00 INTRODUCTION

The Vaikhānasas are a group of South Indian Vişnuite Brahmans who are traditionally engaged in conducting worship in temples. Various temples in Tamilnad and Andhra Pradesh had (or have) their worship organized according to the Vaikhānasa method and with officiants belonging to the Vaikhanasa sect.¹

The fact is noteworthy that the Vaikhanasa sect can trace its origin up to a period in which the Vedic religion of sacrifice still occupied the main position in Brāhmanic circles of India. Thus it is not surprising that the traditions of the sect show a great number of ancient (often, Vedic) elements, persistently preserved also in later periods when other ideas and cult methods had arisen. This is not to say, however, that the Vaikhanasas had not the bulk of their philosophy and ritual in common with other Vişnuite, and sometimes also Šivaite, circles.³

The present study attempts to provide a survey of the central aspect of Vaikhanasa tradition: the daily worship of Vişnu in the temple. The Vaikhanasa temple cult is explained in the first place by the hand-books written, according to tradition⁴, by the four seers Atri, Bhrgu, Kāśyapa, and Marici. These handbooks, which may date back about a millennium or more, all give a detailed description of daily worship to be performed by the arcaka or temple priest. But these are not the only literary sources for the subject-matter. Firstly, a more simple, shorter, and certainly older description of domestic worship is found in the Vaikhanasa Grhyasūtra 4,12. To this chapter, several scholars have directed their attention⁵. By a mutual comparison the dependence of the four handbooks on the method given in this chapter becomes clear. On the other hand, room should be left for the possibility that temple worship in a manner similar to that described in the four handbooks existed already in the time of the Vaikhanasa Grhyasūtra. The chapter in this Sūtra, then, could have been epitomized from it and given a place in this Vedic text, because the house worship of images was accepted earlier by orthodox Brahmans than the temple worship. For house worship, the Atri Samhita (one of the four handbooks), ch. 81, gives a description very similar to that in the Vaikhanasa Grhyasútra. Thus the domestic worship enjoined by the Sūtra remained in vogue for a long time afterwards.

After the period of these handbooks (Samhitās) named after the four seers, later authorities writing sometimes under their own names sometimes under the name of one of the four seers, but always professing themselves to belong to the tradition of one of the four Samhitas, continued to write on the subject. They changed the sequence of the details of the ritual, systematized and introduced new elements. These innovations are laid down in monographs and commentaries like the *Arcanakhanda *and the Arcanasārasamgraha; they are the basis for daily worship in Vaikhanasa temples as performed up till the present day. They might be compared with the Śivaite *paddhatis *of Aghoraśivācārya, *Somaśambhu *and others; perhaps they have originated in the same period or from the same period on (I express myself very carefully).

In the following pages, I shall mainly restrict myself to the above-mentioned *Samhitās *of the four seers, and try to give a systematic, comparative study of their rules about temple worship.

These Samhitās are chiefly represented by the following texts (with the abbreviations used in this study):

I.* Atrisamhitā:** Samūrtārcaṇādhikaraṇa,*** ch. 40, ed. P. Raghunath Chakravarti Bhattacharya and M. Ramakrishna Kavi (= Śrī Venkatesvara Oriental Series, no. 6) (Tirupati, 1943) = A.

II. Bhrgusamhitā:

(a) Khilādhikāra,** ch. 20, ed. R. Pārthasarathi Bhattacharya (Tirupati, 1961) = BKh. This text is by no means, as its title seems to imply, an “appendix”, but a full-fledged handbook of Vaikhānasa ritual, and probably older than the *Kriyādhikāra *from the same school, because it is repeatedly quoted in the Kriyādhikāra (and also in the Yajñādhikāra).

(b) Kriyādhikāra, ch. 9, ed. R. Pārthasarathi Bhattacharya (= Śrī Venkatesvara Oriental Series, No. 40) (Tirupati, 1953) = BK.

(c) Yajñādhikāra, ch. 32, ed. D. Rangacharya (= Śrīvaikhanasagranthamālā, No. 19) (Akulamannādu, 1931) = BY. This work is shorter and of less value than the other two of Bhrgu.

III.* Kāśyapasamhitā,* represented by **Kāśyapajñānakāṇḍa **(in prose), chs. 69 and 70, ed. R. Pārthasārathi Bhattacharya (= Śrī Venkatesvara Oriental Series, No. 12) (Tirupati, 1948) = K. Translation into English by T. Goudriaan, Kāśyapa’s Book of Wisdom (= Disputationes Rhenotrajectinae, Vol. 10) (The Hague, 1965).

IV. Marīcisamhitā, represented by Vimānārcanakalpa (in prose), ch. 41 (Vaikhānasagranthamālā, No. 15) (1927) (in Telugu characters) = M. The same work was edited under the title* Vaikhānāsāgama* by K. Sambasiva Sastri (= Trivandrum Sanskrit Series, No. 121) (in Devanāgarī characters) = MD. (This edition has little value because it was done from only one, defective and deviating manuscript. The chapter on daily worship is found here as ch. 43.)

Thus, the Samhitās are represented in this survey by six texts: one from the schools of Atri, Kāśyapa, and Marīci, and three from the schools of Bhrgu. Except the works of Kāśyapa and Marīci, all are in* śloka* metre. These are, however, not the only ones ascribed to these seers. Thus, according to tradition⁶Atri also wrote Pūrva- and Uttaratantra. I was, however, unable to consult them.

Another text, the ***Prakīrņādhikāra ***ascribed to Bhrgu (see below), shows clear signs of being of a later date than the others.

Other sources:

Older: Vaikhānasa Grhyasūtra 4,12 (ed. W. Caland,* Vaikhānasa smārtasūtram (= Bibliotheca Indica)* (Calcutta, 1927) = V. This text was translated by the editor in the same series (Calcutta 1929).

Younger: (a) Bhrgu, Prakirnādhikāra, ch. 18 (ed. M. Ramakrishna Kavi, Madras, 1929) = BP.

(b) Kāśyapa,** Arcanākhaṇḍa,** a monograph on daily worship belonging to the school of Kāśyapa (MS. No. R 1606b in the Government Oriental MSS. Library of Madras; copy in the Utrecht University Library) = KA.

(c) “Bhatta”,** Arcanāsārasamgraha**, a commentary on the preceding work (MS. No. 1608a in the Government Oriental MSS. Library in Madras; copy in Utrecht University Library; Telugu characters) = KAV.

(d) Keśava,** Arcanānavanīta**, a commentary on the Soprābhyāyī, a monograph on daily worship by Nṛsimha Vājapeyin. The *Arcanānavanīta *(= AN) has been edited as No. 18 of the Vaikhānasagranthamālā. For the present study a manuscript copy was used, which is preserved in the Utrecht University Library (Telugu characters). The *Arcanānavanīta *seems to belong to the school of Marīci, because Nṛsimha Vājapeyin in his *Pratiṣṭhāvidhidarpaṇam *calls Marīci his guru.

In all these sources, the sequence in which the elements of the ritual follow each other is not exactly the same. In the main, the sequence as given by Bhrgu has been followed, because this, in a few cases, means an easier arrangement.

The last source to be mentioned here is of a special character : *Vaikhānasamantrapraśnam *(daivikacatuṣṭayam), ch. 8, 13 ff. (edited as No. 14 in the Vaikhānāsagranthamālā, 1926) (= VMP).

In this work, all the formulas needed in the temple ritual are given in full when employed for the first time; and *pratikena *(by means of the first two or three words) when they recur for the second, third time etc. The chapters 1-4 of this work (which is also called Vaikhānasasamhitā) contains the formulas for the Vaikhānasa Gṛhyasūtra⁷. The chapters 5-8 are intended to accompany the temple ritual as described in the handbooks. About the place of the *Mantrapraśna *in the tradition of daily worship something more will be said at the end of this article (p. 210).

The complete vaikhanasa mantra prashna is called Prashnashtakam , comprising 8 prashnas. The daivika chatustayam , is only the last 4 ( 5-8 prashnas), and not the full complete work.
Vaikhanasa Mantraprasnashtakam is considered as the veda mantra samhita of this sampradaya.

I.* Atrisamhitā: Samūrtārcaṇādhikaraṇa* = A

II. Bhrgusamhitā:

(a)* Khilādhikāra* = BKh

(b) Kriyādhikāra = BK

(c) Yajñādhikāra = BY

III.* Kāśyapasamhitā,* Kāśyapajñānakāṇḍa =K

IV. Marīcisamhitā, Vimānārcanakalpa

Atri also wrote Pūrva- and Uttaratantra.

*Prakīrņādhikāra *

Other sources:

V.* Vaikhānasa Grhyasūtra* Vaikhānasa smārtasūtram (= V.

Younger:

(a) Bhrgu, Prakirnādhikāra,

(b) Kāśyapa, Arcanākhaṇḍa, = KA.

(c) “Bhatta”, Arcanāsārasamgraha, = KAV.

(d) Keśava, Arcanānavanīta,= AN

*Vaikhānasamantrapraśnam *= VMP.

The course of daily worship is divided in the present study into ninety two elements. Within it, the following main stages may be discerned, after the announcement and the daily observances of the priest before entering the temple (0 and 1):

A. Entering the temple (2-10)

B. Assistants’ duties (fetching water etc.) (11-23)

C. Meditation or personal preparation of the priest (24-33)

D. Bathing the image (34-41)

E. Preparations, and worship of minor deities (42-47)

F. Invocation of Viṣṇu (48-56)

G. Worship of Vişņu (57-92).

In order to reach a really encompassing view of the daily worship according to the Samhitās, a partial repetition of some notes given in my thesis Kāśyapa’s Book of Wisdom is unavoidable⁸.

00 Introductory

0. Nearly all authorities agree in calling the daily worship arcanā or arcanam, sometimes nityārcanam. BK and a manuscript of A say nitya pūjā.

0.1 According to BK and BKh, there are two kinds of worship, *sākāra *and nirākāra, i.e. with and without an image of God. The nirākāra method means worship on a *sthaṇḍila *(altar of grains), in water, in the heart, or in the sun’s orb. The articles of worship are prepared and given in the mind only. But sākāra worship is better, because (reason given by BKh) it is the cause of success in this life and the hereafter. It is lovely to the eye, mind and heart. It shows God constantly before one’s eyes and stimulates intense devotion.⁹

Sākāra worship is performed by two methods:

*nitya *(regular) and *naimittika *(on special occasions, such as calamities). This chapter concerns nitya only.

0.1.1 BK: Six times (sandhi) a day worship is performed. Of these, three are called upasandhi (minor occasions). Worship performed during these three is called adhikāra. “Special worship” (viśeşārcanam) is characterized by ankurarpaṇam¹⁰* *at the beginning.

0.1.2 BKh: *kāmya *worship (free act of worship done as an act of faith) is performed at special auspicious times. It takes place at noon. BK calls it śraddhabhaktikriyā.

0.2 The images (bera or bimba.¹¹) A, BK, BKh: there are three (movable) images. The kautuka or main movable image is the object of usual worship. Its place is in the centre. The *autsava *(“festival image”) is on its left (northern) side. The *snapana *(“bathing image”), also called ārca, is on its right (southern) side. BK adds: the last two may be placed in a corner of the inner hall of the temple (garbhālaya) or in the front hall (mukhamandapa) or in the courtyard (antarāla). A, BK: if these three images cannot be created for financial or other reasons, worship may then be directed to the kautuka only.

0.2.1 According to BK, a special balibera (“image for tributes”) may be placed to the north of the autsava.

0.2.2 The kautuka is used for regular worship. The autsava is used for the festival (utsava), but also for kāmya worship. The snapana is used, both for bathing, and for the appeasement of calamities (naimittikarcanam, BKh), and for the five-days-festival devoted especially to Vişņu.

0.2.3 Besides the images aforementioned, there is also the dhruva (“immovable”) image of Vişņu (A, BK, BKh). BK: the dhruva should not be worshipped with flowers, water and unguents. There is a special method of worship for the immovable image (dhruvarcanam); this method is given by BK after the discussion of nityārcanam.¹² The dhruva image represents the indivisible (nişkala), primeval aspect of Vişņu. Its worship is called abstract (anālamba) and only produces results in the hereafter. Its worship is thus only destined for those without karma. The kautuka image represents Vişņu’s divisible (sakala) aspect; it is concrete (salamba), qualified (saguņa) and thus preferable.

0.3 There is an analogy between Vedic fire worship and image worship (A, BK). BK: just as there are five fires and five prāņas (breaths), in the same way there are five images (dhruva, kautuka, autsava, snapana, bali). The three main fires are to be connected with the *dhruva, autsava, *and *bali *images. The *dhruva *= the *aupasana *fire. A says that after one’s initiation, one may perform temple worship as well as fire worship.

	Vaikhanasa	Pancharatra		Vedic Panchagni (5 fires equivalence)
Dhruva beram	Vishnu	Para Vasudeva	para	garhapatyagni
Kautuka beram	Purusha	vyuha Vasudeva	vyuha	avahaniya
Utsava beram	Satya	samkarshana	Vibhava	dakshinagni
Snapana beram	Atchyuta	Pradhyumna	Antaryamin	sabhyagni
Bali beram	Aniruddha	Aniruddha	Archavatara	avastyagni

0.4 The officiants are fully discussed in BP. The *ācārya *or *guru *(“teacher”) has the supervision of the rituals and invokes God to be present. He protects and teaches the dharma. The *arcaka *(“worshipping priest”) performs the actual worship. The *paricārakāh *(“assistants”) assist him. Some of them sweep, some light the lamps, others clean the dishes, fetch water, strew flowers, prepare incense, carry the materials, cook the grain offering, etc. All officiants must be Vaikhānasas. A non-Vaikhānasa is a *devalaka *and excluded from all worship. An assistant may be of another denomination, in case of necessity. The *yajamāna *(“organizer, sponsor”) must have undergone a *dikṣā *according to the Agamas. He should follow the *ācārya’s *directions. He should support the temple worship and the maintenance of the temple building by destining the yield of certain plots of land to this end (vrttikalpanam).¹³

01 DAILY ACTIONS

of the priest before going to the temple. Not in V, which only commences at 7. All other texts give some directions for certain regular actions to be performed before temple worship begins. These actions are indispensible for the arcaka.¹⁴

1.1 After rising at the hour of Brahma, the priest should meditate on the Lord *Nārāyaṇa *(BK, BP, BY). BK adds practically: he thinks of the kind of worship he is going to do and of the material he needs for it. AN, p. 6 says: he should praise the Lord of the world with songs (samkirtayet). This source cites a certain Śaunaka, who says that one should meditate on Hari while rising, on *Keśava *while walking and on *Govinda *while eating.¹⁵

1.2 He bathes (all main sources). BP adds: he puts on two clean garments, applies the urdhvapundra¹⁶(Vişnuite mark on the forehead), muttering the names *Keśava *etc. He should wear a garland, two strainers, a tulasi flower, and other ornaments (thus also KA).

1.9 He performs *brahmayajña *(muttering of hymns and formulas) (BK, BKh, K, M). BP specifies: he mutters the mahāmantra(?) and the arunam(?).

1.10 He studies sacred literature (A, BKh, K). BKh: he recites from the Vedas and the (Vaikhanasa) *atmasūkta *(see Appendix-III).

1.11 Of course, the utensils for worship should also be collected (A).

1.12 Now the daily routine in the temple can begin. The following description applies to morning worship after daybreak (prātar). At noon and in the evening (and sometimes at minor times of the day) worship takes place in the same manner, unless other directions are given.

हरिः ॐ! अथ विष्णोर्नित्यार्चनाविधिं व्याख्यास्यामः ।

अर्चको नित्यकर्माणि च कृत्वा षडक्षरेण पद्माक्षतुळसीदामानिधारयन् ‘ॐ विष्णवे नमः*’ केशवादिद्वादश नामभिरूर्ध्वपुड्डाणि द्वादशकुर्यातोत्तरीयोष्ठीषाङ्गुळीयक उभयपवित्रं धारयन् ‘प्रतद्विष्णु’ रिति देवालयं द्विः प्रदक्षिणीकृत्य ॥