Sampradayas in Shaivism

What are some mainstream sects of Shaivam ?

Shaivism or in Sanskrit called as Shaivam like any other path of Sanatana Dharma, it's also divided in many sects. However unlike Vaishnavism, the supreme God and Goddess remains the same i.e. Shiva Shakti but philosophy differs. Shaivism is a Tantrik or also called as Agamic path. Whole Shaivism is based on Tantras. It’s especially known for its Siddha Traditions. Shaivas follow Vedas & Upanishads, Vedanta Sutras, Shaiva and Shakta Agamas (Tantras) as the main, Itihaasas (Ramayana, Mahabharata), Puranas, Tirumurai, Vachanas, Shiva Sutras also and many more books which varies region to region.

The sects of Shaivism are :-

1. Pashupata Sampradaya (the most ancient one)
2. Nandinath Sampradaya (Shaiva Siddhanta)
3. Adinath Sampradaya (Nath Sampradaya, a sister Sampradaya of Nandinath Sampradaya)
4. Sanatkumar Sampradaya (Meykandar Sampradaya, a part of Shaiva Siddhanta)
5. Trayambaka Sampradaya (Popularly called as Kashmir Shaivism)
6. Veerashaiva Sampradaya
7. Veerashaiva Lingayat Sampradaya.

These are basically mainstream Shaiva Sampradayas or sects in Shaivism or Shaivam. As by difference in philosophies, these sects differ. However basic philosophy of all remains the same, secondary philosophy differs in all. Here I will give a basic knowledge of all Sampradayas I got from my divine Guru ji and his blessings.

1. Shri Pashupata Sampradaya.

This Sampradaya of Shaivism is the most ancient Sampradaya. This sect can be easily traced to Mahabharata where the text itself provides their knowledge and says even Lord Maha-Vishnu in his Krishna Avatar gets initiated in it by Maharishi Upamanyu. According to Vaaman Purana, this sect was started by Lord Vishnu himself and hence Lord Shriman Narayana was called as supreme Shaivite or Adi-Shaiva. The philosophy of the Sect was Vishista-Adwaita however according to many other proofs, in its earlier period that is before 1000 AD or 1200 AD or something like that, it used to follow Sampurna Adwaita (Fully Adwaita).

However it started to change itself after it slowly slowly and became Shiva Vishista Adwaita. Pashupata Sampradaya have now extinct because of it’s later philosophies were basically a revolt in against with some later Vaishnava Sampradayas as they became a direct rival to these later Vaishnava Sampradayas (Not early Vaishnava Sects like Shri Vaishnavam, Vaikhānasam, etc.). It has it’s main aims to learn Vedas, Upanishads, Shaiva Agamas, Bhakti and practicing Yoga. Its main peeth were Somnath Jyotirlingam (Gujarat), Pashupatinath Mahadev (Kathmandu), etc.

Pashupata Sampradaya is known for finishing the discrimination done with womens and the caste system here was actually Karmo adhaare Varna vyavastha i.e. profession based Varna System. Elephanta caves near Mumbai were one of the main monastery of Pashupata Shaivism.

2. Shri Nath Sampradaya :-

Nath Sampradayas are the mystical sampradayas of the Himalayas. Its divided in two parts, Nandinath Sampradaya and Adinath Sampradaya.

(a). Shri Nandinath Sampradaya :-

This Sampradaya, places great importance on the practice of yoga. It is related to the broader Nath Sampradaya. Living preceptor and 163rd head of the Nandinatha Sampradaya's Kailasa Parampara is Shri Guruvara Shri Shri Bodhinath Veylanswami ji after the Kailasha Prasthana of Shri Guruvara Shri Shri Subrahmaniam Swami ji. It is most popular among Tamil Hindus. The Nandinatha Sampradaya traces its beginning to at least 200 BCE. Its founder and first known spiritual preceptor was Maharishi Nandinatha. Nandinatha is said to have initiated eight disciples (Sanatkumars (4 Kumaras) , Sanakar, Sanandars,Sananthanar, Shivayoga muni, Patanjali Maharishi, Vyagrahpada Maharishi, and Tirmular Maharishi) and sent them to various places to spread the teachings of Shaiva Siddhanta. It’s a mystical Himalayan linegae of many rishis, munis and siddhas. Hence is also called as Kailasha Paramparaa.

The Siddhanta Tradition have the main 18 Siddhas or Siddhars as main Siddhas to be worshiped which are :-

Agastya Muni, Kamala Muni, Tirumular Muni, Kuthambai Muni, Thanvandri Muni, Konganar Muni, Satta Muni, Vanmeegar Muni, Ramadeva Muni (Ramadevar), Nandeeswarar Muni (Nandidevar), Edaikkadar Muni, Macchendar Muni (Matsyendranath), Korakkar Muni (Gorakhnath), Karuvoorar Muni, Bogar Muni , PambattiSiddhar Muni, Sundarandandar Muni, Patanjali Muni.

Patanjali Muni is remembered as the author of the Yoga Sutras and Sanskrit Grammar works. Maharishi Tirumular is known for Tirumantiram. Both of their taught the Suddha Adwaita Shaiva Siddhanta Philosophy. Nandinath Sampradaya too strongly rejected all the foolish and cruel acts of Society.

Then we have 63 Nayanars also here. They were the one who spread the Shiva Bhakti very where.

(b). Shri Adinath Sampradaya :-

These Naths have been a confederation of devotees who consider Lord Shiva, as their first god and guru along with Lord Vishnu as Lord Dattatreya as their another main Guru, with varying lists of additional lords. However they believe that Lord Shiva with Maa Shakti as supreme God and Goddess and all the other gods and goddesses are their forms and anshas. So the people especially who call Agamas are non-true and Tantrism are Avaidik, see that Hari himself is our main guru who is propagating it and we are obeying Lord Shriman Narayana with full infinite faith. Whenever a Nath Yogis and Yoginis meets each other, they say “Adeesh” which means Glories to Lord Shiva.

Of these, the 9th or 10th century Matsyendranath and the ideas and organization mainly developed by Gorakhnath are particularly important. Gorakhnath is considered the originator of the Nath Panth. Nath tradition has extensive Shaivism-related theological literature of its own However, its roots are in far more ancient Siddha tradition. The main gurus are Nav-Naths. Its current head is Shri Shri Yogi Adityanath Ji who is current chief minister of Uttar Pradesh.

Their unconventional ways challenged all orthodox premises, exploring dark and shunned practices of society as a means to understanding theology and gaining inner powers. One of earliest known Nath Sampradaya text Kaula Shaiva Jnana Nirnaya is attributed to Matsyendranath, and dated to the last centuries of the 1st millennium CE. Other texts attributed to him include the Akulavira tantra, Kulananda tantra and Jnana karika.

Nath Shaiva Sampradaya had many many Women ascetics too. Its quite amazing that including many Hindu women, it also included many many Muslim women who were thrown out in the name of talaak and other cruel practices. They too later on taken diksha in Shaivism and continued to spread the glory of Shaivism. They too made many other peoples get initiated in Shaivism.

One of the Nath Shaiva Sampradayi Shri Jnaneshwara Maharaj have even done his own commentary on Bhagwada Gita which is called as Jnaneshwari. The philosophy of the tradition too is Suddha Adwaita which is also called here as Siddha Siddhanta.

3. Shri Sanatakumar Sampradaya :-

Its also called Meykandar Sampradaya because it was influenced by or popularly propagated by Meykandar Muni. Meykandar Sampradaya is associated with the teachings of first disciple of Maharishi Nandinatha – Sanatkumaras. This theology presents three universal realities: the pashu (individual soul), the pati (lord, Shiva), and the pasha (soul’s bondage) through ignorance, and Maaya.

The tradition teaches ethical living, service to the community and through one's work, loving worship, yoga practice and discipline, continuous learning and self-knowledge as means for liberating the individual soul from bondage.

The tradition may have originated in Kashmir where it developed a sophisticated theology propagated by theologians Sadyojoti, Bhatta Nārāyanakantha and his son Bhatta Rāmakantha (c. 950–1000).However, after the arrival of Islamic rulers in north India, it thrived in the south. It also basically combines the study of Vedas, Agamas, Upanishads (Shaiva Upanishads only) combine with Nayanar Bhakti, Like Nandinath Sampradaya. However main of them are these four :-

Sambandar, Appar, Sundarar and Manickavasagar,

The main philosophy of Sanatkumar Sampradaya is Shiva Bheda-Abheda i.e. Shiva Vishista-Adwaita. However its different from Vaishnava Vishista Adwaita.

My knowledge of Meykandar Sampradaya is limited to here only. So I have now no more words to glorify this divine Sampradaya.

4. Shri Trayambaka Sampradaya :-

Trayambaka Sampradaya is popularly called as Kashmir Shaivism. There are some more names of it like Kaulachara Shaivam, Trika Shaivam, Durvasa Sampradaya and some more. The key philosopher of this Sampradaya is Kaula Shaivacharya Shri Abhinavagupta. Though he was not the first. The founder of this school of Shaivism is Lord Shiva’s own incarnation, Sage Durvasa or Durvasa Maharishi.

The name Trayambaka comes because, Sage Durvasa was highly worried about the knowledge of Shaivism and Shaiva Agamas. He was in a fear that if this divine knowledge gets extinct up, then how a person will get the path of his/her salvation ? In this tension, he went to Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva told him that he (Durvasa Maharishi) is an avatar him (Lord Shiva) and hence he too have a 3rd eye. But for opening it, he need to do a great penance through which a divine child of him will be born. This was the place where his wife (Kandali) have touched him many times (forehead part).

Durvasa Maharishi then did a great penance and finally achieved that power and he opened his 3rd eye. From that a great amount of fire and heat came out from which a boy was born. He too had 3 eyes and hence Lord Shiva came there and kept his name as TRAYAMBAKA. Hence he was the one who conserved all the Shaiva Gyaan and passed on to his hierarchy.

The first historical known philosophers of this Sampradaya are Shri Shri Somananda ji and Shri Shri Vasugupta ji. Then comes Shri Shri Abhinavagupta ji, Shri Shri Kshemaraja ji and some more. It’s a highly Agamic/Tantric Sampradaya. It’s key philosophy is Suddha Adwaita. As like all the other Shaiva sects, here too Castesim is strongly condemned.

Shri Abhinavagupta ji's had written a great works like Tantraloka, Vigyaan Bhairava, Abhinavbharti (Commentary on Bharat Muni’s Natyashastra), Gitartha Samagrah (Commentary on Bhagwad Gita), etc. Vasugupta’s Shiva Sutras is the key philosophy book of this Sampradaya. This book was narrated by Lord Shiva himself to Shri Vasugupta ji as the sutras which are universally true. Hence we don’t believe in Bramha Sutras because we have Shiva Sutras.

The features of the Trika tradition are basically idealistic and monistic Pratyabhijna ("Recognition") philosophical system which were propounded by Shri Utpaladeva ji.

Currently it's Shri Swami Guruji Lakshman Joo ji whose sincere efforts have revived the theology of Shaivism.

The theology of this sampradaya flourished in Central India like in Madhya Pradesh Western India like in Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra as Mahamaheshwara Siddhantam and in Southern India as Mahamaheshwara Suddha Adwaita Shaiva Siddhantam which was spread by Shri Maduraiacharya in Madurai, Tamil Nadu. Its flourished in Uttar Pradesh combining with the theology of Nath Shaiva Sampradaya.

One Vaishnava Sampradaya too got inspired from it and made the main philosophy of their Sampradaya. It was Rudra Shaiva Sampradaya or Vallabhacharya Sampradaya. Shri Vallabhacharya ji Maharaj just changed the name Bhairava as Shri Krishna Purushottam and Chandika Para Shakti as Shri Radhika Devi.

5. Shri Veerashaiva Sampradaya :-

Veerashaiva Sampradaya is a very divine tradition of Shaivism which were propagated by five Panchacharayas (5 Acharyas) who were born or incarnated from Lord Shiva from his pancha mukhas (five faces), namely Ishaan, Sadyojata, Vaamdeva, Aghora, Tatpurusha. Hence they are Lord Shiva's incarnations. They name of the divine Acharyas are Shri Shri Jagadguru Bhagwadapada Renukacharya ji, Shri Shri Jagadguru Bhagwadapada Darukacharya ji, Shri Shri Jagadguru Bhagwadapada Ekorama ji, Shri Shri Jagadguru Bhagwadapada Panditaaradhya ji and Shri Shri Jagadguru Bhagwadapada Vishwaradhya ji.

It was firstly taught by Shri Jagadguru Renukacharya ji to Maharishi Shri Agastya Muni ji. The preachings of Shri Jagadguru Renukacharya Bhagavadpada to Maharishi Shri Agastya Muni is recorded in the form of a book, "Shri Siddhantha Shikhamani", which is regarded as the holiest book for the Veerashaivas. It's also called as Veera Shaiva Maha Tantra.

The divine Panchacharyas arose out of five great Sthavaralingas under different names in different yugas. The Panchacharyas established five peethas, which play an important role in Veerashaiva. They are :-

1. Aler in Telangana (Birth Place of Shri Renukacharya ji ). However he is associated from Somanath Jyotirlingam in Gujarat.
2. From Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlingam in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh (Shri Darukacharya ji).
3. From Kedarnath Jyotirlingam in Kedarnath, Uttarakhand (Shri Ekorama ji)
4. From Shri Mallikarjuna Jyotirlingam in ShriShailam, Andhra Pradesh (Shri Panditaaradhya ji).
5. From Kashi Vishwanath Jyotirlingam in Varanasi (Kashi), Uttar Pradesh. (Shri Vishwaradhya ji).

Veerashaivism is continued to this day and is preserved and transmitted by five peethas (Rambhapuri, Ujjaini, Kedar, Shreeshail, Kashi), who play an essential role in the Veerashaiva tradition.

While the Veerashaiva Sampradaya relies itself on the Vedas and Upanishads, Agamas and other Vedantic and Agamic scriptures. The origin of panchacharyas has been explained in Shaiva Agamas (Shiva Tantras) ,especially in Swayambhu Agama, Suprabheda Agama and Veera Agama. The earlier portions of these Tantras are the fundamental source of Saiva religion, while the latter portions are of special importance to Veerashaiva Sampradaya. It's philosophy is Suddha Adwaita with Bheda-Abheda.

6. Shri Veerashaiva Lingayat Sampradaya :-

Shri Veerashaiva Lingayat Sampradaya is actually a tradition of Veerashaiva Sampradaya only, however it disassociates itself from Panchacharyas and relies itself only on the teachings of Shri Basavanna ji. It rejects any castes copyright on Vedas. Some people who call themselves as scholar mistakenly says that Lingayatis reject Vedas and Upanishads. Instead the authentic scriptures of Lingayatism like Shri Basava Purana says that Lingayat Veera Shaiva Dharma is fully authentic by Vedas and Upanishads and teachings of Lingayat Sampradaya can be even traced in all Shaiva Scriptures including Upanishads. Lingayatism rejects casteism and many other illogical and unethical and cruel non-vedic practices. This shows the divinity of this sampradaya. Many of famous and great devotees of Lord Shiva whose glories spread all around like Shri Mata Akka Mahadevi too were from this Sampradaya only.

Lingayatism is derived from the Sanskrit root linga (Shiva's mark) and suffix ayta. The adherents of Lingayatism are known as Lingayats. In historical literature, they are sometimes referred to as Lingawants, Lingangis, Lingadharis, Sivabhaktas, Virasaivas or Veerashaivas.The term Lingayat is based on the practice of both genders of Lingayats wearing an iṣṭaliṅga contained inside a silver box with a necklace all the time. The istalinga is an oval-shaped emblem symbolising Parashiva, the absolute reality and icon of their spirituality.

The philosophy of the Lingayatism is also Shiva Vishishta Adwaita.

Hence this was all from me.

Hope it helps !!!!!!

Dhanyawaadam !!!!!!!!

Jay Uma Maheshwara !!!!!!!!