Pashupati "Lord of all animals", is an epithet of the Hindu god Shiva. In Vedic times it was used as an epithet of Rudra. The Rigveda has the related pashupa"protector of animals" as a name of Pushan. The name was also applied by John Marshall to a figure, probably a deity depicted as sitting among animals, on a seal discovered in the context of the Indus Valley Civilization The main temple of Nepal is Pashupatinath at Katmandu.
A seal discovered during excavation of the Mohenjodaro archaeological site in the Indus Valley (2900BC-1900BC) has drawn attention as a possible representation of a "yogi" or "proto-Shiva" figure. This "Pashupati" (Lord of Animals, Sanskrit paśupati) seal shows a seated figure, possiblyithyphallic, surrounded by animals. Some observers describe the figure as sitting in a traditional cross-legged yoga pose with its hands resting on its knees.
The discoverer of the seal, Sir John Marshall, and others have claimed that this figure is a prototype of Shiva.
Imagery
..there is little evidence for the currency of this myth. Rudra, a Vedic deity later identified with Shiva, is indeed referred to as pasupati because of his association with cattle; but asceticism and meditation were not Rudra's specialties, nor is he usually credited with an empathy for animals other than kine. More plausibly, it has been suggested that the Harappan figure's heavily horned headgear bespeaks a bull cult, to which numerous other representations of bulls lend substance.
Archaeologist Gregory Possehl also disagrees with the Proto-Shiva theory, but contends that "the posture of the deity...is a form of ritual discipline, suggesting a precursor of yoga." Possehl also states that this view:
...is supported by several other yogi images in the corpus of Mature Harappan materials....These diverse images suggest that the Indus pose of ritual discipline was used in more than one way and that their buffalo god did not have exclusive access to it. Taken as a whole, it appears that the pose may have been used by deities and humans alike....This presents an interesting possibility: Some of the Harrapans were devoted to ritual discipline and concentration, and this was one of the preoccupations of at least one of their gods."
Pashupati seal
A seal discovered during excavation of the Mohenjodaro archaeological site in the Indus Valley (2900BC-1900BC) has drawn attention as a possible representation of a "yogi" or "proto-Shiva" figure. This "Pashupati" (Lord of Animals, Sanskrit paśupati) seal shows a seated figure, possiblyithyphallic, surrounded by animals. Some observers describe the figure as sitting in a traditional cross-legged yoga pose with its hands resting on its knees.
The discoverer of the seal, Sir John Marshall, and others have claimed that this figure is a prototype of Shiva.
Imagery
Archaeologist Jonathan Mark Kenoyer, current Co-director of the Harappa Archaeological Research Project in Pakistan and Indologist Heinrich Zimmeragree that the 'Pashupati' figure shows a figure in a yoga posture.
Critiques
Gavin Flood characterizes these views as "speculative", saying that while it is not clear from the seal that the figure has three faces, is seated in a yoga posture, or even that the shape is intended to represent a human figure, it is nevertheless possible that there are echoes of Shaiva iconographic themes, such as half-moon shapes resembling the horns of a bull. ] Historian John Keay is more specifically dismissive, saying:
..there is little evidence for the currency of this myth. Rudra, a Vedic deity later identified with Shiva, is indeed referred to as pasupati because of his association with cattle; but asceticism and meditation were not Rudra's specialties, nor is he usually credited with an empathy for animals other than kine. More plausibly, it has been suggested that the Harappan figure's heavily horned headgear bespeaks a bull cult, to which numerous other representations of bulls lend substance.
...is supported by several other yogi images in the corpus of Mature Harappan materials....These diverse images suggest that the Indus pose of ritual discipline was used in more than one way and that their buffalo god did not have exclusive access to it. Taken as a whole, it appears that the pose may have been used by deities and humans alike....This presents an interesting possibility: Some of the Harrapans were devoted to ritual discipline and concentration, and this was one of the preoccupations of at least one of their gods."
Pashupatas
The devotees of Pashupati Siva are called Pashupatas. Their religious sect is also called Pashupata or Pasupata (Pashupata Shaivism). The Mahabharata's Narayaniya section mentions thePasupata School among five systems (namely Sankhya, Yoga, Pancharatra, Veda and Pashupata). It was propagated by Lakulisa in 2nd century A.D.. Lakulisa was described in Puranas as 28th or last incarnation of Siva. Lakulisa composed the work Pancharthavidya, which says "A Pasupata must bathe thrice a day,must lie on the dust or ashes". This Pasupata Vow is described in Atharvasiras Upanishad, a sectatian work devoted to Rudra's glory.
Potnia Theron is a term first used (once) by Homer (Iliad 21. 470) and often used to describe female divinities associated with animals. The word Potnia, meaning mistress or lady, was a Mycenaean word inherited by Classical Greek, with the same meaning, which has an exact parallel in Sanskrit patnī.
Homer's mention of potnia theron is thought to refer to Artemis and Walter Burkert describes this mention as "a well established formula". An Artemis type deity, a 'Mistress of the Animals', is often assumed to have existed in prehistorical religion and often referred to as Potnia Theron, with some scholars positing a relationship between Artemis and goddesses depicted in Minoan art and "Potnia Theron has become a generic term for any female associated with animals.
Pashupata Shaivism is the oldest of the major Shaivite schools. The philosophy of Pashupata sect was systematized byLakulish (also called Nakuliśa ) in the 2nd century A.D. The main texts of the school are Gaṇakārikā, Pañchārtha bhāshyadipikā and Rāśikara-bhāshya.
Date
Pashupata Shaivism is the oldest of the major Shaivite schools. The philosophy of Pashupata sect was systematized byLakulish (also called Nakuliśa ) in the 2nd century A.D. The main texts of the school are Gaṇakārikā, Pañchārtha bhāshyadipikā and Rāśikara-bhāshya.
Date
The date of foundation of the school is uncertain. However, the Pashupatas may have existed from the 1st century AD. Gavin Flood dates them to around the 2nd century AD. They are also referred to in the epic Mahabharata which is thought to have reached a final form by 4th century CE. The Pashupata movement was influential in South India in the period between the 7th and 14th century, but it no longer exists.
Overview
Pashupata Shaivism was a devotional (bhakti) and ascetic movement. Pashu in Pashupati refers to the effect (or created world), the word designates that which is dependent on something ulterior. Whereas, Pati means the cause (or prinripium), the word designates the Lord, who is the cause of the universe, the pati, or the ruler. To free themselves from worldy fetters Pashupatas are instructed to do a pashupata vrata. Atharvasiras Upanishsad describes the pashupata vrata as that which consists of besmearing one's own body with ashes and at the same time muttering mantra — "Agni is ashes, Vayu is ashes, Sky is ashes, all this is ashes, the mind, these eyes are ashes.
Haradattacharya, in Gaṇakārikā, explains that a spiritual teacher is one who knows the eight pentads and the three functions. The eight pentads of Acquisition(result of expedience), Impurity(evil in soul), Expedient(means of purification), Locality(aids to increase knowledge), Perseverance(endurance in pentads), Purification(putting away impurities), Initiation and Powers are
| Acquisition | knowledge | penance | permanence of the body | constancy | purity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Impurity | false conception | demerit | attachment | interestedness | falling |
| Expedient | use of habitation | pious muttering | meditation | constant recollection of Rudra | apprehension |
| Locality | spiritual teachers | a cavern | a special place | the burning ground | Rudra |
| Perseverance | the differenced | the undifferenced | muttering | acceptance | devotion |
| Purification | loss of ignorance | loss of demerit | loss of attachment | loss of interestedness | loss of falling |
| Initiations | the material | proper time | the rite | the image | the spiritual guide |
| Powers | devotion to the spiritual guide | clearness of intellect | conquest of pleasure and pain | merit | carefulness |
The three functions correspond to the means of earning daily food — mendicancy, living upon alms, and living upon what chance supplies.
Philosophy
Pashupatas disapprove of the Vaishnava theology, known for its doctrine servitude of souls to the Supreme Being, on the grounds that dependence upon anything cannot be the means of cessation of pain and other desired ends. They recognize that those depending upon another and longing for independence will not be emancipated because they still depend upon something other than themselves. According to Pashupatas, spirits possess the attributes of the Supreme Deity when they become liberated from the 'germ of every pain'. In this system the cessation of pain is of two kinds, impersonal and personal. Impersonal consists of the absolute cessation of all pains, whereas the personal consists of development of visual and active powers like swiftness of thought, assuming forms at will etc. The Lord is held to be the possessor of infinite, visual, and active powers.
Pañchārtha bhāshyadipikā divides the created world into the insentient and the sentient. The insentient is unconscious and thus dependent on the conscious. The insentient is further divided into effects and causes. The effects are of ten kinds, the earth, four elements and their qualities, colour etc . The causes are of thirteen kinds, the five organs of cognition, the five organs of action, the three internal organs, intellect, the ego principle and the cognising principle. These insentient causes are held responsible for the illusive identification of Self with non-Self. The sentient spirit, which is subject to transmigration is of two kinds, the appetent and nonappetent. The appetent is the spirit associated with an organism and sense organs, whereas the non-appetent is the spirit without them.
Union in the Pashupata system is a conjunction of the soul with God through the intellect. It is achieved in two ways, action and cessation of action. Union through action consists of pious muttering, meditation etc and union through cessation of action occurs through consciousness.
Differences with other schools of Indian philosophy
Cessation of suffering in other systems like Sankhya occurs through the mere termination of miseries, but in Pashupata school it is the attainment of supremacy or of divine perfections. In other philosophies, the created world is that which has come into existence, but in this system it is eternal. In other schools of thought, birth in paradise involves a return to cycle of rebirth, but in this system it results in nearness to the Supreme Being.
Rituals
Rituals and spiritual practices were done to acquire merit or puṇya. They were divided into primary and secondary rituals, where primary rituals were the direct means of acquiring merit. Primary rituals included acts of piety and various postures. The acts of piety were bathing thrice a day, lying upon sand and worship with oblations of laughter, song, dance, sacred muttering etc. Postures involved absurd actions such as, snoring or showing signs of being asleep while awake, limping, wooing or gestures of a inamorato on seeing a young and pretty woman, talking nonsensically etc. Secondary rituals involved bearing marks of purity after bathing.