Agamas,
The Sacred Texts Of Saivism
By Jayaram V
The word "agama" means
authoritative scripture. It was used by Panini, the Sanskrit grammarian, as a
linguistic term, to describe the formation of certain words. Tantric and Saiva
tradition recognizes the agamas as the most authoritative and sacred texts on
the methods of worshipping Saguna Iswara or the Brahman with qualities. In a
limited sense the agamas are tantric texts containing the principles and
practice of Saivism, presented in the form of a teaching by Lord Siva to His
consort Parvathi. in contrast, the nigamas, another branch of sacred
litetature, depict Parvathi as the teacher and Siva as its recipient. According
to the Tantric tradition, the Vedas are nigamas.
Scholars believe that the earliest
Agamas were composed during the later Vedic period, when the Vedic rituals were
on the decline and Saivism, Vaishnavism and other religious sects were gaining
ground. Not all agree with this contention. Some believe the earliest agamas to
be much older than the Vedas. There is also an argument that some of the
Upanishads and even some portions of the Bhagavadgita were renditions of
preexisting agamas. Followers of Siva consider these texts superior to the
Vedas. Unlike the Vedas, the Agamas are meant for all castes and sections of
society, including women. While the many agamas belong to Saivism and recognize
Siva as the Supreme deity, there are also Vaishnava and Shakti agamas which
recognize Vishnu and Shakti respectively as the Supreme Iswara.
There is no unanimity as to the
actual number of the agamas. Based upon who is recognized as the principal
deity, the agamas are divided into Saiva, Vaishnava and Shakti or Tantra
agamas. The Pancaratra Agamas and the Vaikanasa Agama belong to the Vaishnava
tradition. The Saiva agamas, which contritubuted to the popularity of the
southern school of Saiva Siddhanta philosophy and northern school of the
Pratyabhijna system of Kashmir Saivism, are divided two distinct categories,
namely the 28 Saiva Siddhanta Agamas and 64 Agamas belonging to both the
Nakulisa Pasupatha and the Kashmiri Trika schools of Saivism. The Kaula, Mishra
and Samaya agamas are considered to be part of the Shakti tradition. The
Vaishnava agama is further divided into Pancharatra and Vaikanasa Agama.
The smartas, who acknowledge the Vedas as the supreme and follow the Vedic
tradtion, recognize the Agamas, but don't necessarily adhere to them. In the
Malay languages the word Agama literally means religion. The Agamas are also
sometimes known as Tantras.
There is no unanimity as to what
constitue the 28 Agamas of the Saiva Siddhanta schools. According to one
classification, of the 28 agamas, ten represent the school of Advaita (monism)
or Sivabheda and the rest the school of Vishishtadvaita (qualified monism)or
Rudrabheda. The 28 Agamas are listed below:
The Sivabheda Agamas
1) Kamika, 2) Yogaja, 3) Chintya, 4)
Karana, 5) Ajita, 6) Dipta, 7) Sukshma, 8) Sahasraka, 9) Amshumat and 10)
Suprabheda.
The Rudrabheda Agamas
(1) Vijaya, 2) Nihshvasa, 3)
Svayambhuva, 4) Anala, 5) Vira (Bhadra), 6) Raurava, 7) Makuta, 8) Vimala, 9)
Chandrajnana (or Chandrahasa), 10) Mukhabimba (or Bimba), 11) Prodgita (or
Udgita), 12) Lalita, 13) Siddha, 14) Santana, 15) Sarvokta (Narasimha), 16)
Parameshvara, 17) Kirana and 18) Vatula (or Parahita).
The following excerpts regarding the
Agamas are taken from the Wikipdedia.
"Agamas deal with the
philosophy and spiritual knowledge behind the worship of the deity, the yoga
and mental discipline required for this worship, and the specifics of worship
offered to the deity. Each Agama consists of four parts. The first part
includes the philosophical and spiritual knowledge. The second part covers the
yoga and the mental discipline. The third part specifies rules for the
construction of temples and for sculpting and carving the figures of deities
for worship in the temples. The fourth part of the Agamas includes rules
pertaining to the observances of religious rites, rituals, and festivals.
"Elaborate rules are laid out
in the Agamas for Silpa (the art of sculpture) describing the quality
requirements of the places where temples are to be built, the kind of images to
be installed, the materials from which they are to be made, their dimensions,
proportions, air circulation, lighting in the temple complex etc. The Manasara
and Silpasara are some of the works dealing with these rules. The rituals
followed in worship services each day at the temple also follow rules laid out
in the Agamas.
"The Agamas state three
essential requirements for a place of pilgrimage - Sthala, Teertham and Murthy.
Sthala refers to the temple, Teertham, to the temple tank and Murthy to the
deity(ies) worshipped. A temple may also be associated with a tree, called the
Sthala Vriksham. For instance, the Kadamba tree at the Madurai Meenakshi
Sundareswarar temple is the Sthala Vriksham. A lone banyan tree that adorns the
spacious courtyard of the Ratnasabha at Tiruvalankadu is the Sthala Vriksham.
The entire area is believed to have been a forest of banyan trees once."
Review
1. What are the Agamas?
2. What is the difference between
the Agamas and the Vedas?
3. What are the two main categories
of the Saiva Agamas?
4. What do the Agamas teach?
5. What is the main difference
between the Agama and Nigama literature?
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