– Vishwanath Drabu
The origins of the Agamic period must, doubtless, go back to the pre-Mauryan period. The first references to this tradition can be found in the later Vedic literature (Atharvaveda). Similarity of the Agamic tradition is also met with in the artha-shAstra where a clear practical aspect of the “material culture”, its stress on the pursuit of the useful material gains brings it closer to the artha-shAstra tradition, which contains some tAntric mantras. It appears that a group of rationalist brAhmaNas like KauTilya advocated the supremacy of artha (wealth) over dharma, which accounts for the inclusion of tAntric tenets in the arthashAstra. We may not be far too wrong to assume that since the days of the arthashAstra tradition, the brAhmaNas had fully realized the importance of wealth both as a means of earthly gains and the performance of rituals. The leitmotiv of the Tantras, stressing the importance of bhukti and mukti, is quite in tune with the Atharvavedic and Kautilyan tradition. But this does not help us in the problem of dating the Agamas, which show clearly the impact of the pre-Vedic people on the vedic society to which they were admitted with distinctive characteristics of their own social life at different periods. It is likely that the tAntric ideas were formulated in post-Maurya and Gupta times. Not long ago it was thought that the beginnings of tantric literature must be put in the seventh century.
Certain scholars tend to exaggerate the antiquity of the Agamas. B L Mukherji and Chakravarti have tried to prove perfect agreement between Tantra and the Vedas. B Bhattacharya believes that the practices and doctrines of Tantra were introduced by the Buddha himself. The Agamas, no doubt, contain very old elements, most of which seem to belong to the religious proto-history of India. But their introduction into Buddhism and Shaivism began – in any case, not before the second-third centuries of Christian era. We know that PratyabhijnA (doctrine of self-recognition) philosophy had developed by the seventh century. It is reasonable to presume that the evolution of this philosophy must have taken a considerable time, say two hundred years, at least, for the Agamas to develop into philosophy. The legend in SomAnanda’s shivadrShTi points to the same conclusion. It says that a thousand years after the beginning of the kali-yuga, the Tantras were lost and later restored by ShrIkaNThanAtha. This also gives the probable date of their composition as the second-third century.
Though the time-bracket of all the Shaivagamas is not uniform, they, nevertheless, give us valuable information about the mythology, rituals and tenets of the Shaivas and Shaktas, some of which are shared by the Vajrayana school of Buddhists and vaiShNavas. A proper collation of all available source material is necessary in the absence of the specific dates of almost all the Agamas generally assigned to the post-Mauryan and Gupta periods. The archaeological records of this period are of invaluable help to us in determining to what extent were the tantric practices prevalent among the people. The evidence derived from epigraphs, coins and icons supplement our knowledge, which is mostly derived from scriptural sources. As the evidence from the Agamas relates to the myths and legends of this period, we have taken into account similar legends from MahAyAna Buddhism, which exercised a considerable influence on the tantric rituals. In fact most of the concepts are found both in the vajrayAna complex and the Shaivites; hence the contention of Arthur Avalon that “there is no justification in favor of the argument that the Tantras are the offshoots of the Buddhist MahAyAna cult” is not supported by our sources. The two schools seem to have been complementary to each other, though it is difficult to say who was the originator of these practices which are found in both Tantric Buddhism and Shaivism.
The opening verses of the MAlinIvijayottara Tantra indicate that the present Tantra had an earlier version in the SiddhayogIshvarI tantram consisting of nine crore verses, which interpreted the Shaivite teachings in their distinctive forms of bheda (duality), bhedAbheda(duality cum non-duality), and abheda (non-duality). The MAlinIvijayottara Tantra presupposes PUrvamAlinI in which the mAtrkA system of alphabets, i.e. From ‘a’ to ‘kSha’, based on para-samvit (cosmic consciousness) had been prevalent. That Tantra was voluminous and, with the passage of time, it became quite unintelligible to common people. Under the changed circumstances, Lord Shiva abridged it and the present MAlinIvijayottara Tantra came into being. The old mAtrkA system got changed into MAlinI in which ‘na’ occupies the first position and ‘pha’ the last and the vowels and consonants are taken promiscuously. The MAlinI is in the sUtra form. The MAlinI tantra appears to be the latter part of the SiddhayogIshvarI tantram, communicated by a worshipper of Shiva-shakti (aghora), who had appropriated it in preference to the former part of the Siddhamatam. The aghoras thus, at a crucial stage of the development of the Shiva-Shakti cult, were in the main responsible for its abstraction into a Tantra of twelve thousand verses and its transformation into the MAlinIvijayottara Tantra. The great sages, the ‘mind-born’ sons of BrahmA and others, under the inspiration of Shiva-Shakti, request KumAra to initiate them into the mystic practices of yoga. He just communicates to them the secret knowledge of the MAlinIvijayottara tantras, as originally address by Shiva to UmA. The legent points to the gradual discontinuance of KumAra worship which was known during the second century B.C. This is borne out by the archaeological and numismatic data as well. But this independent worship in northern India got completely merged in the cult of Shiva sometime after the Gupta period. This would suggest that Skanda KArtikeya ceased to have a separate existence sometime in the first quarter of the fifth century. Textual and archaeological data and the mythology about Skanda KArtikeya’s origin tend to prove the growing popularity of the Shiva-Shakti worship around the last quarter of the fourth century. It appears that with the advent of the kali-yuga men with limited intelligence desired the essence of the path of Yoga for the fulfillment of worldly enjoyments and mukti and so were drawn more and more towards Shiva-Shakti worship.
The theory of evolution of jIvas following the free-will of the Supreme Controller of the Universe is broadly analyzed to show the hierarchy of the different PramAtas (subjects). The pyramidical structure rises from the Sakala (aNus or jIvas) to PralayAkala (beings covered with the defilements of mala and karma), VijnAnakalas (beings without the power of action), Mantra, Mantresha, Mantramahesha and Shiva of the ShuddhAdhva stage. The tree of the world shoots up from mala (impurity) that stands for imperfect knowledge. It is mala that divides the pure creation from the impure one, that of the SadAshiva and Ishvara containing the beings called akalas from that of the AnantanAtha’s impure creation.
The Tantra maintains that mokSha is the unfoldment of powers brought about by self-realization. Acquiring immunity from death is not central to it. Birth and death are the phenomena of jIva’s own creation. The complete immersion of the duality in unity is the keynote of the Tantra and is sought by the application of mantras and different types of yoga. The purification of the soul, the thirty-six tattvas and the role of the Shaiva teacher to purge his disciple of all impurities is underlined. It sets great store by a set of twenty-six mudrAs and their mantras. Coming to rituals, the Tantra lays down a strict observance of religious ceremonies which an aspirant is advised to perform from the time of his purificatory bath to the time when he is about to enter the sacrificial altar to offer worship. The rules for homa and the interpretation of good and bad dreams are outlined in the Tantra. All along in the process of initiation we are told how the disciple, the teacher and the rest of the worlds are unified in the one Ultimate Reality. The bondage of mAyA breaks and pashu (inidividual) is pati (Shiva) again. The MAlinI talks of the highest stage of AchArya, which presupposes the acquisition of a higher mode of initiation. At this stage, the formation of diagrams, kuNDas etc. otherwise an integral part of initiation, had no meaning. The MAlinIvijayottara and the SvacChanda Tantras are thus complementary, the latter being a treatise more or less on the rites and rituals of Tantra.
The original version of the MAlinIvijayottara seems to have been composed by a number of SiddhayogIs of the siddha sampradAya who explained and elaborated the practices of yoga for which it was called SiddhayogIshvarImata. It appears that each generation of Tantric yogis incorporated the best scientific knowledge available to them through their experience. Their Tantras did not discuss social roles and interpersonal communication, nor did these offer clear-cut or comforting answers given by dogmatic theology, but gave the aspirants a practical manual for transforming their personality through physical, sexual, mental, moral efforts. Hence a comprehensive path of yoga and mantras. As most of the yantras and shrI-yantra played a significant part in the rituals, it is likely that the major portion of the SiddhayogIshvarImata was evolved in Kashmir where most of these icons were used as objects of worship till recently. The entire HimAlayan belt from the western to the eastern Himalayas teemed with hundred of Siddhas. If the Tantric practices of the Bauddhas, Lamas and others are any guide, we must look for the origin of the SiddhayogIshvarImata in these regions of the Himalayas. Special figurative and symbolic terms are still in use. Women play a crucial role in Tantra. Female energy occupies the central place in Tantric imagery and no Tantrika can progress in his ritual practice without cooperation of women. This again points to the north-eastern and western regions of the Himalayas, with their matrilineal social framework, as the home of the SiddhayogIshvarI tantra.
The keynote of the SvacChanda Tantra is to realize the Advaita-tattva (non-duality principle). From the purely monistic school of Shaivas, it is considered as the most authentic source of dIkShA, its chief theme being upAsanA and kriyA. Like other Agamas, it takes the form of a dialogue between DevI and Bhairava. Though divine authorship is ascribed to the Tantra, the dialogue of the DevI makes it clear that the original version of the Tantra, comprising of one hundred crore verses, was much too big for men of the Kali-yuga. With their very little manly vigor, energy, duration of life, acquisition, firmness, they are not in a position to study the fourfold vidyA, mantra, maNDala and mudrA of the Tantra, much less to practice them. Enjoyment (bhukti) and liberation (mukti) call for the deflation of the Tantra. The brahminical orientation and abstraction of a voluminous Tantra thus apparently accomplished during A.D. 400-500 when DakShiNAchAra of the Shaivas was faced with grave internal threats of rival sects and an economic crisis within its own fold. In fact, during this period of transition, a large number of Tantras seem to have been revised and abridged. This indicates a tendency towards the assimilation of other cults into the cult of Shiva-Shakti and the presence of KumAra, Indra, LokapAlas, BrahmA, ViShNu, Rudras, AnantabhaTTArakas, gaNas etc. before Bhairava. As the daughter of DakSha, Sati burns herself to death when her husband is humiliated in the DakShaprajApati’s yajna. This is the theme of the PurANas.
From the Bhairava, seated on the peak of KailAsa and surrounded by his inner family circle, the DevI wants to know the qualities of a guru, sAdhaka, the place for mantras, yajnas, homas, panchagavya, the charu cooked for yajna, dIkShA and the upAyas of Siddhi for the sAdhakas in the Kali-yuga. This would suggest that the SvacChanda Tantra was composed somewhere in or around Tibet (KalApigrAma of our texts) between A.D. 400-500. The initiation ceremony makes BrAhmaNas, kShatriyas, vaishyas and shUdras samadharmIs and they are called jaTAdhAras. They get initiated into bhairavajAti (the class of Bhairavas). Though the SvacChanda does not denounce the varNa system, it adopts a liberal attitude towards the lower classes, who together with the sAdhakas from other castes, are born into a bhairavajAti where all previous distinctions cease to operate. The coming of the KushANas, Yavanas (Greeks), Pahlavas (Parthians), TukhAras (Tocharians), Hunas etc. Into Kashmir through the north-west frontier during 200 B.C.-A.D. 200 also support our view that the assimilation of these tribes into the main stream of social life must have started in the third century followed by the composition of the Tantras during the fourth-fifth century.
The work is divided into fifteen chapters (paTalas) of unequal length, some being disproportionately lengthy to the rest. This would suggest that the authors were anxious to elaborate portions concerned with initiation, rituals and mantras and paid less attention to other aspects of the Tantric lore. The dogmatic formulas receive much more attention and require the guidance of the ShaivAchAryas engaged in the initiation of their disciples to the point of complete identification between the guru and the disciple. A few chapters give a description of charms and the mantra-shakti. The Tantra deals with yoga doctrines and the subtler and more complex emotional states. The present commentary of KShemarAja (A.D. 950-975) shows that the Tantra was freely used and interpreted in their own way by the commentators of the dualistic and monistic schools of thought. It appears that anterior to the commentary of KShemarAja called Udyota, there was another one known as Vrhat TIkA by RAjAnaka. New trends towards ShaivAdvaita seem to have eclipsed the former commentaries, mostly running on dualistic lines and believed to give profane meanings to hallowed sentences. The abridged SvacChanda Tantra formed the heart of the monistic system and epitomized all that the new recension sought to preach. This is evident from the contents and absence of harmony in the Tantra. We have the major portion of it devoted to the description of dIkshA and bhuvanas. There are also sections which relate to dreams, the practice of seemingly black magic and charms against evil spirits. The Tantra is thus a heterogenous compilation of various elements ranging from the description of dhAraNAs, mudrAs etc. to the interpretation of dreams and magic. It seems to be the composition of the Siddhas and BrAhmaNas in and around Tibet who worshipped SvacChanda Bhairava according to their five traditions of UrdhvAmnAya, PUrvAmnAya, PashchimAmnAya, DakShiNAmnAya and VAmAmnAya, otherwise agreed as the five faces of the Bhairava.
The SvacChanda Tantra is a very reliable source about the feudal tendencies of the period. The gurus are to be rewarded with the gifts of land in proportion to the means of the sAdhakas, which suggests that the AchAryas had a rich clientele of landlords, princes etc. Frequent references to bali, homa, their rules and requirements provide insights into social and economic concerns of the people. The items included in the listing of these and other religious rituals reflect the economic change during the period. The sAdhaka is not to think of other’s riches, is to be blameless and attentive towards his guru’s commands. This constitutes the virtuous conduct of the sAdhaka and his unquestioning allegiance to the AchArya is the bedrock of feudal structure of the age. The other Agama, the VijnAna-bhairava is of vital importance for the study of ritual practices and types of dhAraNAs. It is the earliest work refering to one hundred and twelve dhAraNAs, giving a brief account of each for the aspirants at their various stages of spiritual development. It is purely a manual of mystic practices in the form of an interlocution between Bhairava and BhairavI. It is a harmonious work, a uniform composition, all of a piece, dealing with highly organized forms of yoga. Abhinavagupta is evidently right in his appraisal of it as ShivajnAnopaniShad. It describes all the traditional techniques of yoga, mudrAs, development of prANashakti, awakening of kuNDalinI, mantra-japa, jnAna, bhAvanA (creative contemplation) etc. It is clear that it reflects the attainments of yogIs who had specialized in different dhAraNAs. The transformation of human consciousness was a continuos process of experience and experimentation, spread over a considerable period of time. To educate and initiate the sAdhakas into Bhairava cult, a group of brAhmaNas, learned in Tantric lore, seems to have composed the VijnAnabhairava which provided a convenient vehicle for instruction. Originally supposed to be a part of the RudrayAmala Tantra, the VijnAnabhairava provided a condensed manual for the practitioners in yoga. The complete text of the RudrayAmala though not extant, is claimed to be the source of the present Agama and appears to have been composed by the ShAktas who taught the Tantra about the union of Shakti with Shiva, and also the essence of all grades of Shakti. The Trika (along with its sub-divisions), which is the quintessence of all the scriptures and expounds the monistic theory of Shaivism forms an integral part of the RudrayAmala Tantra. The present VijnAnabhairava had thus an earlier Agama version, now available in fragments only. RudrayAmala indicates the tendency of absorbing Rudra in the Shakta cult, connoting the union of Rudra and his Shakti, i.e. PrakAsha and Vimarsha. This is the running theme of the VijnAnabhairava.
The earliest reference to the VijnAnabhairava is found in VAmananAtha’s Advayasampatti-vArttika. This literary piece of evidence establishes it clearly that the VijnAnabhairava must have existed at about A.D. 750 when JayapIDa ruled over Kashmir and had VAmana as one of his ministers. If this VAmana, an authority on poetics, is the same VamanAtha, it is certain that the Agama was very popular in the eight century when the NAga-kArkoTas were the rulers of Kashmir. It seems that the Bhairava cult was one of the most powerful cults during the KArkoTa period and the fusion of the NAgas and brAhmaNas was achieved by recognizing Shakti as the motive power in the supreme tattva and the sAdhanas of jnAna yoga. The detailed treatment of various shaktis and the concept of ShUnya suggests that the ShAktas had accomplished a fair degree of success in refuting the arguments of the Buddhists through the brAhminical orientation of a Bhairava Agama with a very strong bias towards Shakti. This seems to be confirmed by Hiuen Tsiang who says, “at the present time this kingdom is not much given to the faith and the temples of the heretics are their sole thought.” Hence at the time of the composition of the VijnAnabhairava, Bhairava was already recognized as RudrayAmala (the union of Rudra with his Shakti) and must have been compiled between the fourth and fifth century.
The icons at Harvan and other towns environed by forests reveal that a large number of Siddhas, VIras and VIra-yoginIs lived at the foothills of the Himalayas. Their yogic postures indicate the mystic practices of yoga. The art motifs clearly hint at the Tantric rituals, and a fairly good number of terracotta pieces show the sexual intercourse of couples, which, it seems, must have been one of the dhAraNAs for experiencing the unity consciousness. The ShAktas of Kashmir seem to have been very familiar with all the 112 dhAraNAs. They seem to have produced several works on yogic practices. We may state that the conversion of these practices into a Tantric manual, was intended to perpetuate these mystic practices through a handbook, which, while not very comprehensive, could serve as a useful medium for the guidance of the advanced aspirants.
The Shiva Sutras, described as Shivarahasya Agama, form a very important source for the study of social ideas and institutions, for it is the basis of the commentaries written by BhAskara, KShemarAja, VaradarAja, etc., which were widely read and studied in Kashmir. The history of the Shiva Sutras has a great significance for the study of the various traditional schools and their teachings and the characteristic features of the esoteric teachings of the reality of the self transmitted from one teacher to another called rahasya sampradAya. The MahAdevagiri legend narrates that once Paramashiva observed the world immersed in darkness and lest the philosophy of dualism should obscure the teachings of rahasya sampradAya manifested Himself to Vasugupta in his dream while he was residing in a hermitage below the MahAdeva peak. He disclosed to him the secret of the intuitional science (rahasyam), which he was told he would find inscribed on a rock. The great sage obtained these ShivopaniShat sUtras on that great rock that had turned upwards by a mere touch of his hands. Having grasped these sutras well, Vasugupta taught them to his worthy disciples in conformity with the guru-shiShya tradition. According to another version, the Sutras were composed by Shiva Himself but taught to Vasugupta in a dream by a Siddha. Both KShemarAja and BhAskara show that there was no human author of the Sutras, regarded as ShivopaniShat Samgraha – a compendium of the secret doctrines revealed by Shiva.
The MahAdevagiri legend discloses certain facts. One, the Siddhas had their hermitages on the MahAdeva peak where there possibly existed the hermitages of other Siddhas of the PArameshvara SampradAya, YoginIs and BauddhAchAryas. The Himalayas, being the chief abode of Shiva, have thus come to acquire a religious sanctity. In the present case, the place of revelation is MahAdevagiri in Kashmir. Two, the legend suggests in no ambiguous terms that the Shiva Sutras were composed by a Siddha in the valley itself. Both the versions of KShemarAja and BhAskara make it clear that Vasugupta was chosen as an accomplished Siddha to disseminate the spiritual knowledge of Advaita amongst his disciples. Perhaps there was no other Siddha in the Trika SampradAya to refute the commands (Adeshas) of NAgabodhi and others, as Vasugupta, who had purified himself in the PArameshvara SampradAya. His deep spiritual insight and vimarsha in the unity of godhead had qualified him to receive the divine grace (shaktipAta). Whether it was Paramashiva or a Siddha that revealed the Shiva Sutras, the fact remains that it was Vasugupta who was chosen as the most suitable medium to communicate these Sutras. The Shiva Sutras formed the heart of the Shivadvaita doctrine which wad the keystone of the whole Agama literature. It epitomized all that the Sutras sought to preach and perhaps even their structural plan seems to have been remodeled to challenge the doctrines of the lower darshanas. The ShivopaniShat, as these Sutras have been called, is the work of a religious and social renewal, and the work of one Siddha, who belonged to the Tryambaka system. If the possibility of human authorship is not ruled out, the complete silence of BhAskara about the name of the Siddha appearing in a dream to Vasugupta, strongly suggests that these Sutras were composed by Vasugupta himself who had vanquished his opponents by his arguments. He got these inscribed on a rock and taught them to his disciples BhaTTa KallaTa and others. The motive behind was to educate and initiate his disciples into the esoteric traditional teaching for which the inscription provided a very suitable medium of instruction. It seems plausible to hold that Shaivas could never countenance an Agama of human as opposed to divine authorship. It is probable that for this reason a fresh revelation was claimed for Vasugupta.
The problem of the date of the Sutras could be solved with reference to his disciple BhaTTa KallaTa who flourished in the reign of Avantivarman (A.D. 855-883). His preceptor, the Siddha Vasugupta must have lived in the first quarter of the eighth century which was also the time of the composition of these sutras. Another indirect evidence leads us to the same conclusion. We are told that he did not accept the teachings of NAgabodhi and others as their system seems to have clearly ruled out the existence of Universal Consciousness being opposed to the final stage of Bodhichitta and then the Transcendental Self. Nagabodhi was a Buddhist Acharya who wrote GuhyasamAja maNDalopAyikavimsavidhi which is based on the GuhyasamAja, a Buddhist tantra. Accroding to Alex Wayman, Guhyasamaja was written in about the fourth century A.D. and Nagabodhi may have utilized this book in about A.D. 600/700. The evidence adduced here also points to a date in the late kArkoTa age. The nature of the doctrines in the Shiva Sutras shows that they belong to a class quite apart from the extreme forms of the Shaiva sect like the KApAlika and KAlAmukha. Bhandarkar is right in maintaining that these do not come under the Lakula or PAshupata group, much older in point of date.
We might conclude from the Shivasutra-Mahadevagiri legend that Vasugupta brought a new revelation, which he declared he had received directly from Shiva or a Siddha. The myth of the “transmission of the doctrine” was well known. In the Agamas it is often represented by the initiatory dialogue between Bhairava and DevI. The name Vasugupta could be interpreted as derived from Vasu – one of the names of Shiva, applied to a person who should keep the doctrine gupta – secret. The myth obviously states the sequence of the transmission of the doctrine.