Alexis Sanderson:

AN INTRODUCTION TO

SAIVISM
Lecture delivered in the University of Kyoto
December :c, :cc
OUTLINE

Sivaouaixa/Ruoianuaxri
:. The religion of lay devotees of Rudra/

Siva/Mahesvara Sources: Ur-Ska-

ndapur an
.
a (published),

Sivopanis
.
ad (published);

Sivadharma (edition
forthcoming); (unpublished: )

Sivadharmottara,

Sivadharmasam
.
graha,
Um amahesvarasam
.
v ada, Uttarottaramah asam
.
v ada, Vr
.
s
.
as arasam
.
graha,
and Dharmaputrik a.
Tui

Saivisx oi rui Ixiriario:
:. The Atim arga:
(a) the Pa nc artha-P asupatas/P a nc arthikas/Pa nc arthas/Keval arthavids:
i. P asupatas utra with the Pa nc arthabh as
.
ya of Bhagavat Kaun
.
d
.
i-
nya.
ii. Gan
.
ak arik a with the Ratnat
.
k a.
iii. Sarvadarsanasam
.
graha: Nakulsap asupatadarsana chapter.
iv. Chapter :: of the Pamp am ah atmya (srsk andapur an
.
e hema-
k ut
.
akhan
.
d
.
e pamp am ah atmye uttarabh age pa nc arth acaran
.
apra-
sam
.
s a n amaik adaso dhy ayah
.
).
v. Nisv asamukha (unpublished) .o,;a (Nisv asatattvasam
.
hi-
t a, NAK :-:;; (codex unicus), f. :;r:v:, on the aty asrama-
vratam of the Atim arga).
:
(b) L akulas/K alamukhas/Mah avratas/Pram an
.
ali ngins/Pram an
.
as:
i. Nisv asamukha .;b::, (Nisv asatattvasam
.
hit a, cod. cit. , f.
:;v::v,), on the lok attavratam/mah ap asupatavratam of the
Atim arga.
:
:
NAK = National Archives of Nepal, Kathmandu.
:
Nisv asamukha .o,ab: adhy atmikam
.
sam akhy atam atim argam
.
ca me sr
.
n
.
u; .;cd: aty asramavratam
.
khy atam
.
lok attam
.
ca me sr
.
n
.
u; .,;a: lok attam
.
sam akhy atam
.
; .::cd: lok attam
.
sam akhy atam
.
mah ap asupatam
.
vratam;
.:,cab: atim argam
.
sam akhy atam
.
dvifprak aram
.
var anane.
:
ii. Svacchandatantra :c.::,,,b, :c.::;, ::.;:;, ::.:;,c:,
and Ks
.
emar aja, Svacchandatantroddyota ad loc.
iii. Sadyojyotis, Moks
.
ak arik a ::::: and Bhat
.
t
.
a R amakan
.
t
.
ha ad
loc.
(c) Somasiddh antins/K ap alikas:
i. Bhairavama ngal a. NAK :-o; (probably ,th century), f. v:
,: icch ar upadhar dev icch asr
.
s
.
t
.
ipravarttan / tatah
.
s a vars
.
ate
v ac a s astravr
.
s
.
t
.
ir anekadh a // prathamam
.
saivasiddh antam
.
bhe-
datrayasamanvitam / keval l akulam
.
caiva somasiddh antam
eva ca.
ii. Copper-plate grant foundinthe townof Mallar inthe Bilaspu-
r district of Madhya Pradesh and dated in year ,; of the reign
of the P an
.
d
.
uvam
.
sin king of Daks
.
in
.
a Kosala, Mah asivagupta
B al arjuna. Abstract in Ajay Mitra Suasrii, Inscriptions of
the

Sarabhapuryas, P an
.
d
.
uvam
.
sins and Somavam
.
sins (Delhi,
:,,,), Part :, pp. ,c:); edited and discussed in Hans Ba-
xxii :cc: (Somasarman, Somavam
.
sa and Somasiddh anta: a
P asupata traditioninseventh-century Daks
.
in
.
a Kosala. Studies
in the Skandapur an
.
a III).
,. Mantram arga:
(a) Siddh anta
i. P aramesvara/Paus
.
karap aramesvara, University Library, Cambri-
dge, England, MS. Add. :c,:o (incomplete, unpublished),
Nisv asa, NAK MS :-:;; (complete, unpublished).
ii. Sv ayambhuvas utrasam
.
graha, Rauravas utrasam
.
graha (incomple-
te).
,
iii. Mata ngap aramesvara.
iv. Kiran
.
a, Mr
.
gendra, Par akhya (edition in press).
v. K alottara recensions:

Satika, NAK ,-o,: ii; S ardhatrisatika;
(unpublished: ) S ardhasatika, NAK,-o,: iii, Dvisatika, NAK
,o,: iv; Saptasatika, NAK ,o,: vi; Trayodasasatika, NAK
,o,: vii.
vi. Br
.
hatk alottara, NAK :, etc. (unpublished).
vii. Pratis
.
t
.
h atantras (unpublished)
A. Devy amata, NAK :-:;,.
,
The works listed here have been published unless otherwise stated.
:
B. Mayasam
.
graha, NAK :-:,,;.
C. Mohac urottara, NAK ,-:,;;.
D. Pi ngal amata (Y amala), NAK ,-,;o.
viii. Paddhatis, based on the Dvisatika-K alottara:
A. Brahmasambhupaddhati (of which we have the Naimitti-
kakarm anusandh ana of a.o. ,,), Asiatic Society of Be-
ngal, MS G ;o; (unpublished).
B. Siddh antas arapaddhati of [Param ara] Bhojadeva, who ru-
led fromDh ar a c.:c::coc a.o. (NAK:-:,o,, = NGMPP
B :/:,, MS completed in a.o. :c;;/ AD; NAK ,-;,,
= NGMPP B :/:,, MS completed in a.o. ::::/:) (unpu-
blished).
C. Kriy ak an
.
d
.
akram aval of Somasambhu, a.o. :c,,/o.
D. the Kriy akramadyotik a of Aghorasiva, a.o. ::,;.
E. the J n anaratn aval of J n anasiva, second half of the ::th
century (unpublished).
ix. Major works of Saiddh antika exegesis and theory:
A. Sadyojyotis, Sv ayambhuvas utrasam
.
grahavr
.
tti, exegesis of
Rauravas utrasam
.
graha (Moks
.
ak arik a, Bhogak arik a, Para-
moks
.
anir asak arik a), Naresvaraparks
.
a.
B. Bhat
.
t
.
a N ar ayan
.
akan
.
t
.
ha, Mr
.
gendravr
.
tti.
C. Bhat
.
t
.
a R amakan
.
t
.
ha, commentaries on Mata ngap arame-
svara, Kiran
.
a, and S ardhatrisati-K alottara.
D. Bhat
.
t
.
a Vidy akan
.
t
.
ha, commentary on the Mayasam
.
graha,
Raghunath Temple Library, Jammu, MS no. ,:,:. (unpu-
blished).
x. The SouthIndian

Agamas: K amika, K aran
.
a, Suprabheda, Rau-
rava, Ajita, V atulasuddh akhya, etc.
Tui Piixciiai Nox-Saioou axrixa Riruai S\srixs
(b) V ama (cult of the four sisters Jay a, Vijay a, Jayant/Ajit a and Apa-
r ajit a with their brother Tumburu).
i. Vn
.
asikha.
ii. [Devtantrasadbh avas ara], Gilgit ms. :, National Archives of
India (unpublished).

This title has been provisionally reconstructed from the texts description of itself.
,
iii. Sam
.
mohane Um atilake Siddhayantr arn
.
avam, NAK :-;: (u-
npublished).
(c) Daks
.
in
.
a: Mantrapt
.
ha (cult of Svacchandabhairava and his conso-
rt Aghoresvar).
i. Svacchandatantra
ii. Aghoresvarsvacchanda (citations only).
iii. Rasasvacchanda (citations only).
(d) Y amala (cult of Kap alsabhairava/Aghoresvar).
i. Picumata/Brahmay amala, NAK ,-,;c (unpublished).
ii. Pi ngal amata, NAK ,-,;o (unpublished).
iii. Bhairavama ngal akalpa, NAK :-o; (unpublished).
iv. Matas ara, NAK ,-,;, (unpublished).
(e) Trika (cult of Par a, Par apar a and Apar a, + M atr
.
sadbh ava or, in
K alkula-inuenced texts, K alasam
.
kars
.
in
.
).
i. Siddhayogesvarmata (incompletely published)
ii. Tantrasadbh ava, NAK ,-,, (unpublished).
iii. M alinvijayottara.
iv. *Devy ay amala.
,
v. *Trikasadbh ava.
vi. *Vr avalkula.
vii. Par atrsik a.
(f ) K alkula
i. Jayadrathay amala/

Sirascheda/Tantrar ajabhat
.
t
.
araka, NAK,-o,c
(S
.
at
.
kas ::), NAK ,-:,;, (S
.
at
.
ka ,), NAK MS :-:o (S
.
at
.
ka
).
ii. The Krama scriptures
A. K alkulakramasadbh ava/Kramasadbh ava, NAK:-;o(inco-
mplete, unpublished).
B. K alkulapa ncasataka/Devpa ncasataka (unpublished), Ka-
thmandu, Kaisar Library, MS No. ,: (unpublished).
C. Devdvyardhasatik a, NAK :-:: (unpublished).
D. Yonigahvara, Asiatic Society of Bengal, MS :cccc (G)
(unpublished).
(g) Kubjik a cult
,
Starred titles in this list are known only from citations in other early sources.

i. Kubjik amata.
ii. S
.
at
.
s ahasra-/Kul alik amn aya (mostly unpublished).
iii. Manth anabhairava (unpublished).
(h) Cult of Tripurasundar
i. Nity as
.
od
.
asik arn
.
ava.
ii. Yoginhr
.
daya.
(i) Cult of Amr
.
tesvara and Amr
.
talaks
.
m
i. Netratantra.
(j) Bh utatantras and G arud
.
atantras
i. Kriy ak alagun
.
ottara, NAK ,-,,.
ii. Cenn as N ar ayan
.
an Namb utiri, Tantrasamuccaya.
iii. Corresponng sections of the Siddh antas ara of

Is anasivagu-
rudeva (

Is anasivagurudevapaddhati).
iv. Agnipur an
.
a :,,:,,.
(k) South-IndianY amala texts, e.,g. Brahmay amala, TrivandrumUni-
versity Library, No. :::;c; and Brahmay amala, Institut Francais
de Pondich ery, Transcript ,::.
(l) Major postscriptural non-Saiddh antika works
i. Svacchanda cult: Ks
.
emar aja, Svacchandatantroddyota; Mano-
daguru, Kal adks
.
apaddhati.
ii. Trika: Abhinavagupta, M alinslokav artika, Tantr aloka, Tantra-
s ara, Par atrsik avivaran
.
a. A second commentary on the Par a-
trsik a (-laghuvr
.
tti) wrongly attributed to him is a South-
Indian work.
iii. Krama
A. Abhinavagupta, *Kramakeli, lost commentary on the Kra-
mastotra of Erakan atha.
B. Cidgaganacandrik a of K alid asa.
C. Mah anayaprak asa of Arn
.
asim
.
ha, NAK MS. No. ,.,, (u-
npublished).
D. Old Kashmiri Mah anayaprak asa with Sanskrit comme-
ntary (

Sitikan
.
t
.
ha).
E. Mah anayaprak asa of unknown authorship published in
the Trivandrum Sanskrit Series.
F. Prakrit Mah arthama njar of Mahesvar ananda with Sa-
nskrit auto-commentary (-parimala).
,
G. Vimalaprabodha (R ajaguru of King Arimalla, who ruled
from Kathmandu between AD ::cc and :::o), K alkula-
kram arcana, NAK ,-,,;: etc.
H. V at ulan athas utra with comm. by Anantasakti.
I. Trim
.
saccarc arahasya/Chumm asam
.
prad aya of Nis
.
kriy ana-
nda, Staats Bibliothek zu Berlin, Janert MS ,;;: (D. :::,
Ka ,;) .
iv. Kubjik a cult: Nity ahnikatilaka of Muktaka.
v. Tripurasundar cult: commentaries on the Nity as
.
od
.
asik arn
.
a-
va/V amakesvarmata by Jayaratha,

Siv ananda and Vidy ana-
nda; commentary on the Yoginhr
.
daya by Amr
.
t ananda; co-
mmentary on both by Bh askarar aya (Setubandha).
vi. Amr
.
tesvara cult: Ks
.
emar aja, Netratantroddyota; Abhayamalla,
Amr
.
tesvarap uj apaddhati; Visvesvara, Amr
.
tesvaradks
.
avidhi; Ka-
shmirian Paddhatis.
vii. Kashmirian philosophical Trika/Krama (Spanda and Pratya-
bhij n a):

Sivas utra; Kallat
.
a, Spandak arik a; Som ananda,

Si-
vadr
.
s
.
t
.
i; Utpaladeva,

Isvarapratyabhij n ak arik a, -vr
.
tti, -vivr
.
ti;
Abhinavagupta,

Isvarapratyabhij n avimarsin,

Isvarapratyabhi-
j n avivr
.
tivimarsin; Ks
.
emar aja, Pratyabhij n ahr
.
daya.
Piixciiai riixs oi rui oisrixcriox nirwiix Saioou axrixa axo
xox-Saioou axrixa s\srixs oi woisuii axo onsiivaxci
:. Public (installation of royal

Sivas in royal temples, initiation and
consecration of the monarch, presiding as abbots of Mat
.
has attached
to major

Saiva temples) / private worship.
:. Exoteric / Esoteric.
,. Veda-congruent / Veda-incongruent (dvait ac arah
.
/ advait ac arah
.
(
dvaitav adah
.
/ advaitav adah
.
in postscriptural schools of the Siddh anta
and the Trika/Krama).
. Conforming within

Saiva practice to the division of castes / tending
to reject that hierarchy.
,. De-emphasising the feminine in the pantheon / progressively empha-
sising it.
o. Excluding women from engagement in the religion as active initiates
/ progressively admitting them.
o
;. Suppressing the mortuary and sanguinary / emphasising them.
. Hieratic / charismatic.
,. Ritualism/gradualism / gnosticism/subitism.
Evioixci oi Coiuxcrioxaiir\
:. Doctrines of the unity of the

Saiva scriptures.
:. Pi ngal amata: principally covers Siddh antas procedures of installation
(s am anya-) but also covers, e.,g. in its chapter on images on cloth pat
.
ah
.
)
(Prakaran
.
a ,), the deities of the Daks
.
in
.
a (=Picumata), V ama and Trika
(vises
.
a-).
,. Vairocana, author of the Pratis
.
t
.
h alaks
.
an
.
asamuccaya (ASB :oo [;:],
:o; [:,] :o [,c]), grand-pupil of Vimalasiva of the Mattama-
y ura lineage and R ajaguru of King Nirbhara, describes himself as a lion
whose eyes are the two Siddh antas, whose sharp fangs are the G arud
.
a,
whose tongue and hair are the V ama and Daks
.
in
.
a and whose huge
claws are the Bh utatantras, wandering in the forest of the world intent
on destroying the pride of rutting man-elephants: ,em minus. :,em
siddh antadvayadr
.
k ca g arud
.
abr
.
hattks
.
n
.
ogradam
.
s
.
t
.
ras ca yah
.
jihv a + + ca kesar an
.
i + tath a savy apasavy agamau
vistrn
.
akhilabh utatantranakharo vairocano kesar
so yam
.
mattanarebhadarpadalano bh uk anane bhr amyati
. Netratantra: covers in addition to its own cult modications of that
cult in the context of the Siddh anta (,.:oc:;), Daks
.
in
.
a (:c), V ama
(::), Kaula (::), Saura, Pa ncar atra and Vaidika (:,). See Saxoiisox,
Religion and the State:

Saiva Ociants in the Territory of the Kings
Brahmanical Chaplain, forthcoming in Indo-Iranian Journal (:cc,
,).
,. Li ngapur an
.
a, Uttarabh aga
(a) Chapters :,:,: A Paddhati for initiation and regular worship in
the Siddh anta.
(b) :o: P uj a of Aghora (= Svacchandabhairava). Cf. dhy anam of
:o.:,::b with that of Svacchandabhairava in Svacchandatantra
:.:c,;
;
(c) :;: jay abhis
.
ekah
.
. The goddess of the one thousand vases for this
abhis
.
ekah
.
are drawn from the Kubjik amata, but the procedure
also includes Saiddh antika, Daks
.
in
.
a and Vaidika elements.
(d) o;: Saiddh antika li ngapratis
.
t
.
h a.
(e) ,: a royal homah
.
of Aghora (= Svacchandabhairava)
(f ) ,c: ,c: aggressive ritual in time of defeat etc. to destroy enemies
for self or king. Visualizes self as Aghora (=Svacchandabhairava).
(g) ,:: Vajresvarvidy a.

S akta ritual of empowerment of a Vajra to be
given to king for victory in battle.
(h) ,:: sen astambhanam etc. with this Vidy a.
o. Agnipur an
.
a
(a) Adhy ayas ;::c, = the Somasambhupaddhati.
(b) Adhy ayas ::,:, = Yuddhajay arn
.
ava.
i. :,: Trailokyavijayavidy a.
ii. :,,: Sam
.
gr amavijayavidy a.
iii. :,;: Mah am arvidy a.
iv. :,:,: Kubjik ap uj a.
v. :;: Tvarit ap uj a.
vi. :: Sam
.
gr amavijayap uj a.
vii. :,: laks
.
akot
.
ihomah
.
.
viii. ,c,::: Tvarit ap uj a.
;. Bhojadevas Siddh antas arapaddhati.
Evioixci oi Dari
:. P asupata
(a) An inscription records land granted in the year a.o. ,,,,o to a
shrine of the Mothers (m atr
.
sth anadevakulam) which had been
established by the P asupat ac arya Bhagavat Lokodadhi in the
village of Pi nchik anaka. K.V. Raxisu and S.P. Tiwaii (eds.),
A Copper-plate Hoard of the Gupta Period from Bagh, Madhya
Pradesh, New Delhi: Archaeological Survey of India, :,,c, pp.
-o, Pl. X.

(b) Mathura Pilaster Inscription inscription of a.o. ,c from Mathu-

r a. records the installation by an

Arya Udit ac arya of Upamitesvara
and Kapilesvara, images named after his Guru and his Parama-
guru, Bhagavat Upamitavimala and Bhagavat Kapilavimala, in
a Gurv ayatana. Udit ac arya described as tenth from Bhagavat
Kusika and fourth from Bhagavat Par asara. Bhandarkar takes
Kusika to be the rst disciple of Lakulsa and thereby reaches back
to the second century A.D. Ed. D.R. Bhandarkar, Epigraphia
Indica :: (:,,::), pp. :-,; Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum ,
(:,:), pp. :,,::.
:. Siddh anta:
(a) Stone slab inscription from Sen
.
akap at
.
near of Sirpur (

Srpura) in
Daks
.
in
.
a Kosala, issued in c. a.o. o;, reports gifts of a new

Siva
temple and lands to a Saiddh antika ascetic Sad asiv ac arya and his
successors made by the governor of a district of the realm, one who
shared his kings complete devotion to

Siva. It species among
the duties of these ascetics that of performing the ceremony of
Nirv an
.
adks
.
a thrice every year, on the full-moon days of the
months

As
.
ad
.
ha, K artika and M agha. See A,J. Suasrii :,,,, Part
:, pp. :,,,.
(b) Royal initiations in seventh century: C alukya Vikram aditya I of
B ad am in a.o. ooc (Epigraphia Indica ,:, pp. :;,, ll. :,,c),
Eastern Ga nga king Devendravarman in o:/: (Epigraphia Indica
:o, pp. o:o,, ll. ;::; Pallava Narasim
.
havarman II of K a nc, at
some time from the end of the seventh century to the rst part
of the eighth (South Indian Inscriptions I::, v. ,).
(c) Attack on [

Saiva] doctrine of liberation through initiation (dks

.
a)
by Dharmakrti, Pram an
.
av artikak arik a, ed. Mi\asaxa Y ush o
(:,;,;,), Pram an
.
asiddhi, vv. :,,c:o,c.
,. V ama:
(a) *Devtantrasadbh avas ara, Gilgit ms. :, National Archives of In-
dia. Lokesh Chandras facsimile edition (:,,,:,;), ,::: and
,:::; also ,,c and ,,:. Early variety of the Proto-

S arad a, pro-
bably from the early seventy century at the latest.
,
(b) Dharmakrti knows the Bhagintantras. Pram an
.
av artikasvavr
.
tti,
ed. R. Gnoli (:,oc), p. :o,, ll. ,,: na. dharmaviruddh an am api
krauryasteyamaithunahnakarm adibahul an am
.
d
.
akinbhagintantr a-
dis
.
u darsan at No. [It is not the case that Mantras are eective
only if they involve virtue]; for there is the evidence that there are
also sinful [but nonetheless eective observances (vratam) which
are] full of violence, theft, sexual congress, base acts and the like
in the D
.
akintantras, Bhagintantras and others. Karn
.
akagomin
ad loc. (ed. S ax
.
xi
.
r\ a\axa (:,,), p. ,;: d
.
akintantre caturbha-
gintantre.
. Y amala
(a) Ur-Skandapur an
.
a :;:.::;:,c: ,em minus. :,em
aham
.
brahm a ca vis
.
n
.
us ca r
.
s
.
ayas ca tapodhan ah
.
m atr
.
tantr an
.
i divy ani m atr
.
yaj navidhim
.
param
:: pun
.
y ani prakaris
.
y amo yajanam
.
yair av apsyatha
br ahmam
.
sv ayambhuvam
.
caiva kaum aram
.
y amalam
.
tath a
::, s arasvatam
.
sag andh aram ais anam
.
nandiy amalam
tantr an
.
y et ani yus
.
m akam
.
ath any ani sahasrasah
.
:,c bhavis
.
yanti nar a yais tu yus
.
m an yaks
.
yanti bhaktitah
.
I propose that y amalam
.
in ::d is to be understood with all and
that the titles indicated are Brahmay amala, Sv ayambhuvay amala,
Kum aray amal a (= Skanday amala), Sarasvaty amala, G andh aray a-
mala,

Is anay amala andNandiy amala. For of these sevenall but the
Sv ayambhuvay amala and the G andh aray amala are found in the
scriptural lists of Y amalatantras. See Saxoiisox, History Throu-
gh Textual Criticism in the Study of

Saivism, the Pa ncar atra and
the Buddhist Yogintantras in Les sources et le temps. Sources and
Time. A Colloquium, Pondicherry, 1113 January 1997, edited by
Francois Grimal. The date of the Ur-Skandapur an
.
a is not certain
beyond the limit imposed by its earliest manuscript, completed
in a.o :c; but Prof. Yoxocui has shown iconographic evidence
that supports a date in the sixth century; and this date has been
found to accord with the picture of Benares contained in the texts
V ar an
.
asm ah atya by Profs. Hans Baxxii and Harunaga Isaacso-
x in their introduction to their forthcoming critical edition of
this part of the text (Skandapur an
.
a, vol. IIA).
:c