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148 Saiva Philosophy in some Important Texts (CH. with the cessation of his body may live in fixed association with the supreme Lord.
We must now turn to the means by which the aspirant may attain his desired end. The first is technically called vāsa. It means many things; it means the capacity to understand the proper meanings of words of texts, to remember them, to be able to collate and complete that knowledge in association with knowledge gained in other places, the ability to criticise the teachings of opposite schools in favour of one's own school, to be able to grasp the correct meaning of texts which have been differently interpreted, to be able to carry one's own conviction to other people, the ability to speak without contradiction and repetition and without any kind of delusion, and thereby to satisfy the teacher. To these must be added the proper courtesy and behaviour towards the teacher. This latter is called caryā, paricaryā, or kriyā. The term caryā is also used to denote various kinds of action, such as smearing the body with ashes, and so on. According to the Pāśupata system the bathing of the body with ashes is equivalent to proper sacrifice, that is, yajña. Other kinds of sacrifice are regarded as bad sacrifices.
Bhāsarvajña follows Kaundinya's bhāsya in describing caryā as being twofold or threefold. Thus the bathing of the body with ashes, lying down, muttering mantras, etc., are called vrata, which produces merit and removes demerit. All the other recommendations found in Kauņdinya's bhāsya as regards shivering, laughing, making noises, etc., are also repeated here. In fact, the Gaņakārikā and the Ratnațīkā closely follow the teachings of Kauņdinya in his bhāsya, which is regarded as the most prominent work of the Pāśupata school.
One important point in this system deserves to be noticed. God Himself is absolutely independent. The introduction of the idea of karma and its fruit is not so indispensable, for the simple reason that no karmas can produce any fruit without the will of God. All karmas can be frustrated by God's will. So the introduction of the karma theory, which is held in so high an esteem in other systems of philosophy, is here regarded as superfluous. That this was the idea of the Nakulīša-Pāśupata philosophy from the time of the Pāśupata-sūtras and Kaundinya's bhāsya to the fourteenth century when the Sarva-darśana-samgraha was written, is
