Unit 9: Bhagvatism, Shaivism and Brahmanism

I. Historical and Religious Orientation

Between the later Vedic age and c. 1000 A.D., Indian religion underwent a major transition from sacrifice-centred Vedic worship to devotional, temple-based and image-based traditions. Bhagvatism and Shaivism developed around personal deities, while Brahmanism preserved Vedic authority and supplied the broader framework of ritual, social duty and sacred learning.

• Governing principle—religious synthesis: Vedic gods, local cults, ascetic traditions and philosophical ideas were gradually combined rather than simply replacing one another.
• Bhakti: Personal devotion to a chosen deity became an important path to divine grace and liberation, especially through the worship of Vishnu-Krishna and Shiva.
• Sectarian formation: Vaishnava and Shaiva communities developed distinctive deities, myths, symbols, scriptures, rituals and places of pilgrimage.
• Brahmanical continuity: The Vedas, Brahmanas, Upanishads, Dharmashastras, epics and Puranas preserved Brahmanical authority while allowing adaptation.
• Changing worship: Public sacrifices such as the ashvamedha continued under some rulers, but domestic rites, image worship, temple rituals, pilgrimage and festivals expanded.
• Material evidence: Inscriptions, coins, sculptures, temples and foreign accounts supplement religious literature; examples include the Heliodorus pillar and the Gudimallam linga.
• Political context: Dynasties patronised religious institutions to gain legitimacy, but patronage was usually plural rather than exclusively sectarian.
• Geographical expansion: These traditions spread through trade routes, royal capitals, pilgrimage centres, land grants, monasteries and temples across northern, central, southern and western India.

II. Bhagvatism — Devotion to Bhagavan Vasudeva-Krishna

A. Bhagvatism

Bhagvatism was an early devotional tradition centred initially on Vasudeva-Krishna, revered as Bhagavan, and later incorporated into the wider Vaishnava worship of Vishnu and his incarnations.

• Early background: Vasudeva-Krishna was associated with the Vrishni or Satvata clan; Panini’s Ashtadhyayi indicates the existence of Vasudevakas, or devotees of Vasudeva, by approximately the fourth century B.C.
• Epic development: In the Mahabharata, Krishna appears as a Vrishni hero, statesman, teacher and divine incarnation; the Bhagavad Gita presents devotion to Krishna as a path to liberation.
• Religious assimilation: Several streams were brought together:
  • Vasudeva-Krishna, the Vrishni hero-deity.
  • Narayana, a supreme cosmic being.
  • Vishnu, the Vedic deity who became the preserver.
• Vyuhas: Pancharatra teaching described divine manifestations or emanations, commonly including Vasudeva, Sankarshana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha.
• Historical evidence: The Heliodorus pillar at Besnagar, erected around the second century B.C. by a Greek ambassador, identifies him as a Bhagavata, demonstrating non-Indian participation in the cult.

B. Main characteristics

The main features of Bhagvatism were monotheistic devotion, divine incarnation and an accessible path of worship based on personal faith.

• Supreme personal deity: Vasudeva-Krishna or Vishnu was regarded as the highest god, though other deities were not necessarily denied.
• Bhakti and grace: Loving devotion, surrender and remembrance of God were valued alongside ritual action and spiritual knowledge.
• Avatar doctrine: Vishnu was believed to descend in different forms to restore dharma; Krishna, Rama, Varaha and Narasimha became especially prominent.
• Ethical teaching: The Bhagavad Gita combined:
  • Karma-yoga: disciplined action without attachment to results.
  • Jnana-yoga: knowledge of spiritual reality.
  • Bhakti-yoga: devotion and surrender to God.
• Image and temple worship: Images, emblems, offerings, circumambulation and festivals gradually became central; the conch, discus and Garuda identified Vishnu.
• Inclusiveness: Devotion could extend beyond narrow sacrificial privilege, although Bhagvatism remained connected with Brahmanical social and textual traditions.
• Puranic mythology: The Vishnu Purana, Bhagavata Purana and related texts systematised cosmology, avatars, genealogies and devotional practice.

C. Important leaders

Bhagvatism had no single historical founder; its growth was shaped by revered divine figures, teachers, poets and royal patrons.

• Vasudeva-Krishna: The central object of devotion and the divine teacher of the Bhagavad Gita.
• Sankarshana-Balarama: Krishna’s brother and an early Vrishni deity; inscriptions at Ghosundi associate Sankarshana with Vasudeva.
• Heliodorus: The Indo-Greek ambassador whose Besnagar pillar provides firm evidence for organised Bhagavata devotion.
• Alvars: Tamil Vaishnava poet-saints, active broadly between the sixth and ninth centuries A.D., spread emotional devotion through vernacular hymns.
• Nammalvar and Andal: Nammalvar’s mystical hymns and Andal’s devotional poetry became foundational to the Tamil Vaishnava tradition.
• Royal patrons: Gupta rulers adopted titles such as Parama-Bhagavata; their coins and monuments promoted Vaishnava imagery without excluding other faiths.

D. Extent in India

Bhagvatism arose prominently in northern and western India and developed into a subcontinental Vaishnava tradition.

• Mathura region: The Vrishni connection made Mathura an early centre of Vasudeva-Krishna worship and image production.
• Rajasthan and central India: The Ghosundi-Hathibada inscriptions and Besnagar pillar attest worship in the first and second centuries B.C.
• Western Deccan: The Naneghat inscription mentions Sankarshana and Vasudeva, indicating penetration into Satavahana territory.
• Gupta realm: Vaishnava symbols, cave temples and images spread through northern and central India during the fourth–sixth centuries A.D.
• South India: Alvar hymns and temples at places such as Srirangam and Kanchipuram established a powerful Tamil devotional tradition.
• Eastern India: Puranic Vaishnavism expanded into Bengal and Odisha, where forms such as Jagannatha incorporated regional traditions.

III. Shaivism — Worship of Shiva as Supreme Lord

A. Shaivism

Shaivism comprised traditions that worshipped Shiva as the supreme deity, combining the Vedic Rudra, ascetic ideals, fertility symbolism and numerous regional cults.

• Vedic origin: Rudra was a fierce healer and storm deity; the Shvetashvatara Upanishad elevated Rudra toward the position of a supreme cosmic lord.
• Shiva’s identity: Shiva united apparent opposites—destroyer and benefactor, ascetic and householder, terrifying Bhairava and gracious Shankara.
• Early evidence: The Gudimallam linga, generally dated to the early centuries B.C., depicts an anthropomorphic Shiva on a linga.
• Indus connection: The “Pashupati” interpretation of a seated figure on an Indus seal is suggestive but cannot establish direct continuity with historical Shaivism.
• Sectarian development: Pashupatas, Shaiva Siddhantins, Kapalikas and Kalamukhas represented different theological and ritual paths.

B. Main characteristics

Shaivism combined devotion, ascetic discipline, symbolic worship and the belief that Shiva’s grace releases the soul from bondage.

• Linga worship: The linga symbolised Shiva’s divine presence and creative power and was commonly placed on a yoni base.
• Anthropomorphic forms: Shiva appeared as Nataraja, Ardhanarishvara, Dakshinamurti, Bhairava and the family man with Parvati, Ganesha and Skanda.
• Asceticism: Matted hair, ashes, meditation and the trident represented control over desire and worldly attachment.
• Pashupati doctrine: Shiva is pati—the lord; individual souls are pashu—bound beings; ignorance and karma constitute bondage.
• Temple ritual: Worship involved abhisheka, flowers, incense, lamps, mantras and circumambulation.
• Bhakti: Tamil Shaiva hymns emphasised complete surrender, loving service and pilgrimage rather than ritual status alone.
• Tantric influence: Mantras, diagrams, initiation and controlled ritual practices became important in several Shaiva schools.

C. Important leaders

Shaivism expanded through early teachers, organised sects, poet-saints and dynastic patrons.

• Lakulisha: Traditionally regarded as the organiser of the Pashupata school, probably around the second century A.D.; his movement spread from western India.
• Karaikkal Ammaiyar: An early Tamil woman saint whose poetry celebrated Shiva’s fierce dancing form.
• Nayanars: The sixty-three remembered Tamil Shaiva saints helped create a mass devotional movement.
• Appar, Sambandar and Sundarar: Their hymns, later collected in the Tevaram, praised Shiva temples and opposed rival religious influence.
• Manikkavachakar: His Tiruvachakam expressed intense personal devotion and surrender to Shiva.
• Royal patrons: Pallavas, Chalukyas, Rashtrakutas and Cholas supported Shaiva temples; the Kailasanatha temple at Kanchipuram and Kailasa temple at Ellora are major examples.

D. Extent in India

Shaivism achieved an exceptionally wide distribution, from the Himalayan regions to Tamil country.

• North and northwest: Shiva worship flourished in Kashmir, Punjab, the Himalayan valleys and centres such as Varanasi.
• Western India: Pashupata Shaivism was influential in Gujarat, Rajasthan and Malwa; Lakulisha was associated with Karvan in Gujarat.
• Central India and Deccan: Shaiva caves and temples at Udayagiri, Elephanta, Ellora, Badami and Pattadakal reveal sustained patronage.
• Tamil country: Nayanar devotion and Pallava-Chola temple building made Shaivism a major social and institutional force.
• Eastern India: Shaiva centres developed in Odisha and Bengal; Bhubaneswar became notable for its Shiva temples.
• Beyond regional boundaries: Pilgrimage networks connected shrines such as Varanasi, Kedarnath, Somnath and Rameshwaram.

IV. Brahmanism — Vedic Authority and the Puranic Social Order

A. Brahmanism

Brahmanism was the evolving religious and social tradition that upheld the Vedas, Brahmanical ritual authority and dharma, while absorbing devotional cults into what later developed as Puranic Hinduism.

• Textual foundation: Authority rested on shruti—the Vedas and Upanishads—and smriti, including Dharmasutras, Dharmashastras, epics and Puranas.
• Historical transformation: Vedic sacrificial religion adapted to urbanisation, kingdoms, Buddhism, Jainism and popular devotional worship.
• Institutional basis: Brahmanas acted as priests, teachers, advisers, jurists and recipients of tax-free land grants.
• Religious integration: Vishnu, Shiva, Shakti and regional gods were placed within genealogies, avatar systems and Puranic cosmology.

B. Main characteristics

Brahmanism linked sacred authority, social organisation, ritual conduct and philosophical ideas into a broad civilisational framework.

• Vedic authority: The Vedas were treated as revealed and foundational, even when everyday worship became predominantly Puranic.
• Varna-ashrama dharma: Society was ideally divided into four varnas, while life was conceptualised through student, householder, forest-dweller and renouncer stages.
• Ritual system: Domestic samskaras, ancestor rites and royal sacrifices coexisted with temple worship and devotional offerings.
• Central doctrines: Karma, rebirth, dharma and moksha connected moral conduct with spiritual destiny.
• Sacred kingship: Brahmanical rites legitimised rulers, while kings protected social order and granted villages or land to Brahmanas and temples.
• Accommodation: Local deities, sacred places and customs were absorbed through identification with major gods and Puranic narratives.
• Learning and language: Sanskrit functioned as the principal language of theology, law, royal praise and elite intellectual exchange.

C. Important leaders

Brahmanism was sustained by many lawgivers, philosophers, ritual specialists and rulers rather than by one founder.

• Yajnavalkya: Associated with Upanishadic discussions of the self and ultimate reality, and with an influential legal tradition.
• Manu: The Manusmriti became a major statement of Brahmanical social duties, legal principles and kingship.
• Patanjali: His Mahabhashya, around the second century B.C., preserved Sanskrit grammatical learning and reflected contemporary Brahmanical society.
• Kumarila Bhatta: The seventh-century Mimamsa thinker defended Vedic authority and sacrificial tradition against Buddhist criticism.
• Shankaracharya: The eighth-century exponent of Advaita Vedanta taught the non-duality of Atman and Brahman while working within Vedic tradition.
• Dynastic patrons: Guptas, Vakatakas, Pallavas, Chalukyas and other rulers supported Brahmanas through grants recorded on copper plates and inscriptions.

D. Extent in India

Brahmanism spread throughout the subcontinent by combining royal patronage, agrarian expansion, Sanskrit learning and local adaptation.

• Gangetic heartland: The middle Ganga valley remained a major centre of Vedic learning, law and pilgrimage.
• North and central India: Gupta-age patronage strengthened Brahmanical institutions, Sanskrit culture and Puranic worship.
• Deccan: Satavahana and Vakataka inscriptions record sacrifices and grants to Brahmanas, linking new settlements to Brahmanical norms.
• South India: Pallava, Chalukya, Pandya and Chola grants created brahmadeya villages and supported temples and Sanskrit education.
• Eastern and frontier regions: Brahmanas entered Bengal, Odisha and Assam through land grants, integrating regional cults with Puranic traditions.
• Historical result: By c. 1000 A.D., Brahmanism had become a flexible pan-Indian framework within which Bhagvatism, Shaivism, Shaktism and local traditions could coexist.