The following pages contain an account of the origin, growth and development of the Agamas with special reference to the Vaisnava kind. They are written after a deep study of the original texts of the Vaikbanasa and Pancaratra.
Interest was aroused in me for a study of the Vaisnava Agamas, when I went through Otto Schrader’s Introduction to the Pancaratra and Ahırbudhnyasamhita and the Sanskrit introduction to the Lakshmitantra edition of the Adyar Library written by my revered father Pandit V. Krishnamacharya. These two are the only invaluable and authoritative sources for the proper understanding of the Vaisnava Agamas.
While making a progressive study of the Vaisnava Agamas, I received a call from late Prof. M. R. Sampatkumaran to deliver three lectures at Triplicane under the auspices of Prof M Rangacharya Memorial Trust on Agamas and South Indian Vaisnavism. Accordingly the lectures were delivered by me
Soon after, late Prof. M. R. Sampatkumaran suggested to me to prepare a work on the topic of the lectures delivered I agreed and began preparing to gather more information and details on this subject. Late Prof. M. R. Sampatkumaran asked me frequently to clarify certain problems which are necessarily to be solved and settled satisfactorily. This was really a hard task, since I could find neither a scholar who could be of help to me for suggesting the means to serve this end nor any standard work, but for the two works (the latter is only an introduction) which inspired me for up a study of the Agamas. I did not lose heart but managed to Lave
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the matters cleared with the help of these two works and the sta dard samhitas of the Vaikhanasa and Pancaratra. Therefore the credit should go to late Prof. M. R. Sampatkumaran for much of the contents and their treatment in this work.
While writing on this topic, certain matters crop up demanding solutions that could have a veracity like that of the already settled issues. With the available evide ices no solution could be arrived at The evidences could only be studied and conclusions be drawn for the time being, allowing subsequent alteration when more acceptable and satisfactory evidences become available.
To start with, mention must be made of the nature of beginnings of systems and schools such as Music, Dance, Drama, Grammar, Arthasastra, Silpa, Puranas, Kalpasutras and others. Eminent sages have their names associated with these, sometimes the same name occurring for more than one branch or school The sages could have been related to each other as master and pupil or indebted mutually or bearing mutual influence. So the schools are taken to be interrelated and interdependent too in some respect. When the idea of the whole could have thus prevailed, it is not proper to treat one system as fully derived from another, unless there is direct evidence in support of it. The question of Sakta agama alone to have been the precursor of other kinds of Agamas should therefore be treated as idle. Equally baseless should be the reason that agama should have had its home in India or outside India. With our limited knowledge of the situations in the remote periods, it is too early to be dogmatic for suggesting a period or periods for the origin of the Agamas.
Suggestions have been made by some writers that the Agamas are antivedic and should have risen under the impact of the ways of life of the aborigines of India. It is to be
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observed here that borrowing, whether, linguistic, religious or cultural, is always from those who are spiritually and morally superior or politically dominant in power: minor impacts could have been there on the cultured class coming from the tribes but wholesale concept of the Agama way of worship could not have emanated from the tribes: the Agamas must therefore be treated as supplementary to the Vedas.
However, the
Ever since the Agama mode of life and worship came into vogue, there were host of writers on the Smrtis and Puranas to denounce it as unauthoritative and anti-Vedic. Agama mode has come to stay stabilised and getting intertwined with the Vedic practices. The reference to the linga in the Taittiriyaranyaka 10. 43-47 should be taken to point to the prevalence of offering worship to the symbol (pratika) which is as valid as Yantra representing a stage prior to the evolution of idol (pratima)
There are
Then there are the compositions of the Alvars. shrines whose glory is sung by them and recorded in the Nalayiradıvyaprabandham. There are also the Agama texts. Among these, the temples should been in existence for a long period before 7th century A.D. when the Alvars sang their glory. The structures in most of these huge shrines, which were built following the sculptural and Agamic directions, should be placed at a period later than the Alvars. Whether these temples were built according to the Agama directions cannot be proved with any degree of certainty. The shrines at Paramesvaravinnagaram, Tirukkottiyur, Kudalur, Srirangam and others reveal through their structures, that they bear the Agamic influences. This cannot be said of other shrines Besides, the two important and well known shrines at Srirangam and Tirumalai have their vimanas named Pranavakara and Anandanılaya. Neither the Silpasastra nor the Agama texts envisage the erection of the vimana of these kinds. It must be therefore, be taken that the
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Agama texts were not as ancient as the compositions of the Alvars and that even when they became composed, they did not have their full impact on temple constructions.
It is equally unsound to agree with the idea that the Vedas do not contain reference to female deities who became introduced later into the epics.
The Taittiriyasamhita (1-8-6-1) refers to Siva as Ambikapatı. The name Ambika occurs as, the name of the deity That like Siva, she could not have received worship in the form of idol is another point.
The Vaikhinasa system is more ancient than Pancaratra
1 t, Bargu and others were the direct pupils of Vik lanas. Yet, the texts which are now available under the authorship of these are not in a language suggestive of an ancient kind. They must be placed thus in the period about 6th or 7th century A.D
Regarding Pancaratra texts, the ancient ones do not contain reference to temples or idols there. They contain much useful material regarding Jnana, Cosmology, Vyuha, Yantra, Mantra and Yaga. The order among the texts may not be fixed as a text, supposed to be earlier mentions the text claimed to be later Yet, Jayakhya, Laksmitantra, Ahirbudlinyasamhita, Parama- samhita, Pauskara and Sattvata can be taken at present as having been composed in this order
Concepts and theories of Visistadvaita on the philosophical sphere impressed the Vaisnava community to a very high degree Temple worship has been, however, very popular. The result of this has been that the later texts on the Agamas ignored to a great extent the value of Jnana and Yoga padas and paid much attention to the treatment of Kriya and Carya aspects, as temple construction and worship of the idols found much favour with the people.
With all the rich and ancient back ground of the Agamas, it is strange to note that both the Vaisnava Agamas are in vogue and practised only in South India, with few exceptions in some places in North India. The Vaikhanasa is less known in the North than the Pancaratra. The reason must be found in the far more numerous Visnu shrines situated in South India celebrating as glorified by the Alvars.
These observations made above have validity only for the present. Deeper study of each of the Vaisnava Agama text, when undertaken will throw much light on many of these issues requiring modification and alteration for the concepts and theories now held as belonging to this Agama tradition I have the feeling that whatever is necessary is not left out in this work. At most, this work could be treated as source book for further study to be undertaken on the subject.
It is sad that Prof. M. R. Sampatkumaran is no more to see this work released. I could not forget his repeated utterances of encouragement and support for completing this work. I should thank also Sri M. C. Krishnan, the publisher for his painstaking efforts to see the work through the press.
February, 1982.
DR. V. VARADACHARI, French Institute of Indology,
Pondicherry.
ASV BSrimate Rāmānujaya Namah