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Shri Mahavir Jain Aradhana Kendra
www.kobatirth.org
Acharya Shri Kailashsagarsuri Gyanmandir
CHAPTER XI
ŚAIVISM (E) AND SAKTISM (11)
Saivism is a powerful religious creed in the Southern India like Vaisnavism, and both are the rivals of each other. The Vaisnavas regard Vişou or Kțsça or Nārāyana or Vāsudeva, or Rāma or Vithobā as the ultimate Reality and the God to whom they direct their devotion, and they seek redemption from them. The Saivas, like the Vaisnavas look upon Siva as the ultimate Reality and the cause and substratum of the universe, and they believe that redemption can be acquired by surrendering to God S'iva or Rudra who is approachable by sincere devotion, and He redeems His devotees by his grace. Like the Vaisnavas the Saivas also emphatically hold that Siva can be attained by pure exclusive devotion, faith and, love for him by withdrawing from the objects of the world. S'aivism is as old as Vaisnavism and is predominantly popular in the Southern India.
God S'iva or Rudra was supposed to be a God of destruction and terror in the times of the Gșhyasūtras. “He was the god that held sway over regions away from home, over fields, wildernesses, cemeteries, mountains, old trees, and rivers. Whenever a man
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