[Advaita-l] Shaivism and Vedic Hinduism

[V Subrahmanian]

On Sat, Jan 7, 2017 at 5:51 PM, Santosh Rao via Advaita-l <
advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:

> I think it is because there is no mention of "Shiva" in vedas in relation
> to how he is currently viewed. "Rudra worship" would be the brahminical
> counterpart, I guess.
>
> I've never heard that vaishnavas are not considered brahmins, any more info
> on that?
>
> In Vedanta, the three pillars are Brahma Sutras, Upanishads, and Bhagavad
> Gita, but do the present day Shaiva sects esteem these in the same way
> Vaishnavas or Smartas do? Why would a Shaiva give Bhagavad Gita any
> importance?
>

For the Brahmasutras there is the Srīkaṇṭha bhāṣya which is also known as
'śiva-viśiṣṭādvaita'. Sri Appayya Dikṣita has written a commentary on this
bhāṣya called 'śivārkamaṇidīpikā'. Appayya Dikshitar considered this to be
the closest to Advaita darshana of Shankara. It is only after this is
Ramanuja darshana and later the Madhva system, in the assessment of
Dikshitar. There is a famous verse too of his:

आनन्दतीर्थमुनि*लक्षणदेशिकेन्द्रश्रीकण्ठयोगिपदवीरदवीयसीर्नः ।
आचार्यपादसरणिञ्च विविच्य बोद्धुं संगृह्यते मतचतुष्टयसारलेशम् ॥

He has shown in this work how all the other schools - Dvaita,
vishishtadvaita and the SrikanTha school are steps to attain Advaita.

Abhinavagupta has written a complete commentary on the Bhagavadgita,
considering the teachings of Krishna as that of Brahman.

Shaivas hold the upanishads that are specifically śiva-centric like the
Kaivalya, as dear to them.

Even among the Lingāyats there is a Panchāchārya sect which holds
upanishads to be sacred and they chant the Rudram during the Shiva puja.

The śaiva nāyanmārs of the 7-8-9 CE had many who were Brahmins and
agnihotris.

If you know Tamil, you will find this article series interesting:

http://www.tamilhindu.com/2009/06/veda-tamil-shaivam-1/

So there is a rich legacy of Veda-Śaiva-Brahmin connection.

regards
subbu





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