HINDU ENCYCLOPEDIA

सनातन धर्म भूमिका

Meaning of "Agama"

Word

Agama

Sanskrit

आगम

IAST

āgama

In General

The Agamas and Tantras are texts that focus on temple rituals, religious practices, and spiritual techniques. They are particularly important in the Shaiva, Shakta, and Vaishnava traditions. Agamas and Tantras are a class of literature that comes under the infallible Sruthi literature. The word Tantra is mostly used for the Sakteya text of Agama, but in general, both words are synonymous. References to the Agama tradition are found in Atharva Veda. So it is highly probable that some of the Agama literature is developed along with Vedas, which are also called Nigamas. Agama became Popular when temple worship flourished and most of the Agama literature belongs to this period. Like all other Hindu literature, this was also transferred from generation to generation by aural tradition. Agamas are called Sadhanasastras or the practical ritualistic part of religion rather than philosophical treatises

Agama and Tantra are closely related to the worship of deities and are classed under major three sects, namely Sakta, Saiva and Vaishnava. Agama literature is available for other deities like Saura, Ganpathya, Svyambhuva (Brahma), Chandra, Kumara, Yaksha etc, but not very popular. 320 Agamas are considered as most important of which 77 are Shakteya Agamas, 28 are Saiva Agamas, and 215 are Vaishnava Agamas. There are countless other agama literature available with many kula (families) and gotras though only very few of them are available in print; the remaining are still in palm leaves or continue with their oral traditions. Apart from Sanskrit, there are a considerable number of Agama literature available in Tamil. The Hindu Agama literature is also available in every language in India and neighboring countries like Indonesia, China, Tibet and Burma. The Buddhists and Jains have their own Agama that developed in parallel with Hindu Agamas.

Agama literature acts as a manual by its Vidhi (injunction) and Niyama(regulation) for the religious practices in temples and houses. The worship in the temple widely borrowed Vedic rites but followed the ritualistic practices from tantric tradition. It is with the Agama philosophy that a devotee is seeking grace, mercy and love of the supreme God represented by the personal deity, for liberation from earthly attachment (Moksha). Some people from Western countries are collaborating with occultism and sacred sexuality as part of Agama, but none of the popular Agama supports this kind of worship. The common Hindu concept is that by overcoming the sexual instinct one achieves Yogic power and not surrendering to it. Occultism is always considered an inferior discipline by Hindus and has never been part of temple culture in India, and thus not professed in Agamas.

Agama literature stands with the worldly man who has a natural tendency to enjoy and does not generally welcome renunciation. The uses of mantra and its inherent philosophy, practices and relative importance are described in Agamas. Apart from that it also deals with meditative practices and four kinds of Yoga, philosophy, details of Holy places, festivals, vritas, domestic do’s and don’ts . The other allied subjects it teaches are temple construction and the creation of Idols, civil codes, and mythology regarding the creation and dissolution of the universe.

According to Varahi Tantra (quoted in Shabda-kalpadruma): Agama is characterized by seven marks (sapthabhir lakshana-yuktam tva-agamam): creation (shrusti), dissolution (laya), worship of gods (deva-archanam), spiritual practices (sadhana), repetition and visualization of mantras (purascarana), set of six magical practices (shad-karma-sadhana), and contemplative techniques (dhyana yoga). The six goals (shad-karma-sadhana) that Agama strives to achieve are said to be:(i) utchatana - vertical integration of natural energies, maintaining the balance in nature; (ii) sthambhana - increase energy and holding capabilities of a particular place; (iii) maarana- destroy the negative energy influences over a particular area; (iv) bhedana – split different energies within a given area to maintain balance of nature; (v) shanthi - maintaining the balance of nature with social progress; and, (vi) pushti – nourishing the nature and species so that evolution progresses.

Veda

Agamas are independent thought and literature, they are thus considered not a part of Vedic lore. Few of the Agamas are as old as the Vedas.

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