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Thread: Shankara's Debates

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    Shankara's Debates

    namaste Atanu, Yajvan, GP, Devotee and other members.

    I read the following in an abridged English version of the 'Shankara Digvijayam' book by Madhava:

    http://dkonline.ds4a.com/sankaracharya.html
    http://www.scribd.com/doc/8949527/Sr...view_caching=1

    Shankara's refutations of other philosophies

    The Pashupatas whose doctrine was that Ishwara and Jiva were distinct and at the time of Moksha (Final emancipation), the qualities of Ishwara percolate into Jiva, challenged Shankara to disprove their doctrine. Shankara with the help of scriptural quotations and their proper interpretations, controverted their doctrine and answered that Moksha, if considered an event in time, has to have an end like all other events in time. He also argued 'If the inherent qualities of Ishwara should go into Jiva, the quality alone cannot enter. However if all the qualities enter the Jiva, then it means that Lord Pashupati has become the ignorant individual soul.' By such powerful arguments the pride of Pashupatas was curbed.

    **********

    I haven't come across this Shaiva doctrine earlier. Can someone throw more light on the Pashupatas and their rather strange doctrine described above and about exactly how Shankara refuted it?
    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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    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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    Re: Shankara's Debates

    hariḥ oṁ
    ~~~~~~

    Namasté saidevo,

    Quote Originally Posted by saidevo View Post
    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.
    .. a most excellent defintion of paśu (pashu).
    I have read a bit of the paśupata approach. It is not enough to talk and post with any depth i.e. to compare-and-contrast their approach.

    For this knowledge to occur I have interest in obtaining the pāśupata sūtra-s , attributed to Lakulīśa-ji. It is to cover the 5 aspects of their views - cause, effect, meditation, behavior and the dissolution of all sorrows.
    It is MHO this will be a nice lynch-pin to comprehending Ādi Śakara-ji's antithis to their (paśupati's) POV. I will contribute to this post where I can add value.


    praṇām

    Last edited by yajvan; 25 December 2009 at 05:21 PM.
    यतस्त्वं शिवसमोऽसि
    yatastvaṁ śivasamo'si
    because you are identical with śiva

    _

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    Re: Shankara's Debates

    namaste Yajvan.

    Thank you for your offer to help out and contribute to this thread. I hope Atanu would also 'tether' himself into the discussions here.

    The pasthu-pathi-pAsam is a well known concept to us Tamilians in the context of Appar's DevAram and ManickavAchakar's TiruvAchakam.

    This Website I have long known and read partly, has so much information about Shiva: http://www.bhagavadgitausa.com/

    Seems this link speaks of the pAshupata sUtras, but I haven't gone through it yet: http://manasataramgini.wordpress.com...hupata-system/

    And this google search perhaps has some useful links, I am yet to check:
    http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&c...df&btnG=Search
    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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    Re: Shankara's Debates

    Sadguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, in his book "Dancing with Siva" under the 'Resources--upagrantha' section, has given an excellent essay about the Shat-shaiva sampradAya--Six Schools of Saivism, which includes all the essential details about the pAshupata shaivam school. I urge the members to read this at http://gurudeva.org/resources/books/...x-schools.html for an impartial knowledge about the pAshupata school.

    Refutation of the pAshupata shAstra

    In order to know about Shankara's refutation of pAshupata, it is essential to know the teachings of pAshupata and vedAnta. Here is a summary:

    pAshupata shAstra

    • The five major components of the pAshupata shAstra are: kAraNa, kArya, yoga, vidhi and duHkhAnta.

    • Ishvara is Shiva who is their pati--Lord; JIvas--individual souls, are the pashus--individual souls fastened to a body by pAsha--tether; this tether is their karmapAsha--karmic ties and ajnAna--ignorance.

    • Shiva (the potter) made this world (the pot) with prakRiti--material (clay). Thus Shiva is the nimitta kAraNa--instrumental/efficient cause, and the prakRiti is the upAdAna kAraNa--material cause.

    kArya--Effect, all that is dependent on the kAraNa--cause, including knowledge (vidyA), organs (kalA), and individual souls (pashu). All knowledge and existence are dependent on the Lord.

    yoga is the relation that the JIva--soul, establishes with Shiva by japa--litany, dhyAna--meditation, sharaNagati--surrender etc.

    vidhi are the modes and procedures adopted by the JIva to attain Shiva.

    duHkhAnta--end of miseries, for the JIva is the mokSha--liberation, of attaining parama-sAmya--ultimate equality and similarity, with Shiva, 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.

    vedAnta shAstra

    ParamAtman--Brahman, is the only padArtha--entity, in existence. (ekam evAdvitIyaM brahma--Ch.Up.6.2.3).

    • Apart from this brahma vastu--entity of Brahman, there is no other padArtha, neither a JIva--individual soul nor a Jagat--world. They appear due to avidyA--ignorance.

    • The one ParamAtman becomes many and appears as JIva and Jagat (bahusyAM prajAyeya--Ch.Up.6.2.3). Thus this Atman is both the nimitta--efficient, and upAdAna kAraNa--material cause, which means that there is no Prakriti different from the ParamAtman.

    • By knowing just the Atman--Brahman immanent in the JIva--individual soul, everything is known (yenAshrutaM shrutaM bhavati, amataM mataM, avijnAtaM vijnAtam etc.--Ch.Up.6.1.3)

    Refutation of the pAshupata shAstra

    • pAshupata treats the clay--Prakriti--Jagat, as different from the ParamAtman--Shiva. This means that by knowing the potter--ParamAtman--Shiva, who is the nimitta kAraNa--efficient cause, the svarUpa--inherent nature of the form, of the pot--Prakriti, which is the upAdAna kAraNa--material cause, is not known.

    This is inadmissible because it is possible to know the pot and not the potter but not the other way.

    • The JIva on mokSha--duHkhAnta--liberation, is said to attain parama-sAmya--ultimate equality and similarity, with Shiva, with full powers of knowledge and action. When JIva thus become a separate Shiva, it means that there will be two different, but idential Shiva, which is a clear impossibility!

    No two things in the creation can be exactly same. In other words, this paramasAdRishya that the ShaivAgamas talk of, is not possible between two 'different' things. So, this state of paramasAmya is possible only when JIva is totally identical with Shiva--not just equally similar.

    • MokSha is an eternal state and this is accepted by the ShaivAgamas. So, if MokSha was a state that was newly generated by adopting the ShaivAgama Vidhis, then it cannot be eternal as anything newly created is temporal in nature.

    • Additionally, qualities of Shiva like sarva-jnatvam--omniscience, sarva-kartRutvam--maker of everything, etc. should mix with the qualities of the JIva Pashu, if the pAshupata philosophy is accepted and one agrees that JIva is different from Shiva in the state of MokSha.

    (Ref: http://www.kamakotimandali.com/advaita/pashupata.html)

    **********
    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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