The ''Ahirbudhnya Saṃhitā'' belongs to the

Pancharatra ''Pancharatra'' (IAST: ''Pāñcarātra'') was a religious movement in Hinduism that originated in late 3rd-century BCE around the ideas of Narayana and the various avatars of Vishnu as their central deities.Vaishnava tantrika composition, and was composed possibly over several centuries within the 1st millennium CE, after 300 CE. Ahirbudhnya-Saṃhitā literally means a compendium (''samhita'') of the serpent-from-the-depths (from ''ahi'' for serpent and ''budhna'' for bottom / root).Sukumari Bhattacharji, (1988). The Indian Theogony: A Comparative Study of Indian Mythology from the Vedas to the Purāṇas, p.150. CUP Archive It is now practically extinct, with a few remnants preserved in southern India, though it was once cultivated in diverse places, including

Kashmir Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...

, Orissa and Mysore.

Description

Characteristics

In the ''Ahirbudhnya Samhita'', Vishnu emanated in 39 different forms. The Samhita is characteristic for its concept of

Sudarshana Sudarshana Chakra (Sanskrit: सुदर्शन चक्र, lit. "disc of auspicious vision", IAST: Sudarśana Chakra) is a spinning, celestial discus with 108 serrated edges, attributed to Vishnu and Krishna in the Hindu scriptures. The Sud ...

. It provides mantras for Shakti and Sudarshana, and details the method of worship of the multi-armed Sudarshana. Its chapters include explanations on the origin of ''astras'' (weapons), ''anga'' (mantras), Vyuhas, sounds, and diseases, how to make Sudarshana Purusha appear, how to resist divine weapons and black magic, and provides method for making and worshipping the Sudarshana Yantra. The ''Ahirbudhnya Samhita'' is the source of Taraka Mantra, Narasimhanustubha Mantra, three occult alphabets, Sashtitantra and select astra mantras. It also mentions the Purusha Sukta. The four Vyuhas in this samhita are Vasudeva, Samkarshana, Pradyumna and

Aniruddha Aniruddha ( sa, अनिरुद्ध ') is a character in Hindu mythology, the son of Pradyumna and Rukmavati, and the grandson of Krishna and Rukmini. He is said to have been very much like his grandfather, to the extent that he is con ...

. As with other samhitas, ''Ahirbudhnya'' provides its views on creation, siddhantas, senses, bondage and liberation, and rationale of avatars. There are compositions on rakshas, yantras and yoga. It mentions castes and periods of life, interdependence of two higher castes, and provides its characterization of the ideal purohita, the ''Mahashanti Karman''. Besides the story of

Madhu and Kaitabha Madhu ( sa, मधु, ''Madhu'') and Kaitabha ( sa, कैटभ, ''Kaiṭabha''), also rendered Madhu-Kaiṭabhas, are the names of two asuras in Hindu scriptures, and are associated with Hindu cosmology. Legend Madhu and Kaitabha both or ...

, the ''Ahirbudhnya'' details stories of nine personages, namely, Manishekhara, Kasiraja, Shrutakirti, Kushadhvaja, Muktapida, Vishala, Sunanda, Chitrashekhara, and Kirtimalin. Another characteristic of the ''Ahirbudhayna Samhita'' is that it parallels descriptions of philosophical systems found in the Mokshadharma in which

Samkhya ''Samkhya'' or ''Sankya'' (; Sanskrit सांख्य), IAST: ') is a Dualism (Indian philosophy), dualistic Āstika and nāstika, school of Indian philosophy. It views reality as composed of two independent principles, ''purusha, puruṣa' ...

is mentioned with four other systems, that is, Vedas, Yoga,

representation of ''brahman'' as the ultimate principle, ''shakti'' as synonym for ''prakriti'', with a prominent description of ''kala'' (time). A note on yoga is attributed to Hiranyagarbha, who in

Shvetashvatara Upanishad The ''Shvetashvatara Upanishad'' ( sa, श्वेताश्वतरोपनिषद् or or , IAST: ' or ') is an ancient Sanskrit text embedded in the Yajurveda. It is listed as number 14 in the Muktika canon of 108 Upanishads. The Upa ...

is identified with

Kapila Kapila ( sa, कपिल), also referred to as Cakradhanus, is a sage in Hindu tradition. According to Bhagavata Purana, he is the son of the sage Kardama and Devahuti, the daughter of the Svayambhuva Manu. Kardama had nine daughters, who wer ...

, though Ahirbudhnya itself makes no such identification. Another feature of the ''Ahirbudhnya'' is that the opening line of

Yogasutra The ''Yoga Sutras of Patañjali'' is a collection of Sanskrit sutras (aphorisms) on the theory and practice of yoga – 195 sutras (according to Vyāsa and Krishnamacharya) and 196 sutras (according to others, including BKS Iyengar). The ''Y ...

appears in the Sashtitantra of ''Ahirbudhnya''. The ''Ahirbudhnya Samhita'' describes

Kundalini Yoga Kundalini yoga () derives from ''kundalini'', defined in tantra as energy that lies within the body, frequently at the navel or the base of the spine. In normative tantric systems kundalini is considered to be dormant until it is activated (a ...

with its

chakras Chakras (, ; sa , text=चक्र , translit=cakra , translit-std=IAST , lit=wheel, circle; pi, cakka) are various focal points used in a variety of ancient meditation practices, collectively denominated as Tantra, or the esoteric or ...

Concept of caste

In the ''Ahirbudhnya'' concept of caste, in the Satya Yuga, a pure group descends from Pradyumna. and a mixed group from

and Brahman. However, ''Manus'' pass from Pradyumna's care to Aniruddha, with their withdrawal into Aniruddha accompanied by

pralaya Pralaya ( sa, प्रलय, , Apocalypse or the Annihilation of the Universe, translit=Pralaya) is a concept in Hindu eschatology. Generally referring to four different phenomena, it is most commonly used to indicate the event of the dissol ...

. The pure beings are Anagamins and Sakrdagamins of Buddhism who owing to their advanced stage of liberation return for one or two lives only. At the end of Satya Yuga,

Manu Manu may refer to: Geography *Manú Province, a province of Peru, in the Madre de Dios Region ** Manú National Park, Peru **Manú River, in southeastern Peru * Manu River (Tripura), which originates in India and flows into Bangladesh *Manu Temp ...

's descendants begin to deteriorate; while the Brahman are filled with better ones among the mixed specimen, until the

Kali Yuga ''Kali Yuga'', in Hinduism, is the fourth and worst of the four ''yugas'' (world ages) in a ''Yuga Cycle'', preceded by '' Dvapara Yuga'' and followed by the next cycle's '' Krita (Satya) Yuga''. It is believed to be the present age, which is ...

when reincarnation becomes possible for everyone. The 400 manavas of ''Ahirbudhnya'' become 800 Vishnus of Mahasanatkumara Samhita each of whom is a chieftain (nayaka) of 1000 subjects each, located in 8 regions. But among the 800 Vishnus there are only 300 twice-born manavas, while the original group of Shudras are replaced by 5 mixed groups to eliminate Shudra males altogether. Names are given for each ''loka'' having descendants from permutations between mothers and fathers of all 4 varnas, with the samhita noting that innumerable Vishnus reside in Kapila-loka. Notably, the text positions Anagamins and Sakrdagamins of Buddhism as descendants of Pradyumna.

Philosophy

Schrader notes the general trend of

Pancharatra ''Pancharatra'' (IAST: ''Pāñcarātra'') was a religious movement in Hinduism that originated in late 3rd-century BCE around the ideas of Narayana and the various avatars of Vishnu as their central deities.advaitic ''Advaita Vedanta'' (; sa, अद्वैत वेदान्त, ) is a Hindu sādhanā, a path of spiritual discipline and experience, and the oldest extant tradition of the orthodox Hindu school Vedānta. The term ''Advaita'' (l ...

. Though a verse is found in the

Padma Tantra The Padma ( bn, পদ্মা ''Pôdma'') is a major river in Bangladesh. It is the main distributary of the Ganges, flowing generally southeast for to its confluence with the Meghna River near the Bay of Bengal. The city of Rajshahi i ...

where the Lord says to Brahman that there is no difference between the Lord and the liberated soul, pluralism is maintained with the Lord reinstating that "liberated souls become like me except for governance of the world". While Lakshmi Tantra puts Shri at par with Vishnu, the ''Ahirbudhnya Samhita'' puts forth an ambivalent position where the lord and his shakti are inseparable, yet not equal. The ''Ahirbudhnya'' recognizes one of the eleven Rudras; that is Shiva himself in his Satvik form, in the form of a teacher. In the Veda ''ahi budhna'' (serpent of the bottom) is an atmospheric god who Schrader says merged with Rudra-Siva (Pashupati); with Ahi Budhanya in later vedic texts connected to Agni Grahapatya, suggesting this was a benevolent being and not the malevolent Ahi Vritra. Ahirbudhnya and Aja-

Ekapada Ekapada refers to a one-footed aspect of the Hindu god Shiva. This aspect is primarily found in South India and Orissa, but also occasionally in Rajasthan and Nepal. The Ekapada is primarily represented in three iconographical forms. In the Ekapa ...

had their share of allocated ghriya (Grihyasutra) rituals. In later puranic literature, Ahirbudhnaya becomes one of the 11 Rudras. Ahirbudhnya Samhita was a

Bhagavata The Bhagavata tradition, also called Bhagavatism, refers to an ancient religious sect that traced its origin to the region of Mathura. After its syncretism with the Brahmanical tradition of Vishnu, Bhagavatism became a pan-Indian tradition ...

text, in which the conceptions of Sudarshana as

Ayudhapurusha Ayudhapurusha is the anthropomorphic depiction of a divine weapon in Hindu art. Ayudhapurushas are sometimes considered as partial incarnates of their divine owners.Anna L. Dallapiccolaayudhapurusha or shastradevata (2002). In ''Dictionary of Hin ...

and Chakravartin were invoked. As per the Samhita, a king who worships Chakravarti inside the

Sudarshana Chakra Sudarshana Chakra (Sanskrit: सुदर्शन चक्र, lit. "disc of auspicious vision", IAST: Sudarśana Chakra) is a spinning, celestial discus with 108 serrated edges, attributed to Vishnu and Krishna in the Hindu scriptures. The Sud ...

attains the Chakravartin rank; a concept which according to VS Agarwala was new and helped the Bhagavatas to use religious tenets in influencing political thought and state.Wayne Edison Begley. (1973). Viṣṇu's flaming wheel: the iconography of the Sudarśana-cakra, p.65. Volume= 27 of Monographs on archaeology and fine arts.New York University Press The Ahirbudhnya Samhita is one of the Pancaratra samhitas with the most coverage of yoga. The text contains inconsistent teachings on kuṇḍalinī. In some sections kuṇḍalinī is described as a blockage that prevents prāṇa from entering the suṣumnā and rising. This is consistent with the teachings of T. Krishnamacharya, the 20th century yoga teacher. However, in other sections kuṇḍalinī is described as rising to the throat in the production of sounds.

Extinct samhitas

In the 12th chapter of ''Ahirbudhnya Samhita'', 10 Samhitas are mentioned, namely ''Bhagavat Samhita'', ''Vidya Samhita'', ''Karma Samhita'' and seven other samhitas all of which are now extinct (non-surviving). Additionally, tantras mentioned in ''Ahirbudhnya'' such as Pati tantra, Pasu tantra, Pasa tantra from the Satvata and Pashupata religion are also extinct; though the Sattvata Samhita survives. A small portion of ''Ahirbudhnya Samhita'' is available in Telugu.

Inaccessible samhitas

Among the inaccessible (not easily available) samhitas of Pancharatra, documented by Schrader for surviving copies found in different places are: * ''Isvara Samhita'' (in

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

from Mysore) * ''Kapinjala Samhita'' (in Telugu from Thirukkovalur) * ''Parashara Samhita'' (in Telugu from Bangalore) * ''Padma Tantra'' (in Telugu from Mysore) * ''Brihad Brahma Samhita'' (in Telugu from Thirupati) * ''Bharadvaja Samhita'' (in Telugu from Mysore) * ''Lakshmi Tantra'' (in Telugu from Mysore) * ''Vishnutilaka'' (in Telugu from Bangalore) * ''Sriprasna Samhita'' (in Grantha from Kumbakonam) * ''Sattvata Samhita'' (in Devanagari from Conjeevaram).

References

External links

Philosophy of the '
Surendranath Dasgupta, 1940 {{Hatha yoga Vaishnavism Hindu texts