Or

THeJounNnl
ORIENTAR
L ESEARCH
MRonns
(Foundedby Mm. Prof. S. Kuppuswami Sastri)

t986-92 Vols. LVI-LXII

trql qT a*fartqq

DR.S. S. JAITIAKI
FELICITATION
VOLUME

THE KUPPUSWAMISASTRIRESEARCI{TNSTITUTE
MADRAS-600
004
 AGHORASIVA'S BACKGROUND
Rrcneno H. Davrs

The twelfth-century dcd.rya Aghoraliva, to whose study

Dr.
S' s. Janakibas madeconsiderable scholarrycontributionsover rhe past
ten years,wascertainlyoneof the most importantof all saiva Siddhanta
authorswho wrote in Sanskrit. His vast Kriyakramadyotika,thepaddhati
hc completedin I I 56 A. D., has been probably the most authoritative
prescriptiveguideto ritual practicein the saivacommunityof Tamilnadu
over the 800 and more yearssinceit was composed. The philosophical
commentarieshe rvrote on such works as Bhojadeva,s T-attvaprakasa,
Rimakantha's Nadakarika,Srika4tha'sRatnatraya,and the threeworks of
Sadyojyoti, Tattvasamgraha,Tattvatrayanirnaya, and,Bhogakarika, give
the fullest philosophicalsratementof the saiva Siddhantaviewpointpiior
to the time of the four santana-gurus,andmay haveprovided an impoitant
sourceof the Tamil compos.itions of Meykantdr and his followers in the
following cen1ury.1

In his works,Aghora6ivaportrayshimself as an ardent champion

of the dualistviews of Saiva Siddhanta. For instance, he explains his
reasonsfor composing his commentary on the Tattyapraka!;ain this way:

I undertake this commentary bccause this text has elsewherebeen

commentedupon by others who are filled with the tainted ideas
of non-dualism (Advaita) and who lack the true knowledgeof
Siddhanta.2
l. wayne Surdam'sdissertationprovidesthe most useful summaryof what
is
so far known of Aghoradiva,and I have reliedon it in a numberof pfu"",
io
this essay. see wayne Surdam, "south Indian saiva Rires or lniiiation,"
(unpub. Ph. D. dissertation,University of California,
Berkeley, l9g4), pp
xvi-xxi. For a list of Aghoradiva's known works, see V. Ragtravan,
Aiei
CatalogusCatalogorum,Vol. I (Universityof Madras, l96g), pp. l3.e. Studies
on the relationshipbetweenthe worksof Aghoradiva and the Saiva Siddhanta
authorsof the thirteenthand fourteenthcenturieswriting Tamil
in areyet to be
undertaken. H6lbne Brunner sets out a few philosophical
"lmportancede la distinctions in
ritt6rature agamique pour l'6tude des religions vivants de
l' [nde," IndoI ogi ca Taurinensi a 3-4 ( Ig 75-76), pp. I 07_24,
2. TottvaprakitSva ltti, \. I
lr*aqrsqt|{ui : fvar;a*r+qfsi+: r
aqrrqldsarrqqrstif(q aolstcrd-gqq:rr
 368 J.O.R._SPECIALVOLUME

As wayne surdam pointsout, Aghora6ivaseldomrefersto literature other

than Agamasand relatedworks in his commentaries.

In his commentariesAghora5ivacaryasupports his interpretations

almost exclusivelyfrom the agamic literature and rarely, if ever,
citespassagesfrom upanigadic,purdl,ic,or classicalphilosophical
material. He seemsto have envisionedhis position as that of atr
I
dgamic Saiva purist who had the responsibilityto correct rhe
re
misinterpretationsof the agamic material by advaitins, vaidikas,
sl
and other non-Siddhantins.s
Purist that he was, AghoraSivaappearsto have beena highly influential
preceptorduringhis own lifetime, for he refersto himself as an .'instru- h
ctor of two lakhs of pupils" ( lak;advayadhyapaka ) at the conclusionoI 5

his Tattvaprakaiavrtti ,4 o
b
In this essay,I want to look more closely at the intellectualback_
groundof Aghorafiva, in the light of the persistentview that Saiva b
b
Siddhantais solely a Tamilian school of Hindu philosophy.
tt
I c
The importanceof SaivaSiddhantatheologyin Tamilnadu over the
past centuriesand its absencefrom other parts of South Asia have led s
many historiansof religionsto characteriseSaivaSiddhdntaas exclusively c
Tamil in origin. This notion goesback at least to one of the pioneersof b
Tamil studies,the missionaryG. U. Pope, who wrote in his study and
translationof Ma+ikkavacakar'sTiruvacakam;
The Saiva siddhantais the most elaborate,influentialand undoubt-
edly the most valuableof all the religionsof India. It is peculiarly
the SouthernIndian and Tamil religion and must be studied by
every one who hopesto understandand influencethe great South
Indian peoples.s
The same assumption reappears, with a slight disclaimer, in
M. Dhavamony'srecentsummary accountof ',Saiva siddhdnta',jn the
Encyclopediaof reli gion.

Surdam,"South IndianSaivaRites,,'p. xx.

Tattvaprakd tav! t ti , after v. 76:
... qlo elqaqreqrcs - 4fceq'hfsrerqi4fEzf,qdrilrqrrrrnslfirqln: wr.or r
5. G. U Pope (tr ) The Tiruvd,cagamor .sacred (Jfterances, of the Tamil Poet,
Saint, and SageMapikrca-vdcagar(Clarendonpress, Oxford. 1900;,p lxxiv
 369
R. H. DAVIS : AGHORASIVA,SBACKGROUND

systemof Saiva thought'

Saivasiddhantais an inrporiantmedieval
written in
The term technicallyrefersto a setof Saivatheologies
SanskritandTamirinSoulhlndia,althoughthisclassificationneed
a rigid one6
not be considered

of Saiva Siddhantawith a particular

I wish to questionthis identification
think Aghora'
regionanJ predontinantlywirh oneregionallanguage'and I
Sivaoffersthe followingusefulperspective for doingso'

It is certainrhat AghoraSiva lived in Tamilnadu'for he refersto

himselfinoneoIhisworksas,,aguruwhoornamentstheColas',7'Hewasa
by
Saivabrahmana of the Kauqdi!1yaclan, initiated into the priesthood
with Cidam-
one Dhyana6ivaof Kaffcipuram. A legendlinks AghoraSiva
baram. Accordingto this account,the legendary sageDurvasasappeared
in cidamharamand performedhis consecrati on (acarya'
beforeAghoraSiva
wilh homage
bhigekQlhere. AghoraSivaopens his Tattvasarngrahalika
.'Lord of Space,Lord of the Assembly" (abhrasabhapati),
,o iiuu'as
An
;;;;;t titles for Siva Nataraja as r'|anifest ar Cidambaram'8
"AghoraSivacdrya Malha" at the westernborder of Cidambaramwas
by one
sup-posedty foundedby the masterhimself and now is presidedover
of'his dercendents.t Thus it appears likely that AghoraSiva associated
hinrseltwith this most significantSouthIndian Saivasite'

At flrst glance,then, what we know of AghoraSivaseemsto reaffirm

the connectionol Saiva Siddhzrnta with Tamilnadu.Here, afler all, we
who,
find an eminent Saiva Siddhanta author of the twelfth century
teachin
althoughhe d;d not write in the Tamil language,did live and
Tamitnadu, and continuesto exert his influenceon ritual practitioners
alnrostexclusivelyinTamilnadu.Whenwebegintolookmorecloselyinto
his background, however, we discoverthat his intellectual outlook is not
a t a l l l i m i t e dt o t h i sr e g i o n .
" s a i v i s m : S a i v a s i d d h a n t a "i n M i r c e a E l i a d e ( e d ' ) '
6. M. Dhavamony,
EncyclopediaoJ'Retigion(NewYork, 1987)'Vol' l3' p' ll'
7. Tattvatratanir 4ayav7tti, v. 32
8 . I n t r o d u cito n . v . l .
gTheCidambaramlegendisfoundintheTami|introduc|iontoKriydktama-
d y o t i k a( C i d a m b a r a m1,9 2 7 )p, p . I | - 2 - a n d r e p o r t e d b y S u r d a m-'" S o u t h I n d i a n
y a l h a ,s e eJ ' M ' S o m a s u n d a r a m '
S i i v a R i i : s , " p . x v i i i . O n t h e A g h o r a 6 i v a c a rM
The (Jniversity's Environs(AnnamalaiUniversily,1957)'p' l5E'
 370 J.O.R._SPECIAL VOLUME

At the conclusion of his M,thotsavavidhi, the final portion of the

Kriydkramadyotika, trgl167afiva locaies himself in a lineage of twelve
Saiva Siddhantateachersreachingback to the sageDurvesas. Among his
predecessors, we see Uttunga6iva,a Guj arati living at Kalyananagari,and
also Brahma6ivafrom Gujarat; two teaeherswho servedas royal precep-
tors in Vara{'asi, P&rla6iva and Vidyanta5iva; Sarvatma6ivika who was
"received hospitably and remainedin great Puri, " in the Northern Konkan
region near ths present site of Bombay; and Srika+tha6iva who was a
"bull among the Bengalis." Aghora6iva'sown preceptorDhyanaSiva
also
haileCfron the Bengalregion, apparentlybefcre coming sourh to Tamil-
nadu. There are several others in the list who did live in the Cola
country, but the overriding indication is that Aghora6iva olaced himself
within a pan-InCiannetwork of Saiva Siddhanta preceptors.l0

As a commentator as well, Aghora6iva shows considerablegeo-

graphicalbreadth. Most famous of his commentariesis his t,rtti on the
Tattvaprakafu. This work is ascribed to Bhojadeva, most likely the
famous Paramlra king of the eleventh century, who ruled in the Dhira
region (Malwa, in Madhya Pradeshstate). According to Aghora(iva, this
Bhojadeva had for his guru, Uttufrga3iva'syoungerbrotber.ll In addition,
Aghora6iva commented on works by Sadyojyoti, Srikantha, Naraya'la-
karrtha,and RamakarithaII. All of these Saiva Siddhanta authors, with
t h e p o s s r b l ee x c e p t i o no f S a d y o j y o t i ,l i v e d a n d t a u g h t i n i ( a s h m i r ,a t t h e
opposite end of the subcontinentfrom Tamilnadu.
"Kashmiri Saivism," they
W h e n h i s t o r i a n so f r e l i g i o n s p e a k o f
generallyrefer to the monist philosophical schools that grew up in the

10. Mahotsavavidhi(South Indian Archaka Association, Madras, 1974), pp.

^tl i a1

l l . P i e r r e - S y l v a i nF i l l i o z a td i s p u t e st h i s i d e n t i f i c a t i o n ,a r g u i n g t l . r a t a n o t h e r
King Bhoja the Fratihdra Mihira Bhoja rulingin Kanl'akubja in the ninth
century-may have been the author of this work See Filliozat, "Le Tattva-
p r a k a 6 ad u R o i B h o j a e t l e s c o m n r e n t a i r i eds' A g h o r a 6 i v z r c e r e yat de Srikurnara,"
J o u r n a l A s i a t i q u e 2 5 9( 1 9 71 ) , 2 4 7 - 4 8 . A n o t h e r S i d d h e n t a w o r k a t t r i b u t e dt o
tshojadevais the Siddhdntasdrdpadddot i, a ritual digest transcribedin 1067 (i.e..
s h o r t l y a f t e r t h e r e i g no f B h o j a o f D h a r a , w h o r u l e df r o m i 0 0 5 t o a b o u t 1 0 5 4 )
Soe Haraprasad Shastri, A Descriptive Catalogue of Sanskrit ],[anuscripls in rhe
Govcrnment Collection under the care of the Asiatic Society of Bengal (Asiatic
S o c i e t yo f B e n g a l C , a l c u t t a ,1 9 2 5 ) , V o l . 3 , p 5 2 . O n U t r u f r g a 6 i v aa n d B h o j a -
deva, see K. C. Pandey, An Outline of History of Saiva Phitosophy (.Delhi.
1986),pp. 23-4; and Malxotsavavidhi,p.425.
 371
R. H. DAVTS : ACHORASIVA'S BACKGROUND

the Pratyabhijla, Spanda'

oorrh-westparts of the subcootinent,such as
Abhinavaguptnand
and Trika schools, and to the renowned authors
gave Agama-based
Ksemarnjaof the tenth and eleventh centuries' who
Saivanon-dualismitsfullesttheologicalarticulation.Buttherewereother
the SaivaSiddhanta. In
Saivaschoolsin Kashmir at the time, including
pointsout' during Abhinavagupta's and Ksema-
fact, as AlexisSanderson
"it was the Saiva Siddhantathat was the dominant Saiva
raja;stime,
cameto be called
d*trio" (jnana) in Kashmir," not the groups that later
" K a s h m i r iS a i v i s m . ' ' 1 2
prevalentin
It is not known just when saiva siddhantabecame
the philosophical
Kashmir, but rhe mosi important author in laying
foundationforKashrnirisaivaSiddhantawasundoubtedlySacyojyoti'
to imagineone of
who may or may not haveresidedthere' It is tempting
guru rJgrajyoti-being brought to
Sadyojyoti's forebears-perhapshis
centuryKashmiri
Kashmirfrom the Gangeticplain, much as the eighth
Atrigupta'Abhi-
imperialruler Lalitadityabroughtthe esteemedscholar
naVagupta,sancestor'fromKanyakubjatoKashnrirafterhismilitary
for this. what
forui into the Doab. But t know of no deflniteevidence
the Saivadualist
is ".rtain is that, by the beginningof the tenth century'
viewsofSadyojyoti(aswellaslhoseofothersiddhantaauthorsBrhaspati
were well-
and sankara Nandana, whose works are no longer available)
knowninKashmir,andthatmonistauthorslikeSomananda(inhis
to
Sivadrsli) and Abhinavaguptaspent considerableeffort in attempting
refute their Positions'r3
ThedualisticsaivatheologysketchedoutintheworksofSadyojyoti
wasfurtherdevelopedandelaboratedbythe..Kal}tha',-lineageof
KashmiriSiddhantins. The lineageincludesRdmakarrtha I, Vidyakaqtha'
(The Saivabhasa4a
Srikatlha, Narayanakantha,and RamakapthalI'1a
paddhati authots'
mentions two more Kaqthas in its list of eighteen
Vibhntikarr{haand Nilakaaiha, but nothing more than names are known
"saivism: Saivismin Kashmir," in M' EIiade (ed')'
l2 Alexis S tnd:rsrn,
Encyclopedia of Religion,Vol. 13,p. l6' For a fuller descriptionof Kashmiri
Saiuuschoolslittoughweakon dualistorders),seealsoMark S' G Dyczkowski'
The Doctrineof Vibration (Albanv, l9'37)' pp. l-l I '
13. N. R. Bhatr listsSadyojyoti'sknownworksin Mataigapd.ramedvardgama
lVidyapadat, (Pondichery, l97i), pp xi xii'
14. For a full description of this lineage,seePandey,Outline,pp' l5-25; and
N. R Bhatt, pp. viii-xiv
 372 J.O.R.-SPECIAI, VOLUME

of them.ls) Of these authors, Narayalaka,.tha lived most

likely in the
tenth century, sincehe quotes rhe ninth century author
Utpaladeva and
is iil turn quoted by the eleventhcentury writer Ksemaraja.l6
The most
prolific of rhe Kantha rineagewas RamakanthaII, the son
and discipleo1
Ndrayanakantha, living probably in the early elevenlhcentury.
Rama_
kar,tha Il made clear his intellectual debt to Sadyojyoti, not
only by
commenting on three or four of the master's works, but also
in this
explicit acknowledgement.

Of all teachers,I especiallypraise Sadyojyoti and Brhaspati, who

have illuminated the Siddhantapath to perfection(siddhabh:wata1.tr

After the literary effiorescenceof RamakarrthaI[, we hear no more

of Kantha authors writing in I(ashmir. It is not at all clear vihat caused
the suddenobscuration ol saiva siddhanta in Kashmir at this moment-
But it appears that the lamp of Saiva jii. rna as rhe Kalthas had illumi-
nated it was transmitted down to South India primarily through the
mediation of Aghora6iva. while there is no evidence ro supporr the
suppositionthat AghoraSivatravelled to the north to study with Rama-
kantha I[, he certainiy did declare his respect for the Kashmiri teacher
(while punning on his name).

Following faithfully the footsteps of that str ong-voiced, (maha-

kattlha) lion (katlthtrara) RSmaka4tha, J do not fear the trumpet-
ings of thoserutting elephants,the sophists(letarkika).tg

Accordinglyhe occupiedhimself particrrlarlywith explicating the works of

Sadyojyoti and thoseof the Kashmiri Kantha Siddhantins.

15. FI6lbne Bruansr-I-acrraux (tr.), sonai ambhupartdhati(premiere partie),

P o n d i c h e r y 1, q 6 3 ,p . x x i i .

16. N. R. Bhatt. p. xii ; I16line Brunner- Lachaux(rr.), Mrgentlragama:

Section
des rites et sectiotrdu comportente,rt (pondichery, l9g5), p. xxii.
17. i.lat a'igaparame{r ar aganat,f tti, vidyapii.tla,
ch. l, introductory v.2:
qrgd ssrierieiri fuar=i'kaqren:r
gsrnilfr o] q:a) qq'inrJfi-9at?dr
rl
B J h a s p a t i w r o t e t h e n o w - t o s t S i i i r a , t t , i a s t r a ,a w o r k w h r c h A b h i n a v a _
g u p t a ,A g h o r a b i v aa n d R d r n a k a p t h aI I q u o t e d . S e ep a n d e y ,
O u t l i n e ,p p . l 6 _ 7 .
18. MTgendragamavTttidipika,vidyapada,v. 4 :
tlqfiulqa16r t-Sc j,.rq-q-1q'1. I
{ gd'rfmfiql(Fq[qhsqt kirq{ rr
 R. H. DAVIS : AGHORASM'S BACKGROUND J I J

II
I Aghora5iva
In the Cidambaram legend, as I have mentioned'
t ln the Mahotsava'
receiveshis priestly consecrationfrom Durvdsashimself'
varytia' and goes on
I vidhi, Aghoiasivatites Durvasas as the founder of his
"I worship the sage Durvasas' the Areat teacher of the
,o ,uiur.-hi*:
gurus in that good abode of
livajfi,1na,from whom a.ore th' lineage ol
as progenitor of Saiva
Amarda."le The fundamental role of Durvlsas
Saiva authors as well' even
leachingsamong humans is recognizedby other
For instance, Abhinava-
those not of the Saiva Sicldhanta persuasion.
division of Saivism
gupta tells us that Durvasaswas responsiblefor the
into three ontologicaltendencies:
(Siva) instructed the sage. Durvasas, to revive the Saivagamic
into
teaching. The sage accordingly divided all the Saivdgamas
or monism-
three classesaccordinglyas they taught monism' dualism
mind-born
cum-dualism, imparted their knowledge ro his three
charged
sons,Tryambaka, Amardaka, and Srinatharespectively'and
the
each one of them separately with the mission of spreading
exis-
knowledgeof thc resfective Agamas' Thus there came into
of the
tence three Saiva Tantric Schools, each known by the name
first earlhiy progenitor.2o
and the
Here again the name Amardaka servesas a link betweenDurvasas
d u a l i sitc t r a d i t i o ni n S a i v i s m .
or
Aghora(iva was apparently affiliated with the monastic network
Pr'tyat'ciltasantxuccaya
'
fineageknown as Amarcla or Amardaka' In the
Trilocana(iva traceshis own lineage stattirrg with Durvasaswho, he says,
of preceptors
establishedlhe guruvawlaat Amardaka, thror:gh a number
inclu<lingUtturga6iva,Some5ana,Sarvatrna6iva'and finally AghoraSiva'21
"Amard a-a(rama," and
ElsewhereTrilocanasivaidentifieshimself rvith the
his commentatorAnlntaSambhurestatesthis.2: So Tiiiocanafiva's affili-
ation wirh Amardaka in-rplicatesAgho:-a6iva as well. But whlt exactiy is
Amardaka?

19. fufllio! savat'iL]hi, P. 4)'4

PhilosoPltical StudY
20. K. C. P.rndei', Abhinavagupta: An Historical antl
Tcntr d'
, o l . l , p . 7 Z i { r s s u m m a r yi s b a s e do n AbhinavaguPta's
( B e n a r e s1, 9 3 5 ) V
/ o k a ,X X X V I
India (Madras'
21. E. Ilultzscn, Reportotx Scnskrit Manuscripisin Southern
1 8 e 6 ) v, o l . l l , P . 8 0 .
22. Siddhantasarti,vati, kriyd 90 and carya 40'
 374 J.O.R._SPECIAL VOLUME

Aghorasivahimsetflists Amarda as one of the fifteen saivamathas,

along with thoseat Kailasa, Badari, Devadaru forest,
Mattamaytra,
Golaka,and others.23This tells us onry that we are dealing
with a mona-
stic complexof somesort, but nothingof its locationor
character. For_
tunately,a numberof inscriptionsor the tenth throughthirteenth
centuries
also referto A631dxfta,Mattamayfrra,and Golaka.and thereby
enableus
to beginlo reconstruct
something,arbeitin a fragmentarymanner,of the
natureof theseearlymedievalSaivamothas.

o n e o f t h e e a r r i e satn dm o s t h e r p f u ri n s c r i p r i o n w
s a sf o u n d i n t h e
out-of-the-wayvillage of Ranod (ancicntRalipadra),
along the upper
courseof the MahuwarRiver (ancientMadhumati) in the
Guna District
of Madhya Pradesh,and dates lrom the tenth century.s4
Accordingto
this account, siva onceperformeci a sacrificeto Brahmanin the Devacdru
forest. As the fruit of this act, a Iineage(varnia,1 of,sagesarose, ..free
from knots, and with rnany far-extendingbranches.,,
The ins..iption
tracesa seriesol the sagesreadingup to a pontiff entitred ..rhe
lord of
the Amarddhakatrrtha" and his pupil, the guru purandara.
A local ruler
namedAvantivarman,ensconced .inhis town of Matramayrira(present_day
Kadwaha),heardof the eminenrsaivapreceptorpurancara,
una *irt ing
to be initiatedinto Saivism,madea trip to the sage,sabode.
He propiri
ated Purandaraappropriately,and persuad,:dhim ro ret.urn
wirh him to
the capital.

Therethe king immediarery requestedand underwentSaiva initia_

t i o n , a n dm a d ea s u i t a b l ep. r e s e n t a t i otno
h i s p r e c e p t o r .H a v i n g
giventhe essenceof his kingdomto purandara,
the king became
successful (s rphalya)during his liferime, and purandara
used a
portion of his wealth to havea monasrerybuilt
for sages,equalto
Meru, a fit vesselfor the jewels who are true
sages,in the royal
town knownas Mattamayira.

Purandaraalsohad another monasterv

constructedat RanoC, wherethis
inscriptionwasfound. So beganthe Mattamafuru
line of SaivaSiddhantateachers 1..intori.ur.apeacock")
in centralIndia.

23. Mahotsovavidhi,pp. 422_23.

'r1;,),f';iil:":r;i,Stone InscriPlion
rrom Ranod(Narod
)," Epigraphia
 R..H. DAVIS : AGHORASIVA'S BACKGROUND 375

This inscription suggests that Amardaka, like Mattamayura,

referred initially to a specific site, a ttrtha, though the original location of
Amardaka has not yet been convincingly identified. More significant,
however, is the subsequentspreadof its authority. Over the succeeding
centuries, Saiva gurus and asceticsidentifying themselveswith Amardaka
and Mattamaytra turn up in positions of influencein various regions of
South Asia. The Mattamayura Lambakarl.a, for instarce, emigratedto
Ujjain, where he initiated Siyaka II, the first independent Parantara
sovereignand the predecessorof Rhojadeva. Further south in Kharepatan,
the Mattamayira guru Atreyi acted as royal preceptorto Rattaraja, the
Silaharaking of SouthernKonkan. Gagana(ivatraveiled east into Orissa,
where he had a temple built at Ranipur. Members of the Amardaka line-
age appear during the same period in Haddala (Gujarat), Karhad (Maha-
rashtra), and Rajor (Rajasthan).r5

In Dahala,a colony of Matramayuras, known by the name Madhu-

mateyas(i. e., from the MaChumati area), establisheda powerful presence
in the region for some two hundred years as monastic leaders, temple
builders, and royal preceptorsunder the Kalacuri kings of Tripuri (neai
present Jabalpur). Yuvarajadeva t (915-945) was the first king among
the I)ahalaKalacuris to assume the titles of an independent sovereign,
and as part of his assertionof royal autonomy he brought to his kingdom
the renorvned monk Prabhava6ivafrom the Madhumati region as his
initiatory guru. This establisheda pattecn by whi:h the fortunes of
Kalacuri rulers and Saiva Siddhanta preceptorswere closely intertwined
for trvo centuries. As late as I174, the Madhumateya guru VimalaSiva
was preceptorto the Kalacuri king Jayasimha,and when the Candellaking
Trailokyamalla conclusiveiy defeated the Kalacuris and annexed their
territories, he annexed as well the royal preceptor SantaSiva,son and
successorol VimalaSiva.

25. Though there are a number of accountsof thesesaiva Jineagesavailable,

the most complete and reliableare still probabll, the lwo earliest major treat_
m?nts, those ot R. D. Benerji, and V. V. Mirashi. See R. D. Banerji, The
Haihaycsof rripuri andtheir Monuments,N4ernoirs of the Archaeologicalsurvey
o f I n d i a , N o . 2 3 ( C a l c u r t a ,l g i l ) , a n d V . V . M i r a s h i , . . T h e S a i v aA " a . y a s o i
the Mrttemayura clan", Intlian Histarical euarterly 26 (r9i0), l-16. Mirashi,s
introduction o CorpusInsciprionumIndictrunt, Vol. +, containing
the inscrip_
t i o n s o t ' t h e K a l a c u r i so F T r i p u r i . i s a l s o v : r l , : : r b l c .F t r r u o , n i . - r . r t i n g
..aao,
trearment, see J Van Troy, .'The Social Strucrure of the Saiva_sidJh
antika
A s c e t r c{s7 0 U - t 3 0A0 D ) , " l n d i c ul l ( l g 7 : ) , 7 7 _ g 6 . F o r a n a t l e m p t
ar a brief
synthetlcaccoLlntof the early medieval SaivaSiddhairta Lineages,
with inscrip-
t i o n a l r e f e r e n c e ss,e eR i c h a r dD a v i s , , , R i t u a ii n a n O s c i l i a t i n g
Universe,,lunput.
P h . D . d i s s e r r a r i o nU, n i v e r s i r yo f C h i c a g o ,l 9 d 6 , 1p, p .
i0_25.
376 J.O.R._SPECIAL VOLUME

Anotherof Vimala6iva's pupils, DharmaSiva,was responsible for

still anotherSaivaSiddhantapilgrimage,this time southward to Andhra
Pradesh. The Kakatiyaruler Gallapatideva becamethe first autonomous
sovereign of his dynastyand lookedto the north for a religious preceptor
of a new persuasion. (Prior to his reign, primary religious patronagein
the areawas givento the Kalamukha order.) From llahala he brought
DharnraSiva, (who hailedoriginallyfrom Bengal),
his pupil ViSveSvara6iva
and othersfrom the I\4adhunrateya line or-as they identifiedthemselves in
the south-the Golaki branchof SaivaSiddhanta.26ViSve(vara5iva per-
formedinitiationfor the Kakatiyamonarch,and for about sixty yearsthe
GolakiSaivasenjoyedextensive support and influencein the regron, then
almostas abruptlyfaded lrom favour in Andhra by the beginningof the
fourteenthcentury. The ViraSaiva Aradhya order appears to have
supplanted themat this point.

It is possible,then, to reconstructfrom epigraphicalsourcesat

leasta partial pictureof SaivaSiddhantaas it was transmittedand spread
throughoutSouthAsia in earlymedievaltimes.We learufrom inscriptions
of severalinterrelated lineagesof gurusand ascetics, themselves
associating
with Amardaka,Mattamayrira,and Golaki. Thesemathas,as AghoraSiva
callsthem,shouldbe seenas emanatingcentles and portable affiliations
for Saivamonks,not as restrictedlocations,for Amardakasand Matta'
mayfirasseemto springup in many parts of India. It is only wiih the
esrabtishment of Islamic hegemonyin North India during the thirteenth
centurythar the saiva Siddhantaorderappearsto have becomerestricted
to SouthIndia and especiallyTamilnadu.

monaslics is
zt't. The crucral inscription for this branch of Saiva Srddhdnta
frornMa|kapuram.J.RamayyaPanlu|u'..MaIkdprrr"mStone-Prllarlnscr
tion of l{udradeva(Rudramba)", Journal of the Andhra Historical Research
S r r u a r ' i n h r s S e / e c -l " r s -
S o c i e t y1 ( 1 9 j 0 ) , 1 4 7 ' 6 2 ; a b c t t e r e d i t i o n i s b y D C '
Vol ll' pp'
criptiins btaring on Indiun History and Civilization lDelhi' l9''3)'
571-g|.OntheG;IakisinSourhlndia,seeB.G.LSwamy...TbeGoIak
53 (1975)'
School of $nlvism il the Tamil Country," Journal of Indian History
" G o l a k i Malha lnscriptions I rom Andhra
1 6 7 - 2 t J g ;a n d C y n t h i a T a l b o t ,
on
Pradesh: A Study of a S rive Monastic Lineage," in Vajapeya: Essoys
Dagcns
Evo!Luion of Indian .4,t and Culture (Delhi, 1987;, pp' l3J-46 Bruno
o f t h i s l r n e a g ea s S a r v aS i d d h d n t a ' S e e
h a s r e c e n t l yq u e s t i o n e dt h ; i d e n t i f i c a t i o n
his Entre Alampur et Srisailam (Pondichery,1984), vol' I' pp -6-9'
 a41
R. H. DAVIS: AGHORASIVA'S BACKGROUND J t I

Unfortunately,forthemostparttheteachersoftheAmardaka'
Golaki lineages mentioned in inscrip-
Mattamayilra, Madhumateya' and
Saiva terts' But it is
tions cannot be identified as authors of extant
juit TrilocanaSivaand Aghora-
striking that many Siddhinta authors, not
lineages' Thus
6iva, explicitly align themselveswith thesesamemonastic
H;dayaSiva,authorof .hePtl'yasclttasamuccaya'identifieshimselfasthe
of the
pupii of i6vara(iva of the school of Ralipatra Lambakarna
is the monk
Mattamayira lir:e.2? (lt rnay be recalled that Lambakarna
king
who n.rigratedfrom Rarlipatra to Ujjain to initiate the Paramara
itr
Siyaka lI.) Brahma5ambhu,who wrote the N aimittikakriyanusandhAna
Mattamaydr'a
918 A.D., belonged to the Karkaroni branch of the
authoritative in
lineage.2s I6nna5iva,whoseextensivepaddhati became
and
the Kerala region, claims to have lived in the Amarda monastery,
Soma6arnbhuof Son'tatambhupactclhati fame (which was Aghora6iva's most
as head of the
direct model for his Kri yakr amadyolika) states himself
They attest to
Golaki monastery.2e Such examplescould be multiplied'
documentedin
a simple but crucial point: that the peripatetic monastics
medievalinscriptionsandtheauthorsofsanskritsaivaSiddhan:apaddhati
order
texts saw themselvesas members of a single pan-Indian Saiva
composed of severalinterrelatedlineagesor mooastic orders'

III

part of a school or order

As a SaivaSiddhi.ntin,Aghoraiivawas
of Saivateacherswho, basingthemselves on the lwenty - eightllivi'ganTas'
and the ritual
soughtto articulate and spread the dualistic philosophy
prol"du.., of SaivaSiddhanta'This wasa shared'cumuiativeendeavour'
paper mss'
27 Hara Prasadsastri, A catalogueof paln'teaf andselected
belonging to tlrc DurbarLibrary' rVepel(Calcutta,1905)'p 2l5'
Govt'
28. H. P. Sastri, A DescriptiveCatologueof Sanskrit mss' in the
Bengal, vol' III'
collection uncler tlte care of the Asiatic society of
pp.l0l5-16.
p' I l0' and .'Somadarn'
29 Hultzsch. Reportof SanskritManuscripts,Vol' II,
his reliance
b l t u p i l d h t t i( D : v a k o t t a i ,l 9 3 l ) , p 2 9 T A g h o r a d i v a c k n o w l e d g e s
of lhe dik;dvidh;
on S.rmr6rmbhu(as well as BlojaOeva;at the conclusion
porrionof KriYdkramadYotika'
378

involvingnot only the transmission of the texts but alsotheir gradualand

progressiveelucidation. Nerayalakanthaexpressedthis senseof tradition
admirably in the introduction to his Mr gendragamavrtti :

May thoseof greater understandingforgive whateverI have not

said. whateverI have said poorly, and whateveris not illuminated
clearly despitemy explanation. Let them, like the sun, endeavour
solely to erasethis commentary'sflaws and to clarify it. By all
means,may treatisesproceedone after another from this one, as a
row of lampsis illuminated,eachfrom tbe lamp lit before.so

If lineagesof Saiva preceprorsand authors are, as Nnraya4akanthahas

it, like linked lines of lamps, we must admit that the rows which ignite the
teachingsof Aghora6ivapassthrough many parts of India beforereaching
him in Tamilnadu.

30,, Mygendrdgamavltti,
Vidyepeda,I.l :

ffiq qfEq clrii q--q frfo*-.5ttn1

sfT{qfc q*r TrEe qrrrrrrla r
ka5d qs *vrv-6i+xeer-
reaFvfe-ga-gtcr{(q6eq?
: w[;itT{ |I