Agamas - article from book Unto The First of H. H. Shri Kumarswamiji

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AGAMAS

 

H.H. Shri Kumarswamiji

 

 

 

 

 

The Agamas are of three kinds. The Shivagamas, the Shaktyagamas and the

Vaishnavagamas according as they treat of the deity Shiva, Shakti and

Vishnu as the object of worship. The Agamas are also called Tantra and

there is practically no difference between the two names specially

between the Agamas of the Shiva and Shakti schools, both of them are

believed to have been delivered by Shiva to his consort-Parvati.

Generally the Shaivagamas are called Agamas and Shaktyagamas are called

Tantras. Yet Shaivagamas have an independent status and their origin is

as old as three thousand years. The Shivagamas are 28 in number. But all

of them are not available, few of them are available. Besides 28

principal Shivagamas there are many secondary Agamas which intend to

explain the subject matter of the principal Agamas.

 

In connection with the Agamas two important questions arise - the age of

the Agamas and the contents of the Agamas. As regards the first

question, the age of the Agamas can well be determined from the

reference made to them in various works. Harita, a writer of Smriti and

Kalidas the world famous sanskrit poet refer to the Shivagamas and both

of them lived in the first century of the Christian era. Various Puranas

namely Skanda Purana, Sutasamhita, Brahmagita and Shiva Purana mention

the Agamas. In Kurma Purana a reference is made to the fact that Shri

Krishna was taught Agamic Philosophy by Upamanyu. In the Shanti Parva

and Drona Parva of Mahabharata, reference has been made to the

Shivagamas. In Maitrayana Upanishad Agamic literature is referred to

twice. The Swetashwetopanishad is certainly an Agamic Upanishad later

followed by other Agamic Upanishads like Atharva Shiras and Kaivalya.

From all this foregoing account it can well be concluded that the Agamas

have their origin in times almost coeval with the Aranyakas.

 

The Aranyakas which form part and parcel of the Vedas and the Agamas

confront each other as two independent modes of thought. This fact is

brought into bold belief, when we take into consideration the contents

of the Vedic religion and the contents of the Agamic religion.

 

1. The Vedic religion consists in the performance of sacrifices with all

rites and rituals, while the Agamic religion consists in the worship of

the deity - Shiva, Shakti and Vishnu.

 

2. The Vedic deities were the forms of nature and the Vedic religion was

a system of propitiation of those nature powers. Powers by means of

sacrifice offered into fire regarded as the mouth of the deities; while

Agamic deity was personal deity that controlled the forces of nature.

 

3. The oblations in the case of Vedic worship were consumed by the

deities through their mouth, the fire; while the Agamic deities took

only the subtle portion of the offerings exhibited to them as Prasad or

consecrated food.

 

4. The Vedic religion was polytheistic and the different deities were

invoked for different purposes because each Vedic deity has a different

function in the scheme of the universe; while the Agamic religion being

monotheistic only one deity was worshipped, that had all the functions

of the universe in his or her hands.

 

5. The Vedas consist of the Mantras addressed to the different deities

and recited during the performance of the sacrifices in honour of those

deities; while the Agamas contain prayers consisting of various names of

the deity and salutations addressed to the deity.

 

6. The Vedic Worship consisted of the offering made to Gods, while the

Agamic worship was personal service rendered to the God, like washing,

decking and feeding them.

 

7. The Vedic Gods being the forces of the nature had no physical

representation, while the Agamic deities were represented by means of a

visible emblem or image.

 

8. There is no trace in the hymns of the temple worship, while the

worship of the idols in temples is purely Agamic. The Vedic religion is

the fire cult while Agamic religion is the deitic cult.

 

9. The Vedas kept the door of religion restricted to some people while

the Agamas kept the door of religion open to all without any

distinction.

 

10. The Agamas treat the Yoga Philosophy and Yogic practices which are

all together absent in the Samhitas or Vedic hymns.

 

The contents of the Shivagamas are divided into four parts namely

Charya, Kriya, Yoga and Jnana. The Charya and Kriya parts describe the

names of worship of Shiva with love and adoration but as the discipline

of love or Shakti has to be supplemented by some psychological

discipline in the form of yoga practice, the third part of every Agama

deals with yoga. The fourth part of the Agama deals with jnana but jnana

in the sense of exposition of the philosophical principles underlying

the Agama teaching. The Charyapada represents a Marga, the path of the

servant following the master. The servantship is the discipline of the

Charya-pada. It consists in the search of God in the world and has for

its aim the objective worship of a material idol. The singing of the

glories of God the extension of the honour and hospitality to the

servants of God constitute the chief marks of the first part. The

Kriyapada represents the Satputramarg the path of son serving the will

of his father. It is the higher step of worshipping God under the mental

image. In this stage the rites are indicative of purification of the

mind and heart. The worshipper behaves towards God as a son does towards

his father with a combination of purity and piety. Yogapada represents

Sahamarga which indicates the spirit of an associate. Here the

worshipper behaves towards God as an associate. The whole spirit of the

worshipper is being affiliated to God through the practice of Yoga or

meditation. Jnanapada represents Sanmarga which means the attainment of

Sayujya or atonement with God. In this condition the subject and the

object become indistinguishable and the worshipper becomes possessed of

Samadhi or trance. In the Sahamarga the worshipper starts with the idea

of being similar to God and attains similarity which by the Sanmarga

expands into Sayujya or atonement.

 

The main three Agamic Schools, Shiva, Shakti and Vaishnava maintain

three ultimate realities, namely

 

1. A supreme being with male or female aspect predominant.

 

2. The group of individual souls.

 

3. The objective universe as real.

 

These three realities are given different names in the three different

schools.

 

All the three schools agree in opposing and demolishing the Mayawada or

the illusion theory of the Vedanta. Thus says Pauskaragama: " If the

world is an illusion of the conscious being the effected world will be a

hollow reality. How can the world which is established to be really

existing by all methods of proofs be a false transaction of

consciousness? "

 

The Agamas do not regard the world as a false show. The universe is real

because, as there is absolutely no difference between Brahma and the

universe, just as there is no difference between a pot and clay of which

it is made, the reality of the universe necessarily follows from the

reality of Brahma. Intense devotion or sincere Bhakti to deity forms

another common feature of the three Agamic Schools. The movement of

Agamic devotion gave rise to the art of temple building and the making

of the images which in India, in south India especially has reached a

higher order of perfection. It also gave rise to devotional lyric poetry

full of poetic imagery. So also music, singing and dancing developed

fast under the influence of the Agamas.

 

Dr. Radhakrishna in his " Outlines of Indian Philosophy " has observed

thus:

 

" This living Hindu religion of today from Cape Comorin to the remotest

corners of Tibet is essentially Tantric. Even the genuine Vedic rites

that are preserved and are supposed to be derived straight from the

Vedas, namely the Sandhya, have been modified by the addition of Tantric

practice. "

 

The two streams of thought, the Agamic and the Vedic gradually

gravitated towards each other. After running side by side for long time

they acted and reacted on each other and modified each other's practice

in religion. Attempts were later made to reconcile the differences

between them and to establish the unity of thought in Hinduism.

 

Historically considered Virashaivism is a fine and full blown flower of

Shaivism. For Shaivism as well as for Virashaivism the 28 Shivagamas are

the scriptures. But Virashaivism considers the latter two parts of the

Agamas as scriptural authority. Since the end portion of the Agamas is

regarded as authority Virashaivism is known as Agamanta. Shiva is the

worshipping deity for Shaivism and Virashaivism in the form of Linga.

The Shaivas worship Shivalinga in the temples while the Virashaivas wear

the miniature form of Shivalinga known as Ishtalinga. The Linga worn on

the body is made of light grey slate stone and to be kept intact all

through the wearer's life, it is coated all over with the fine durable

black paste prepared out of certain ingredient. The coating is called

Kanti or covering. The Linga is worshipped by placing it on the palm of

the left hand. This is the subjective mode of worship in which the

devotee and the divine are facing each other. Linga is three fold;

Bhavalinga, Linga the ideal corresponding to the causal body of the

devotee, Pranalinga, Linga the vital corresponds to the subtle body of

the devotee. Ishtalinga, Linga the gross or the physical corresponds to

the gross body of the devotee. The devotee starts with the worship of

Istalinga and reaches by stages the Pranalinga and the Bhavalinga with

the idea of his being a part and parcel of God through all the stages

when he reaches atonement with God or Shiva.

 

Anatomy speaks of the plexuses in the human body. These plexuses which

are otherwise known as Chakras, are the network of the autonomic nervous

system. The Plexuses are said to have petals as the lotus have.

Physiologically the petals are no other than the branches of nerves

shooting from the ganglia in different directions for the regular

functioning of the different parts of the body. Prana runs through these

branches and activates the different parts of the body in the particular

locality in which a plexus is situated.

 

The lowermost Chakra is the basis plexus called Muladhara. It has four

branches or petals and the shape of a triangle. The second Chakra is

Swadisthana which is situated in the pelvic region and it has six

petals. The third Chakra is the Solar plexus with ten petals and its

location is in the region of the navel. The fourth Chakra is the Anahata

which has twelve petals and is located in the region of the heart. The

fifth Chakra is Vishuddhi situated in the region of the throat and it

has sixteen petals. The sixth is Ajna Chakra which has two petals and is

situated between eyebrows. This is called plexus of command.

 

In the process of Yoga the centres have a fixed physiological use and a

general function. The Muladhara governs the physical down to the

subconscient. The abdominal centre the Swadisthana governs the lower

vital. According to Virashaivism these two Chakras represent the domain

of Ishtalinga and are respectively occupied by the sub-forms of

Istalinga -- Acharlinga in the Muladhara and Gurulinga in Swadisthana.

This is the place of Tyaganga. The navel centre or Manipura governs the

larger vital and the heart centre or Anahata governs the emotional

being. These two form the vital or the intermediate plane. According to

Virashaivism this is the plane of Bhoganga and is the domain of

Pranalinga or the vital because the vital force of consciousness

functions here. The throat centre or Vishuddhi governs the expressive

mind, here consciousness assume concrete form of the sound. The centre

between the two eyebrows governs the will. According to Virashaivism

this is the plane of Bhavalinga - the higher intellectual plane.

 

The human body is identified with Tyaganga with Ishtalinga working

behind it. The autonomous nervous system with Bhoganga with Pranalinga

working behind it; the central nervous system or cerebrum with Yoganga

with Bhavalinga working behind it. The bodily mechanism is Tyaganga

because it is to be directed towards the higher and in performance to

the demands of matter. Here the Istalinga aids the soul when it becomes

conscious of the higher end. Full faith in the divinity in the spirit of

submission is the means to that end. The faith in relation to Shakti or

the devotee is Shraddha which develops into Nishtha or singleness of

purpose of Mahesha. In the first stage Acharlinga, the practical and in

the second stage Gurulinga, the perceptive are aroused for giving the

soul and an insight into the spiritual truth. This is the first process

of sublimation in the upward march of the soul. Here the soul is

purified and divested of the thoughts of the worldly life. Acharlinga

and Gurulinga are connected with Adhara Chakra and Swadisthana Chakra

with the corresponding awakening of the powers in them.

 

The intermediate plane is the plane of Bhoganga, the soul in the stage

of enjoyment. This is the psychic plane, the plane of Pranalinga. In

this stage the soul has the co-operation of Pranalinga, for his further

development. Here the soul has the enjoyment of material world in so far

as it is necessary for the substance of the body which is the basis of

all life - temporal or spiritual. In this plane the truth that material

enjoyment and spiritual experience are in no way inconsistent but are

mutually helpful, is demonstrated. The enjoyment of the soul is in

company with Pranalinga so that everything that the soul takes or enjoys

is in the first instance dedicated to Linga and is then taken as Prasad

or consecrated food. Here conscious aspiration is the means to the

objective of atonement of the divinity, with its two sub-division of

Avadhana, the undivided attention fixed on the divinity in contemplation

and Anubhava or partial experience of the divine life. The two forms of

Shakti invoke the aid of two modifications of Pranalinga - Shivalinga

the gracious and Charalinga the itinerant. Prasadi is the third

modification of the soul which strives with undivided attention to earn

the grace of God in his aspect as Shivalinga. So also the Pranalinga -

the fourth modification of the soul attentively meditates on divinity

and attains the stage of partial experience of the divine life. Here the

form of Shakti is called Anubhava Bhakti, the experiential stage of the

spiritual life. The two modifications of Pranalinga, Shivalinga and

Charalinga are connected with Manipura Chakra and Anahata Chakra with a

corresponding sublimation of their powers.

 

The third plane is the plane of the highest intelligence. This is the

plane of Yoganga to which the soul rises up gradually step by step. Here

the soul is in the stage of regaining his oneness with the universal

consciousness. Here he secures the help and co-operation of Bhavalinga,

the ideal. Yoganga in its two modifications, Sharana and Aikya strives

for regaining his essential oneness with the divinity. The two forms of

Bhakti, Anandbhakti and Samarasabhakti invoke the aid of the two forms

of Bhavalinga - Prasadlinga, the peaceful and Mahalinga, the great.

Prasadalinga and Mahalinga are connected with Vishuddhi Chakra and Ajna

Chakra with a corresponding awakening of powers in them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Article from book: Unto The First, by H. H. Shri Kumarswamiji

 

 

 

Branko Ivatovic ©

 

Rakarska 5,

 

10410 Velika Gorica - Croatia

 

branko.ivatovic

 

 

 

Foundation H.H. Mahatapasvi Shri Kumarswamiji ©

 

Tapovan,

 

DHARWAD - 3

 

KARNATAKA - INDIA

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

A few comments

 

, " Branko Ivatovic " <mahapratibhawan wrote:

 

 

> 1. The Vedic religion consists in the performance of sacrifices with all

> rites and rituals, while the Agamic religion consists in the worship of

> the deity - Shiva, Shakti and Vishnu.

 

There are rites and rituals in the Agama-s too so I dont see much difference in

this aspect.

 

 

> 4. The Vedic religion was polytheistic and the different deities were

> invoked for different purposes because each Vedic deity has a different

> function in the scheme of the universe; while the Agamic religion being

> monotheistic only one deity was worshipped, that had all the functions

> of the universe in his or her hands.

 

The Agama-s are definitely not monotheistic. They also worship mutiple deities.

The Agama system is somewhat different and I think it cannot be catagorized as

either mono or poly.

 

 

 

> 5. The Vedas consist of the Mantras addressed to the different deities

> and recited during the performance of the sacrifices in honour of those

> deities; while the Agamas contain prayers consisting of various names of

> the deity and salutations addressed to the deity.

 

 

I think this is inaccurate. Although nAmAvali-s are there the stress is mainly

on mantra-s in the Agama-s

 

 

 

> 7. The Vedic Gods being the forces of the nature had no physical

> representation, while the Agamic deities were represented by means of a

> visible emblem or image.

 

 

This is only partly true.

 

 

>

> 8. There is no trace in the hymns of the temple worship, while the

> worship of the idols in temples is purely Agamic. The Vedic religion is

> the fire cult while Agamic religion is the deitic cult.

>

> 9. The Vedas kept the door of religion restricted to some people while

> the Agamas kept the door of religion open to all without any

> distinction.

 

 

varNa dharma is never kept aside in the Agama-s. Even the most transgressive

tantra-s stress the importance of varNa dharma.

[Guest guest]

**************

The Vedas kept the door of religion restricted to some people while

the Agamas kept the door of religion open to all without any

distinction.

 

***********

varNa dharma is never kept aside in the Agama-s. Even the most transgressive

tantra-s stress the importance of varNa dharma.

 

**********

 

While the importance of varna asrama is stressed, the tantric rituals, per se,

is open for all unlike vedic rituals which is

specifically mentioned for *certain community*.

 

regs,

sriram

 

 

, " Satish " <satisharigela wrote:

>

> A few comments

>

> , " Branko Ivatovic " <mahapratibhawan@> wrote:

>

>

> > 1. The Vedic religion consists in the performance of sacrifices with all

> > rites and rituals, while the Agamic religion consists in the worship of

> > the deity - Shiva, Shakti and Vishnu.

>

> There are rites and rituals in the Agama-s too so I dont see much difference

in this aspect.

>

>

> > 4. The Vedic religion was polytheistic and the different deities were

> > invoked for different purposes because each Vedic deity has a different

> > function in the scheme of the universe; while the Agamic religion being

> > monotheistic only one deity was worshipped, that had all the functions

> > of the universe in his or her hands.

>

> The Agama-s are definitely not monotheistic. They also worship mutiple

deities. The Agama system is somewhat different and I think it cannot be

catagorized as either mono or poly.

>

>

>

> > 5. The Vedas consist of the Mantras addressed to the different deities

> > and recited during the performance of the sacrifices in honour of those

> > deities; while the Agamas contain prayers consisting of various names of

> > the deity and salutations addressed to the deity.

>

>

> I think this is inaccurate. Although nAmAvali-s are there the stress is

mainly on mantra-s in the Agama-s

>

>

>

> > 7. The Vedic Gods being the forces of the nature had no physical

> > representation, while the Agamic deities were represented by means of a

> > visible emblem or image.

>

>

> This is only partly true.

>

>

> >

> > 8. There is no trace in the hymns of the temple worship, while the

> > worship of the idols in temples is purely Agamic. The Vedic religion is

> > the fire cult while Agamic religion is the deitic cult.

> >

> > 9. The Vedas kept the door of religion restricted to some people while

> > the Agamas kept the door of religion open to all without any

> > distinction.

>

>

> varNa dharma is never kept aside in the Agama-s. Even the most transgressive

tantra-s stress the importance of varNa dharma.

>