One of the enduring mysteries in the history of the vaiShNava mantra tradition is the ekAyana-shAkhA which the pa~ncharAtra affiliates itself with. It may be termed the rahasyAMnAya or the primal veda. Clearly, some exclusively focal pA~ncharAtra vaiShNava-s saw it as the root
from which the "common veda" emerged. The reason they give for the secondary nature of the common veda is that it worships other deities in addition to viShNu. They held that only viShNu can grant mokSha &the other deities were included for worldly attainments. It is notable that
the south Indian pA~ncharAtrika yAmuna divides the pA~ncharAtra bhAgavata-s into 4 categories: 1) The uninitiated servants who do temple maintenance. 2) The temple archaka-s who are v1s of a lower tier. 3) ekAyana-s who eschew the common shruti & only follow that shAkhA. 4) the
vAjasaneyin SYV v1s who follow the traditions of their shruti. This latter group is described as being people of the world while #3 as mumukShu-s. But unlike the smArta renunciates at least some of these ekAyana mumukShu-s were not celibates. We known this from the Kashmirian
mantravAdin vAmanabhaTTa who explicitly states he is an ekAyanashAkhAdhyAyin who also mentions that his daughter vAmAdevI composed the pA~ncharAtrika haristuti. Since, the ekAyana text is mentioned in the late Vedic conversation between nArada & skanda we suspect that there was a
mantrasaMhitA, perhaps not unlike the vaikhAnasa-mantra-saMhitA but even more viShNu-focal (the former includes many other deities like skanda, ShaShThI, kubera & the like) that these ekAyana-s possessed by was lost after the fall of Kashmir & rise of the type #4 in south India
For some earlier discussion: manasataramgini.wordpress.com/2010/07/06/tri…
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