Religion

Lorenzen, Bhakti Religion in North India.There is evidence for worship of Śiva in the Indus civilization.A further element of Śiva cult can be seen in the numerous liṅgas that have been found all over.Another important source of Śaivism is the ancient Dravida culture.The most plausible etymology of the name Śiva traces the name to Tamil roots.1 Several features of Śaivism too can be explained more satisfactorily by comparison with Dravida culture.The basic Śiva mythology and philosophy seems to have grown in the Dravida country.Another noteworthy source of Śaivism lies in tribal religions.The very name of the ancient Śibi3 seems to associate them with Śaivism.Their original home had been in the Punjab and names of places like Śivapura and descriptions in ancient historic records of the Śibis going about clad in skins of wild animals and using a club as their weapon seem to indicate that their tradition did have an influence in the development of Śaivism.A further trace of tribal elements in Śaivism may be the numerous Rudras, mentioned even later in classical Vedic and Śaiva literature.Tribals of our day are often worshipers of Śiva, whom they invoke under many names, but it seems that their Śaivism is derived from their Hindu neighbours, and not vice versa.4As a fourth source we can mention the Veda.The worship of the liṅga must have been frowned upon for a long time by orthodox Brahmanism.They believed that Śiva himself descended in the form of Nakulīśa or Lakulīśa in order to teach the tenets of the Pāśupata religion.Modern research tends to accept Lakulīśa as a historical figure.Under the Guptas, as pointed out before, Hinduism experienced a renaissance.So were the famous poets Kālidāsa18 and Bhāravi.Even the Hūṇa king Mihirakula seems to have been a Śaiva.Also many contemporary kings in Bengal and Deccan were Śaivas.In South India, Śaivism became the dominating religion very early.After his conversion to Śaivism, his capital Kāñcīpura became a stronghold of Śaivism, embellished with temples and statues of Śiva.His successors continued his work.If release is not sought for in this life, it will be hard to attain it hereafter.He immerses them in the ocean of wisāom and enables them to have Śivananda.It is through the Siddhānta that all these can be achieved.85Śivāya nāmab, is the most effective mantra and invokes mukti.The recitation of Śiva hymns, especially the Śivasahasranāma, is also an integral part of Śiva worship.Merit of good deeds is also extolled by Śaivas.Śaivism from very early times on has been connected with asceticism and with extreme practices.125 Śaivism has produced many sects and religious orders, which have developed a great variety of practices, supposedly revealed by Śiva himself as necessary and conducive to salvation.It is unclear whether Śiva received these attributes because groups of his worshipers followed such practices or whether his worshipers took up such practices, because they wanted to be like Śiva.Śaivism is linked up closely with saṃnyāsa.As to his becoming a samnydsi there are several not very flattering stories, probably put into circulation by Vaiṣṇavas.As Śiva has a gbora and a saumya aspect, so Śaiva saṃnyāsis are divided into agboras and others, who follow the more pleasant features.But a good many Śaiva saṃnyāsis maintain that final liberation, especially in the form of final merging with Śiva, can be achieved only through saṃnyāsa in one of the Śaiva orders.