tions of the godhead. VASUDEVA, or KRISHNA, is the
highest changeless god; Sankarshana is the Lord
over all life; Pradyumna predominates over mind;
and Aniruddha presides over ego. From Anirud-
dha derives BRAHMA, who then creates the physical
universe. From Vasudeva on down, each of the
phases or forms of the godhead derives from the
previous form. The doctrine in certain ways is
reminiscent of the Christian trinity, whereby the
one god takes on different aspects.
The Pancharatra doctrines were elaborated
in several important texts. The Bhaktisutras of
Shandilya were central. The Pancharatra AGAMAS
specified the temple cult, iconography, and ritual;
they are no longer extant. Important extant Pan-
charatra texts are the Sasvatasamhita Ahirbudh-
nya Samhita and the Ishvara Samhita, which deal
primarily with worship rituals.
Vedic sacrificial worship, the earliest known
phase of Hinduism, did not involve permanent
structures (temples) or icons. Those features
emerged only after a long process of development,
and both the Shaivite and Vaishnavite traditions
had to develop texts to explain and justify these
innovations in Vedic terms. The Pancharatras
were the primary agents that performed this task
for Vaishnavism.
Further reading: S. N. Dasgupta, A History of Indian
Philosophy, vol. 3 (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1975);
Sanjukta Gupta, trans., Laksmi Tantra: A Pancaratra
Text. Orientalia Rheno-Trajectina, Vol. 15 (Leiden: E.
J. Brill, 1972); S. Rangachar, Philosophy of Pancaratras
(Mandya: Sridevi Prakashana, 1991).
Pandavas
The five Pandava brothers, among whom ARJUNA
and YUDHISHTHIRA are best known, are central
characters in the great Indian epic the MAHAB-
HARATA. Their name is a patronymic derived from
their father’s name, Pandu. Through Pandu they
descend from the ancient king Kuru and the
more ancient progenitor BHARATA. Although they
are considered Pandu’s sons, they were not his
natural sons, since a curse had been placed upon
their father that he would die if he had sex with
a woman. Their mother, Kunti (also known as
Pritha, an aunt of KRISHNA), used boons she had
previously received to bear children with several
of the gods.
Kunti bore YUDHISHTHIRA, the eldest, by the god
DHARMA; BHIMA by the wind god; and ARJUNA by
INDRA. Kunti gave her remaining boons to Madri,
Pandu’s junior wife; the latter bore the youngest
and least famous Pandavas, Nakula and Sahadeva,
by the divine celestial twins, the ASHVINS. The five
Pandavas shared a secret brother, Karna, who was
born to Kunti by the Sun god, before her marriage
to Pandu. Karna had been put into a reed basket
and left to float away on a river.
After Pandu died while attempting inter-
course with Madri, his brother Dhritarashtra,
though blind, became regent. Pandu’s sons were
still considered the legitimate heirs, but Dhri-
tarashtra’s 100 sons, known as the KAURAVAS
(descendants of Kuru—as were the Pandavas)
and led by the eldest son, DURYODHANA, began
plotting to destroy their cousins, the five Pan-
davas. Duryodhana, for instance, tried to poison
Bhima but failed. The story of the epic revolves
around the struggle for the kingdom between
the Pandavas and their cousins. The conflict
culminates in the great Bharata war, in which the
Pandavas are triumphant, but with frightening
losses.Further reading: Peter Brook, director, The Mahab-
harata (videorecording), produced by Michael Prop-
per (Chatsworth, Calif.: Image Entertainment, 2002);
William Buck, The Mahabharata (Berkeley: University
of California Press, 1975); J. A. B. van Buitenen, The
Mahabharata, 3 vols. (Chicago: University of Chicago
Press, 1973–78).Panikkar, Raimundo See CHRISTIAN-HINDU
RELATIONS.K 322 Pandavas