365bet娱乐

Sripati Panditacharya suggests that his exposition of the Viseshadvaita from the point of view of the Virasaiva doctrine is in consonance with the declared views of all the Smritis. He also mentions the further fact that his Bhashya follows in its interpretation of the Sutras of Badarayana, the Vritti of Agastyamuni. (See Adhyaya I, Pada I, Sutra 1, Mangalacharana Sloka, No. 16, page 27, line 26.) Apparently as Sankara followed the Varaha Sahodara Vritti, Ramanuja the Bodhayana Vritti, and Madhva the Hayagriva Brahmavidya, Sripati seems to have followed the Agastya

25 This Agastya Vritti, which must be presumed to be an ancient work, should not be confounded with Agastya Sutras, a Sutra treatise evidently modern in diction and style, written in imitation of Vyasa Sutras, which are apparently intended like the very similar work Saktadarsana, to establish that Sakti is the supreme deity. (See Triennial Catalogue of MSS. of the Madras Oriental MSS. Library, Vol. I, Part I, Nos. 89 and 778.)⁴

⁴ Agastya is often described as the progenitor of the civilization of the South of India. In a MS. included in the Mackenzie Series, an account of this great muni is given, based partly on the first section of the Kasi Khanda of the Skanda Purana and partly on local legends. (See Agastya Varalar, Wilson's Mackenzie MSS., p. 242, No. 17.) In this work, he is said to have come from the North of India, and settled finally in the South, where he composed the first elements of Tamil Grammar. His grammatical writings no longer exist in consequence, it is said, of an imprecation upon him by his disciple Tolgappiyar. All the same, a short grammar of the Tamil language--called Agastya Vyakarana-is known (ibid., 248). In another MS. work called the Agastya Jnyana in the same Mackenzie series (ibid., 227-228), Agastya is himself made to declare that he was originally a Sudra and that he was subsequently purified by his Brahman preceptor. The story, which is set down in a hundred verses, is interesting as showing how closely Agastya is connected with Siva and the religion named after him. "I declare," he is made to say, "that I obtained the eminent name of Agastya, because I was formerly a Sudra, my preceptor being a Brahman who resided in the South of Mahameru. Before receiving his instructions, I purified my animal frame of all imperfections by abstract devotion. I forsook the world, and lived in caves and rocks, when my holy preceptor appeared and said, 'Come, I admit you as my disciple'. I assented and followed. He lighted a sacrificial fire, and placed in it a jar, into which he commanded me to leap. I did so, and was consumed, and was born again, and issued from the jar, which was then changed into the form of a woman. Verily that jar was a form of Maheswari, and the Brahman of Mahadeva, who were my parents. They brought me up, and trained me in all learning and finally Siva conferred on me immortality." Later, by command of Siva, le repaired to the South to illuminate the darkness of the people. Here he invented, it is added, eighteen languages, including the Sen Tamil, the old or poetical Tamil. Finally, under the order of Siva, he composed various Sastras and wrote works on Rasayana (Alchemy), Medicine and Divine Wisdom. Most of his works are said to have perished, though a list of those bearing on medicine is given in the MS. above referred to (ibid., 228). Agastya is said to have taken up his residence on Podimalai, at the source of the Tambraparni river, mythologically described as his daughter by adoption, given to him by Siva. The Mackenzie MSS. include a number of works on medicine attributed to him. Among these are:-(1) Agastya Vaidyam, which treats of the preparation of medicines; (2) Agastya Purana Sutra, which is a work on mystical and alchemical medicine, on the cure of diseases by religious rites or visiting holy shrines it also comprises the Puja-Vidhi, which treats of the worship of Siva and other deities and the Diksha- Vidhi, which treats of the Diksha or ceremony of initiation in the Saiva faith ; (3) Bhasmamore, a work on alchemical or metallic medicines, containing rules for their calcination and reduction to powder, the preparation of different kinds of oxides, and the extraction of sulphuric acid; (4) Balachikitsa, a treatise on the diseases of infants, difficult parturition, puerperal fever, etc.; (5) Agastya Vaidya Munnur, a tract on the calcination and reduction of various vegetable and mineral articles to powder, for use in medicine; and on the extraction of essential oils, etc.; (6) Agastya Vaidya Nuthiyambid, a treatise on the purification of various poisonous substances and their employment in medicine; (7) Agastya Vaidya Nappatettu, a short tract on The cure of gonorihoa; (8) Vaidya Sutra Nuru, a set of hundred verses on different diseases and modes of treatment; and (9) Muppu, a tract on preparing medicines of the alkaline ashes of vegetables, etc. (Wilson, Mackenzie MSS., 245-246). Other works attributed to Agastya in Tamil are: Agastya Tirattu, Agatti yam, etc. A disciple of Agastya is said to have written Pannirupadalam, on which is based. the Purapporul Ventamalai, written by Aiyanaridanar, a descendant of Chera Kings. (See Madras D.C. Tamil, I, No. 78.) Agastya is thus suggested to be the original civilizer of the South and as the originator of the Tamil and other languages current in it. His close. connection with the Saiva religion is also more than hinted at in some of the Tamil MSS. above referred to. A Sanskrit MS. describes him as the author of Panchadasi Mulamantra Vyakhya, which is a commentary on the Panchadasi Mulamantra, which is an alternative name for Panchadasaksharimantra. This mantra is addressed to Tripurasundari and consists of fifteen syllables. It is supposed to have power to confer prosperity on one and to make him a great poet. The commentary is sometimes called Srividyatika. (See Madras D.C. XIII, No. 6552; also Nos. 6548 to 6550.) There is thus some reason for connecting Agastya with Saivism. Evidently Sripati echoes the tradition when he states that he follows the Vritti of Agastyamuni in his interpretation of Badarayana's Brahma Sutras. The suggestion seems to be that the interpretation is an ancient one and is based on the traditional views attributed to Agastya.