– Sri L N Sharma
The two approaches, Vedānta and Agama, might be described as the two paths: the right path and the left path (vāma and dakṣiṇa), the path of knowledge and bliss (jñāna and ānanda). The left path is the path to utilize all the human potencies, faculties, etc., and maintain the state of bliss and thus to liberate oneself. The Right path, on the other hand, is to use these potencies and live discriminatively in order to attain liberation. The Vedānta approach regards knowledge as more fundamental; knowledge is sui generis for it. Will and feeling presuppose knowledge. These elements depend upon knowledge for their very existence. But knowledge need not depend upon them. In the Agama tradition, the will is accepted as more fundamental than knowledge. Knowledge is generated by will, as is observed in our everyday life.
The concept of Freedom or Perfection is fundamental to the approach of the āgamas. Although freedom and perfection have been attributed to Brahman in the Vedānta tradition also, yet this approach is more or less negative. Perfection or Pūrṇatva essentially means the purity of Being in the Vedānta. Perfection of Brahman denotes its freedom from all becoming. To the followers of the āgamas, the exclusive separation between the spirit and the world by the Vedāntin does not appear to be consistent with the notion of Perfection, which consists essentially in omniscience, omnipotence, omnipresence, etc. This is why the absolutism of Vedānta is no considered all-inclusive by the āgamikas. As there is hesitation in regarding māyā as real, the Advaita Vedānta is exclusive and is based upon renunciation or elimination, it is thus not all-embracing. Generally speaking, there are two ways in which the term ‘freedom’ might be used; it might be referred to as ‘freedom from’ if used in a negative sense, and as ‘freedom to’ when used in a positive sense. ‘Freedom to’ is a positive description of the capacity of something to bring about the occurrence or non-occurrence of certain events. On the other hand, ‘freedom from’ denotes the purity or transcendence of a thing from the others. Absolute freedom can be explained as the stage where one is ‘free to’ and ‘free from’ with respect to every occurrence or non-occurrence.
There are certain fundamental differences between the two approaches. Firstly, the Vedānta tradition seems to be based upon an exclusive or absolute separation of the Real and the Unreal. The distinction between the Real and the illusory is the very presupposition of spiritual awakening. Illusion is the datum for philosophy according to the Vedānta. The experience of illusion provides the criterion of the Real as non-cancellable (abādhya) and the illusory as cancellable (bādhya). It is significant to note in this context that Shaṅkarācārya not only begins his commentary of the Brahma Sūtra with an analysis of illusion but also insists upon certain essential requirements for spiritual realization. The first and the foremost essential qualification of the seeker of truth is to have a sense of discrimination between the real and the unreal, the eternal and the false (nitya anitya viveka). The emphasis upon this qualification brings out clearly the difference of the Vedānta with the non-eternalists (the Buddhists), on the one hand, and the followers of Tantra, on the other. While nothing is eternal or permanent for the Buddhists, everything is real for the Tāntric integralists, even the unreal is real for them. The Tāntrikaa who has attained liberation in life sees the entire world as his own Self. He develops an x-ray vision in which the phenomenal events appear to be a mere sport of his own conscious energy (citśakti). Doubts do not trouble him anymore; for he realizes the identity between the ‘internal’ and the ‘external’. Both internal and external are aspects of one and the same process. The realization of this identity is itself regarded as the attainment of the highest bliss, the unity of sāmarasya of Shiva and Shakti. In the world whatever enters into consciousness is a manifestation of the Self. And the reality of whatever enters into consciousness cannot be denied. The objects shine, they do not cease to be by mere emphatic denial. As opposed to this, one does not deserve to be taught about Brahman, in the Vedānta approach, unless one possesses the powers of discrimination, etc. To understand the real import of the Vedānta, one must have the consciousness of the illusoriness of the world. If this consciousness of illusoriness of the world is not in him, the meaning of the teachings about Brahman would not be clear to the student of Vedānta.
Secondly, the Vedānta tradition presupposes opposition between knowledge and ignorance. According to it, knowledge and ignorance are opposed to each other like light and darkness. The concept of ignorance or avidyā is of fundamental importance for the spiritual discipline prescribed in the Vedānta. If something like avidyā, which is negated at the dawn of right knowledge, be not admitted, there would be no possibility of freedom. Final emancipation is possible only if the bondage of the soul is due to nescience. For, if the soul is really and truly bound, its real bondage cannot be done away with and, consequently, the scriptural doctrine of final freedom would become absurd. In fact, truth and falsity are qualitatively different and absolutely opposed to each other. The transition from error to truth is like the transition from darkness to light. Knowledge and ignorance cannot exist simultaneously; with the dawn of knowledge, ignorance disappears altogether.
In Tantra, on the other hand, knowledge, and ignorance are not accepted as absolutely separate. According to the Agama, knowledge is ignorance self-revealed and ignorance is knowledge self-concealed. Since the Supreme Self is of the nature of pure consciousness, what differentiates it from matter is its self-awareness which consists of freedom through which ignorance is manifest, and through ignorance is manifest the world. Ignorance is, thus, a manifestation of divine freedom itself. The principle of ignorance lies midway between the supreme consciousness and the total inconscience. But ignorance and inconscience are the exclusive and separative movements of the same Conscious Force which assumes these apparently opposite and contradictory forms in order to proceed with the work of creation. Ignorance is a manifestation of the power of the freedom of Self. It is the light that gives rise to darkness through self-friction. Ignorance is nothing but a self-limitation or self-concentration of consciousness or knowledge.
Thirdly, in the sphere of sādhanā or spiritual discipline also there is a great difference in the outlook of the two approaches. The distinction between the pure and the impure and the emphasis upon the pure (means) constitute a conspicuous feature of the Vedānta. Through the Vedānta, there is present a highly contemptuous attitude towards the impure. On the other hand, there is not only a lack of enthusiasm to draw any distinction between the pure and impure in the āgama tradition, but there are positive suggestions and directions not to distinguish the two. The devotee is repeatedly asked to develop the attitude to regard everything as pure. Self-realization is possible only if the sādhaka is able to accept everything, including the impure, as a real manifestation of divinity. The follower of the Tantra goes directly through the sphere of greatest danger. By breaking within himself the tension of the ‘forbidden’, the Tantra practitioner resolves everything in light. The uniqueness of the Tāntric tradition lies in the fact that while the followers of other traditions, especially the followers of the Vedānta, try to attain liberation by avoiding what they regard as impure, the Tāntric gains emancipation through enjoyment or realization of the so-called impurity.
This gives rise to another point of difference between the two traditions. Bhoga and Yoga, the sensuous joy and union with the Divine, are taken to be identical in the Tāntric approach. On this point, the Tantra discipline differs radically from other spiritual disciplines. Through proper discipline, Bhoga itself is transformed into Yoga. Tantra, thus, represents a stupendous Dionysian affirmation in Indian culture. It is an erotic life philosophy, precisely the opposite and exactly complement of sterilizing, stern, sublime, ascetic thinking of the Vedānta tradition.
In conformity with these differences, there is a further difference in the two approaches as regards the admissibility of an individual for initiation. While the Vedānta tradition is open only to the Dvijas or twice-born, Tantra insists upon the eligibility of all persons, castes, and sexes for spiritual realization.
yasya kasyacijjantoriti nātra jātyādyapekṣā kācit | (īśvarapratyabhijñāvimarśinī 4-1-18)
Precise knowledge of the origin and mutual relationship between the two traditions lies buried in the depths of antiquity. It is now generally recognized that the origin of these traditions is much older than was formerly supposed. Shiva and Shakti worship has been traced to the Mohanjodaro and Harappan age. According to H. Zimmer, the antiquity of the concept of Shiva Paśupati and Shiva Naṭarāja can be traced at least till the Indus Valley civilization. Efforts have also been made to trace Shaiva worship in the Vedas (śiśnadevaḥ etc.) It has been suggested that among the ancient gods the Vedic Rudra might be regarded as the original form of Shiva.
There are two kinds of attitudes towards the Vedas in the āgamas: attitude of antagonism and attitude of allegiance. Appayya Dīkṣita and some other scholars divide the āgamas into two classes, those which are in agreement with the Vedas and those opposed to the Vedas. Antagonism is clearly noticeable in those āgamic passages in which the Veda or Vedānta have been frequently criticized. On the other hand, there are many passages in the āgamas which give the impression that the āgamas might have been derived from the Vedas.
It may be thought that though the āgamas were originally based upon the Vedas, they have developed independently of the latter. They have branched out from the same stem of the Vedic tree which produced the earlier Upaniṣadas. According to the Tantras, the āgamas constitute truest exegesis of the Vedas and their origin is certainly as ancient as some of the classical Upaniṣadas. Both the Vedas and the āgamas belong to the same Hindu culture and both have the same root. Their differences are confined only to certain points. According to some āgamas, while the Vedas have been issued forth from four, out of five mouths of Shiva, the Tantras of the higher tradition issued forth from his central or fifth mouth. Thus, śāstras are classified into śruti, smṛti, purāṇa and Tantra. The last three assume the first as their base and are in fact merely a special presentment of it for their respective ages. The relation of the Vedas and āgamas is sometimes compared with that of jīvātman and Paramātman; the Tantra is said to represent the inner core of the former. The main purport of the āgamas is to represent the Veda correctly. They deal also with subjects that are not dealt with in the Vedas. While the Vedas represent the ‘quest’, the āgamas stand for the ‘attainment’. The āgamas also deal with the fifth state of Turyātīta, in addition to the other four states of experience, viz. Waking, dreaming, deep sleep, and the fourth.
Saint Tirumūlas holds that the Vedas and āgamas are both true, as both are divine revelations. The only difference between them is that while the Vedas are general, the agamas are special. According to Srīkaṇṭha, though both of them are of equal authority, the Vedas are to be studied only by the Dvijas. The āgamas, on the other hand, are open for study by all castes. He states that he does not see any difference between the Veda and the āgama, and in fact sees Veda itself as an āgama due to its origin in Shiva. The only difference, according to him, is that the former is for Dvijas, while the latter is for all.
The other view may be that both Vedas and āgamas have entirely different roots and traditions and have nothing in common between them. The āgamas represent the essence of the Dravidian culture and the Vedas, on the other hand, originate from and represent the Aryan culture. However, this view is based upon the much-disputed theory of two different races. The theory involves many unsound and absurd assumptions.
In the absence of any definite historical data, it would be safer to regard both Vedas and āgamas as belonging to the same Indian roots. Both currents of thought appear to have been running parallel to each other since ancient days. Although sometimes they appear to be antagonistic to each other, on the whole, there prevails the spirit of harmony and regard between them.