altar, the kunda is considered its “mouth”.275 The centre of
the mandala, the brahmasthāna, is the most sacred part
of it since it denotes the navel of the Purusha whence the
universe, or the Mt. Meru which serves as the universal
axis, emerged. The spires of Hindu temples, as well as the
pyramidal structures of Egypt, are representations of this
phallic axis of the universe.
The garbhagriha, or womb-chamber where the idol of
the deity is placed, is a square cel a where the idol is, as it
were, born. Only the priests are allowed into this chamber.
There is an ambulatory around the inner chamber for
the worshippers’ circumambulation of the image of the
deity. The steeple of the dome above the sanctuary is
called shikhara (summit) and represents Mt.Meru, which
represents the central mountain of the matrix of Earth
atop which the sun arises.
The erotic sculptures adorning some of the temples
of central India are linked to the importance of “kāma”
(love) and “mithuna” (sexual union) in Shaktism as well
as, earlier, in the Vedic yajna.276 For Kāma is considered
as the root of the universe and the universe is to be
reabsorbed into its root through desire.277 The temple also
has a hall held on pil ars for meditation, prayer or sacred
275 See A. Jacob, Brahman, p.183.
276 See p.133.
277 See G. Flood, op.cit., p.86. 119
indo-european mythology and religion
dances. The temple tank is outside the temple and used for
purificatory purposes.
Temple building was governed by the strictest rules of
divine geometry. In the Shāstras and Āgamas, the physical
form of the temple is identified with “the laws that govern
the movements of heavenly bodies”.278 The plan of the
temple is a square which is divided into 64 or 81 smaller
squares, each representing a specific deity. These squares
are related to yantras, which are specific geometric shapes
representing the energies of the devatas, for each devata
has his or her own yantra.
The divinisation of the king in ancient India in the
rite of anointing during the Rājasūya rituals has already
been noticed. In the Tantric tradition, the king’s role as
a warrior is allied to the shakti (power) of the Goddess
which is bestowed upon the king during his consecration.279
The divinisation of the king is closely related to the
divinisation of idols in the temple worship which forms an
important part of the Āgama tradition. Idol worship is, as
we shall see in the discussion of the divine manifestation
in the Pāncharātra system, of special Yogic significance
since it allows the devotee to more easily apprehend the
formless and quality-less divinity by detaching himself
from his own form and quality in the process of admiring
those of the idol. Thus, through his adoration of the idol,
the devotee is gradual y freed from his own ego.
***
Āgama is divided into Vaishnava (215 in all), Shaiva (28)
and Shākta Āgama (77). The Shākta Āgama tradition is
normal y called Tantra, though Tantra is often used to
278 See G. Michel , The Hindu Temple: An Introduction to its Meaning and Forms, Chicago: Univeriity of Chicago Press, 1988, p.73.
279 Ibid., p.78.
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describe the Vaishnava and Shaiva traditions as wel .
Vaishnava Āgamas
Vaishnava Āgamas are divided into Vaikhānasa and
Pāncharātra Āgamas.
Vaikhānasas may have been the first group of
professional temple-priests and are more Vedic in their
affiliation. Indeed, they are also called Vaidikāgama
and Shrutāgama.280 The principal Vaikhānasa text is the
Vaikhānasa Sūtra from the 4th c. A.D.
The Vaikhānasas, like the Āryan brāhmans, consider
grihasthya as being the best stage of the Hindu’s life and
worship at home as more important than worship at the
temple. Vaikhānasas are devotees of Vishnu and consider
Vishnu in four principal forms as Achyuta (the immutable
(the principle of life), and Aniruddha (the irreducible
aspect). The absolute form (nishkala) of Vishnu in the
universe is contemplated by the worshipper through the
Vishnu form in his own body, and then the worshipper
transfers this spirit into the immovable idol. The large
immovable image in the temple represents Vishnu’s
nishkala form and is ritual y placed in the sanctuary and
consecrated. The smaller moveable images in the temple
represent the sakala forms that represent the manifest
emanations of the divinity.
Pāncharātra is a later form of Vaishnava worship
associated with Rāmānuja and his teacher Yāmuna
(ca. 918-1038 A.D.), who wrote the Āgamaprāmānya in
defence of the Pāncharātra tradition.281 In the Pāncharātra,
280 Shruti (“revealed”) is the term used for the Vedas.
281 For an interesting study of Pāncharātra Tantrism, see G. Flood, The 121
indo-european mythology and religion
yajnas are less valued than idol-worship whereas, in the
Vaikhānasa tradition, idol-worship is only a development
of the yajnas. Also, among the Southern Indian
Pāncharātra followers, more Tamil hymns are recited and
more festivals are organised involving all sections of the
community. Shūdras and ascetics are given an important
role in the performance of rituals. Although Vaikhānasa
is general y considered to be the first and principal
Vaishnava Āgamic tradition, Abhinavagupta (ca.975-
1025 A.D.),282 however, maintained that the Pāncharātra
is superior to the Vaikhanasa since it is meant for the
spiritual y advanced.
The Pāncharātra doctrine of divine manifestation:
is of special importance in understanding the crucial
correspondence between the macrocosm and the
microcosm. According to the Jayākhya Samhita written
before the 10th c. B.C. and based on Sāmkhya philosophical
categories, the Absolute Being (Brahman) is equated with
the personal being of Vāsudeva (Vishnu). From Vāsudeva
emanate lower forms as vyūhas. The description of the
transformations of the ultimate reality in this work is
worth noticing for its spiritual insight into the Purusha
cosmology of the Vedas and Purānas:
Having a hundred-fold radiance of fire, sun, and moon,
Vāsudeva is the Lord, the truth of that [absolute], the
supreme Lord. Agitating his own radiance through
his own energy (tejas), the Lord whose form is light
manifests the god Achyuta, like lightning ... [Then]
that Achyuta of firm radiance spreads his won form,
depending on Vāsu as a wisp of cloud [depends] on
the summer heat. Then shaking himself he [in turn]
produced the god Satya, whose body is shining, as the
Tantric Body, p.99ff.
282 See p.127.
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ocean [produces] a bubble. He is called the light mode
of consciousness who produces himself by means of
himself [as the god] called Purusha, who is great, an
unending stream of light. That supreme Lord is [in
turn] the support of all the [lower] gods, their inner
controller,283 as the sky [is the support] of the stars.284
We see that the Pāncharātra employs the same hypostases
of Aniruddha, Achyuta, Satya and Purusha that the
Vaikhānasas also do. And we note also the very elaborate
understanding of the Purusha cosmology that the Āgamic
traditions display.
After the initial ideal creation comes a lower material
phase characterised by Māyā Shakti along with the cosmic
body of Purusha. During this phase emerge the individual
souls “contaminated by the dust of beginningless karmic
traces … and to which they return during the periodic
destruction or reabsorption of the lower creation”.285 From
Māyā then emanates Prakrti, the material creation which
emanates from the Mahat (the Great). From the Mahat,
in turn, is generated the Ahamkāra (the Ego) and thence
the mind (for dealing with worldly transactions), the five
senses, the five organs of action, the five subtle elements
and the five material elements (space, air, fire, water, and
earth). The individual soul is wrapped in these Shakti
emanations and entrapped in them. Liberation consists of
the extraction of the soul from its Shakti envelope.
The Pāncharātra, much like the Vaikhānasa, maintains
that the deity manifests himself in a five-fold manner,
as Para, Vyuha, Vibhava (or Avatāra), Antaryāmin (or
Aniruddha), and Archa. The first four detail the process of
divine emanation from macrocosm into microcosm. The
283 Antaryāmin (see below).
284 Quoted in G. Flood, op. cit. , p.102.
285 Ibid.
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last two are the manifestations of the lord within humans
and in idols.
Para is the first immanent manifestation of the Lord.
This is the “best of the Purushas”, “the highest Light”. The
Padma Tantra describes the Lord as dividing himself and
becoming with one half the Vyuha Vasudeva and with the
other Nārayana, creator of the primal waters.
Vyuha is the process of emanation itself marked by
the appearance of six guna’s in Nārāyana and his consort
Lakshmi.
Avatāra (descent) is the next manifestation of the
Lord, also called Vibhava (human manifestation). All the
avatāras spring from Aniruddha, or some from Vāsudeva
and the others from the other three vyuhas. The supreme
Being, however, remains transcendent and indifferent to
the manifestation.
Antaryāmin is Aniruddha as the inner ruler of all
souls seated in the lotus of the heart.
Archa is an inanimate object which is duly consecrated
and possessed of miraculous power when the shakti of
Vishnu descends into it. It is used as an object of daily
worship since the devotee feels the very presence of God in
it. The non-initiated devotee in the Pāncharātra tradition
adores the Vibhava form of the Lord, the incarnation of
the deity, as Rāma, etc., in the temple and then moves on
to the worship of His more subtle Vyuha forms.
The rituals detailed in the Jayākhya Samhita are
interesting for the yogic complexity they point to in
the divine worship that is to be undertaken by an
adept.286 The rituals consist of 1. purificatory ablutions
(snāna), 2. purification of the elements within the body
(bhūtashuddhi), 3. divinisation of the body through
286 This account of the rites prescribed in the Jayakha Samhita is derived from G. Flood, op.cit., p.106ff.
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imposing mantras upon it (nyāsa), 4. internal worship
of the deity (antara-yoga) performed in the mind, 5.
external worship of the deity (bahya-yoga) with offerings.
The aim of the rituals is to allow the adept to purify the
physical or elemental body (bhautika sharira) and induce
the soul to ascend from the heart through the body (and
simultaneously through the cosmos) to the Lord Nārāyana
located at the crown of the head. .
During these rituals the adept performs the
divinisation of his own body through imposing mantras
upon it, followed by mental sacrifice (mānasayāga) and
external sacrifice (bāhyayāga). The divinisation of the
adept’s body is undertaken through the imposition of
mantras upon it by touching the various parts of the body
while reciting the appropriate mantras.287 When the adept
is thus ful y divinised he is identified with Nārāyana and
his ego is transformed into the absolute subjectivity of
Vishnu. He can say at the end of this process, “I am the
Lord Vishnu, I am Nārāyana, Hari, and I am Vāsudeva,
all-pervading, the abode of beings, without taint”.
In the internal worship that follows, the adept seeks
to establish the supreme Lord within his heart, which is
envisaged as a throne. The adept visualises the hierarchical
cosmos in the forms of the deities located within his own
body. First, he situates the power of Earth on his penis,
above that the fire of Time, then the Tortoise incarnation
of the Lord bearing the insignia of Vishnu, the discus,
and the club. Above that are situated the cosmic snake,
Ananta, and, above Ananta, Prithvi, the Earth-goddess.
Above her, at the navel, is located an ocean of milk from
which arises a white lotus. On this lotus are situated the
sun, moon, and fire. Above these is the throne of being
287 As Gonda points out ( Die Religionen Indiens II: Der jüngere Hinduismus, Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 1963, p.47), there are Vedic precedents for these tactile rites (for example, in SB III,1,3,25); cf.
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indo-european mythology and religion
upon which rests Garuda, the solar vehicle of Vishnu, and
the boar Varāha. The area from the navel to the heart is
divided into five sections and the adept final y worships
the mantra-throne in the heart. We note the similarity that
this ritual of divinisation bears to the identification of the
various parts of the fire-altar with those of the Purusha in
the Vedic Agnicayana ritual.288
Shaiva Āgamas
The Shaivāgama consists of four different schools, the
Shaiva, Pashupata, Soma, and Lakula. Of these, the Shaiva
is said to have had three branches: Vāma, Dakshina and
Siddhānta. The Vāma branch includes Kapala, Kālamukha,
and Agora.
The Dakshina branch includes Kashmir
Shaivadarshanas, Svachanda Bhairavam, etc., making up
a total of 18 Āgamas. Of the Dakshina branch, Kashmir
Shaivism is mostly monistic in its metaphysics and its
principal exponent is Abhinavagupta (10th century A.D.),
author of the Tantraloka. Other texts include the Shiva Sutra
s of Vāsugupta (ca. 875-925) and Jayaratha’s 12th
century commentary on the Tantraloka.
Kashmir Shaivism considers Shiva as the only Reality
and infinite Consciousness. By his own will and energy
(Shakti) he appears as the phenomenal universe. Shakti
has five qualities, chit, ānanda, ichcha, jnāna, and kriya.
To this is added māyā, or the agent of phenomenal
manifestation, which in turn gives rise to five kanchukas
– kala (power), vidya (knowledge), rāga (attachment),
kāla (time) and niyati (space). One of the major
doctrines developed by Vāsugupta is that of spanda, or
288 See A. Jacob, Brahman, Ch.IX; cf. Ch.V.
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vibration, which is manifest as a sound within the divine
consciousness, rather like the Vedic Vāk.289 The individual
soul is essential y the pure consciousness of Shiva and
must strive towards recognition of its real divine self, as in
Shankara’s Advaita Vedantic philosophy. One key feature
of this school is ‘krama’ meaning progress wherein the
stages prior to spiritual realisation are understood in a
monistic-dualistic (bhedābhedopāya) manner, though the
underlying metaphysical doctrine remains monistic.
The Shaiva Siddhānta branch290 was most probably
a Kashmiri school in its original form, for Satyajyothi
Shivāchārya (ca. 7th century) is a well-known Siddhānta
scholar from Kashmir who is extensively quoted in the
pre-Meykandar Shaiva texts. The Siddhānta doctrines
of the Kashmiris were continued in southern India by
Aghorashiva of Chidambaram (12th century), who is
considered one of the most authoritative representatives
of southern Indian Siddhānta. Indeed, from the 12th
century, the school is evidenced only in southern India.
In the 13th century, Meykandar, who is famous for his
treatise Sivajnānbodham, formulated a dualistic form of
Siddhānta based on Aghorashiva’s.
The Siddhānta Āgamic texts, which number 28,
are said to have been authored by the Seven Sages
themselves who received them from the five “faces” of
Shiva. According to another tradition, Shiva revealed the
Āgamas to Pārvati and Nandi, the bull that serves as Shiva’s
vehicle and assistant. Parvati revealed it to her son Lord
Muruga, while Nandi, for his part, revealed it to his eight
disciples, Tirumalar, Patanjali, Vyaghrapada, Sanatkumar,
Sivayogamuni, Sanakar, Sanadanar, and Sanandanar, all of