Essay name: Diksha (initiation) in Pancharatra
Author:
Shanta Srinivasan
Affiliation: University of Madras / Department of Sanskrit
This English essay studies Diksha in Pancharatra with reference to important texts. Diksha refers to initiation ceremonies into a particular esoteric tradition which is given, for example, by the teacher (Guru) to the student (Shishya). Pancharatra refers to an ancient school of Vaishnavism based on ancient Tantra-like texts called Agamas which were commonly written in Sanskrit verse.
Conclusion
22 (of 32)
External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)
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T a While the number of the Agama texts in vai峁ya sect that are fully available are small, the number of saiva Agamas are many. It is held that the main texts (m奴l膩gama) are twenty eight and the up膩gamas more than two hundred. There are no divisions of P膩帽car膩tra Agama as m奴la and up膩gamas. The commentaries on the P膩帽car膩tra 膧gama texts are less and even those that are available are not elaborate. On the other hand, the commentaries of R膩makantha and N膩r膩ya峁嘺ka峁囜笉tha on the Matangaparamesvara 膧gama, 艢膩rad膩 tri艣atikalottara and on the Mrgendra agama are very elaborate and are informative. But in the Pa帽car膩tra the commentaries are available only on few Agamas texts. Another point worth noting in the Saiva 膧gama is the detailed treatment of does not, however receive a the Adhvans. Mantra adhvan treatment in the saiva Agama. 182
