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THE F0UR SHAIVA SECTS
Let us consider the aforementioned four shaivite traditions to trace, very briefly, how scholars have shown their development. Mishra writes that shrikanth propounded the Shaiva School of thought where the living being is regarded as a pashu, a bound animal, who can realized it’s shiva nature by transcending the limits set by illusion. Here shiva is Brahma, the ultimate cosmic reality that can be found by meditation and other ascetic practice. Regarding the Pashupata School. U. p. Shah. Notes that some sources such as the epic Mahabharata, the shiva purana and the tantraloka ascribe this school to shrikantha (seen as an incarnation of shiva), while others consider it to have been established by Lakulisha or Nakulisha. He writes that lakulisha was the twenty eight and last incarnation of shiva, born into a Brshman family at kayavarohana (modern karvan) in the Baroda district of Gujarat. Images of lakulisha holding a staff in his left hand, a vase in the right hand and a bull looking up at him have been found from Ujjain dating back to the third or second BCE. He also states that the Lakulisha sect spread as far as to Kashmir, Nepal, Assam and Orissa. The reason for its popularity could have been that both celibates and householders could join it; there were no caste restrictions on who could be a member, some of their meditative practices included laughter, dance and music. Shah writes:
The Lakulisa pasupatas maintained their individuality by dress, by philosophy, and by mode of worship. Like other Saiva ascetics, they smeared their bodies with ashes wore a loincloth, kept matted hair, and wore the sacred thread. They used yogapatta, rosary beads, neck ormaments, armlets and bracelets or unlike other monks, the ascetics of the Lakulisa sect black dress....
David Lorenzen mentions that the pashupatas were the predecessors of the kalamukhas, and hold lakulisha in high esteem. They also smear ashes on their body and carry a staff. The kalamukhas seem to have been a part of the shaiva scenario from the 11th to the 13th centuries in the Karnataka region of south India. He cites sources that mention pashupatas and kalamukhas to have originated in Kashmir and then to have migrated to the Karnataka region. They had a very strong presence in this region and were divided into two main sub groups, the Shakti parishad and the simha parishad.
Regarding the kapalikas lorenzen writes that they seem to have originated in the Deccan or south India somewhere around the 5th or 6th century but became extinct by the 14th century. Most probably, they were assimilated into other shaiva tantric traditions such as the kanphatas and the Aghoris. The kapalikas are understood to have followed a socially transgressive, left hand path based on tantra, which included use of panchamakaras. As compared to the staff carried by the kalamukhas, the kalamukhas, he states, carried a trident. The kapalika worship also included eating from a skull bowl and offering of wine to the gods. They too eschewed caste principles and regarded mere initiation as sufficient to start one off right on the spiritual path. Lorenzen notes the description of Bhairavacharya, a kapalika ascetic, from the harsha charita of Banabhatta: Bhairavacharya, the saint who befriended Hara’s ancestor pushpabhuti, was also from south India (daksinatya) and also performed a tantric ritual appropriate for a kapalika. One of his three disciples, karnatala, was a dravida, and another, Titibha, carried a skull begging bowl (Bhairava, the form of the kapalika) in a box made of kharjura wood. Bhairavachya’s name indicates that he worshipped shiva as Bhairava, the form of the god held in especial esteem by tantric groups such as the kapalikas. Bana introduces him as the great Saiva saint named Bhairavacharya, almost a second over thrower of Daksa’s sacrifice, who belonged to the Deccan, but whose powers, made famous by his excellence in multifarious sciences, were like his many thousands of disciples, spread abroad over the whole spehere of humanity.
Lorenzen further explains that in the legend of the Dakshya’s sacrifice ceremony had been disrupted by shiva himself, and that shiva kapalin or kapaleshwara is the divine archetype of the kapalika ascetic. It is doubtful if kapalikas were ever so organized as to have lived in large, organized groups; rather, they are thought to have been individual ascetics roaming the countryside practicing their unorthodox religion. Dr. Dharmendra Brahmachari shastri points to the Rudrayamala Tantra story of how the sage vashishtha tried hard to attain enlightenment following the path propounded in the vedas, but did not succeed. He was then directed by the goddess to follow the path propounded in the Atharva Veda, and the one followed by the Buddhists, to realize the knowledge of kula (the kundalini energy). Followers of the Aghora tradition consider this to be a very important story because, as Shakta tradition consider this to be a very important story because, as Shastri writes, the main sources of this tradition can be traced back to the Atharva Veda and Brahmans, sutras and Upanishads associated with it, but that their practice are influenced and modified by Shakta Tantra and Buddhist Sahajayan schools of thought. These have found a place in the Aghora tradition in a highly transmuted form. Historically, the most important centres of aghora teaching have been mount Abu in Rajasthan and Girnar in Gujarat in western India Bodhgaya in Bihar and in many parts of Assam in eastern India, kashi in north India which has a large temple to kapaleshwar and at Hingalaj in sindh.
Today there are two main streams of Aughar saints namely Himali and Girnali. Since Himalayas are and regarded as an abode of God Shiva, the himali stream believes the Aghor tradition to have originated in the Himalayas and is say to have been propounded by gorakhnath. The second stream, Girnali, regards Dattatreya, the son of Rishi Atri and his wife Anusuya, as the propounder of the tradition. At Girnar is the most holy pilgrimage place for aghoris, called Datta paduka and Kathmandalu Tirth. Baba Kinaram, the founder of the Kinaram Sthal in Banaras, to have been initiated into the Aghor tradition by Dattatreya at Girnar.
While it is certainly difficult to pinpoint any single source for the preponderance and continuation of an ancient stream of philosophy and practice such as that of Aghora, especially since followers of this tradition, consider that God Shiva was the founder of this tradition it is worthwhile to look briefly at the two traditions which do seem to have carried it forwords. As mentioned, one can be said to be the jagadguru Dattatreya tradition, the other, that of Guru Gorakhnath.
Let us consider the aforementioned four shaivite traditions to trace, very briefly, how scholars have shown their development. Mishra writes that shrikanth propounded the Shaiva School of thought where the living being is regarded as a pashu, a bound animal, who can realized it’s shiva nature by transcending the limits set by illusion. Here shiva is Brahma, the ultimate cosmic reality that can be found by meditation and other ascetic practice. Regarding the Pashupata School. U. p. Shah. Notes that some sources such as the epic Mahabharata, the shiva purana and the tantraloka ascribe this school to shrikantha (seen as an incarnation of shiva), while others consider it to have been established by Lakulisha or Nakulisha. He writes that lakulisha was the twenty eight and last incarnation of shiva, born into a Brshman family at kayavarohana (modern karvan) in the Baroda district of Gujarat. Images of lakulisha holding a staff in his left hand, a vase in the right hand and a bull looking up at him have been found from Ujjain dating back to the third or second BCE. He also states that the Lakulisha sect spread as far as to Kashmir, Nepal, Assam and Orissa. The reason for its popularity could have been that both celibates and householders could join it; there were no caste restrictions on who could be a member, some of their meditative practices included laughter, dance and music. Shah writes:
The Lakulisa pasupatas maintained their individuality by dress, by philosophy, and by mode of worship. Like other Saiva ascetics, they smeared their bodies with ashes wore a loincloth, kept matted hair, and wore the sacred thread. They used yogapatta, rosary beads, neck ormaments, armlets and bracelets or unlike other monks, the ascetics of the Lakulisa sect black dress....
David Lorenzen mentions that the pashupatas were the predecessors of the kalamukhas, and hold lakulisha in high esteem. They also smear ashes on their body and carry a staff. The kalamukhas seem to have been a part of the shaiva scenario from the 11th to the 13th centuries in the Karnataka region of south India. He cites sources that mention pashupatas and kalamukhas to have originated in Kashmir and then to have migrated to the Karnataka region. They had a very strong presence in this region and were divided into two main sub groups, the Shakti parishad and the simha parishad.
Regarding the kapalikas lorenzen writes that they seem to have originated in the Deccan or south India somewhere around the 5th or 6th century but became extinct by the 14th century. Most probably, they were assimilated into other shaiva tantric traditions such as the kanphatas and the Aghoris. The kapalikas are understood to have followed a socially transgressive, left hand path based on tantra, which included use of panchamakaras. As compared to the staff carried by the kalamukhas, the kalamukhas, he states, carried a trident. The kapalika worship also included eating from a skull bowl and offering of wine to the gods. They too eschewed caste principles and regarded mere initiation as sufficient to start one off right on the spiritual path. Lorenzen notes the description of Bhairavacharya, a kapalika ascetic, from the harsha charita of Banabhatta: Bhairavacharya, the saint who befriended Hara’s ancestor pushpabhuti, was also from south India (daksinatya) and also performed a tantric ritual appropriate for a kapalika. One of his three disciples, karnatala, was a dravida, and another, Titibha, carried a skull begging bowl (Bhairava, the form of the kapalika) in a box made of kharjura wood. Bhairavachya’s name indicates that he worshipped shiva as Bhairava, the form of the god held in especial esteem by tantric groups such as the kapalikas. Bana introduces him as the great Saiva saint named Bhairavacharya, almost a second over thrower of Daksa’s sacrifice, who belonged to the Deccan, but whose powers, made famous by his excellence in multifarious sciences, were like his many thousands of disciples, spread abroad over the whole spehere of humanity.
Lorenzen further explains that in the legend of the Dakshya’s sacrifice ceremony had been disrupted by shiva himself, and that shiva kapalin or kapaleshwara is the divine archetype of the kapalika ascetic. It is doubtful if kapalikas were ever so organized as to have lived in large, organized groups; rather, they are thought to have been individual ascetics roaming the countryside practicing their unorthodox religion. Dr. Dharmendra Brahmachari shastri points to the Rudrayamala Tantra story of how the sage vashishtha tried hard to attain enlightenment following the path propounded in the vedas, but did not succeed. He was then directed by the goddess to follow the path propounded in the Atharva Veda, and the one followed by the Buddhists, to realize the knowledge of kula (the kundalini energy). Followers of the Aghora tradition consider this to be a very important story because, as Shakta tradition consider this to be a very important story because, as Shastri writes, the main sources of this tradition can be traced back to the Atharva Veda and Brahmans, sutras and Upanishads associated with it, but that their practice are influenced and modified by Shakta Tantra and Buddhist Sahajayan schools of thought. These have found a place in the Aghora tradition in a highly transmuted form. Historically, the most important centres of aghora teaching have been mount Abu in Rajasthan and Girnar in Gujarat in western India Bodhgaya in Bihar and in many parts of Assam in eastern India, kashi in north India which has a large temple to kapaleshwar and at Hingalaj in sindh.
Today there are two main streams of Aughar saints namely Himali and Girnali. Since Himalayas are and regarded as an abode of God Shiva, the himali stream believes the Aghor tradition to have originated in the Himalayas and is say to have been propounded by gorakhnath. The second stream, Girnali, regards Dattatreya, the son of Rishi Atri and his wife Anusuya, as the propounder of the tradition. At Girnar is the most holy pilgrimage place for aghoris, called Datta paduka and Kathmandalu Tirth. Baba Kinaram, the founder of the Kinaram Sthal in Banaras, to have been initiated into the Aghor tradition by Dattatreya at Girnar.
While it is certainly difficult to pinpoint any single source for the preponderance and continuation of an ancient stream of philosophy and practice such as that of Aghora, especially since followers of this tradition, consider that God Shiva was the founder of this tradition it is worthwhile to look briefly at the two traditions which do seem to have carried it forwords. As mentioned, one can be said to be the jagadguru Dattatreya tradition, the other, that of Guru Gorakhnath.
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