THE REGIONAL KINGDOMS OF EARLY MEDIEVAL INDIAthe ‘philosophy of recognition’. It is said that this cosmology was also
influenced by Mahayana Buddhism. The most prominent exponent of
Kashmir Shaivism was Abhinavagupta, who lived in Kashmir in the
eleventh century and was also known for his writings on the theory of
Sanskrit literature. Kashmir Shaivism was nearly eradicated in its
birthplace when Islamic conquerors overran Kashmir in the fourteenth
century. But even today many pandits belong to this school of thought
which provides an unparalleled combination of monist philosophy, the
practice of yoga and the worship of the Great God.
South Indian Shaivism—originally shaped by the thought and poetry
of the Nayanars—produced in later medieval times the school of Shaiva
Siddhanta and a famous reform sect, the Lingayats. Shaiva Siddhanta
(‘the definitive system of Shaivism’) can be traced back to the
Nayanars, but it attained its final form only in the thirteenth and
fourteenth centuries. With this new system the Shaivites could match
the overpowering influence of Ramanuja’s Vaishnavite philosophy which
had put them on the defensive for quite some time. This system served
the same purpose of reconciling earlier orthodoxy with the ideas of the
Bhakti movement. But even though both Vaishnavism and Shaivism had
now achieved a new synthesis, the conflict between Brahmins and
heterodox popular movements arose again and again in the course of
the Middle Ages and spawned new sects. Whereas the Christian church
in Europe fiercely suppressed such sectarian movements (e.g. the
Albigensians), Hinduism usually absorbed or reintegrated these sects.
The Lingayat sect is an exception to this general rule.
The Lingayats arose as a radical movement against the caste system and
Brahmin orthodoxy; they were to retain this radicalism for centuries. Their
founder was Basava, a Brahmin who was a minister at the court of the
Kalachuri king of Kalyani in western Central India around 1160. The
name Lingayat is derived from the fact that all devotees carry a small
lingam like an amulet as a sign of their exclusive adherence to their
Shaivite faith. Their other name—Vira Shaiva (‘heroic devotees of
Shiva’)—also emphasises this belief. The Lingayats do believe in the
authority of the Vedas, but reject the caste system and Brahmin hegemony
of ritual. Of course, they could not prevent becoming a caste or
community themselves, as it was essential to retain their solidarity;
nevertheless, they still prohibit child marriage and allow the remarriage of
widows. Because the Lingayats believed that adherence to their faith would
automatically save them from the cycle of rebirths, they buried rather than
burned their dead—something otherwise reserved for ascetics and holy
men. Although they were radical in many respects, the Lingayats were very
conservative as far as their moral standards were concerned: strict
vegetarians, they emphasised ahimsa (non-killing) and shunned the sexual
excesses so common among some other contemporary sects.