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xxxv11] Saiva Philosophy in the Vāyaviya-samhitā 123
We have already seen that the practical way towards liberation should be through the attainment of knowledge of the nature of souls, the objects that bind them and the supreme Lord. This knowledge should be supplemented by action in accordance with the direction of the Teacher, who in Saiva cult is to be regarded as the incarnation of Siva. This action called kriyā is to be supplemented by the prescriptive duties allotted to the different castes and stages of life in the scriptures, and the duty which consists of the worship of God goes by the name of caryā. This has further to be supplemented by a process of devotional meditation, with Siva as the centre of attention, when all other mental states have been inhibited. The scriptures dealing with these subjects are twofold, one of Vedic origin, the other of independent origin. These latter are of twenty-eight kinds (like the Agamas), called Kāmika, etc., which also go by the name of Siddhānta?
In VII. 1. 32 certain esoteric and obscure physiological processes are described by which one can bring oneself in contact with immortality as inherent in Siva, the Mahādeva.
In vii. 2. 37 the yoga is described as being of five kinds: mantrayoga, sparśayoga, bhāvayoga, abhāvayoga and mahāyoga. The mantrayoga is that in which by constant repetition of cer mantras the mental states becomes steady. When this is associated with breath control it is called sparśayoga. When this state is further on the progressive scale and becomes dissociated from the necessity of chanting the mantras, it is called the bhāvayoga. By further advancement of this yoga process, the world appearance in its various forms entirely disappears, and this is called the abhāvayoga. At this stage the yogin is not concerned with the world. He
1 H. W. Schomerus in his Saiva-siddhānta, p. 3, says that there are six and sixteen schools of Saivism, according to a commentary on Siva-jñāna-bodha which we shall refer to later on. These schools as referred to by Schomerus are:
I. Pāśupata, Māvratavāda(?), Kāpālika, Vāma, Bhairava and Aikyavāda. II. Ordhvaćaiva, Anādisaiva, Adiśaiva, Mahāśaiva, Bhedaśaiva, Abheda
saiva, Antaraśaiva, Guņaśaiva, Nirgunaśaiva, Adhvansaiva, Yogaśaiva,
Jñanaśaiva, Anušaiva, Kriyāśaiva, Nālupādaśaiva(?) and Suddhasaiva. We do not know what were the contents of these different schools of Saivism and we cannot also identify any particular texts giving the views of any of these schools of Saivism. In our treatment we have noted different types of Saivism, and many of them go by the name of Pāśupata-Saivism, but whether this Pasupata-Saivism was also divided into different schools having different names, it is impossible for us to judge for want of definite materials, either published or unpublished.
? See verses 45-56 (VII. I. 32).
