Guest guest Report post Posted March 19, 2008 Om Namah Sivaya Saiva Siddhanta is the philosophy of Southern Saivism. It owes its origin to no single author. It is midway between Sankara’s Advaita and Ramanuja’s Visishtadvaita. Its literature consists chiefly of: (i) the twenty-eight Saivite Agamas, (ii) the collection of Saivite hymns known as Tirumurai, (Compiled by Nambi Andar Nambi, the Tirumurai includes the Tirumantiram of Tirumular, the Tevaram of Appar, Sundarar and Sambandhar, and the Tiruvachakam of Manikkavachagar.) (iii) the collection of the lives of the Saivite saints, known as Periyapuranam, (iv) Meykandar’s Sivajnanabodham, (v) Arulnandi’s Siva-jnanasiddhiar, and (vi) the works of Umapati. Tirumular’s work ‘Tirumantiram’ is the foundation upon which the later structure of Saiva Siddhanta philosophy was built. The central doctrine of the Saiva Siddhanta philosophy is that Siva is the Supreme Reality, and that the Jiva or the individual soul is of the same essence as Siva, but not identical. Pati (God), Pasu (soul) and Pasa (the bonds), and the thirty-six Tattvas or principles which constitute the world, are all real. The Saiva Siddhanta system is the distilled essence of the Vedanta. It prevailed in Southern India even before the Christian era. Tirunelveli and Madurai are the centres of the Saiva Siddhanta school. Even now, Saivism is a very popular creed in South India. It is a rival school of Vaishnavism. ---Sri Swami Sivananda Sivaya Namah Rise to the challenge for Sport Relief with for Good Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
