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Home , Brahmin, Meykandar, Nandi (mythology), Rudra, Sampradaya, Sayana

- an overview Prof. B.N. Hebbar, Ph.D., D.D. Department, George Washington University MLA program, Johns Hopkins University Convener, International Buddhist group of the 13 Buddhist majority nations

he worshipped in present-day is a com- upaniShad of the Yajur Veda. posite deity. The Vedic god became identified In post-Vedic Hinduism, Shiva came to be worshipped Twith the Dravidian deity Sivan. The facilitations on either in the form a stone known as the linga. This is prob- side existed to make this gradual mutual identification ably the way he was worshipped by the Dravidians. possible. Thus, by the time of the shaivAgamAs and the Stone- was the hallmark of Semitic culture, , the two were t reated as one god. and Dravidian religiosity had a certain cultural kin- The Vedic god Rudra is essentially an atmospheric god. ship with the Semitic religious ways. Further, the bull In Rig Veda I:43:4, Rudra is considered the lord of the associated with Shiva, also bears resemblance Vedic hymns, the lord of Vedic rites and the great to bull-worship among the eastern Semites, i.e. the medical deity. In Rig Veda I:114:5, he is obliquely iden- Mesopotamians. By contrast, the Indo-Iranic branch of tified with , who is later considered an incarna- the never worshipped their deities in the form tion of . In the subsequent verse, he is called of idols. Their were mantrasvarUpA (in the form the father of the , a class of wind-deities. Two of chants) and oblations were offered to them only verses down, he is requested not to bring harm to the through the medium of the sacred fire. The Vedic god faithful ones. In Rig Veda II:33:3, Rudra is referred to as Rudra was no exception to this form of worship. Hence vajravAhu, the bearer of the thunderbolt. In taittiriya the Vedic Rudra was not the Dravidian Sivan. Since a IV:5:1 of the Yajur Veda, Rudra is reckoned to be vast majority of the people of the thousand-eyed. Thus, these two aspects certainly make were culturally and racially Dravidian before the advent him very similar to the god . Three verses down, of the Aryans, it is not surprising that the worship of the various people of all the (including the Sivan in the form of a linga is to be found to this outcastes) are considered as manifestations of Rudra day as far north as . The stone affiliations of and as such all ought to be saluted and respected. In Sivan are so deep that his abode was identified with shatapatha VI:1:3:10 of the Yajur Veda, Rudra a big stone, i.e. Mount KailAsa. The linga being a male is identified with , the fire-god. In the same text procreative symbol is also very Dravidian. In Rig Veda VI:1:3:9-17, he is said to be the child of the gods pra- VII:21:5, the god Indra is invoked by the Aryans to jApati and . It is said here that the divine child protect them from the worshippers of shishna (male kept weeping because he had not been given a name. procreative organ) who came to disturb their yaj~jas So, named him Rudra (one who weeps). It is (fire ). Again, in Rig Veda X:99:3, the deity In- said that he kept weeping as he disliked that name. He dra is praised as the slayer of shishna worshippers. kept on crying until his eighth name ‘ĪsAna’, an appel- Sivan was a very popular and powerful Dravidian god, lation with which he was satisfied. In Hindu sacred nu- whose widespread worship, the Vedic Aryans could merology, the number eight is usually associated with not ignore. When he got identified with the Vedic Ru- Shiva. In atharva Veda IV:28:1, Rudra is called dually as dra through a gradual assimilation process, there was Bava and sharva. A renowned medieval commentator struggle to accept him by the Vedic Aryans as the story on the named , considers these epithets of Dhaksha-prajApati depicts. Sivan is the only god as describing the creative and destructive aspects of who remains un-Aryanized to this day. He is depicted the deity respectively. The same commentator avers as someone who dwells in the cremation-ground, who that the name Rudra is so because he makes all cry wears ashes, who is unornamented and adorned with at the dissolution of the universe, as well as the fact animal-skins, skulls and serpents. The Vedic Aryans had that he removes in all, the sorrows of worldly life and to accept him as is, because of his overwhelming na- strife. The deity finally achieves a supernal status as the ture in Dravidian religion. The Indo-Aryans by the late Supreme Lord of the Universe in the shvetAShvatara had themselves become very Dravidian- MAHARUDRAM 2012 65 SHAIVISM - an overview ized in many ways. So, such things were becoming less of the purANA, the agni purANA, and the skanDha an issue. The final Vedic Aryanization of Sivan came to purANA. These texts give information on the various be fossilized as follows: The form was equated mythological stories about Shiva, the legends of the with the Sun, the mahAdeva form was equated with places sacred to him, the vows and rites associated the Moon, the BhIma form was equated with Space, with his worship together with and benefac- the ugra form was equated with Air, the Rudra form tions to such worshippers etc. In the is was equated with Fire, the form was equated the story the linga symbol which is interpreted as an with the patron of the Vedic (the yajamAna), infinite cosmic column rather than a male generative the Bava form was equated with Water, and the sharva organ. The former is what is emphasized by modern form was equated with the Earth. . However, it is equally important to point out that in two other purANic sources, Shiva is said to have By the Epic-purANic era, Siva was a god accepted by come to be worshipped in the form of the male sexual the Vedic Aryans and many Vedic Aryan sages and organ on account of him being cursed by a hermit for heroes worshipped him. From the first century CE on- attempting to rape the hermit’s wife, and on account wards when old-style Vedic religion was on the decline, of the curse by Sage who was ignored by Shiva the saw their vocational future not in while the god was making love to his consort elitist Vedic yaj~jas, but in populist idol-worship in tem- . ples. To legitimize their worship in temples, manuals in called Agamas were created by these Brahmin The temple consecration and manuals associated priests laying out details of temple consecration, idol with Shiva worship are known as the shaivAgamAs. installation, its ritual veneration and liturgical worship. These are 28 in number. The names of some them are: The were always good at the art of dramatic the kAmikAgamA, the ajItAgamA, the dIptAgamA, the priestcraft. This art was now transferred from the Vedic rauravAgamA, the siddhAgamA, the ArameshvarAgamA fire-altar to the non-Vedic (Agamic) temple sanctum. etc. Most of the shaiva mythological beliefs and temple The purANAs provided the right myths to support and ritual lore followed by the vast majority of modern reinforce the rites, temple legends etc. However, Shiva shaiva Hindus is based on the purANAs and the Aga- was not the only deity to have this pan-Indian pres- mas and has little to do with the Vedic Aryan deity ence. Two other deities, one Vedic Aryan and the other Rudra. Dravidian provided stiff competition to the cult of Shiva. The lingas found in the are said to be These were the gods viShNu and . Each of these particularly sacred to Shiva - worship. The shaiva purA- deities had their own set of temple-worship legitimiz- NAs mention twelve special Shiva shrines as particularly ing Agamas. The god viShNu, though very Vedic in sacred. These are: somanAtha and nAgeshvara in , origin, had also assimilated many hero-cults (principally mahAkAleshvara and OnkAreshvara in , and ) and non-Aryan elements (kUrma, BhImashankara, tryambakeshvara and grishNeshvara in varAha, etc.), and as such had become as , vaidyanAtha in Jharkhand, vishvanAtha in composite an Aryo-Dravidian deity as Rudra-Shiva. The , kedAranAtha in Uttaranchal, mallikArjuna goddess shakti was the Dravidian deity Amman. Thus, in , and rAmeshvara in Tamilnadu. a new Aryo-Dravidian culture was to successfully domi- nate Hinduism for good as it does to the present-day. There are four major among the shaivas. Two are There was only one relatively modern attempt to revive north Indian and two are south Indian. The north Indi- Vedic Aryan religion albeit with twists of its own; and an sects are and pAshupata shaivism. this was done by Swami Dayananda (1824- The south Indian sects are shaiva and VIras- 1883 CE), the founder of the . However, haivism. this revivalist movement was confined to a few in the Kashmir shaivism northern part of , especially the region. There are three schools of Kashmir shaivism. They are The god Shiva is extolled as the Supreme Lord of the the tryambaka school of somAnanda, the spanda school Universe in six of the mahApurANAs. These are the of , and the pratyAbhij~jA school of aBi- Shiva purANA, the , the purANA, navagupta and kshemarAja. All of them basically hold

66 MAHARUDRAM 2012 SHAIVISM - an overview a non-dualistic (advaita) view of Shiva’s relationship to silver case and perform worship to it daily by hold- the and the universe. The spanda school holds the ing it in the palm of their left hand. For this, they are special doctrine that Shiva is identical with the cosmic also known as the LingAyatas. The tradition vibration (spanda) which forms the basis of everything. that Shiva who is God is linga, and the soul is a part (anga) of Him. Union (aikya) of the soul with God takes pAShupata shaivism place in six stages (ShaDsthaLas). These are: devotion, This is the form of shaivism that found strongholds selflessness, seeking Divine Grace, mystical experience in Gujarat and . It was founded by . The of God, surrendering to God and attainment of union teachings of the advocate three forms of daily ex- with God. The LingAyatas must practice the ‘eight ternal purification of water (jala), sacred ashes (Basma) shields’ (ashThAvaraNAs) as the hallmark of their and repetitive (). Once should also practice in the tradition. These are: obedience to the spiritual the special form of yogic based on Śiva. master (), wearing of the linga, paying homage to the ascetics (jangamas) of the tradition, partaking of This is the form of shaivism that is found in the Tamil the holy water (pAdodaka) and sacred food (prasAda) regions of southeastern India and northeastern Sri- of Shiva, wearing the sacred ash (Basma) and rudrAk- . It is based on the teachings of the 63 Tamil sha beads and reciting the five-syllabled of shaiva saints known collectively as the aDiyArs or the Shiva. The members of the sect must also practice nAyanamArs. Of these, four occupy a premier position in five rules (pancAcAras). These are: daily worship of the the sect. These are: (a converted Jain), Samban- linga, following the seven-fold ethical precepts, doing dar, and MANikyavacagar. The collective de- good deeds, practicing selflessness and defending the votional hymns of the first three are referred to as the tradition. . MANikyavacagar’s work is called tiruvAsagam. The SmArta of Shankara (788-820 CE) is It is the NAyanamArs as a whole that re-established not a sect of shaivism as has been often mistaken Hinduism in the form of shaivism in the Tamil country by modern Hindus ignorant of the history of their that had largely converted to and in faith. Shankara and all the great preceptors of the the Sangam Age (200 BCE to 200 CE). The two Tamil Advaita tradition, expounded a truly secular epics of the Sangam Age, the SilappadikkAram and the and non-sectarian metaphysical and spiritual system MaNimekhalai are Jain and Buddhist respectively. as laid down in the . Their ‘God’ () The great systematic teachers of the shaiva SiddhAnta is attributeless (nirguNa), formless (nirAkAra), non-par- sect were , arulnandi, shrIkaNda and umApa- ticular (nirvishesha) pure existence-consciousness-bliss ti. The tradition teaches that there are three things that (saccidAnanda). At a religious level, the Advaita precep- a member of the sect needs to be aware of. These are: tors advocated the worship of five gods (pancAyatana pati (Lord Shiva), pashu (the individual soul) and pAsha ), i.e. Shiva, vishNu, shakti, , and . The (the rope that binds the soul to this world). This pAsha stiff rise of VaiShNava opposition in the form of rival comes in three forms, i.e. avidyA (ignorance), Vedānta traditions, and other natural populist facilita- (retributive merits and sins) and (illusion). The tions such as Shankara being an of shiva, grace of God (pati) is needed to get rid of all three to slowly and steadily turned Advaitism into a sectarian- attain union with God. ized shaivism at a religious level as one finds it today. vIrashaivism In the present-day purANic-Agamic Hinduism, the Vedic This is the form of shaivism that is found largely in the tradition is almost eclipsed. Gone are the great gods Upper Karnatak region with spillovers into neighboring of the Vedas such as , , Indra, , Agni, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. The sect was found- Aryaman, uShas etc. Only mechanical lip-service is paid ed on the teachings of Basaveshvara (1134-1196 CE) to them by the Brahmin priests during the course of and a set of populist preachers known as the the mantrapushpa hymn recitations. The gods vishNu vacanakArAs. Some of the important ones are: Allama and Rudra who had five and three hymns respectively Prabhu, Cannabasava, , SiddharAma etc. dedicated to them in the Rig veda have risen over time The members of the sect wear the linga in a special to prominence as the two rival deities of Hinduism as vishNu and Shiva. MAHARUDRAM 2012 67