā
. The difference between Śiva and the liberated souls is that Śiva is eternally free; the
jīvas
are liberated by his grace.

The
paśus
or the souls that can be liberated are of three kinds: some are fettered only by
aṇava
or
mala
, that is, without any
karma
or
māyā
fetters. Some are fettered by
mala
and
karma
, others are fettered by
mala, karma
, and
māyā.
⁸⁰

Pāśa
, the fetter, is the cause of the state of bondage of the
jīva
. We have mentioned three forms of it:
anava, Māyā, karma. “karma, Māyā
, and
aṇava
, like sprout, bran, and husk hide the real nature of the soul and delude it. They cause enjoyment, embodiment, and the state of being the enjoyer.”
⁸¹