Saivism is one of the major Hindu traditions that worships Siva as the supreme reality. It is a major tradition that started long ago in the Christian Era. It incorporated many sub-divisions ranging from the dualism of Saiva-Siddhanta in Tamil Nadu to the monistic system of Kashmir.
Saivism is an offshoot of the Vedic tradition. But it considers the Agamas to have the same importance as the Vedas. So for Saivism, both the Vedas and the Agamas are authoritative texts. The Agamas are supposed to be divine teachings that had come down to us through the Acaryas just as the Vedas had been heard by the Seers.
The worship of Siva or Rudra goes back to the Vedas. In the Yajur Veda, there is SataRudrīya, a hymn that praises Bhagwan Rudra. TaittiriyaAranyaka, some of the Upanishads, Mahabharata and some Puranas also glorify Siva or Rudra.
Regarding the origin and continuity of the Saiva tradition, no definite history is available. Saiva philosophy first appeared in the Agamas, but the period of these also is not certain. Its philosophy was recorded in both Sanskrit and Dravidian. However, it is not certain whether the Dravidian texts were simply translations from Sanskrit or were written under the influence of Sanskrit texts. Surendranath Dasgupta says there is no evidence of the existence of any Dravidian philosophy before the spread of the Aryan culture. Not merely the Saiva tradition but other major traditions, such as Vaishnavism and Tantra, all follow the Vedic tradition. Their essential teaching is the Vedic Philosophy regarding the ultimate reality, according to which reality is one and is called Brahman; its essence is sat-cit-ananda. This Brahman is called Śiva in Śaivism, Vishnu in Vaishnavism and Parasakti in Tantra.
The Mṛgendra Agama discusses how the Vedic form of worship superseded the Saiva Cult. The Vedic deities were not concrete entities but were represented by mantras; they were invoked and worshipped with the mantras. In the case of the Saiva cult, on the other hand, concrete forms of worship were developed, such as Mandirs and murtis.
There is a difference of opinion as to the place of origin of the Saiva cult, whether it originated in the South or in Kashmir. There is no evidence to support either of the views. So, it is generally held that Saivism was a cult that spread throughout Bharat since a very remote period.
There are several sects of Saivism, each differing from others in certain aspects regarding philosophy and practice. The oldest school is that of the Pasupatas of Gujarat, which is traced to the 2nd century CE. It is evidenced by the Sāntiparva of Mahabharata. The fundamental elements in Saivism are three in number: the Cosmic Consciousness, namely Siva, the individual consciousness or jīvatma and matter or sakti, which is the source of our world of experience. The nature and relation of these three elements are the fundamental issues in all spiritual traditions. These constitute the main issues in Saivism as well. According to the Pāsupataschool, Siva is Brahman, i.e. sat-cit-ananda. Brahman is also the state in which Siva and Sakti remain united. Bhagwan Siva is the instrumental cause (nimittaKarana) of production, maintenance and destruction of the world. His Sakti is the material cause (upādānakārana) of the world.
The souls are, in reality, of the nature of all-pervasive consciousness. But due to their association with the products of Sakti, they become tainted by the impure sakti called tirodhānaśakti. When it binds the soul, it is known as pāśa (rope). The soul bound by pasa is known as pasu, and Siva, being the Bhagwan of the souls, is called Pasupati. So Pasupati is drawn as the Bhagwan seated on the back of a bull. It is only a fanciful way of depicting Siva. He is actually the Bhagwan of the souls who are boarded by pāsa.
The liberated souls do not attain the status of Siva. Though they share the powers of Siva, certain powers like creation and destruction of the world are confined to Siva. For the soul to attain liberation, the Pasa must be removed by God out of mercy. So, Siva’s anugraha is necessary for the emancipation of the souls.
The Pasupata system holds a dualistic position with respect to the relation between Siva and his Sakti and also between the Bhagwan and the souls. Though his Sakti and the souls cannot exist apart from Siva, they are not equated with him.
Saiva-Siddhanta
This school was popular in South India and Sri Lanka. It is primarily a dualistic system of philosophy. Its source is Tamil devotional literature belonging to Thirumular (2nd CE-4th BCE) and to other great Saiva saints like Sambandar, Appar, Sundarar, flourished in South India (5th CE-9th CE) whose hymns constitute a highly rich devotional literature. The collection of these hymns is called ‘Tirumurai’.
With respect to the relation between Siva and the individual soul, it holds that the soul is an eternal entity; it is not reduced to Siva during self-realization. Matter or Sakti is also real. Though the individual souls and matter are real, they have no independent existence; they are inseparably united with Siva. The soul is essentially consciousness and attains Sivahood, or the state of pure consciousness when liberated. Even then, certain functions like the creation of the world, its destruction, etc, are reserved for the Bhagwan.
Thus, the two sects of Saivism, namely the Pāsupada in Gujarat and the Saiva-Siddharta in Tamil Nadu, are both dualistic; they accord reality to Sakti and the soul, though their separate existence apart from Siva is denied. Sankaracarya opposed this dualism of Saivism. For him, the world is not real; it is only an illusory appearance of Brahman, and the individual atma, when liberated, is the same as Brahman. Thus, ultimately, there is only one reality, that is Brahman.
Kashmiri Saivism
In spite of the geographical isolation of the Kashmir valley, the region freely inter-mingled with various traditions coming from other regions, even from the far southern part of India. Siva was a popular deity that had been worshipped widely in the valley from a remote period. Early KasmiriSaivism was of the Pasupata sect that held a dualistic doctrine. From the 8th or 9th century, however, the Śaiva system of Kashmir assumed a new character. It began to preach a sort of spiritual monism. Monism was founded by Vasugupta, according to whom there is only one ultimate principle, Siva. All things are a manifestation of Siva, the one cosmic consciousness.
Tradition asserts that Sankaracarya, the greatest exponent of Advaita, visited Kasmir to promote advaita there. He influenced the Saivites there to restructure their dualism in favour of monism.
Exchange of Ideas between North and South
It is strange that in the 9th century, Sankaracarya from Kerala influenced the philosophy of Saivism in Kashmir, and in the 20th C, the monistic Saivism of Kashmir could influence another great philosopher-saint in Kerala, namely, Sree Narayana Guru. Why this happened? It is because though KasmiriSaivism is monistic, it is not Advaita, and it keeps important differences from Advaita. While Narayana Guru’s philosophy shares some aspects of Advaita, it is not strictly Advaita; it is closer, in fact, to Kasmiri monism.
In Advaita, we know Brahman is the only reality; the world is not mithya or illusory appearance. But in the monistic Saivism of Kasmir, the world is notmithya; it is a manifestation of Siva. Sree Narayana Guru in his ‘DaivaDasakam’ says thus:
“Oh God! You are the Creation and the Creator
You are the variety of created things and
You are the implements of creation as well” (verse 5)
There is another important point on which Guru’s philosophy is closer to Kasmiri monism than to Advaita. As per Advaita, there is no actual creation. But, according to Kasmiri, Saivism creation starts as a vibration or ‘spanda’ in Siva. Here, we see Narayana Guru’s philosophy joining hands with Kasmiri monism. For he says in his ‘AtmopdesaSatakam’ thus:
“The modifications, such as the five elements, all take place in Bhagwan
These are like the waves of the ocean not different from him” (verse 3)
The waves of the ocean are in motion; each wave is temporary, likewise modifications of energy come and go. But just as the waves are also water and exist in the ocean, the vibrating energy of Bhagwan exists in Himself and has the same substance that Bhagwan has, i.e. sat-cit-ānanda.
Even when Guru calls the power of Bhagwan as Maya he takes it as real power and not illusory. For eg: in ‘DaivaDasakam’ Guru says :
“You are Maya, the weilder of Maya and the joy out of Maya
You are the one who liberates the soul out of Maya” (verse 6)
This verse also reveals another point on which Guru agrees with Saivism and differs from Sankaracarya, i.e. in holding Bhagwan’s grace or anugraha as necessary for souls to get liberated. In Advaita, no such thing is admitted. Thus, in attributing personal characteristics to Bhagwan, such as free will, activity, grace, etc. Guru philosophy combines both personal and impersonal aspects of Brahman. This is the nature ofKaśmiriŚaivism as well.
Thus, we see the exchange of ideas between the two great Philosophers of Kerala and the system of Saivism in Kashmir, Sankaracarya influencing the Philosophers of Kashmir to modify their dualism to form monism, and Narayana Guru adopting the monistic system of Kashmir, which keeps important differences with Advaita. This free exchange of ideas between the North and the South starting from a remote age is evidence of the unbroken tradition of Bharat encompassing the whole country, rooted in the mother tradition, i.e. the Vedic culture.
