Source: TW
From the perspective of an outsider, I would say this tension goes back to mahAdeva himself, who, as the bahUrupI R^ik, says manifests as aghora, ghora and ghoratara rudra-s. This tension was why the shaiva mantrashAstra became the triumphant metaphor in the Indosphere.
saiddhAntika aspects
As an an adherent of the older vaidika tradition, specifically in its central aindra manifestation, I appreciate 2 key aspects of the saiddhAntika-s:
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- their respect for the shruti & performance of rituals ordained by it.
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- their concern for social stability & striving for the same.
On the other hand, the centralized organization of the saiddhAntika tradition, while very good at maintaining religious aesthetics & scholarship (especially in vaiSheshika & nyAya) when the going is good was not as well equipped as the vaidika tradition in weathering the Abrahamistic predation in H civilization.
bhairava-srotas
On the other side, I see the downsizing of the “pashushAstra-s” in course of the blooming of the bhairava-srotas as a major negative, even if some of that was mostly certain type of exaggeration.
On the other hand, being greatly influenced by the personal mantra-sAdhanA of the bhairava-srotas, & its rahoyAga, I’m in awe of their capacity to convey the richness of mahAdeva, especially the obvious power of the shaktimat that no amount of practice by a yati of an uttaramImAMsA school can even provide the slightest glimmer of.(5)
विश्वास-टिप्पनी
(OTOH, what attracted me to vaiShNava UM was that the masters there were obviously super-happy and dhArmika.)
Synthesis
Despite the strong views of adherents of both traditions (who probably would not have liked this), I’d like to note that there were multiple attempts at synthesis. One such in the south was among the dIkShita-s of pullIra-malaya & the one which I most like is that of the Kashmirians represented by the tradition of the yogavAsiShTha & bhAskarakaNTha’s exposition. In philosophical terms these texts are appealing but in terms of mantrashAstra, going against the grain, I feel most affinity for that more archaic rudrian stream seen in the DAmara texts like the uDDAmareshvara (itself a part of the vIrabhadreshvara text); the kriyAkAlaguNottara and the netra.