A Thesis On The Veerasaiva Religion
A Thesis On The Veerasaiva Religion
A Thesis On The Veerasaiva Religion
5. It may be mentioned that the Veerasaiva form an important Sub-Division among the Saivas. The chief Sub-Division among the Saivas are four in number according to Nijaguna Sivayogi, the Author of the well-known work in Kanarese Viveka Chintamani, a work which is very popular and is translated into the Tamil and Telugu Languages. The four Sub-Divisions are: (1) (2) (3) (4) the Samanya Saivas the Misra Saivas the Suddha Saivas and the Veera Saivas.
and the chief characteristics and differences are described in detail in Chapter II of the said work. 6. The Veerasaivas are sometimes known as Sivacharyas as opposed to Sivaradhyas, but the term is corrupted into Sivachars. They are also known as Lingayets or Lingavantas which is a name given to them perhaps by the Mahomedan Conquerors of India, who appear to have invented the name from the Lingam invariably worn by the Veerasaivas on their persons. 7. The numerical strength of the Veerasaivas is nearly 2 million and are found in large numbers in the Bombay and the Madras Presidencies, the Mysore Province, the Nizams Dominions, Berar and Kholapur States. They are also found in small numbers in Malabar, Goa, Benares, Kedar in the Himalayas and Nepal. As a Race, many of their SubDivisions are unmistakably Aryan in descent; and there is no admixture of the Dravidian element amongst them, just as in any other Hindu Community at the present time. 8. The Veerasaivas have shown considerable activity in the field of Literatures from very ancient times. They have used Sanskrit, Tamil and Telugu Languages as their medium to express their Poetical ideas. Much credit is due to them for having preserved the purity of the highly polished Kanarese Language from ancient times; and many eminent Veerasaiva Poets could be named in the Literature of all the four Languages named above. 9. Trade and Agriculture are their chief occupations of the present day. They have in the van of Hindu Society, and they are shown that they are not inferior to any other Class of Hindus in point of business capacity or commercial enterprise. They are very slow to
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The other Authorities are (a) Suprabhedagama, (b) Siddhanta Sikhamani, (c) Sanskrit Basava Purna by Sankararya and (d) Kriyasara. These five Acharyas are commonly known as the Founders of the Veerasaiva Religion. It may be stated that these are the five Great Canterburys of the Veerasaivas of great antiquity situated in different parts of India and that all these Seats are occupied even now by the Veerasaiva Bishops, who exercise considerable Ecclesiastical jurisdiction over the Veerasaivas. (2) In the Classical Essay on the Veerasaivas written by the Great Telugu Scholar Mr. C. P. Brown, which is published in the XI Volume of the Madras Journal of Literature and Science, there is a description of these Acharyas and the Author also mentions the high reverence shown to the said Acharyas on all ceremonial occasions among the Veerasaivas. (3) Professor H. H. Wilson mentions of the Veerasaiva Seats at Kedarnath, Benares and Sri Saila in his Royal Asiatic Researches. (4) Further, Mr. F. Kittel has actually studied Panchacharya Vamsavali in the Sanskrit Suprabhedagama and he has given us the benefit of his study in his Introduction to Nagavarmas Prosody in which he has shown that Revana Arya referred to by the Celebrated Poet Sadakshari in his Rajasekhara Vilasa was the first of the five Acharyas who are considered to be the Founders of the Veerasaiva Faith. 12. The Veerasaivas are the peaceful race of Hindu Puritans. They do not perform Yajnas in any form and do not believe in the efficacy of Shraddhas. They worship only one God Siva and in the opinion of Mr. Bhattacharya the Veerasaivas are the only Hindus who are to be called as pure Saivites. (2) The Veerasaivas contend that Salvation could be obtained in a single birth instead of in three births according to the Saiva Faith and they have done away with the multiplicity of ceremonies, as their object is to obtain the maximum result or benefit by performing a minimum number of ceremonies. They claim these to be improvements on the Old Saiva Faith, and the following Agamic passage briefly points out some of the important differences between the Veerasaiva Faith and the Old Saiva faith:-
(3) The Veerasaivas bury their dead and this constitutes another difference between them and the Saivas, and it must be noted in this connection that such eminent Smrithi Writers as Manu, Bharadwaja and Satatapa prescribe that the Veerasaivas are to bury their dead and not to burn them. (4) The most distinguishing feature among the Veerasaivas is the Linga which everyone wears on his person, he be man or woman, young or old, without any distinction. Every woman has got equal rights to obtain Salvation as every man in this Religion and every man, woman and child ought to wear the Linga from the moment of birth. Every person ought to worship the Linga as his or her God, and ought to sacrifice even the life in case of loss of the Linga under any circumstances. (5) The Veerasaivas perform ten ceremonies known as the DasaSamskaras and of these, the most important is the Deeksha Ceremony at which the Doctrines of the Religion are formally initiated by a competent Guru or Teacher. The Pupil gets Linga-Sambandha or relation with Linga by means of Deeksha which destroys the three impurities. Hence it is called Deeksha. 13. It is to be added that the Veerasaiva Religion is an all-embracing proselytizing Religion and it consists of representatives from all classes of Hindu Society. Our shastras prescribe different periods of probation for people of different castes and admission can be made after the probationary period, if the pupils seeking admission are found to possess real Bhakti or Faith in the Religion. The probationary period is (a) (b) (c) (d) three years for a Brahman, six years for a Kshatriya, nine years for a Vaisya, and twelve years for a Sudra.
The following passage is taken from Veerasaivachara Kaustubha which is a great authority on the subject:-
14. (a) The Religious History of India shows that many powerful Kings and Rulers of Native States have embraced the tenets of the Veerasaiva Faith. (b) Faith; and (1) according to Censis Reports hitherto published, large numbers of Brahmans have joined the Veerasaiva Religion in recent times in the Bombay Presidency; (2) the History of Kanada Literature of the 12th Century A.D. affords two such notable instances; (3) the Brahman Poet Tribhuvana Thata embraced the Veerasaiva Faith and became the disciple of the Veerasaiva Poet Padmarasu (1165 A.D.), after being defeated by the latter in a religious and literary controversy. (4) Similarly, the Vaishnava Poet Chakpani Ranganatha, embraced the Veerasaiva Faith after being defeated by the famous poet Palkurike Somanatha (1195 A.D.). (c) The Puranic instance of the conversion of a Brahman into the Veerasaiva Religion may also be interesting. Veda Vyasa tells us in the Sankara Samhita of the Skanda Purana that the Brahman Pingala, son of Sweta, was converted into the Veerasaiva Faith by Sage Sadananda. 15. The Virasaivas acknowledge the supremacy of the Vedas, Agamas and Saiva Puranas. They do not perform Yajnas or Animal Sacrifices, but they perform the following Pancha Siva Yajnas insteas:There are numerous instances of Brahmans embracing the Veerasaiva
(5) Again, the learned Author of Kriyasara which is a Karika of the Nilakantha Bhashya on the Brahma Sutras of Vyasa, points out in Chapter XXIX of Part II of his work, that Lingadharana is prescribed by the Vedas, and that Virasaivas wear the Linga in the same way as the Saivas wear Yajnopavitam and with a better effect, in as much as it is a symbol which shows our constant touch with God. (6) The same subject is also discussed in detail in the Sanskrit work known as the Siddhanta Sikhamani. (7) Another Sanskrit work known as Virasaiva Dharma Siromani points out that each of the Ashta-Avaranas or eight accompaniments viz., Guru, Linga, Jangama, Vibhuti, Rudraksha, Prasada, Padodaka, and Mantra, is prescribed by the Vedas. These eight qualities are the characteristic marks of every pious Virasaiva and form the practical basis of his daily
From Jnana-Sarvasva-Sangraha, Chapter VI, leaf 57, by Narasimha, Smarta Brahmin. 20. The Sankarin uses Tat for which the Virasaivas use Linga. The former uses Tvam for which the latter use Anga. The union of the two is denoted by the Smartas by Asi, whereas the Virasaivas denote the same union by the expression Samyoga or Samarasya so that the Tattvamasi of Sankara corresponds to the Lingangasamyoga of the Virasaivas.
(1) In the first place, the principles of the Virasaiva Religion are described in the Vedas, Agamas and Puranas. The following story occurs in the Kamika-Agama:During their travels, one Ajamila and his wife, were attacked by a band of robbers and at the suggestion of his wife, Ajamila tied up in a kerchief, all the precious jewels he had in the form of a Linga and put it round his neck so as to make it appear that he was a Virasaiva wearing Linga. This stratagem succeeded very well, for the Robber Chieftain Mitra Gupta ordered at once the release of the two people, as he always had great respect and regard for Virasaivas, whom, as a rule, he did not molest. This certainly indicates the existence of the Religion before the composition of the Kamika-Agama, and also shows that the Virasaiva Viraktas had sometimes the rare privilege of commanding respect even from Robber Chiefs. (2) In the next place, the discussion between Dharmaraja and Bhisma in the Anusasana Parva of the Mahabharata, shows that the Virasaiva Religion was existing at that time. (3) Again, the writings of such reputed Scholars as Professor H. H. Wilson, Professor Monier Williams, Rev. F. Kittel, Rev. Barth, Mr. Edward Moore and Messers. Deshpande and V. R. Katti, sufficiently show that the Virasaiva Religion is an ancient branch of the Hindu Religion, that it existed even before the rise of Buddhism and that it is a mistake to suppose that it was founded by Basava. (4) Further, it is to be observed that the historical events related in the Basava Purana belongs to the 12th Century including the period of Basavas Ministry in the Kingdom of Bijjala. But the Inscriptions of Mysore and Captain Mackenzies Memoirs of the Hassan District prove the existence of the Virasaiva Religion in the ninth century A. D. The Inscriptions of Sravana Belagola take us back to the middle of the ninth century while Dr. Fleets Inscriptions of Aihola (Aryapura) clearly show that the Virasaiva Religion existed in the eighth century A. D. And recent researches in the Tamil Literature of South India have brought to light the interesting fact that the Great Tamil Saint Manikkavachakar (300 A. D.) and Tiruvalluva Nayanar (100 B. C.), author of the sacred Kural in Tamil, were Virasaivas in Religion. (5) Lastly, the numerous unmistakable references to the Virasaiva Religion in the Sankara-Vijaya itself proves the existence of the Religion at the time of the great Sankaracharya. This fact is purely historical and is corroborated by the writings of both Professors H. H. Wilson and Monier Williams. In the Sankara-Vijaya, the Virasaivas are described as wearing the Linga on the head. The Virasaiva sect was one of the six Saiva sects in existence at the time of Sankaracharya who is said to have come into contact with them in
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24. Basava Purana is only a record of Basavas life and it is clear from the observations already made in the above paragraphs that the Virasaiva Religion is not based on the Basava Purana. It is nowhere to be found in the Basava Puranas that Basava founded the religion and that the Religion of the Virasaivas is based on his biography. Basava belongs to the Divine batch of Pramathas, and he is said to have come to the Earth as the Saviour of Mankind. He is always the inseparable companion of Siva; and it may be noticed that in every one of the thousands of Siva temples throughout India, Basava is invariably placed prominently in front of Siva. In fact, no Siva temple is built without Basava, and there is no Hindu does not attach some sacredness to Sivas vehicle. A certain amount of sacredness has gathered round the very name Basava and even to this day, it is commonest name made use of by the Virasaivas in every part of the country. Siva is known to have placed Basava nearest to His heart. While yet a boy, Basava showed much intelligence and soon acquired much knowledge in the Shastras. When he attained the age of eight years, his father wanted to invest him with the sacred thread. But the boy refused to be so invested on the ground that he was a Virasaiva and that he did not belong to the creation of Brahma i.e., Prakrita creation. Baladeva, the Prime Minister at the Court of Bijjala in Kalyana, was struck with the singular wisdom and piety of this boy who was his nephew (sisters son) and gave his daughter Gangambika in marriage. Basavas fame rapidly spread, and people admired his marvellous powers, and he eventually became the Prime Minister of Kalyan. Basava was a Historical personage and one of the noblest characters in Indian History. His views were very liberal, and he was far in advance of the age in which he lived. He had the courage of his convictions and boldly gave expression to his religious opinions, in spite of the persecutions of Brahmana and Jains. He was a great Reformer, and Western Scholars class him with Jesus, Muhammad and Buddha. He imparted a popular complexion to the Virasaiva Religion. The very essence of Basavas Reforms consists in the uplifting of the masses without any distinction of class or creed. While Sankara preached to the developed few and Ramanuja
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