Shaiva Siddhanta

Shaiva (or Saiva) Siddhanta is a Shaivaite Hindu school that encompasses tens of millions of adherents, predominantly in Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka ("see" Hinduism in Sri Lanka), where it has flourished since the eleventh CCE. Today it has thousands of active temples there and dozens of monastic/ascetic traditions: twenty-five Brahmin families, the "Adisaivas", are qualified to perform its rituals.

Its theology was formalized in Kashmir from twenty-eight Tantric texts called the Shaiva Agamas. However it died out in northern India even as it spread in the south. There its original emphasis on ritual fused with an intense devotional (bhakti) tradition. The Tamil compendium of devotional songs known as "Tirumurai", along with the Vedas, the Shaiva Agamas and "Meykanda" or "Siddhanta" SastrasS.Arulsamy, "Saivism - A Perspective of Grace", Sterling Publishers Private Limited, New Delhi, 1987, pp.1] , form the scriptural canon of Tamil Shaiva Siddhanta. It is a twelve-volume anthology of the works of sixty-three poets, the Nayanars.Gavin Flood, "An Introduction to Hinduism", Cambridge UP, 1996, chapter seven.] A. K. Ramanujan (trans. and intro) "Speaking of Siva", Penguin Books, 1973.]

History

Early Siddhanta

The Siddhanta tradition, like Kashmir Shaivism and Kaula, differs from the Vedic and Puranic cult of Shiva and also from the ancient Pasupati tradition by its adherence to texts called Agamas or Tantras, which lay down rites that may be performed by any able man in his prime and describe a progressive, four-fold spiritual path of virtuous and moral living ("charya"), ritual ("kriya"), individual practice ("yoga") and knowledge ("jnana, vidya"). Flood and Sanderson refer to these traditions as the "mantra way".

Saiva Siddhanta's original form is that of a monistic doctrine, espoused by Rishi Thirumular in approx. 2,200 bce. This Monistic Saiva Siddhanta, or Advaita Isvaravada Saiva Siddhanta, teaches that Siva is both Creator and creation, all pervasive and transcendent. In Tamil, this idea is encapsulated in the phrase "Anbe Sivamayam Sathiyame Parasivam," which means "Siva is immanent love and transcendental reality."The Tamil Saiva saint Meykandar formulated a dualistic school of Saiva Siddhanta in approx. 900 ce. Meykandar and the dualists content that the world and soul are eternal, were never created, and are inherently flawed. These views are completely counter to the monistic school.

anskrit Siddhanta

The tradition derives its name and much of its character from the siddhas, siddhars and mahasiddhas, “accomplished ones” or "magical adepts" who roam through the centuries as saints, gurus, inspired devotees and despised outcasts, whose presence and revelation cut across schools, philosophies and lineages. Agastya, Bhogar, Tirumular and Gorakshanatha are revered by Siddha Siddhantins, Kashmîr Shaivites and the Tantric branches of Buddhism.

Siddhas such as Sadyojyoti (ca 850) are credited with the systematization of the Siddhanta theology in Sanskrit. Sadyojyoti, initiated by the Kashmir guru Ugrajyoti, propounded the Siddhanta philosophical views as found in the "Raurava Ågama". He was succeeded by Ramakantha I, Srikantha, Narayanakantha and Ramakantha II, each of whom wrote numerous treatises. King Bhoja of Gujarat (ca 1018) condensed the massive body of Siddhanta scriptural texts into one concise metaphysical treatise called "Tattvaprakasa".

Three monastic orders were instrumental in Shaiva Siddhanta’s diffusion through India; the Åmardaka order, identified with one of Shaivism’s holiest cities, Ujjain, the Mattamayura Order, in the capital of the Chalukya dynasty near the Punjab, and the Madhumateya order of Central India. Each developed numerous sub-orders. ("see" Nandinatha Sampradaya)

Tamil bhakti

From the fifth to the eighth CCE Buddhism and Jainism had spread in Tamilnadu before a forceful Shaiva bhakti movement arose. Between the seventh and ninth centuries, pilgrim saints such as Campantar, Appar and Cuntarar used songs "(bhajan)" of Shiva’s greatness to refute concepts of Buddhism and Jainism. Manikkavacakar's heart-melting verses, called "Tiruvacakam", are full of visionary experience, divine love and urgent striving for Truth. The songs of these four saints are part of the compendium known as "Tirumurai" which, along with the Vedas, Siddhanta Shastras and Shaiva Agamas, forms the scriptural basis of Shaiva Siddhanta in Tamil Nadu.

The bhakti movement, which both parallels and was an influence upon northern Vaishnava bhakti, asserted a positive and devotional quality missing in Buddhist and Jain asceticism, yet still inherited from those religions a certain antinomianism, particularly a rebellion against caste and privilege.

Siddhanta monastics used the influence of royal patrons to propagate the teachings in neighboring kingdoms, particularly in South India. From Mattamayura, they established monasteries in the regions now in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra and Kerala.

Integration

In the twelfth century Aghorasiva, the head of a branch monastery of the Åmardaka Order in Chidambaram, took up the task of amalgamating Sanskrit and Tamil Siddhanta. Strongly refuting monist interpretations of Siddhanta, Aghorasiva brought a change in the understanding of the Godhead by reclassifying the first five principles, or tattvas (Nada, Bindu, Sadasiva, Èsvara and Suddhavidya), into the category of pasa (bonds), stating they were effects of a cause and inherently unconscious substances, a departure from the traditional teaching in which these five were part of the divine nature of God.

Aghorasiva was successful in preserving the Sanskrit rituals of the ancient Ågamic tradition. To this day, Aghorasiva’s Siddhanta philosophy is followed by almost all of the hereditary temple priests (Sivacharya), and his texts on the Ågamas have become the standard puja manuals. His Kriyakramadyotika is a vast work covering nearly all aspects of Shaiva Siddhanta ritual, including dîksha, saMskaras, atmartha puja and installation of Deities.

In the thirteenth century Maikandar and his disciple Sivagnana Sithiar further spread Tamil Shaiva Siddhanta. Meykandar wrote 'Sivagnana Botham' and Sivagnana Sithiar wrote 'Sivagnana Sithiar'. The twelve-verse Sivajñanabodham and subsequent works by other writers laid the foundation of the Meykandar Sampradaya, which propounds a pluralistic realism wherein God, souls and world are coexistent and without beginning. Siva is an efficient but not material cause. They view the soul’s merging in Siva as salt in water, an eternal oneness that is also twoness.

haiva Siddhanta today

There a number of Aadheenams which are involved in maintaining and propagating Shaiva Siddhanta in Tamil Nadu. The most prominent are

1. Dharumai Aadheenam (Dharmapuram)2. Tiruvaavadudurai Aadheenam (Tiruvaavadudurai)3. Turupanandal Adheenam (Turupanandal)4. Madurai Aadheenam (Madurai) and5. Perur Adheenam (Perur)

These Aadheenams are headed by Acharyas. They are also the hereditary trustees of almost all the Siva/Sakthi/Subramanya temples of Tamil Nadu. The rituals in these temples are conducted as per the Agama Sasthras.

Prominent Siddhanta societies, temples and monasteries also exist in a number of other countries. The United States island of Kauai, a part of Hawaii, is home to the Saiva Siddhanta Church, an organization that promotes the union of worldwide Hindus, Shaivites and others, through a publication called "Hinduism Today". This was founded by Maharishi Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami (1927-2001).

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