वेदे विश्वासटिप्पन्यः

Source: TW

Why go down this road again?

Vaidika praxis was for traivarņikas. Even here, retention of vaidikam among Kșatriyas & Vaiśyas was decreasing throughout history, hovering around zero today; partially due to thoughtless dvivarņavāda & other foolish positions.+++(4)+++
Śrautam declined because it was exceedingly complex & expensive. It is not without reason that Śatapatha Brāhmaņan itself compares Śrautam to a wild forest where hunger, thirst, misfortune and rakșas torment a person who delves into it without knowledge.
Śaiva, Śākta & Vaișņava Āgamas not only found a place for jātis across the board & gave them stakes (something Vaidikam honestly did not achieve) but also institutionalized the support of Vaidika Brāhmaņas.
If wealthy members of Advija castes adopted “Brāhmaņa norms” (teetotalism, giving up of meat or at least unconsecrated meat, abstinence from vices, etc), became pious & sustained Vedapāțhaśālas for centuries, you think it was because Vaidikas held some royal sway over those who could not partake in it? Lol.

It was because the Śaiva & Vaișņava Āgama & Bhakti movements were simply outstanding in the way they won the hearts of all across the board.

If a Sacchūdra-Mahāvidvān born in Jaffna vociferously defended orthodox positions on Adhikāra, it was because of his zealous faith in the Śaivāgama which motivated him to defend the Vaidika position on Vedādhikāra and the importance of Veda.

In short, if Vaidikam has survived, it’s because of the Bhikșa given by the Āgama & Bhakti mārgas of Hara & Hari:

Fact is, it is the Āgamika-Tāntrika religion that saved the Vaidika-Paurāņika religion. Firstly, it supplemented the latter in the form of material incorporated into the Purāņas.

Secondly, the developed methods in Tantrāgama have been incorporated into vaidika praxis (nyāsa, mudras, etc).

Thirdly, when the Aupanișada Vidyās and Upāsanas had mostly died off due to broken transmission, it is the Upāsanakrama of the Tantrāgama that was adopted by the Yatis of the different schools of Vedānta: Śrīvidyā by the Advaitīs, Pāñcarātra by the Vaișņavas.

Tantrāgama massively built on Sāńkhyā and its Tattvajñāna has proven to be an invaluable supplement to the Dharma as a whole.

Those who think Tantrāgama is about worship or Kșūdradevatas have zero idea of what they are discussing.

Even outside the realm of theology, Tantrāgama has helped the Vaidika-Paurāņika religion. For example, Kāmikāgama has a whole chapter dedicated to gifting qualified Vipras for their Vedic learning.

It is to the credit of Siddhānta (which falls under Tantrāgama) that Vedic institutions were supported in TN by groups across the board and a large group of non-Brāhmaņas became teetotalers and took up an Ācāra that was compatible with Vaidikācāra.

Who do you think made large swathes of people adopt such an Ācāra? Vaidikas?

No. It’s the Ācāryas of the Siddhānta who drew upon the power of Śiva to impress Vaidikācāra and its associated norms and habits on large groups of families, which were otherwise untouched by Vaidikācāra. The Pāñcarātra too made similar contributions.

Pure Vaidika is a rhetorical device and fiction, not reality. “We follow only Vedic injunctions Saar”— joining Utsavamūrti’s procession and reciting Śatarudriyam behind the Utsavamūrti is under which injunction? Performing Caṇḍiyāga or going deep into Lalitāsahasranāma’s commentarial tradition falls under which Vaidika injunction?

Pūrvamīmāmsakas were not fond of temples (as can be seen in the manubhāșya of Medhātithi) but when temples became the beating heart of Dharma and the grand force which sustained even Vaidikam (temples did so much for Vaidikas who are forever indebted to Hara and Hari for this), their spiritual descendants switched to “temple okay bro but Tantrāgama is not”.

One is reminded of a Śloka from Bhavișyapurāņa, which appears to have been inserted by a Devālayadveșī, which states that Sattras (very complex, often year-long Vedic sacrificial sessions performed by a group rather than an individual Yajamāna) should not be hosted by temples, probably the only institution which could have actually afforded to perform Sattras in the first place. Mātsarya/Jealousy…

On a day to day basis, Vaikhanasa-Pancharatra system temples of TTD is the reason why atleast 10K vaidikas don’t live under thatched roof…