Thread by @DefiledGod

-- Part 2 of Pāncarātra Tattvās (Final) --

Now, we have Ahirbudhnya Samhita, where Siva (Ahirbudhnya) elaborates on the functions of Brahman to Nārada+

https://twitter.com/DefiledGod/status/1326476870313930753?s=19

sankalponāma yastasya sudarṣanasamāhya satyapyanantarūpatve pancadhā pravijmbhateśrṣtisthithiantakaraṇam nigrahānugrahātmaṇā tirodhānakari śakti sā nigrahasamāhya+

[The will of that Lord known as Sudarṣana, of a nature characterized by being true and unimpeded, appears fivefold as creation, preservation, destruction, concealment and bestowing of grace. Tirodhāna or veiling is “nigraha” - restraining of knowledge.]+

A doubt arises here. śāstrās only prescribe 3 functions – creation, preservation and destruction. It is other Agamas which prescribe 5 functions. So how is Siva describing tirodhāna and anugraha as separate functions apart from the well-known triad?+

The answer is because it is not the same as the “panchakritya” of other Agama-s. Before we classify these 5 functions, let us first learn what “tirodhāna” and “anugraha” is as per this Agama. bhagavān is the pivot of the wheel of dharma, for which are two types+

One is pravrtti dharma, the path of fruitive action & other is nivrtti dharma, the path of liberation. By “tirodhāna Sakti”, bhagavān limits knowledge (dharma-bhūta-jnāna) for those following fruitive action. They are born again & again, with diminished knowledge etc+

For those who follow nivrtti dharma, bhagavān bestows his grace which gives them sādhana for moksha. And this twofold demarcation is very clearly mentioned in Srī Viṣṇu Sahasranāma by the following nāmās:+

Anivartī (nāma 603) – He who does not stop those attached to pravrtti dharma coming into this world (again and again). Nivrttātma (604) – He who is the self of those who practice nivrtti dharma. sankṣeptā (605) – He who constricts knowledge of those who practice pravrtti dharma+

The Skanda Purāṇa too defines it:

utpattisthitsamhārā niyatijñānamāvrttiḥ bandhamokṣau ca purusādasmād śa harirekarāṭa+

[The person from whom arises birth, maintenance, destruction, restrainment of knowledge and turning towards mokṣa, (in the form of) bondage and liberation is the unconditioned Hari]+

(Quoted by Sri Madhva)

Thus, regardless of how other Agamas defined tirodhāna or anugraha, the MB and skanda purāṇa have their own explanation of the terminology, to which the pāncarātra adheres. Next, Ahirbudhnya explains how the Lord uses “tirodhāna-Sakti”+

pumāṃsaṃ jīvasamjnāṃ sā tirobhāvayati svayaṃ ākāraiṣvaryavijnānatirobhāvanakarmaṇa 

[That Sakti conceals the self, by name of jīva (as it subsists on body) by acts of concealing of characteristics like freedom from hunger, etc, independence to body and the DBJ]+

By his Sakti of restraining their knowledge (nigraha), he ensures those practicing pravrtti dharma are shrouded by avidyā of the form of karmas and become born again and again+

To show Lord is not cruel, Ahirbudhnya further says, “tirobhūta: pumānccaktayā viṣṇusankalparupayā” to highlight this – Concealment is due to the fruitive action of the jīva (pumān) and the sankalpa of bhagavān to grant the fruits of that action+

Then, it goes on to say that “aṇutva”, “kinchitkara” and “kincijjna” are “malatraya” (malatrayaṃ idaṃ proktaṃ) arising from this concealment. While this sounds similar to the concepts of “malas” in other Agamas, these 3 terms were defined earlier in my post on lakṣmi tantra+

“malatraya” means “threefold effects of karma (mala)” here. Alternatively, it can mean the aṇutva etc are threefold effects of impurities like avidyā, rāga, dveṣa etc which are also called “malās” in this section+

Sāstra usually describes only 3 functions, as was said earlier. Now, Ahirbudhnya starts to explain why he mentioned “tirodhāna” and “anugraha” separately, and shows that they enable the 3 other functions.+

sukhādivāsaṇastāsthā samcinoti śanaiḥ śanaiḥ eṣa nigrahaśaktestu tirobhāvaparamparā

[The piling up of taste, inclinications etc gradually, in this manner is the uninterrupted continuation of concealment (of the jīva’s knowledge) of the nigraha-shakti.]+

In this manner, creation, preservation and destruction are functions that arise due to sanchita karmas which were a result of this nigraha-shakti. That is mentioned now by Ahirbudhnya:+

ājasya tvānyā śaktayā trisraḥ srṣtyādiśaktayā sancitaiḥ sampravartante taistai karmabhirūrjitaḥ

[Those other powers of the unborn Lord - creation, preservation & destruction set in action accumulated vāsaṇa-ruci etc (born of the nigraha shakti) with the powerful karmas]+

Creation is allotment of bodies based on prior karmas. Preservation ispropagation of Sāstra, which is the means to all ends desired, based on vāsaṇa-ruci etc. Detruction is suppression of prohibited activities due to past inclinations by rendering the jIva inactive+

Thus, in reality, “tirodhāna” facilitates the 3 primary functions, as it enables pravrtti dharma that is the cause of creation. It is only an accessory, or a subset within major functions. But it is described as a separate function for the sake of clarity.+

Next, it is explained that this is a vicious cycle and the jīvās can come out of this by anugraha, which is of the form of “krpa” that is viṣṇu-katākṣa, that enables them to adopt nivrtti mārga. Again, “anugraha” is an enabler of the 3 major functions+

Those practicing nivrtti dharma get good conducive bodies for sādhana by creation, propagation of Sāstra by preservation enables them to learn the means to mokṣa, and they attain mokṣa upon dissolution of body or abode they are in+

Thus, the Ahirbudhnya Samhita only delineates tirodhāna and anugraha as 2 separate functions to highlight their roles as enablers of pravrtti and nivrtti dharmās, which in turn enable the wheel of creation, preservation, destruction+

The pramāṇa for such tattvās is in the ithihāsa and purāṇa itself. How other Agamas use these terms for their deities is not our concern here. The simple fact is, the  pāncarātra  is neither influenced by them, nor is it deviating from the Vedas. Concluded//