Lakulish &Pashupatas

Dynamics between the philosophy and practice in the Lakulisa Pasupata cult

By

Geetika Kaw Kher

1Introduction:

The aim of this study is to look at religion as a construct, a living-breathing phenomenon constantly in the state of flux, either appropriating new concepts or getting appropriated in a stronger system. One often wonders how new aspects and at times totally contrary ones are accepted and even legitimized in a belief system hence raising interesting questions about the dynamics between different religious systems, which come in contact with each other.

One of the most exciting periods in Indian history where one can study this dynamics to the maximum are the few centuries before and after the beginning of the Christian era. This is the time when Jainism and Buddhism had already challenged the supremacy of Vedas and lot of people especially from the Vaisya and Shudra class got converted into the former systems. Meanwhile the highly philosophical and abstract religion of Vedas was becoming more and more difficult to follow for a layman. There was a need to give a more tangible form to the religion, something to which a common man could relate. Hence started an interesting and seemingly competitive struggle between various cults to assert their supremacy. What is really fascinating is the give and take that occurred between between these cults and the Vedic religion. While on the one hand these cults tried to identify their deity with Vedic Rudra or Vedic Visnu, on the other hand the concept of the said Vedic godheads was expanded to appropriate these cult deities.

It is in this period that Lakulisa- Pasupata cult came to the forefront. A lot of debate has ensued regarding the date of Lakulisa .The dating varies from 11thC.AD.. To 2nd C BC

On the basis of two inscriptions mentioning 'Lakutesvara Pandita' Fleet dated Lakulisa to 11th C.AD.This dating was refuted by scholars like T.Gopinath Rao on the basis of the mention of Lakulisvara in pre 11th C. literature.The date was further pushed back to late 1st C.AD.with the finding and later publishing of the Mathura Pillar Inscription of Chandragupta II dated to 380AD, by D.R. Bhandarkar. The inscription records the erection of two images Kapilesvara and Upamitesvara in a Guruvayatana by one Uditacharya, a Pasupata teacher.Moreover Acarya Udita is described as tenth in apostolic succession from Kusika, the immediate disciple of Lakulisa. Even this early date has been contested by some scholars who suggest an earlier date.U.P shah feels that Lakulisa can be dated to 1st C.BC ..According to him the cult must have been popular in western India in early Christian era and Ksatrapas in that region who called themselves Rudradaman andRudrasimha possibly had come under the influence of the said cult. R.G Bhandarkar suggests 2nd C BC. as the probable date on the basis of the fact that Lakulisa's rise had been represented by Puranas to be contemporaneous with Vasudev-Krsna . Further he suggests that the Lakulisa-Pasupata system was intended to take the same place in the Rudra-Siva cult that the Panchratra did in the Vasudeva-Krsna cult.Agreeing to this early date Banerjee argues that the term "kusika-dasamena" in the Mathura Pillar inscription should be taken in the sense of a spiritual descent and not in that of generation,hence allotting twenty-five years to each spiritual generation is nothing but a conjecture and cannot lead to any definite conclusion . The contention is substantiated by some early coins found at Ujjain (kada coins 3rd -2nd C. BC.),Vidisha,Pawaya and Kutwar depicting Siva holding a danda (staff) (lakula) and a Kamandalu(water pitcher) which is the earliest form of iconography for Lakulisa.

This present study proposes to dig in the antiquity of the Lakulisa pasupata cult and study the dichotomy between the practices and philosophy of the said cult in the light of the scattered and fragmentary visual and verbal material.

2Scope of the study:

Review of literature:

Primary sources:The first Sanskrit sources on the Pasupata system to be noticed by the scholars were the brief passages in the Brahmsutra commentaries , and the 'Pasupata vow' of the Atharvasiras Upanisad. In 1940 R.A.Sastri published the newly discovered Pasupata Sutra ,the central scripture of the Lakulisa-Pasupata school attributed to Lakulisa himself. The five chapters of this sutra derive their name from five mantras of Taitiriya Aranyaka viz.

Sadyojita Vamadeva Aghora Tatpurusa Isana

In 1stCAD Kaundinya wrote a commentary on the Sutra which is called Pancharthabhasya. Tantraloka of Abhinavagupta dated to 10th CAD. also talks in detail about the philosophy and tantrik aspect of the said system. A tradition in the Agama quoted by Abhinavagupta records the receiving of the doctrine by Lakula from Swachchhanda thus linking the system with much complicated and curious Bhairava tradition of Kashmir.(vs pathak)

Ganakarika, is the only available ancient text of Lakulisa-Pasupatas.Though it consists of only eight karikas (verses) it puts forth succinctly the mystic theology of the said system.The Ratnatika (commentary) on it not only explains and elaborates the points mentioned in the text but also describes all the main principles and doctrines of the system. Dalal who edited the text attributes the work to a 10th C.AD scholar Bhasarajna but scholars like Hara who have worked extensively on Pasupata philosophy believe that the above mentioned author has written the commentary while the text itself has been authored by one Haradatta who lived much earlier.

The Karvan Mahatmaya appended to Ganakarika relates the story of birth of Siva as Lakulisa and also describes some important rituals and pilgrimages.

Secondary Sources: Various scholars have worked on different aspects of Lakulisa-Pasupata cult. D.R.Bhandarkar in hjs Annual Report of the ASI (1906-7) tried to reconstruct the entire story of Lakulisa-Paupata cult from literature,epigraphs and historical data available. Banerjea has looked into the archeological finds and possible prototypes for the iconography of Lakulisa. On the other hand R.G. Bhandarkar sees this development as contemporary to rise of Vasudeva Krsna and hence very important in the history of