Agamas that helped shape Bharat

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Dear All, The following is from a blog maintained by Venkatasubramanian ji at:http://bharataagamas.blogspot.com/2007/12/agamas-that-helped-shape-bharat.html Love and regards,Sreenadh ================================Friday, December 14, 2007

 

 

 

Agamas that helped shape Bharat

 

 

Wednesday, December 12, 2007 AGAMAS - AN OVERVIEW AGAMAS- WHICH SHAPED BHARAT- part 1Have

you ever given a thought why the religious landscape of Bharat remained

almost intact even after a thousand years of suppression by Muslim and

Christian invaders ? Do you think it was the power of Vedas ,

Upanishads and the Gita and our people's knowledge in our fundamentals

? NOPE.. It was by the singular attachment of the lay Hindu towards HIS

God, that we are still alive as heirs to Hinduism.How did the

common man develop so much attachment to his God, silently suffering

under the brutal suppression of the worst enemies of Humanity then and

now ? It was by the Agamas.I now present to you all a forgotten

heredity of us all which has helped shape the spiritual landscape of

Bharat. The essence of this heredity are a series of divine scriptures.

They are AGAMAS.When you propose to build a house, (especially in South India),

the plot is chosen by its straightness, the length and width. They have

to be in certain measure of feet. Then the direction of the site. Then

the house plan. Specially here, the location of the sump, the kitchen,

the bedroom, the bathroom are finalized only after consulting vasthu.

Vasthu science was given to us by the Agamas.All the temple

rites are given to us by the Agamas. Even your daily arathi and the

Murthis and photos you worship are given to us by the Agamas. In short

temple worship was started by the Agamas only.Agama literally means coming down.Agamas

were built into the society rather than accepted and studied. Such has

been their subtlety. For example, the adage , "do not reside in a

village that has no temple" is a direct Agamic edict that is followed

to this day by every Hindu without himself studying anything about it.

The society itself is built up on such edicts.Have you ever

wondered why you stand up in front of the deity with your palms joined

and raised to the level of the chest in such a way that the lower joint

of the thumbs point towards the solar plexus ? Also , why do we go

around the prakara of the temple in a particular way ? Why do we adorn

specific religious symbols such as Vibhuti, kumkum , Chandan and Gobi on our foreheads ?The answers to all the above are in the Agamas .The three major sects of Hinduism have separate agamas. In fact each have many. Saiva sects have as many as twenty eight agamas(

Tamil and kashmir sects). Vaishnava sects have two main agamas namely

pancharatra and Vaikanasa. Similarly Saktha sects have their own.The

power of Agamas is so great that, though these sects treat the vedas

with respect, they do not consider the vedas to be their authority in

their sect. Saiva Siddhantha people will resent if you thrust vedic

thoughts on them. In the 10 th century AD, Yamunacharya, the founder of

Vaishnavism as a sect wrote a treatise explaining why Vedas do not

matter for his sect.Agamas are self sufficient literature in

that they cover the man's life from cradle to grave. Even minute

details such as brushing the teeth, selection of sticks for brushing

etc are given. If you ever see some rites in a funeral , never laugh

anymore. They are the direct links of the man and his antique

forefathers.These agamas are principally in Sanskrit. The Tamil people developed the grantha lipi for writing the Sanskrit Slokas and till today they are in Grantha form and not in Devanagari !Today, the granthas are known only to a class of temple archakas

known as kurukkal. I interviewed one kurukkal a few days back and what

he told me shook me. He said that he studied for five years in a

patashala to learn Agamas alone. And also he told me that he had

nothing to do with Vedas. Remember , the archakas are also brahmins,

who do trikala Sandhyavandanam with gayatri.But

the fact remains that Agamas only use Vedic mantras for most rituals. n

fact they can be considered as the watered down version of Vedas. They

have segregated many Vedic Gods among themselves to form sects of their

own. All the Vedic Kriyas like Achamanam, Arghyam, Padhyam, Proshanam

etc were simply adapted to suit temple worship. In short Vedism was

fully Yagnic and Agamas were temple based. Hence it can be safely

concluded that the Agamas can be dated after the upanishadic and

Mahabharatic period since no temple was mentioned in these texts.Incidentally

the 'Indus Valley Civilization' - also called Indus Saraswati

Civilization was also an Agamic Hindu culture where they worshipped

Shiva Linga. Saiva sect can be called the oldest Agamic sect. Thammanna

Chettiar, a saiva scholar and writer opines that the symbology of Lord

Nataraja of Chidambaram came from the Indus Saraswati Civilization. The

Dixitars are some Kashmir Saivites.These

sects had the same Vedic varna system, the same Sanskrit language and

the same Guru- Shishya parampara. Only in Agamas, the initiation was

called a Dhiksha. This Dhiksha is mainly Tantrik. Agamas also adapt a

diluted Sandhya Vandanam and Nama Japam.He further said that

they are proficient in grantha and have written examinations in grantha

! The only people allowed to do consecretion of temples are kurukkals

and the only mantras chanted are Agama mantras.The Indonesian Hindus call themselves as Agamic Hindus. Agmas teach tantric philosophy. What is tantra ? We will see that in the next part.Venkat

 

 

 

 

Posted by

Venkatasubramanian

 

 

at

2:31 AM

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5

comments:

 

 

 

bhattathiri

said...

 

EXCELLANT BLOG.One of the greatest contributions of India to the

world is Holy Gita which is considered to be one of the first

revelations from God. The management lessons in this holy book were

brought in to light of the world by divine Maharshi Mahesh Yogi, Sri

Shri.Ravi Shankar and Swami Bodhanandji, and the spiritual philosophy

by the great Adi Sankaracharya the greatest philosopher of India and

proud son of Kerala, and Sri. Srila Prabhupada Swami and humanism by

Mata Amritanandamayi Devi and Satya Sai Baba. Maharishi calls the

Bhagavad-Gita the essence of Vedic Literature and a complete guide to

practical life. It provides "all that is needed to raise the

consciousness of man to the highest possible level." Maharishi reveals

the deep, universal truths of life that speak to the needs and

aspirations of everyone. Swami Chinmayanandaji preached and educated

the people and Swami Sandeep Chaitanyaji continuing the mission by

keeping this lantern burning always knowing the wishes of the modern

generations. Arjuna got mentally depressed when he saw his relatives

with whom he has to fight.( Mental health has become a major

international public health concern now). To motivate him the

Bhagavad-Gita is preached in the battle field Kurukshetra by Lord

Krishna to Arjuna as counseling to do his duty while multitudes of men

stood by waiting. It has got all the management tactics to achieve the

mental equilibrium and to overcome any crisis situation. The

Bhagavad-Gita can be experienced as a powerful catalyst for

transformation. Bhagavad-Gita means song of the Spirit, song of the

Lord. The Holy Gita has become a secret driving force behind the

unfoldment of one's life. In the days of doubt this divine book will

support all spiritual searches. This divine book will contribute to

self reflection, finer feeling and deepen one's inner process. Then

life in the world can become a real education—dynamic, full and

joyful—no matter what the circumstance. May the wisdom of loving

consciousness ever guide us on our journey? What makes the Holy Gita a

practical psychology of transformation is that it offers us the tools

to connect with our deepest intangible essence and we must learn to

participate in the battle of life with right knowledge?. It shows us

the path to handle the situation with equipoise mind irrespective of

what comes our way and reminds us time and again, that what the right

action is.

 

 

 

February 22, 2008 4:08 PM

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anonymous

said...

 

Namaste Venkatji,Very educational and enlightening article. thank you. I have very much to learn in this regard.Pranams, Vrndavan Parker

 

 

 

March 17, 2008 12:58 AM

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10yearslate

said...

 

Namaskaaram,I have a question regarding agamic sanction for non-devotional structures such as ranga mantapams in temples.Ranga

mantapams were used for the sangeeta seva and nrtya seva of the

moolavar and as such were probably a later inclusion into the

constructional canon.However did these have any considerations towards acoustics, dance maargams etc?Any info would be much appreciated.

 

 

 

March 18, 2008 11:46 PM

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

RVR

said...

 

Great Venkat, Your study of Chidambaram temple with complete details

is excellent. Your theme and aims projected in the profile is noble.

Keep up the research and God Bless You for the hard-work.RVR

 

 

 

October 5, 2008 7:23 AM

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

dins

said...

 

Excellent. Keep writing articles like this to update us. May God bless u abundantly.

 

 

 

October 21, 2008 1:19 AM

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