Re: Shankara's Debates
I have collected some material about the now-extinct pAshupata shaivism school of shaiva philosophy. I am now searching for some explanatory material about precisely with what arguments did Shankara refute their philosophy. Since there seems to be no English translation of MAdhava's 'Shankara Digvijayam', we need to browse Shankara's works (which are also in Sanskrit) and other references. Any help in this area is welcome.
pAshupata shaivism
• pashupati is a famous visheShaNam or upAdhi--epithet of Shiva, which concept is the backbone of the shaiva-siddhAnta philosophy prevalent today in South India.
• Although the literal meaning of the term pashupati is the 'lord of (tethered) animals', the pashu in the shaiva-siddhAnta philosophy stands for the jIvAtmA--individual soul, tethered to a body. Shiva as the pathi--lord nourishes the tethered soul towards mokSha--liberation.
• pAshupata shaivism was one of the four main schools of shaivism until it disappeared in the 14th century.
The Pashupatas are the oldest Shiva sect, referred to in the nArANiya section of the mahAbhArata.
MAdhvAchArya (1296–1386) in his work 'sarvadarshanasaMgraH' refers to four schools of shaivism prevalent during his time: nakulish-pAshupata, shaiva, pratyabhijnA and raseshvara. He also gives an account of the pAshupata shaivam in chapter 6 of this work.
A 15th century bhAShyakAra--commentator AdvaitAnanda, in his 'brahmavidyAbharaNa', gives us a clear sketch of the pAshupata theology.
Shankara in his commentary on the 'vedAnta sUtras' criticises the pAshupata theology.
• No ancient texts of the system has survied. The only pAshupata scripture we have now is the 'pAshupata sUtra' with a commentary by KauNDiniya, belong to the pre-tenth century.
According to tradition, this text is the revelation of Rudra, the possibly historical sage, Lakulisa, by entering and reanimating the corpse of a brAhmaNa in a cremation ground. This form is also regarded as the last of Shiva`s incarnations mentioned in the 'kUrma purANam'. In this form he gave out the teachings contained in the 'pAshupata sUtra'.
• According to the 'vAyu purANa' and the 'linga purANa', Shiva revealed that during the age of MahA ViShNu's appearance as Vasudeva KRShNa, he would enter a dead body and incarnate himself as Lakulin (Nakulin or Lakulisa, lakula meaning 'club'). Inscriptions from the tenth and thirteenth centuries refer to a teacher named Lakulin, who was believed by his followers to be an incarnation of Shiva.
• The ascetic practices adopted by the PAshupatas included smearing their bodies thrice-daily with vibhUti--holy ash, meditation, and chanting the symbolic syllable 'Aum'.
• The pAshupata doctrine gave rise to the development of two extreme schools, the kAlAmukha and the kApAlika, as well as a moderate sect, the shaivas (also called the siddhAnta school). The PAshupata and the extreme sects became known as atimArgika (schools away from the path), distinct from the more moderate Saiva, the origin of modern Shaivism.
pAshupata shaivism: theology
The monotheistic system of Pasupata, described in the epic Mahabharata, consisted of five main categories:
01. kAraNa--Cause, the Lord or pati, the eternal ruler, who creates, maintains, and destroys the whole existence.
02. kArya--Effect, all that is dependent on the cause, including knowledge (vidyA), organs (kalA), and individual souls (pashu). All knowledge and existence, the five elements and the five organs of action, and the three internal organs of intelligence, egoism and mind, are dependent on the Lord.
03. yoga--Discipline, the mental process by which the soul gains God.
04. vidhi--Rules, the physical practice of which generates righteousness.
05. duHkhAnta--End of misery, the final deliverance or destruction of misery, and attainment of an elevation of the spirit, with full powers of knowledge and action. Even in this ultimate condition, the individual soul has its uniqueness, and can assume a variety of shapes and do anything instantly.
Prasastapada, the early commentator on the 'vaisheShika sUtras' and Uddyotakara, the author of gloss on the 'nyAya bhAShya', were followers of this system.
kApAlika and kAlAmukha
These were two extreme schools which developed from the pAshupata doctrine.
• The kAlAmukhas got their name from the black--kAla ash mark they wore on their front--mukha, as a symbol of renunciation. This sect was active during the period 600-1000 CE.
Since no kAlAmukha texts have survived, this sect is known only indirectly. Inscriptions at the Kedareshvara Temple (1162) in Karnataka, which belonged to the Kalamukha sect, are an important source of information. The kAlAmukha, practitioners of Buddhist Tantra, were said to be well organized in temple construction and worship, as well as eccentric and unsocial, eating from human skulls, smearing their bodies with ashes from the cremation ground, carrying clubs, and wearing matted hair. The kAlAmukhas were closely related to the kApAlikas.
• In Hindu culture, 'kApAlika' means 'bearer of the skull-bowl', in reference to God Bhairava's vow to take the kapAla vow. As penance for cutting off one of the heads of BrahmA, Lord Bhairava became an outcast and a beggar. In this guise, Bhairava frequents waste places and cremation grounds, wearing nothing but a garland of skulls and ash from the pyre, and unable to remove the skull of BrahmA fastened to his hand.
As he reaches the VArANasi city, the skull falls at the KapAlamochana and Shiva is freed from his sin of BrahmAnicide. As an asceting wandering with BrahmA's skull, Shiva is known by the name BhikShAtana and KapAlin, the skull-bearer. The KapAlIshvara temple at Mylapore, Chennai, Shiva presides over in this form.
The skull hence becomes his begging-bowl, and the kApAlikas (as well as the Aghoris of Varanasi) supposedly used skulls as begging bowls and as drinking and eating vessels in imitation of Shiva. Although information on the kApAlikas is primarily found in classical Sanskrit sources, where kApAlika ascetics are often depicted as depraved villains in drama, it appears that this group worshiped Lord Shiva in his extreme form, Bhairava, the ferocious. They are also often accused of having practiced ritual human sacrifices. Ujjain is alleged to have been a prominent center of this sect.
• Madhava's biographical work on Shankara, the 'Shankara Digvijayam' has references to the kApAlikas.
Sources;
http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Pasupata
http://www.experiencefestival.com/pashupata_saivism
http://www.indianetzone.com/43/pasupata_shaivism.htm
रत्नाकरधौतपदां हिमालयकिरीटिनीम् ।
ब्रह्मराजर्षिररत्नाढ्यां वन्दे भारतमातरम् ॥
To her whose feet are washed by the ocean, who wears the Himalayas as her crown, and is adorned with the gems of rishis and kings, to Mother India, do I bow down in respect.
--viShNu purANam
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