saivam and shankara's date

[BGS]

On Fri, 2 Nov 2001 01:21:59 -0500, vidya S Jayaraman <paanini at YAHOO.COM>
wrote:

>jaldhar vyas wrote>>
>In the digvijayas a story is mentioned about how
>Abhinavagupta the famous Kashmiri Shaiva put a curse
>on Shankaracharya. Padmapadacharya turned the
>curse back onto him and he died.
>
>1.Reg KAshmiri saivism and why no mention of it :
>>> Abhinavagupta's time is appr 950 AD.so the curse
>story is again questionable.

>2.The previous question about the method of worship in
>the temples still persists.
>
>>So How do we account for all these?


Abhinavagupta (10th Century A.D) , in his Tantraloka (36-11)
says “Bhairava , Raudra and Saiva Agamas were compiled by Trayambaka,
Amardaka and Srinatha respectively”. Scholars opine that this task
had been completed by 3rd century A.D.

The Bhairava Agamas are  the Moola-Agamas for the Kashmira Saiva School
(Advaita Saiva). The Roudra and Saiva Agamas were considered as the
Siddhanta Agamas.

According to Kshemendra the people at that time
were very much attracted towards the Siddhanta Agamas (Saiva and
Raudra).  ‘siddhAntapriyOhi lOka:’Hence temples were built on the
basis of Siddhanta Agamas (even in Kashmir where Advaita-Saiva had been
more popular).

Sankara  does not comment upon these systems and their wide spread
acceptance in the country.  However, the Sankaravijayams do claim that in
Kashmir Sankara defeated the scholars of different religious sects and
ascended Sarvagna Peetha.

In South, epigraphs of the 6th - 9th century period contain a lot of
information about the popularity and practices of the Pasupata and
Siddhanta Saiva schools.

Mahendra Varma Pallava - I, (610 – 630 A.D), in his Tiruchirapalli
inscription refers to the worship of Linga, and the spread of Linga
worship in the world.

   'gunabhara nAmAni rajani anEna lingEna lingini gnAnam
    prathatham chirAya lokE vipaksha vrittE: parAvrttam,

Pallava Rajasimhan - I, (690 –728 A.D) in his Kailasanatha Temple
inscription declares himself as a staunch follower of Saiva Siddhanta
marga, and as a result got himself cleaned of impurities.

   ‘'vidita bahu naya: saiva siddhAnta margE
     sriman atyanta kAma: kshata sakala malA:
     dhurtarA: pallvAnAm'

His Vayalur inscription says that he was ever engaged in adoring the lotus
feet of Sambu. 'sambhO: pAdAravind dvya:’.

Vaishnava saint Tirmangai Alwar and Saivite Sundarar are the
contemporaries of King Nandivarma Pallava ( 8th- 9th century A.D).
None of their hymns give any indication about the existence of a
popular Advaita Acharya in the country during this period.

The Sankaravijayams often narrate  stories about the visit of
Sankara to various Vishnu-stalas (Tirumala, Guruvayur, Anantasayanam,
Srirangam,
) and Siva-stalas (Kanchipuram, Rameshwaram, Tirucchendur,
Madurai, Madhyarjunam, Tiruchirapalli, Jambukeshwaram,  Chidambaram,
Tiruvotriyur, Mallikarjunam, Srikalahasti, Gokarnam
)

Neither the Divya-Prabandham and Saiva - Tirumurai (Vaishnava and Saiva
Hymns) nor the temple records and literature refer to the visit of Sankara
to these places during the 8th/9th Century A.D.

BGS