Vedic influence on the Sun-worship in the Puranas
by Goswami Mitali | 2018 | 68,171 words
This page relates ‘Non-Vedic Religious System’ of the study on the Vedic influence of Sun-worship in the Puranas, conducted by Goswami Mitali in 2018. The tradition of observing Agnihotra sacrifice and the Sandhya, etc., is frequently observed among the Hindus. Another important innovation of the Sun-worship in the Puranas is the installation of the images of the Sun in the temples.—This section belongs to the series “General Characteristics of the Puranic Religion and its Link with the Vedic Tradition”.
Part 6 - Non-Vedic Religious System
There are found some other religious systems those are fully non-Vedic in character. Śaktism, Tāntricism, etc., are the non-Vedic religious system, prevalent in ancient India.
Śaktism:
Śakti, the consort of Śiva is worshipped in Śaktism. It was the non-Vedic religious movement that grew and developed, prior to the Purāṇas. The term śakti represents the female divinity in general, and energising power of some divinity in particular.[1]
Śaktism is based on the Sāṃkhya philosophy that believes the spirit or Puruṣa as inactive and Prakṛti as productive. Prakṛti is regarded as the ultimate material cause in Śaktism.[2] The Śakti makes the god active and effective. The worship of Śakti is accompanied with sacrifices of animals and occasionally of human beings. Besides this, the cakra pūja, i.e. the circle worship is performed where an equal number of men and women sit round in a circle uttering mystic mantras, partaking pañcatattva, consisting of five elements, viz. wine, meat, fish, parched grain and sex.[3]
Tantricism:
Tantricism stood as an obstacle to the Brāhmaṇical religion. The proper time of its rising cannot be ascertained. It is purely non-Vedic in character. The ideas and practices of Tantricism are inclined towards the Vaiṣṇavism, Śaivism, Śaktism, etc. They are associated with the worship of Śiva or Śakti, etc., with different mūdrās, mantras, maṇḍalas, the five makāras, viz. madya, māṃsa, matsya, mudrā and maithuna, i.e. sexual intercourse, the dakṣiṇamārga and the Vāmamārga and magical practices for acquiring supernatural powers.[4] According to some scholars, Tantra is magical, superstitious and obscene, whereas the others consider it as scientific and profoundly spiritual.[5] The main topics dealt with in the Tantras are ascertainment of mantra, installation of deities, tīrthas, duties of the different āśramas, support of Brāhmaṇas, maintenance of other creatures, yantras, theogonic speculations, location of heavenly bodies, traditional history, vratas, cleanliness and uncleanliness, delineation of hells, etc. These contents are classified into four padas, viz. jñāna, yoga, kriyā and caryā. Jñāna involves the philosophical and occult doctrines, yoga involves meditation to acquire magical powers, kriyā involves activities connected with temple building and idol-worship and caryā involves observances, rites, etc.[6]
Instead of the mantras, the Tāntric mode of worship gives importance to the yantras that are the diagrams of symbolic interpretation of the body of the deity along with his bījamantra drawn on paper or metal plate, or inscribed, or painted on a precious stone, mudrās and nyāsas. Mudrās are the special position of fingers and movements of hands while the nyāsas are the placement of different parts of the divine body on the different parts of one’s own body by touching them with finger tips and the palm.
In its early date it did not recognise the varṇāśramadharma and had not believed Veda as authoritative, but later on, such ideas also entered into it in little amount.
Footnotes and references:
[1]:
Vide, Goyal, S.R, Op. cit., Vol. II, p.281
[2]:
Vide, Bhattacharyya, H.(ed.), Op. cit., Vol. IV, p.52
[3]:
Ibid.
[4]:
Vide, Kane, P.V., Op. cit., Vol. V, Part-II, p. 103191 Ibid.
[5]:
Vide, Goyal, S.R., Op. cit., Vol. II, p. 389
[6]:
Ibid., p. 397