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Agam and Nigam

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Agam and Nigam
[Article from the book: "Unto The First", by H. H. Shri Kumarswamiji]

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The Agam are of three kinds. The Shiv-Agama, the Shakty-Agam and the Vaishnav-Agam according to as they treat of the Deity Shiv, Shakti and Vishnu as the object of worship. The Agam are also called Tantra and there is practically no difference between the two names specially between the Agam of the Shiv and Shakti schools, both of them are believed to have been delivered by Shiv to his consort - Paarvatee. Generally the Shaiv-Agam are called Agam and Shakty-Agam are called Tantra. Yet Shaiv-Agam have an independent status and their origin is as old as three thousand years. The Shiv-Agam are 28 in number. But all of them are not available, only few of them are available. Besides 28 principal Shiv-Agam, there are many secondary Agam which intend to explain the subject matter of the principal Agam.

In connection with the Agam, two important questions arise - the age of the Agam and the contents of the Agam. As regards the first question, the age of the Agam can well be determined from the reference made to them in various works. Harit, a writer of Smriti and Kaalidaas the world famous Sanskrit poet refer to the Shiv-Agam and both of them lived in the first century of the Christian era. Various Puraan namely Skand Puraan, Soot Sanhitaa, Brahm Geetaa and Shiv Puraan mention the Agam. In Koorm Puraan a reference is made to the fact that Shree Krishn was taught Aagamik Philosophy by Upamanyu. In the Shaanti Parv and Dron Parv of Mahaabhaarat, reference has been made to the Shiv-Agam. In Maitraayan Upanishad, Aagamik literature is referred to twice. The Shwetaashwet Upanishad is certainly an Aagamik Upanishad later followed by other Aagamik Upanishad, like Atharva Shiraas and Kaivalya. From all this foregoing account it can well be concluded that the Agam have their origin in times almost coeval with the Aaranyak.

The Aaranyak which form part and parcel of the Ved and the Agam confront each other as two independent modes of thought. This fact is brought into bold belief, when we take into consideration the contents of the Vaidik religion and the contents of the Aagamik religion.

(1) The Vaidik religion consists in the performance of sacrifices with all rites and rituals, while the Aagamik religion consists in the worship of the deity - Shiv, Shakti and Vishnu.

(2) The Vaidik deities were the forms of nature and the Vaidik religion was a system of propitiation of those nature powers. Powers by means of sacrifice offered into fire regarded as the mouth of the Deities; while Aagamik deity was personal Deity that controlled the forces of nature.

(3) The oblations in the case of Vaidik worship were consumed by the Deities through their mouth, the fire; while the Aagamik Deities took only the subtle portion of the offerings exhibited to them as Prasaad or
consecrated food.

(4) The Vaidik religion was polytheistic and the different Deities were invoked for different purposes because each Vaidik Deity has a different function in the scheme of the Universe; while the Aagamik religion being monotheistic only one Deity was worshipped, that had all the functions of the Universe in his or her hands.

(5) The Ved consist of the Mantras addressed to the different Deities and recited during the performance of the sacrifices in honor of those Deities; while the Agam contain prayers consisting of various names of
the Deity and salutations addressed to the Deity.

(6) The Vaidik worship consisted of the offering made to gods, while the Aagamik worship was personal service rendered to the God, like washing, decking and feeding them.

(7) The Vaidik gods being the forces of the nature had no physical representation, while the Aagamik Deities were represented by means of a visible emblem or image.

(8) There is no trace in the hymns of the temple worship, while the worship of the idols in temples is purely Aagamik. The Vaidik religion is the fire cult while Aagamik religion is the Deitic cult.

(9) The Ved kept the door of religion restricted to some people while the Agam kept the door of religion open to all without any distinction.

(10) The Agam treat the Yog Philosophy and Yaugik practices which are all together absent in the Sanhitaa or Vaidik hymns.

Contents of Shiv Agam
The contents of the Shiv Agam are divided into four parts namely Charyaa, Kriyaa, Yog and Gyaan. The Charyaa and Kriyaa parts describe the names of the worship of Shiv with love and adoration but as the discipline of love or Shakti has to be supplemented by some psychological discipline in the form of Yog practice, the third part of every Agam deals with Yog. The fourth part of the Agam deals with Gyaan but Gyaaan in the sense of exposition of the philosophical principles underlying the Agam teaching. The Charyaa-pad represents a Maarg, the path of the servant following the master. The servantship is the discipline of the Charya-pad. It consists in the search of God in the world and has for its aim the objective worship of a material idol. The singing of the glories of God the extension of the honor and hospitality to the servants of God constitute the chief marks of the first part.

The Kriyaa-pad represents the Satputra Maarg, the path of the son serving the will of his father. It is the higher step of worshipping God under the mental image. In this stage the rites are indicative of purification of the mind and heart. The worshipper behaves towards God as a son does towards his father with a combination of purity and piety. Yog-pad represents Saha-Maarg which indicates the spirit of an associate. Here the worshipper behaves towards God as an associate. The whole spirit of the worshipper is being affiliated to God through the practice of Yog or meditation. Gyaan-pad represents Sanmaarg which means the attainment of Saayujya or atonement with God. In this condition the subject and the object become indistinguishable and the worshipper becomes possessed of Samaadhi or trance. In the Sahamaarg, the worshipper starts with the idea of being similar to God and attains similarity which by the Sanmaarg expands into Saayujya or atonement.

The main three Aagamik Schools, Shiv, Shakti and Vaishnav maintain three ultimate realities, namely
(1) A supreme being with male or female aspect predominant.
(2) The group of individual souls.
(3) The objective universe as real.

These three realities are given different names in the three different schools.

All the three schools agree in opposing and demolishing the Maayaavaad or the illusion theory of the Vedaant. Thus says Pauskar-agam: "If the world is an illusion of the conscious being the effected world will be a hollow reality. How can the world which is established to be really existing by all methods of proofs be a false transaction of consciousness? "

The Agam do not regard the world as a false show. The Universe is real because, as there is absolutely no difference between Brahm and the Universe, just as there is no difference between a pot and clay of which it is made, the reality of the universe necessarily follows from the reality of Brahm. Intense devotion or sincere Bhakti to deity forms another common feature of the three Aagamik Schools. The movement of Aagamik devotion gave rise to the art of temple building and the making of the images which in India, in South India especially, has reached a higher order of perfection. It also gave rise to devotional lyric poetry full of poetic imagery. So also music, singing and dancing developed fast under the influence of the Agam.

Dr. Radhakrishnan in his "Outlines of Indian Philosophy" has observed thus:
"This living Hindu religion of today from Cape Comorin to the remotest corners of Tibet is essentially Taantrik. Even the genuine Vedic rites that are preserved and are supposed to be derived straight from the Ved, namely the Sandhyaa, have been modified by the addition of Taantrik practice."

The two streams of thought, the Aagamik and the Vaidik, gradually gravitated towards each other. After running side by side for long time they acted and reacted on each other and modified each other's practice in religion. Attempts were later made to reconcile the differences between them and to establish the unity of thought in Hinduism.

Historically considered Veer Shaivism is a fine and full blown flower of Shaivism. For Shaivism as well as for Veer Shaivism the 28 Shiv Agam are the scriptures. But Veer Shaivism considers the latter two parts of the Agam as scriptural authority. Since the end portion of the Agam is regarded as authority Veer Shaivism is known as Agamaant. Shiv is the worshipping deity for Shaivism and Veer Shaivism in the form of Ling. The Shaiv worship Shiv Ling in the temples while the Veer Shaiv wear the miniature form of Shiv Ling known as Isht Ling. The Ling worn on the body is made of light grey slate stone and to be kept intact all through the wearer's life, it is coated all over with the fine durable black paste prepared out of certain ingredient. The coating is called Kaanti or covering. The Ling is worshipped by placing it on the palm of the left hand. This is the subjective mode of worship in which the devotee and the Divine are facing each other.

Ling is three fold: (1) Bhaav Ling - Ling the ideal corresponding to the causal body of the devotee; (2)  Praan Ling - Linga the vital corresponds to the subtle body of the devotee; and (3) Isht Ling - Ling the gross or the physical corresponds to the gross body of the devotee. The devotee starts with the worship of Isht Ling and reaches by stages up to the Praan Ling and then the Bhaav Ling with the idea of his being a part and parcel of God through all the stages when he reaches atonement with God or Shiv.

Plexuses or Chakra
see also    Chakra

Anatomy speaks of the plexuses in the human body. These plexuses which are otherwise known as Chakras, are the network of the autonomic nervous system. The Plexuses are said to have petals as the lotus have. Physiologically the petals are no other than the branches of nerves shooting from the ganglia in different directions for the regular functioning of the different parts of the body. Praan runs through these branches and activates the different parts of the body in the particular locality in which a Plexus is situated.

The lowermost Chakra is the basis plexus called Moolaadhaar. It has four branches or petals and the shape of a triangle. The second Chakra is Swaadhishthaan which is situated in the pelvic region and it has six petals. The third Chakra is the Solar plexus with ten petals and its location is in the region of the navel. The fourth Chakra is the Anahat which has twelve petals and is located in the region of the heart. The fifth Chakra is Vishuddhi situated in the region of the throat and it has sixteen petals. The sixth is Aagyaa Chakra which has two petals and is situated between eyebrows. This is called Plexus of command.

In the process of Yog, the centers have a fixed physiological use and a general function. The Moolaadhaar governs the physical down to the subconscient. The abdominal center the Swaadhishthaan governs the lower vital. According to Veer Shaivism, these two Chakra represent the domain of Isht Ling and are respectively occupied by the sub-forms of Isht Ling -- Aachaar Ling in the Moolaadhaar and Guru Ling in Swaadhishthaan Chakra. This is the place of Tyaagaang. The navel centre or Manipur governs the larger vital and the heart centre or Anahat governs the emotional being. These two form the vital or the intermediate plane. According to Veer Shaivism this is the plane of Bhogaang and is the domain of Praan Ling or the vital because the vital force of consciousness functions here. The throat centre or Vishuddhi Chakra governs the expressive mind, here consciousness assume concrete form of the sound. The center between the two eyebrows governs the will. According to Veer Shaivism this is the plane of Bhaav Ling - the higher intellectual plane.

The human body is identified with Tyaagaang with Isht Ling working behind it. The autonomous nervous system with Bhogaang with Praan Ling working behind it; the central nervous system or cerebrum with Yogaangwith Bhaav Ling working behind it. The bodily mechanism is Tyaagaang because it is to be directed towards the higher and in performance to the demands of matter. Here the Isht Ling aids the soul when it becomes conscious of the higher end. Full faith in the Divinity in the spirit of submission is the means to that end. The faith in relation to Shakti or the devotee is Shraddhaa which develops into Nishthaa or singleness of purpose of Mahesh. In the first stage Aachaar Ling, the practical and in the second stage Guru Ling, the perceptive are aroused for giving the soul and an insight into the spiritual truth. This is the first process of sublimation in the upward march of the soul. Here the soul is purified and divested of the thoughts of the worldly life. Aachaar Ling and Guru Ling are connected with Aadhaar Chakra and Swaadhishthaan Chakra with the corresponding awakening of the powers in them.

The intermediate plane is the plane of Bhogaang, the soul in the stage of enjoyment. This is the psychic plane, the plane of Praan Ling. In this stage the soul has the co-operation of Praan Ling, for his further development. Here the soul has the enjoyment of material world in so far as it is necessary for the substance of the body which is the basis of all life - temporal or spiritual. In this plane the truth that material enjoyment and spiritual experience are in no way inconsistent but are mutually helpful, is demonstrated. The enjoyment of the soul is in company with Praan Ling so that everything that the soul takes or enjoys is in the first instance dedicated to Ling and is then taken as Prasaad or consecrated food. Here conscious aspiration is the means to the objective of atonement of the divinity, with its two sub-division of Avadhaan, the undivided attention fixed on the divinity in contemplation and Anubhav or partial experience of the divine life. The two forms of Shakti invoke the aid of two modifications of Praan Ling - Shiv Ling the gracious and Chara Ling the itinerant.

Prasaadi is the third modification of the soul which strives with undivided attention to earn the grace of God in his aspect as Shiv Ling. So also the Praan Ling - the fourth modification of the soul attentively meditates on divinity and attains the stage of partial experience of the divine life. Here the form of Shakti is called Anubhav Bhakti, the experiential stage of the spiritual life. The two modifications of Praan Ling, Shiv Ling and Char Ling are connected with Manipur Chakra and Anahat Chakra with a corresponding sublimation of their powers.

The third plane is the plane of the highest intelligence. This is the plane of Yogaang to which the soul rises up gradually step by step. Here the soul is in the stage of regaining his oneness with the universal consciousness. Here he secures the help and co-operation of Bhaav Ling, the ideal. Yogaang in its two modifications, Sharan and Aikya, strives for regaining his essential oneness with the divinity. The two forms of Bhakti, Aanand Bhakti and Samaras Bhakti invoke the aid of the two forms of Bhaav Ling - Prasaad Ling, the peaceful and Mahaa Ling, the great. Prasaad Ling and Mahaa Ling are connected with Vishuddhi Chakra and Aagyaa Chakra with a corresponding awakening of powers in them.

 

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Created by Sushma Gupta on 3/15/06
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Updated on 06/09/11