– Govinda Chandra Pandey
The tendency of rapprochement in the orthodox religious sphere in pañcadevopāsanā i.e., the worship of five deities is advocated by the Smārtas. Though the movement was started early on, it could take a definite form only towards its conclusion in eleventh century A.D.
The Smārta system of the Pentad was initiated by āgamika Shaivas as well as Vaiṣṇavas. The Shaiva Pentad had different varieties and they came into vogue by 11-12th century A.D.
The worship of Shiva with Sun, Shakti, Gaṇeśa, and Viṣṇu was performed in the Miśra Pāśupata school. This is the same as Smārta Pañcadevopāsanā:
रविं शम्भुं तथा शक्तिं विघ्नेशं च जनार्दनम् |
यजन्ति समभावेन मिश्रपाशुपतं हि तत् ||
The later Smārta treatises such as Smṛtimuktāphala prescribe the daily worship of these five deities for a householder:
आदित्यमम्बिकां विष्णुं गणनाथं महेश्वरम् |
पञ्चयज्ञपरो नित्यं गृहस्थः पञ्च पूजयेत् ||
It is sometimes stated that the system in this form was popularized by the Advaita teacher Shaṅkara but it is extremely doubtful.
The first stage in the development of the pentad system was the evolution of the trinity composed of Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Shiva.
The Trinity (Trideva):
(a) Association of Shiva and Viṣṇu: In the beginning, we find the forming of an association of two great gods, Shiva and Viṣṇu, who came to be worshiped together. A late inscription from Kāmarūpa, describing the kind as a devout worshiper of both Shiva and Viṣṇu seems to have preserved an echo of earlier times. A wish has been expressed in a Chamba inscription that the dedicator of a fountain-slab may attain the regions of both Shiva and Viṣṇu. The Bhandaka Cp. of Kṛṣṇarāja (674 – 772 A.D.) is the earliest in the series to invoke Shiva and Viṣṇu in a single verse by way of benediction. The Nagpur Ins. V. S (1161-1104 A.D.) addresses Shiva and Viṣṇu together in an interesting way:
वैराग्यं च सरागतां च नृशिरोमालां च माल्यानि च |
व्याघ्रानेकपचर्मणी च वसनं चाहींश्च हारादि च ||
यद्भूतिं च विलेपनं च भजते भीमं च भव्यं च यद् |
तद्दिश्याद्रूपमुमारमारमणयोर्मुक्तिं च भुक्तिं च वः ||
‘Shiva and Viṣṇu form a peculiar combination’, the inscription says, ‘as they are passionless and passionate, clad in tigerskin and grand garments, garlanded with the strings of human skulls and flower wreaths, decked with serpents and pearl strings, and smeared with ashes and anointed with perfumes’. The Madhainagar Cp. of Lakṣmaṇasena prays, ‘Shiva who sustained Hari in his most peculiar body’.
Syncretic form composed by combining Shiva and Viṣṇu in one image called Harihara or Kṛṣṇa-Shaṅkara also indicates the fusion. Several such images have been found.
Further development of this Harihara form is the Pradyumneśvara motif in which Shiva, Pārvatī, Lakṣmī and Nārāyaṇa are carved on both the sides of the statue to combine Harihara, Lakṣmīnārāyaṇa, and Umāmaheśvara forms. We know that such a syncretic image was installed in the sanctum of the Pradyumneśvara temple built by Vijayasena of Bengal.
(b) Viṣṇu and Brahmā: The Kacchapaghāṭa king Vīrasiṃha is styled as a devout worshiper of Viṣṇu and a great Brahmaṇya. This association is attested by a peculiar image representing Brahmā and Viṣṇu together having one body.
(c) Shiva and Brahmā: Similarly, titles like Parama-Brahmaṇya-Parama-Māheśvara i.e., a devout worshiper of both Shiva and Brahmā, Parama-māheśvara Mahā-brahmaṇya, etc., indicate worshipers of both deities. The Rewa Ins. of Malayasimha reveals the existence of a sect that was devoted to the worship of Shiva and Brahmā together. Some Chedi inscriptions salute Brahmā in the beginning immediately followed by an invocation to Shiva while others invoke Shiva in the form of Brahmā as the creator of the universe and the reciter of the Vedas. This will collaborate with the above conclusion.
(d) Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Shiva: The Karitalai Ins. of Lakṣmaṇarāja K. S 593 opens with an invocation to Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Shiva. The Kulait Cp. Ins of Somavarman describes the king Shālavāhana as a devout worshiper of the trinity. The Māndhātā Cp. of Devapāla Paramara V. S. 1255 invokes the trinity as Kaiśa i.e., Brahmā prajāpati, Shiva and Viṣṇu combined. Ka is Brahmā, E is Viṣṇu and Iśa is Shiva, forming the word Kaiśawho is described as ‘resembling the waterlily, the black bee, and the Kāśa grass; having respectively for weapons a menacing utterance (huṃkāra), a discus and the pināka; moving on a swan, a Garuḍa and bull and residing in a lotus, water and mountain’. Such combined images in the Harihara-Pitāmaha, Dattātreya, and Kaiṣa forms are discovered in large numbers.
The temple with three sancta for the trinity – Shiva, Viṣṇu, and Brahmā like the one at Kesari in Gujarat displays the close association of the three gods. The inscriptions mention the construction of similar temples in other parts of the country.
(e) Sūrya, Brahmā and Viṣṇu formed another triad. The copper plates of Viśvarūpasena who was a devout worshiper of Sūrya open with a salutation to Nārāyaṇa followed by an invocation to Sūrya. It was authenticated by Sadāśivamudrā. The Gadwal inscriptions record the worship of this triad at the ceremony of gifts (सूर्यभट्टारकं संपूज्य भगवन्तं महेश्वरमभ्यर्च्य विश्वाधारं वासुदेवं समाराध्य). A temple for the joint worship of Shiva, Viṣṇu, and Bhāskara existed at Kargudri in Deccan.
The Quadrumvirate
The inclusion of Sūrya in the trinity formed this quadrumvirate. Images combining Shiva, Viṣṇu, Brahmā and Sūrya in one body have been found at Kiradu, Pavagarh, Khajuraho, Gujarat, Kalanjara and elsewhere. But it may be noted that no temple in India dedicated to the worship of these four deities together has been found.
Ancient temples which are termed as Pañcāyatana really group the shrines for four gods – Shiva, Viṣṇu, Shakti, and Sūrya. The Rewa Ins. Of Vappulaka records the construction of a Shiva Pañcāyatana form of the temple in which four shrines were built for four gods on the sides. The record, however, is mutilated and gives the name of Viṣṇu alone who was installed n a subsidiary shrine as Lakṣmīnārāyaṇa. The Brahmeśvara temple Ins. of Kolavati likewise mentions the construction of four subsidiary shrines by the side of the main temple. It however does not describe the gods in subsidiary shrines.
Pañcāyatana temples of the early medieval period have been found at Osia, Khajuraho, Bhuvaneshvar and Kashmir. The Viṣṇu Pañcāyatana temples at Khajuraho and Osia have Shiva, Shakti, Sūrya, and Viṣṇu in the four subsidiary shrines grouped around the main shrine.
Thus, this was another form of quadrumvirate formed by the substitution of Brahmā by Shakti.
Pañcadevopāsanā
The Kilait Cp. of Somavarman in the middle of eleventh century A.D. invokes five deities, Brahmā, Gaṇapati, Viṣṇu, Shakti and Shiva. But this pentad is not of the Smārta variety as Sūrya has been substituted here by Brahmā.
The evidence for the Smārta group of the five deities comes from the lingas of 11th century A.D. Representing the four sectarian deities – Viṣṇu, Shakti, Gaṇeśa and Sūrya on four sides. Similarly, the miniature shrines representing these five sectarian deities in sancta and around furnish the testimony for the prevalence of this system in the early and late medieval period.
It may, therefore, be concluded that the system of five deities as envisaged by the Smārtas came into vogue by eleventh century A.D. and that it indicates the rapprochement of the Vedic and āgamic tendencies. The views that Pañcadevopāsanā was introduced by Shaṅkarācārya is evidently incorrect.
Lākulīśa Pañcadevatā
Besides this Smārta variety, there were several āgamic forms of Shaiva Pañcāyatana group. Four disciples of Lakulīśa namely Kuśika, Gārgya, Maitreya, and Kāruka along with Patanjali formed one group. This variety was transported to Indonesia where it survived for a very long time although literature and epigraphy in India do not contain any reference to it. The Cintrā Praśasti records another form. Gaṇḍa Tripurāntaka, a Pāśupata of Lākulīśa school, constructed a temple of Shiva surrounded by five sanctuaries of Gorakṣa, Bhairava, Hanumāna, Sarasvatī, and Vināyaka.
गोरक्षकं भैरवमाञ्जनेयं
सरस्वतीं सिद्धिविनायकं च |
चकार पञ्चायतनान्तराले
बालेन्दुमौळिस्थितिमानसो यः ||
The epigraph explicitly describes it as Pañcāyatana. Both these varieties are of the Lākulīśa Pāśupata school.
Siddānta Pañcadevatā
The Shaiva Sidhānta ascetic Prabodhaśiva, on the other hand, set up five deities around the sanctum. They were Shiva, Shakti, Kārtikeya, Sarasvatī and Gaṇeśa.
यः प्रत्यतिष्टिपदुमामुमया च मिश्र-
मीशं षडाननमथ प्रथितोरुकीर्तिः |
प्रासादसन्निहितदेवगृहेषु विद्वान्
द्वारे तथा गणपतिं च सरस्वतीं च ||
As the daily worship of these deities has been enjoined upon devotees in the Iśāna śiva guru paddhati, it seems that this form of pañcadevopāsanā was accepted in the Sidhānta school.