Siva Worship
The worship of Siva found favour with many of the highest officials during the early Gupta age. Pasupata or Saiva acharyas are constantly mentioned in contemporary records of the Gupta and post-Gupta periods. These include not only inscriptions but literary works like those of Varahamihira, Bana, shivaMahendravarman Pallava and Hiuen Tsang. In the sixth and seventh centuries AD, Saivism seems to have replaced Vaishnavism as the imperial religion of Northern India. It counted among its votaries supreme rulers, foreign as well as indigenous, such as Mihiragula, Yasodharman, Sasanka and Harsha. Among renowned Pasupata acharyas of the age was the famous Udyotakara, the writer of a gloss on Vatsyayana’s commentary on the Nyaya Sutras. In the eighth century the country of Kerala on the Malabar coast produced a teacher who, though not an adherent of any form of sectarian Saivism, did much to popularise devotion to Siva among the teeming millions of India. This was the famous Sankaracharya on of the greatest Hindu philosophers and teachers of the post-Gupta period. Sankara came of a Brahmana family of Kaladi. He was an ardent Vedantist and the most powerful exponent of the doctrine of pure monism (advaita) which he elucidated in his commentaries on the classical Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita and the Brahma Sutras of Badarayana. He was not only a great thinker but an able organiser. Among the most durable monuments of his organising zeal are the famous monasteries at Sringeri in Mysore, Dwaraka in Kathiawar, Puri in Orissa and Badrinath on the snowy heights of the Himalayas. He died at a comparatively early age, and his memory is held in affectionate reverence by millions of Hindus throughout India.
The province of Kashmir in the far north of India produced in the ninth and succeeding centuries a number of teachers who are reckoned among the greatest exponents of the Saiva doctrine and philosophy. No less important than the Kashmir school of Saivas were the Tamil and Kanarese saints and scholars known as the Nayanars and Vira Saivas respectively. Foremost among the Tamil Saiva saints were Tirujnana-Sambandar, Appar, Sundaramurti and Manikka Vasagar. Kanarese Saivism found a champion in the famous Basava, who has already been mentioned above. Basava was a minister of the Jaina king, Bijjala of the Kalachurya dynasty of Kalyana, who lived in the middle of the twelfth century AD. A distinguishing feature of the Vira Saiva sect of Karnata to which Basava belonged was its zeal for social reform and special solicitude for the emancipation of women from the thraldom of rigid custom.
The Vaishnava Movement
Acharyas devoted to the cult of Vishnu figure prominently in inscriptions of the early Gupta period. The Gupta emperors themselves were votaries of Vishnu. Bana mentions two important Vaishnava sects, namely the Bhagavatas and the Pancharatras, perhaps worshippers of Vasudeva and Narayana respectively. Some of the early Chalukya kings of Vatapi professed Bhagavatism and the famous bas-reliefs at Badami testify to the popularity of the cult in the Deccan in the sixth century AD. The Bhagavata Purana refers to South India, particularly the Tamil country, as a special resort of devotees of Vishnu. The earliest among the Tamil Vaishnava saints were the Alvars. The most renowned among them seem to have flourished in the seventh and eighth centuries AD. The Alvars represented the emotional side of Vaishnavism, and they were followed by a line of acharyas who represented its intellectual side. Foremost among the acharyas were Nathamuni, Yamunacharya and Ramanuja. The last-mentioned teacher was the son of a Brahmana who lived in a village near Madras. Ramanuja made Kanchi and Srirangam the chief centres of his activities, but the hostility of the Chola government compelled him to seek shelter at the Hoysala court in the Mysore country. He died in the twelfth century AD. He combated the absolute monism of Sankara and laid emphasis on Bhakti as a means of salvation. The school of philosophy that he established was known as Visishtadvaita or qualified monism. His followers are known as Sri Vaishnavas. Many of the great mediaeval reformers of India drew their inspiration from his teachings.
Shortly after Ramanuja lived Madhva, a famous exponent of the dualistic school of the Vedanta.
The Vaishnava Movement
Acharyas devoted to the cult of Vishnu figure prominently in inscriptions of the early Gupta period. The Gupta emperors themselves were votaries of Vishnu. Bana mentions two important Vaishnava sects, namely the Bhagavatas and the Pancharatras, perhaps worshippers of Vasudeva and Narayana respectively. Some of the early Chalukya kings of Vatapi professed Bhagavatism and the famous bas-reliefs at Badami testify to the popularity of the cult in the Deccan in the sixth century AD. The Bhagavata Purana refers to South India, particularly the Tamil country, as a special resort of devotees of Vishnu. The earliest among the Tamil Vaishnava saints were the Alvars. The most renowned among them seem to have flourished in the seventh and eighth centuries AD. The Alvars represented the emotional side of Vaishnavism, and they were followed by a line of acharyas who represented its intellectual side. Foremost among the acharyas were Nathamuni, Yamunacharya and Ramanuja. The last-mentioned teacher was the son of a Brahmana who lived in a village near Madras. Ramanuja made Kanchi and Srirangam the chief centres of his activities, but the hostility of the Chola government compelled him to seek shelter at the Hoysala court in the Mysore country. He died in the twelfth century AD. He combated the absolute monism of Sankara and laid emphasis on Bhakti as a means of salvation. The school of philosophy that he established was known as Visishtadvaita or qualified monism. His followers are known as Sri Vaishnavas. Many of the great mediaeval reformers of India drew their inspiration from his teachings.
Shortly after Ramanuja lived Madhva, a famous exponent of the dualistic school of the Vedanta.
