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āṅgīrasaśreṣṭha Profile picture
āṅgīrasaśreṣṭha
@GhorAngirasa
If Veda is body, Siddhāntāgama is heart that pumps the blood of Paramārtha to it. Bhāradvāja who believes in Mūla-Śaiva-Śiddhānta; Ārṣeyāmnāyābhimānī
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May 13 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
Anyone who ignores the Brāhmaṇa texts of the Veda & the Karmakāṇḍa, and treats them as if they are non-existent, in their overall narrative on the meaning of the Veda, no matter how eloquent they are or sagacious they sound, cannot be authoritative, let alone a Ṛṣi. Problem is even those who affirm the Vedatvam of the Brāhmaṇa texts ignore their importance & their overall interpretative framework makes Śrauta rituals & Karmakāṇḍa redundant & meaningless.
Jan 1 • 6 tweets • 5 min read
Many Hindus have a very poor appreciation of the importance of ritual/spiritual technology & what it can do. A robust & powerful ritual/metaphysical technology can transform even the most primitive (whether apparent or actual) of religions into something very profound & this can create an extremely strong attachment to the Deity & its coterie which undergird that system, including becoming subjected to that Deity’s limitations (if the Deity is truly not transcendental or “enlightened”).

It’s precisely because of this potential one has to be very careful because getting initiated into a system with such ritual technology can leave a very deep mark/stain “on” the soul (figuratively, since the soul can’t be stained & the actual locus of the mark is the innate malaśakti obscuring the soul but this gets very technical), which can be very difficult to remove without a truly competent master.

Such a mark can prevent a soul from progressing towards the higher end of spiritual traditions & obstruct them from realizing the fruit even if they get initiated into such a higher-end Sampradāya. This is why, in the Siddhānta, prior to Dīkṣā (initiation), a rite called Liṅgoddhāra has to be first performed for a convert from another system in order to remove the mark (Liṅga) from the initiate, though many teachers (particularly those who are completely outside Saṁskṛta scholarship, are exclusively vested in the Tamizh tradition & are not well-versed in the Āgama) are sadly not well-equipped to do this.

Many Hindus often find it cool to clap back with retorts like “all these Abrahma religions are barbaric & worship false gods”, mirroring what the Abrahmas say. What they don’t get is that we have to confront them precisely because they are real & they have complex spiritual technologies which work but are ultimately not beneficial.

In this regard, those in a position to understand should be able to see something like the below & see in it a diminished version of a similar technology used by the Śaiva-Mantramārga (particularly the Siddhānta) &, to a much lesser extent, the Pāñcarātrikas. It also shows how the use of a proper, ritual technology (even if ultimately limited) can transform a religion even if the base framework is primitive/crude .

The below table is based on the Yahudas’ Kabbalah. What parallel concept/ritual technology in the above-mentioned Āstika Sampradāyas does it remind you of?Image Screenshot in above tweet missed the last column. See this: Image
Nov 22, 2023 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
While certain paths are open to MahāmlecchādayaH by initiation, a problem they undeniably present is that they can’t be content with being passive spectators. They have to be leaders & reshape the path/system in their image. No ritual space can be closed off to them. A certain Āṅglika Mantravādī of the “Adhvamata” of the Cīnas in this realm is a good example of this tendency. Another example is this priest initiated into the Pāñcarātra, who has taken it upon himself to waive off the applicability of adhikāravidhi for…well…himself.
Nov 5, 2023 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
Came, by chance, across a passage from Aitareyabrāhmaṇa that ties in with the point in the thread below as to how in rituals, the ritualist is given a taste of the universal power (sarvārthakriyā) that becomes manifest in Paramukti. Explanation of the Śruti in subsequent tweets:
Image The Śruti speaks of how the Agnihotrī leads (nayati) humans & all other beings as dakṣiṇā (ritual fees) to the Devas through the evening Agnihotra (hence the rest of creatures in the evening).
Oct 25, 2023 • 12 tweets • 2 min read
Śāstra fails to be taken seriously because of 2 reasons:

1. Where it does contain precious teachings, it fails to be taken seriously because of arrogance on part of a small-minded reader.+++ +++
2. There is an undeniable bit of genuinely uninspired, over-the-top frivolity, which cannot be taken seriously but unfairly offers a justification for some to not take seriously the śāstravākyas in No.1. Such tripe should have been tempered, done away with or explained away.
Oct 14, 2023 • 15 tweets • 3 min read
Dharmadānaparāyaṇā - A name of the old, widowed Goddess.

A very literal & simplistic meaning: She who is devoted to Dharma & Dāna (gift/charity).

A better but still very lay meaning: She who is devoted to the gift of Dharma (righteousness) by destroying the Adharmikas. +++ How a Saiddhāntika will see this beautiful name in light of Tattvajñāna. In the Siddhānta, Śiva’s grace, which is His inseparable Śakti, is seen as being in contact with sentients & insentients at all times. This is explained beautifully in Śrīmat-Mṛgendrāgama 👇🏾

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Sep 30, 2023 • 14 tweets • 2 min read
Those who belong to Satsampradāyas which have Paśubali-krama & defend it in SM, you owe it to your Sampradāya to defend it eloquently with deep Śāstra/Tattva-jñāna at your disposal & avoid the “if you don’t do this, He/She will get angry” line of argument. +++ You belong to the larger world of Śaiva-Śākta mantramārga (36-Tattva system) & your Devata is non-different from the same Nirmala Cidghana-Paramaśiva & His Parāśakti. Portraying that Nirmala-Cidghana as “vengeful”is doctrinally wrong & you end up making Him/Her look like a Paśu.
Sep 9, 2023 • 26 tweets • 5 min read
Prior to Schomerus, see G U Pope, who tried to present Tamizh Siddhānta through a Pretamata lens in his translation of the great Śaiva hymn, “Tiruvācakam”. Such efforts became possible due to Tamizh Śaiva texts being cut off from its root, the Sam̐skṛta Āgama textual tradition. Like it or not, it’s predominantly & sadly “Mleccha-led” research that has completely overturned the myth of Siddhānta’s tamizh origin (the position taken by likes of Pope, Schomerus & others) & has established, once & for all, the pan- Bhāratīya & SE-Asian presence of Siddhānta.
Aug 11, 2023 • 84 tweets • 13 min read
Religion needs common worship & ritual but a competing concern is that young gens across the world increasingly have a “standardised” sense of what they want from a religion & find it important to obtain a “profound/sophisticated” basis for popular rituals, lore/myths, etc.+++ A case in point is the situation of folkish Daoism in Sim̐hapurī (Daoism has a remarkably sophisticated cosmology, metaphysics & ritual but the way it is articulated & experienced in SG is what matters) vs that of Buddhism.++
Jul 9, 2023 • 18 tweets • 3 min read
A common misconception many Hindus have about the Siddhānta, including many Śaiva-s but also others, is that the Siddhānta is centered on the supremacy of a "particular deity". Yes, Siddhānta upholds Śiva-paratvam but how to understand this? In the Siddhánta, every Ātmā (sentient) is Cidghana (a pure mass of consciousness) whose inseparable Cicchakti consists of knowledge & power. These two are obscured by mala for all sentients except one, who is eternally unlimited & pure & beyond name & form.
Jul 5, 2023 • 6 tweets • 1 min read
A lot of people have asked this question on various forums: "Why are there navagrahas only in Śiva temples governed by siddhānta-āgama-s?" The answer hit me a while ago when I realized that the navagrahas worshiped by Śaiva-s are not the ones we know in this Brahmāṇḍa (which consists of this entire material universe, svarga, naraka-s, asura, rākṣasa, yakṣa, gandharva worlds, etc), which is in Pṛthivī-tattva.
Jun 9, 2023 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
Insight from Skāndapurāṇa: Miracles do not necessarily imply “spiritual correctness”. Good Dhārmikas must internalize this. 👉🏾
tadadbhutaṃ mahaddṛṣṭvā naiva vipro visiṣmiye/
yato bahuvidhaṃ citraṃ bhavedbhūtādyupāsiṣu//85
taccitreṇa na jahyācca śrutimārgaṃ sanātanam//86

Apr 29, 2023 • 12 tweets • 4 min read
1. Bhojeśvara (MP), 2. My Son (Vietnam), 3. Bṛhadīśvara (TN) (Not main Liṅga), 4. another such Liṅga from Bṛhadīśvara — zoom into the “face” of each Liṅga. For 3rd & 4th, I drew red lines in parallel to the two markings since it’s been a little eroded by time.


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Image 5. Badavaliṅga (KN), 6. A Liṅga at Kailāsanāthasvāmī temple, TN
7. A Liṅga at Pattadakal, KN:
8. Guḍimallam, AP

For 5, I have drawn red lines to help see the markings. There are two questions. What do the markings mean? And what are they based on?+++ commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:7th_…



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Mar 5, 2023 • 40 tweets • 7 min read
In this thread, we have looked at a number of incidents from the Mahābhārata. We take 2 of them & see how Sañjaya describes or narrates them. What are the 2 incidents? 1. The battle between Arjuna & Śrīkaṇṭharudra in the form of a Kirata; and

2. The final battle between Arjuna & Karṇa, where Aśvasena manages to break Arjuna’s kirīṭa.
Feb 21, 2023 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
Interestingly, in Āgama sources, as I just recalled after writing this tweet 👇🏾, the 4 yugas are seen as characteristics of the Buddhi. Can we make something of this? See next tweet. ++ One may advance a view that the yuga-based narratives in Itihāsapurāṇas are those of events which have occurred in non-physical Buddhitattva in a non-physical way, with some similarities to events as they have physically transpired on earth in what we call, “historical time”.
Feb 21, 2023 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
On a separate note, the historically characteristic indifference of Mūla-Śaiva-Siddhāntīs (Followers of Sadyojyotis, the 2 Bhaṭṭas, Aghoraśiva, etc) towards “historical occurrence” is a good thing & Sampradāyas heavily invested in it will find it increasingly challenging. Personality cults, events or historical claims being at the theological center (your theology becomes dependent on these) is a detriment in the long term.
Feb 21, 2023 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
Bad take. Paurāṇika timescales or a literal understanding of Yugas are not the make-or-break issue you deem them to be. There is scope for interpretation. Those who get angry at non-literal, data-concordant, more robust & creative interpretations of yuga timescales should also get angry at this kind of take, for instance:
Feb 20, 2023 • 11 tweets • 2 min read
“Society/Environment/Upbringing are the most important factors.”

The more I see “real life”, the more I’m moved to understand that it is the Svabhāva, that your subtle body (mind+intellect) has developed over time (& isn’t going away so easily), which determines your trajectory. Someone may be born & brought up in a most pious & erudite family in Bhārata but may grow up to be a degenerate hater of religion.

Someone may grow up in a degenerate family but may become very pious of his own initiative as he gets older.
Feb 11, 2023 • 22 tweets • 7 min read
@tractor_jeet No, that is not the case. The Advaita-Maṭha-affiliation of Smārta Gṛhasthas is of recent provenance (500 years ago or less).

Smārta stalwart Rāmasubba Śāstri was a Smārta but defended Vaiṣṇavam. There were & still are other Smārtas who defended & defend Śaivam. @tractor_jeet Some Smārtas took up Śivadīkṣā and became Mahaśaivas too.
Jan 30, 2023 • 8 tweets • 3 min read
Blind optimism is stupid but look at the facts: Vaidika learning is at its best in centuries: Ṛgveda Ghanapāṭha, Śāṅkhāyana/Kauśitakī śākhā of RV, Śaunaka & Paippalāda śākhās of AV, Maitrāyaṇīya of KYV & Jaiminīya of SV were all dying 50-60 years ago - Alive & on the path to actual thriving.
Dec 12, 2022 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
19. The divinely wrathful Durvāsa born of a portion of Bhagavān Śrīkaṇṭha-Rudra comes as a guest to the abode of Kṛṣṇa & Rukminī. Harassing them greatly, only in order to show their greatness, he asks both to cover their bodies with Pāyasa. What happens next? #shivabhAratam 19. Cont’d: Seeing the self-mastery of Kṛṣṇa, Durvāsa then blesses him to have eternal fame & to be looked upon by humans with the same love as would be food! (What a unique blessing?!). Every part of his body obediently covered with Pāyasa will be impregnable…….+