Product Code Database
Shaivism (; ) is an umbrella-term for a number of Hindu religious traditions, which worship Shiva as the Para Brahman. The followers of Shaivism are called Shaivas or Shaivites, numbering about 385 million people, across South Asia predominantly in India, Sri Lanka, and Nepal.Keay, p.xxvii.
Shaivism developed as an amalgam of pre-Aryan religions and traditions, Vedic Rudra, and post-Vedic traditions, Sanskritisation local traditions and Yoga, puja and bhakti. Worship of the Vedic deity Rudra forms its earliest traceable root, but the earliest evidence for sectarian Rudra-Shiva worship appears with the Pasupata (early CE), which emerged with the Hindu synthesis, when many local traditions were aligned with the Brahmanism. The Pāśupata movement rapidly expanded throughout North India, giving rise to different forms of Shaivism and followed by the emergence of various tantric traditions. Both devotional and monistic Shaivism became popular in the 1st millennium CE, and it became the dominant religious tradition of several . It arrived in Southeast Asia Asia shortly thereafter, leading to the construction of thousands of Shaiva temples on the islands of Indonesia as well as Cambodia and Vietnam, co-evolving with Buddhism in these regions.
Shaivism encompasses a wide range of sub-traditions. Historically, a basic distinction can be made between Puranic Shaivism, such as the Shiva-worship in the Smarta tradition, and non-Puranic (Agamic/Tantric) Shaivism. The latter is further divided in the atimarga, solely for sanyassins (ascetic renunciates), and the mantramarga, open to both sanyassons and householders. Within the mantramarga, the Shaiva Siddhanta is devotional dualistic theism, while the Tantric Kapalika gave rise to a number of yoga-oriented monism systems, such as the Trika and Kashmiri Shaivism. Tantric Shaivism is closely related to Shaktism, and some Shaivas worship in both Shiva and Shakti temples. It is the Hindu tradition that most accepts ascetic life and emphasises yoga, and encourages one to discover and be one with Shiva within.
It has a vast literature, making appeals to Brahmanism but viewing the Agama texts as superior revelations.
The word Shiva is used as an adjective in the Rig Veda, as an epithet for several Rigvedic deities, including Rudra. The term Shiva also connotes "liberation, final emancipation" and "the auspicious one", this adjective sense of usage is addressed to many deities in Vedic layers of literature.Monier Monier-Williams (1899), Sanskrit to English Dictionary with Etymology , Oxford University Press, pages 1074–1076 The term evolved from the Vedic Rudra-Shiva to the noun Shiva in the Epics and the Puranas, as an auspicious deity who is the "creator, reproducer and dissolver".
The Sanskrit word or means "relating to the god Shiva", while the related beliefs, practices, history, literature and sub-traditions constitute Shaivism.
Origins and history
The origins of Shaivism are unclear and a matter of debate among scholars. According to Chakravarti, it is an amalgam of pre-Vedic cults and traditions and Vedic culture. Gavin flood associates it with the Brahmanization of local traditions. According to Bisschop, the earliest traceable root of Shaivism is the worship of the Vedic deity Rudra.
Indus Valley Civilisation
Some trace the origins to the Indus Valley Civilisation, which reached its peak around 2500–2000 BCE.For dating as fl. 2300–2000 BCE, decline by 1800 BCE, and extinction by 1500 BCE see: Flood (1996), p. 24. Archeological discoveries show seals that suggest a deity that somewhat appears like Shiva. Of these is the Pashupati seal, which early scholars interpreted as someone seated in a meditating yoga pose surrounded by animals, and with horns.For a drawing of the seal see Figure 1 in: Flood (1996), p. 29. This "Pashupati" (Lord of Animals, Sanskrit )For translation of as "Lord of Animals" see: Michaels, p. 312. seal has been interpreted by these scholars as a prototype of Shiva. Gavin Flood characterises these views as "speculative", saying that it is not clear from the seal if the figure has three faces, or is seated in a yoga posture, or even that the shape is intended to represent a human figure.
Other scholars state that the Indus Valley script remains undeciphered, and the interpretation of the Pashupati seal is uncertain. According to Srinivasan, the proposal that it is proto-Shiva may be a case of projecting "later practices into archeological findings".Mark Singleton (2010), Yoga Body: The Origins of Modern Posture Practice, Oxford University Press, , pages 25–34 Similarly, Asko Parpola states that other archaeological finds such as the early Elamite seals dated to 3000–2750 BCE show similar figures and these have been interpreted as "seated bull" and not a yogi, and the bull interpretation is likely more accurate.Asko Parpola(2009), Deciphering the Indus Script, Cambridge University Press, , pages 240–250
According to Gavin Flood, "the formation of Śaiva traditions as we understand them begins to occur during the period from 200 BC to 100 AD." Shiva was originally probably not a Brahmanical god. The pre-Vedic Shiva acquired a growing prominence as its cult assimilated numerous "ruder faiths" and their mythologies, and the Epics and Puranas preserve pre-Vedic myths and legends of these traditions assimilated by the Shiva-cult. Shiva's growing prominence was facilitated by identification with a number of Vedic deities, such as Purusha, Rudra, Agni, Indra, Prajapati, Vayu, among others. The earliest evidence for sectarian Rudra-Shiva worship appears with the Pasupata (early CE). The followers of Shiva were gradually accepted into the Brahmanical fold, becoming allowed to recite some of the Vedic hymns.
Patanjali's , dated to the 2nd century BCE, mentions the term Shiva-bhagavata in section 5.2.76. Patanjali, while explaining Panini's rules of grammar, states that this term refers to a devotee clad in animal skins and carrying an ayah sulikah (iron spear, trident lance) as an icon representing his god.
The Shvetashvatara Upanishad mentions terms such as Rudra, Shiva, and Maheshwaram,a Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, , pages 301–304;
b R G Bhandarkar (2001), Vaisnavism, Saivism and Minor Religious Systems, Routledge, , pages 106–111Robert Hume (1921), Shvetashvatara Upanishad, The Thirteen Principal Upanishads, Oxford University Press, pages 400–406 with footnotes but its interpretation as a theistic or monistic text of Shaivism is disputed.A Kunst, Some notes on the interpretation of the Ṥvetāṥvatara Upaniṣad, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, Vol. 31, Issue 02, June 1968, pages 309–314; D Srinivasan (1997), Many Heads, Arms, and Eyes, Brill, , pages 96–97 and Chapter 9 The dating of the Shvetashvatara is also in dispute, but it is likely a late Upanishads.Stephen Phillips (2009), Yoga, Karma, and Rebirth: A Brief History and Philosophy, Columbia University Press, , Chapter 1
The Mahabharata mentions Shaiva ascetics, such as in chapters 4.13 and 13.140. Other evidence that is possibly linked to the importance of Shaivism in ancient times are in epigraphy and numismatics, such as in the form of prominent Shiva-like reliefs on Kushan Empire era gold coins. However, this is controversial, as an alternate hypothesis for these reliefs is based on Zoroastrian Oesho. According to Flood, coins dated to the ancient Greek, Saka and Parthian kings who ruled parts of the Indian subcontinent after the arrival of Alexander the Great also show Shiva iconography; however, this evidence is weak and subject to competing inferences.
In the early centuries of the common era is the first clear evidence of Pāśupata Shaivism. The inscriptions found in the Himalayan region, such as those in the Kathmandu valley of Nepal suggest that Shaivism (particularly Pāśupata) was established in this region by the 5th century, during the late Gupta Empire era. These inscriptions have been dated by modern techniques to between 466 and 645 CE.
The most important Shaiva Purāṇas of this period include the Shiva Purana, the Skanda Purana, and the Linga Purana.Bakker, Hans (2014). The World of the Skandapurāṇa, pp. 2-5. BRILL Academic. .
In the early 7th century, the Chinese Buddhist pilgrim Xuanzang (Huen Tsang) visited India and wrote a memoir in Chinese that mentions the prevalence of Shiva temples all over North Indian subcontinent, including in the Hindu Kush region such as Nuristan. Between the 5th and 11th century CE, major Shaiva temples had been built in central, southern and eastern regions of the subcontinent, including those at Badami cave temples, Aihole, Elephanta Caves, Ellora Caves (Kailasha, cave 16), Khajuraho, Bhuvaneshwara, Chidambaram, Madurai, and Conjeevaram.
Major scholars of competing Hindu traditions from the second half of the 1st millennium CE, such as Adi Shankara of Advaita Vedanta and Ramanuja of Vaishnavism, mention several Shaiva sects, particularly the four groups: Pashupata, Lakulisha, tantric Shaiva and Kapalika. The description is conflicting, with some texts stating the tantric, puranik and Vedic traditions of Shaivism to be hostile to each other while others suggest them to be amicable sub-traditions. Some texts state that Kapalikas reject the Vedas and are involved in extreme experimentation, while others state the Shaiva sub-traditions revere the Vedas but are non-Puranik.
The Mantramarga of Shaivism, according to Alexis Sanderson, provided a template for the later though independent and highly influential Pancaratrika treatises of Vaishnavism. This is evidenced in Hindu texts such as the Isvarasamhita, Padmasamhita, and Paramesvarasamhita.
Along with the Himalayan region stretching from Kashmir through Nepal, the Shaiva tradition in South India has been one of the largest sources of preserved Shaivism-related manuscripts from ancient and medieval India. The region was also the source of Hindu arts, temple architecture, and merchants who helped spread Shaivism into southeast Asia in early 1st millennium CE.
There are tens of thousands of Hindu temples where Shiva is either the primary deity or reverentially included in anthropomorphic or aniconic form (lingam, or Swayambhu). Numerous historic Shaiva temples have survived in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, parts of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Gudimallam is the oldest known lingam and has been dated to between 3rd to 1st-century BCE. It is a carved five feet high stone lingam with an anthropomorphic image of Shiva on one side. This ancient lingam is in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh.Wendy Doniger (2009), An Alternative Historiography for Hinduism, Journal of Hindu Studies, Vol. 2, Issue 1, pages 17–26, Quote: "Numerous Sanskrit texts and ancient sculptures (such as the Gudimallam linga from the third century BCE) define (...)"
The Shaivist and Buddhist traditions overlapped significantly in southeast Asia, particularly in Indonesia, Cambodia, and Vietnam between the 5th and the 15th century. Shaivism and Shiva held the paramount position in ancient Java, Sumatra, Bali, and neighbouring islands, though the sub-tradition that developed creatively integrated more ancient beliefs that pre-existed.R. Ghose (1966), Saivism in Indonesia during the Hindu-Javanese period, The University of Hong Kong Press, pages 4–6, 14–16, 94–96, 160–161, 253 In the centuries that followed, the merchants and monks who arrived in Southeast Asia, brought Shaivism, Vaishnavism and Buddhism, and these developed into a syncretic, mutually supporting form of traditions.
Shaivism can also be divided in Vedic, Puranic and non-Puranic (esoteric, tantric) Shaivism. Vedic and Puranic are often grouped together given the significant overlap.
Non-Puranic Shaivism consists of esoteric, minority sub-traditions wherein devotees are initiated ( ) into a specific cult they prefer. These are traditionally further divided into the atimarga or "outer higher path", only accessible for Shaiva sannyasins and the mantramarga, followed by both the renunciates ( sannyasi) and householders ( grihastha) in Shaivism. The atimarga consists of the Pashupata; the Lakula, a subschool of the Pashupata; and the Kalamukha, a subschool of the Lakula. Lingayatism is related to the Kalamukha, but was also influenced by Siva Siddhanta.
The Nath-tradition is a subgroup of the Siddha tradition, and related to heterodox ascetic Shaivite traditions especially the Kapalika and the Kaula,
In Vedic-Puranic Shaivism, Shiva is also called Mahadeva or Maheshvara and others" synonymously, and most worshipped in the form of the Linga, while temples also feature the bull Nandi, the Trishula (trident), and anthropomorphic statues of Shiva, to help focus practices.
The atimarga sub-traditions include Pashupatas and Lakula.
The Pashupatas derive their Sanskrit name from two words: Pashu (beast) and Pati (lord), where the chaotic and ignorant state, one imprisoned by bondage and assumptions, is conceptualised as the beast, and the Atman (Self, Shiva) that is present eternally everywhere as the Pati. The tradition aims at realising the state of being one with Shiva within and everywhere. It has extensive literature, and a fivefold path of spiritual practice that starts with external practices, evolving into internal practices and ultimately meditative yoga, with the aim of overcoming all suffering (Dukkha) and reaching the state of bliss (Ananda).
The tradition is attributed to a sage from Gujarat named Lakulisha (~2nd century CE). He is the purported author of the Pashupata-sutra, a foundational text of this tradition. Other texts include the bhasya (commentary) on Pashupata-sutra by Kaudinya, the Gaṇakārikā, Pañchārtha bhāshyadipikā and Rāśikara-bhāshya. The Pashupatha monastic path was available to anyone of any age, but it required renunciation from four Ashrama (stage) into the fifth stage of Siddha-Ashrama. The path started as a life near a Shiva temple and silent meditation, then a stage when the ascetic left the temple and did karma exchange (be cursed by others, but never curse back). He then moved to the third stage of life where he lived like a loner in a cave or abandoned places or Himalayan mountains, and towards the end of his life he moved to a cremation ground, surviving on little, peacefully awaiting his death.
The Pashupatas have been particularly prominent in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Kashmir and Nepal. The community is found in many parts of the Indian subcontinent.See Alexis Sanderson's Śaivism among the Khmers Part I, pp. 349—462 in the Bulletin de l'École française d'Extrême-Orient 90—91 (2003—2004). In the late medieval era, Pashupatas Shaiva ascetics became extinct.For Pāśupata as an ascetic movement see: Michaels (2004), p. 62.
The tantric sub-tradition in this category is traceable to post-8th to post-11th century depending on the region of Indian subcontinent, paralleling the development of Buddhist and Jain tantra traditions in this period.
Secondary literature, such as those written by Kashmiri Ksemaraja, suggest that the Lakula had their canons on theology, rituals and literature on pramanas (epistemology). However, their primary texts are believed to be lost, and have not survived into the modern era.
Mantramārga grew to become a dominant form of Shaivism in this period. It also spread outside of India into Southeast Asia's Khmer Empire, Java, Bali and Chams.Sanderson, Alexis; the Saiva Age, page 44.
The Mantramarga tradition created the Shaiva Agamas and Shaiva tantra (technique) texts. This literature presented new forms of ritual, yoga and mantra.Flood, Gavin. D. 2006. The Tantric Body. P.120 This literature was highly influential not just to Shaivism, but to all traditions of Hinduism, as well as to Buddhism and Jainism. Mantramarga had both theistic and monistic themes, which co-evolved and influenced each other. The tantra texts reflect this, where the collection contains both dualistic and non-dualistic theologies. The theism in the tantra texts parallel those found in Vaishnavism and Shaktism. Shaiva Siddhanta is a major sub-tradition that emphasised dualism during much of its history.
Shaivism has had strong nondualistic (advaita) sub-traditions. Its central premise has been that the Atman (Self) of every being is identical to Shiva, its various practices and pursuits directed at understanding and being one with the Shiva within. This monism is close but differs somewhat from the monism found in Advaita Vedanta of Adi Shankara. Unlike Shankara's Advaita, Shaivism monist schools consider Maya as Shakti, or energy and creative primordial power that explains and propels the existential diversity.
Srikantha, influenced by Ramanuja, formulated Shaiva Vishishtadvaita. In this theology, Atman (Self) is not identical with Brahman, but shares with the Supreme all its qualities. Appayya Dikshita (1520–1592), an Advaita scholar, proposed pure monism, and his ideas influenced Shaiva in the Karnataka region. His Shaiva Advaita doctrine is inscribed on the walls of Kalakanthesvara temple in Adaiyappalam (Tiruvannamalai district). A Topographical List Of The Inscriptions Of The Madras Presindency (collected Till 1915) With Notes And References Volume I, V. Rangacharya, Madras Government Press, pages 47–48
The tradition may have originated in Kashmir where it developed a sophisticated theology propagated by theologians Sadyojoti, Bhaṭṭa Nārāyaṇakaṇṭha and his son Bhaṭṭa Rāmakaṇṭha (c. 950–1000). However, after the arrival of Islamic rulers in north India, it thrived in the south.Flood, Gavin. D. 2006. The Tantric Body. p. 34 The philosophy of Shaiva Siddhanta, is particularly popular in south India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Singapore.S. Arulsamy, Saivism – A Perspective of Grace, Sterling Publishers Private Limited, New Delhi, 1987, pp.1
The historic Shaiva Siddhanta literature is an enormous body of texts. The tradition includes both Shiva and Shakti (goddess), but with a growing emphasis on metaphysical abstraction. Unlike the experimenters of Atimarga tradition and other sub-traditions of Mantramarga, states Sanderson, the Shaiva Siddhanta tradition had no ritual offering or consumption of "alcoholic drinks, blood or meat". Their practices focussed on abstract ideas of spirituality, worship and loving devotion to Shiva as SadaShiva, and taught the authority of the Vedas and Shaiva Agamas. This tradition diversified in its ideas over time, with some of its scholars integrating a non-dualistic theology.
Southeast Asia
Shaivism arrived in a major way in southeast Asia from south India, and to much lesser extent into China and Tibet from the Himalayan region. It co-developed with Buddhism in this region, in many cases. For example, in the Caves of the Thousand Buddhas, a few caves include Shaivism ideas.S. J. Vainker (1990). 9780714114477, British Museum Publications for the Trustees of the British Museum. . ISBN 9780714114477 The epigraphical and cave arts evidence suggest that Shaiva Mahesvara and Mahayana Buddhism had arrived in Indo-China region in the Funan period, that is in the first half of the 1st millennium CE. In Indonesia, temples at archaeological sites and numerous inscription evidence dated to the early period (400 to 700 CE), suggest that Shiva was the highest god. This co-existence of Shaivism and Buddhism in Java continued through about 1500 CE when both Hinduism and Buddhism were replaced with Islam, and persists today in the province of Bali. Balinese people , Encyclopedia Britannica (2014)
Indonesia
In Balinese Hinduism, Dutch ethnographers further subdivided Siwa (shaivaites) Sampradaya" into five – Kemenuh, Keniten, Mas, Manuba and Petapan. This classification was to accommodate the observed marriage between higher caste Brahmana men with lower caste women.
Traditions
Shaivism centres around Shiva, but it has many sub-traditions whose theological beliefs and practices vary significantly. They can broadly divided in theistic dualism and nontheistic monism, but there are also combinations of the features or practices of the two.
Vedic-Puranic Shaivism
Vedic-Puranic Shaivism is a householder lay religion, followed by the majority within Shaivism. They revere the Vedas and the Puranas and hold beliefs that span from dualistic theism, such as Shiva Bhakti (devotionalism), to monistic non-theism dedicated to yoga and a meditative lifestyle. This sometimes involves renouncing household life for monastic pursuits of spirituality.
Atimarga
The Atimarga branch of Shaivism emphasises liberation (salvation) – or the end of all Dukkha – as the primary goal of spiritual pursuits. It was the path for Shaiva asceticism, in contrast to Shaiva householders whose path was described as Mantramarga and who sought both salvation as well as the yogi-siddhi powers and pleasures in life. The Atimarga revered the Vedic sources of Shaivism, and sometimes referred to in ancient Indian texts as Raudra (from Vedic Rudra).Sanderson, Alexis; "Śaivism and the Tantric Traditions." In The World's Religions, edited by S. Sutherland, L. Houlden, P. Clarke and F. Hardy. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul (1988), pp. 665–666, context: pp. 660–704. Reprinted in The World's Religions: The Religions of Asia, edited by F. Hardy. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul (1990), pp. 128–72.
Pashupata
Pashupata (IAST: ) are the Shaivite sub-tradition with the oldest heritage, as evidenced by Indian texts dated to around the start of the common era such as the Shanti Parva book of the Mahabharata epic. It is a monist tradition, that considers Shiva to be within oneself, in every being and everything observed. The Pashupata path to liberation is one of asceticism that is traditionally restricted to Brahmin males.Sanderson, Alexis; "Śaivism and the Tantric Traditions." In The World's Religions, edited by S. Sutherland, L. Houlden, P. Clarke and F. Hardy. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul (1988), pp. 660–704. Reprinted in The World's Religions: The Religions of Asia, edited by F. Hardy. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul (1990), pp. 128–72. Pashupata theology, according to Shiva Sutras, aims for a spiritual state of consciousness where the Pashupata yogi "abides in one's own unfettered nature", where the external rituals feel unnecessary, where every moment and every action becomes an internal vow, a spiritual ritual unto itself.
Lakula
The lakula developed from the Pashupatas. Their fundamental text too was the Pashupata Sutras. They differed from Pashupata in that they departed radically from the Vedic teachings, respected no Vedic or social customs. He would walk around, for example, almost naked, drank liquor in public, and used a human skull as his begging bowl for food. The Lakula Shaiva ascetic recognised no act nor words as forbidden, he freely did whatever he felt like, much like the classical depiction of his deity Rudra in ancient Hindu texts. However, according to Alexis Sanderson, the Lakula ascetic was strictly celibate and did not engage in sex.
Mantramarga
"Mantramārga" (Sanskrit: मंत्रमार्ग, "the path of mantras") has been the Shaiva tradition for both householders and monks. It grew from the Atimarga tradition. This tradition sought not just liberation from Dukkha (suffering, unsatisfactoriness), but special powers ( siddhi) and pleasures ( bhoga), both in this life and next. The siddhi were particularly the pursuit of Mantramarga monks, and it is this sub-tradition that experimented with a great diversity of rites, deities, rituals, yogic techniques and mantras. These sub-traditions cherish secrecy, special symbolic formulae, initiation by a teacher and the pursuit of siddhi (special powers). Some of these traditions also incorporate theistic ideas, elaborate geometric yantra with embedded spiritual meaning, mantras and rituals.
Shaiva Siddhanta
The Shaiva Siddhanta ("the established doctrine of Shiva") is the earliest sampradaya (tradition, lineage) of Tantric Shaivism, dating from the 5th century.Sanderson, Alexis; the Saiva Age, page 45. The tradition emphasises loving devotion to Shiva, uses 5th to 9th-century Tamil hymns called Tirumurai. A key philosophical text of this sub-tradition was composed by 13th-century Meykandar. This theology presents three universal realities: the pashu (individual Self), the pati (lord, Shiva), and the pasha (Self's bondage) through ignorance, karma and maya. The tradition teaches ethical living, service to the community and through one's work, loving worship, yoga practice and discipline, continuous learning and self-knowledge as means for liberating the individual Self from bondage. Shaiva Siddhanta , Encyclopedia Britannica (2014)
Tamil Shiva Siddhanta - Nayanars
By the 7th century, the Nayanars, a tradition of poet-saints in the bhakti tradition developed in ancient Tamilakam with a focus on Shiva, comparable to that of the Vaisnava Alvars.For the emergence of the Nayanars by the 7th century and comparison with Vishnu Alvars see: Flood (1996), 131. The devotional Tamil language poems of the Nayanars are divided into eleven collections together known as Tirumurai, along with a Tamil language Purana called the Periya Puranam. The first seven collections are known as the Tevaram and are regarded by Tamils as equivalent to the Vedas.
|
|
