Diksha (initiation) in Pancharatra
by Shanta Srinivasan | 2000 | 33,961 words
This English essay studies Diksha in Pancharatra with reference to important texts. Diksha refers to initiation ceremonies into a particular esoteric tradition which is given, for example, by the teacher (Guru) to the student (Shishya). Pancharatra refers to an ancient school of Vaishnavism based on ancient Tantra-like texts called Agamas which wer...
5. The period of Pancaratra
Words like pancaratra, pancakala, parayana and pancaratrika occur in the pancaratra texts. There they are used without any introduction. This indicates that these words must have been in vogue before these texts were composed. People were well aware of what these words denote. The Mahabharata mention's that there prevailed ekantidharma at the beginning of the krtayuga and that it disappeared eight times and was revived by Lord Narayana under the name sattvata. This sattvatadharma forms the subject of the Pancaratra texts. 1. Vide Mahabharata: Ch.358 (Moksa Dharma) Santiparva. 14
Narayana revealed this under the name Sankarsana at the end of Dvapara yuga and at the beginning of Kali yuga (3107 B.C) 1. In his Astadhyayi, Panini2 (800 B.C) mentions Vasudeva to be the name of god in the sense of the Bhagavan of Pancaratra and is not the name of a ksatriya. There are certain inscriptions, which refer to the shrines where Vasudeva's imageswere erected. They are: