Mudigōṇḍa Nāgaliṅga śāstrī (1876-1948), one of the foremost scholars and the famous proponent of śrauta śaiva siddhānta in āndhra-dēśa is not very popular among many of the Smārtas and Vaiṣṇavas, due to his scathing attacks on the philosophy of Shankarācārya, Madhva, and Rāmānuja. While he deserves credit for his compilations from various śaivāgamas, he also makes some interesting comments such as the one below:
Quote:
Some minds ponder over the need for the japa of śaiva pañcākṣarī mantra when there is the wish-fulfilling Sāvitrī. Undoubtedly Sāvitrī, who represents the essence of vēdatrayī, should be chanted as she grants one Dvijatva. However, for a mumukṣu, the śruti prescribes śāmbhava vrata:
vratamētatcchāmbhavaṁ tatsamācarēnmumukṣurnapunarbhavāya ||
As the mukhyāṅga of śaiva vrata is pañcākṣarī japa, it can be concluded that mōkṣa is impossible without the japa of pañcākśarī. Though dvijatva siddhi occurs through Sāvitrī, she does not confer mōkṣa siddhi according to śiva siddhāntins. This statement finds puṣṭi in the śruti ordaining the vimukti phalaka śāmbhava vrata. One might express serious reservations against this statement as to how the great Sāvitrī, who is praised as sakalavēdasārā, can be incapable of granting mōkṣa. The śrauta śaiva siddhāntins are not alone in making such a statement. After embracing turīyāśrama, a smārta discards Gāyatrī and recites śuddha praṇava. This is a clear negation of the mōkṣa sādhanatva of Sāvitrī. The Vaiṣṇavas, for a similar reason, attach greater importance to mantras such as aṣṭākṣarī over Gāyatrī.
It is said in Sūta saṁhitā:
mukhyaśabdajapatō munīśvarā
ssadya ēna paramaṁ sukham yuyuḥ ||
Here, the word mukhya referred to is the sacred name śiva and thus, muktipradatva of tannāmaghaṭita mahāmantra (śaiva pañcākṣarī) is clearly inferred. If one objects stating that this mantra is āgamōkta and not vaidika, such an argument can be easily countered by pramāṇas such as that of Jābāla śruti where śaiva ṣaḍakṣara mantra is discussed with great clarity.
Unquote
There can be several objections from pratipakṣa here:
1. If praṇava grants mōkṣa, then it should be noted that Gāyatrī is recited praṇavayutā by varṇatraya.
2. If the argument of smārtas using praṇava and vaiṣṇavas using aṣṭākṣarī is accepted as stated by Nāgalinga śāstrī, then he would need to accept one of these mantras for mōkṣa rather than switching to śaiva pancākṣarī.
It would have sounded less catholic if mōkṣadātr̥tva of Gāyatrī was not contested for the sake of promoting śaiva pañcākṣarī vidyā. One can recollect a great debate that went on between Srī Chandraśēkhara Bhāratī and a vamśaja of Nāgalinga śāstrī for six days which has been recorded in the book: śrutisāramaṇḍana.
To examine whether mōkṣa is unattainable through Gāyatrī, as stated by not only Nāgalinga śāstrī but also śrīkaṇṭha (the śaiva bhāṣyakāra on the vēdānta sūtra), one can examine the following pramāṇas. A discussion on how mere recitation of any mantra cannot grant mōkṣa except when paving the way for tattvajnāna – is unneeded here as pūrvapakṣa ignores this aspect.
मनुः
सहस्रक्रत्वस्त्वभ्यस्य बहिरेतत्त्रिकं द्विजः ।
नहतोऽप्येनसो मासात् त्वचेवाहिर्विमुच्यते ॥
योऽधीतेऽहन्यहन्येतां त्रीणि वर्षाण्यतन्द्रितः ।
स ब्रह्म परमप्येति वायुभूतः स्वमूर्तिमान् ॥
कण्वः
एकाक्षरं परं ब्रह्म प्राणायामः परं तपः ।
सावित्र्यास्तु परं नास्ति मौनात्सत्यं विशिष्यते ॥
प्राणायामशब्देन व्याहृतयो लक्ष्यन्ते । मौनं समाधिः । सत्यं जपः । प्रणवः परब्रह्मस्वरूपम् । व्याहृतयः परमतपःसाधनभूताः । सावित्र्या विशिष्टं न किञ्चिदस्ति । तस्मात्तेषां जपः समाधेरपि विशिष्यत इत्यर्थः ॥
विश्वामित्रः
प्रणवे नित्ययुक्तस्य व्याहृतीषु च सप्तसु ।
त्रिपादायां च गायत्र्यां न भयं विद्यते क्वचित् ॥
याज्ञवल्क्यः
चतुर्णामपि वेदानां गायत्री जननी भवेत् ।
तामुपास्ते तु नित्यं स विप्रः मोक्षभाजनः ॥
मेरु तन्त्रे
अथ वक्ष्यामि मन्त्रेशीं गायत्रीं वेदमातरम् ।
यया तु सगुणं ब्रह्म गीयते प्रतिपाद्यते ॥
निर्गुणं यां विना मुक्तिर्न कस्यापि प्रजायते ।
महामायास्वरूपायां महाकालः स्वयं यजेत् ।
यत्प्रभावादहं त्वं च जातकाल इवापरः ॥
तन्त्रान्तरे
प्रणवस्य व्याहृतीनां गायत्रैक्यमथोच्यते ।
अत्रापि तत्पदं पूर्वं प्रोक्तं तदनुवर्ण्यते ॥
तद्द्वितीयैकवचनमनेनाखिलवस्तुनः ।
सृष्ट्यादिकारणं तेजोरूपमादित्यमण्डले ॥
अभिधेयं सदानन्दं परं ब्रह्माभिधीयते ॥
महाभारते
लक्षणैरिति निर्दिष्टो वेदसारेषु निष्ठितः ।
फलार्थी फलमाप्नोति मोक्षार्थी मोक्षमृच्छति ॥