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Re: Significance of Siva Linga
Vidyasankar Sundaresan <vidya@cco.caltech.edu> writes:
>Ramakrishnan Balasubramanian wrote:
>>
>......
>>
>> Yes, many of the shaivite saints clearly endorsed advaita (esp.
>> thaayumaanavar).
>>
>In many of tAyumANavar's songs, the word vedAnta means only advaita
>vedAnta, and siddhAnta means Saiva siddhAnta. He attempts to reconcile
>the two philosophical systems through his poems. However, the earlier
>tamizh Saiva saints like mANikkavAcakar did not endorse Sankaran advaita
>vedAnta. In fact, mANikkavAcakar has criticized advaita in one of his
>works,
I think you are referring to tiruvackam 4:54-55. This is one of the
reasons that modern Indologists place mANikkavAcakar in the 9-10th century,
while Saiva Siddhanta practicioners like G. Vanmikanathan {refer his books
on tiruvachakam and periyapuraNa} place him in the 3rd century BC.
> although the south Indian Saiva siddhAnta, like Kashmir Saivism,
>is pronouncedly monistic itself.
Vidya, I request you to explain this for me. Saiva Siddhaanta has
the classification of 'pathi, pasu and pasaam' {all Tamil words :-)}.
According to my understanding, and the works of G. Vanmikanathan, Saiva
Siddhanta maintains an identity of the jiva even after its union with
Brahman/Siva. The concept of mayai (maya) in Saiva Siddanta is different
from Advaita vedanta.
Ramana Maharshi, in 'Talks with Ramana', mentions that that the
identification of Ishvara, jiva and 'pasaam' is only a vyahavarika satya. Is
there a concept of vyahavarika and paramarthika satya in Saiva Siddhanta ?
Further, one can notice the intense bhakti present among the
saints mentioned in periyapuraNa, the 'yogic' system similar to yama, niyama,
including a detailed description of chakras etc used in Kundalini yoga
found in Tirumantiram. Though they may all fall into the category of
krama-mukti, I doubt whether the philosophy was by itself advaitic. Maybe I
am just mistaken :-)
On an another topic, it was mentioned that women are now allowed to
take sanyas, which is good. I was wondering whether women (and shudras) have
been allowed to recite the vedas, more specifically under the guidance of
any reigning Shankara-acharyas of various maths. Since teaching by the
Sringeri math head was mentioned, was the teaching involving recital of vedas ?
Though the dharma-sutras (and other Smriti etc) may be not be applicable
to the society right now, major portions are still being followed for the
performance of any ceremonial rites. Thus, it is, in my opinion, not correct
to say that they don't form a part of Hindu religion. It is better
to say that they are a part which need not be followed anymore :-)
Giri
