Isaac3301: Adding basic article w/ sources

2026-04-04T04:34:00Z

Adding basic article w/ sources

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{{distinguish|Pashupatastra}}
{{Saivism}}
'''''Pashupata-sutra''''' ([[IAST]]: '''Pāśupatasūtra''') is a [[Sanskrit]]-language text regarded as [[revelation]] by the [[Pashupata Shaivism|Pashupata]] [[Shaivite]] sect of ancient India.<ref name="Gavin2005">{{cite book |author=Gavin Flood |chapter=Śaiva |editor1=Sushil Mittal |editor2=Gene R. Thursby |title=The Hindu World |series=The Routledge Worlds |publisher=Routledge |isbn=0-203-64470-0 |year=2005 |page=222 }}</ref> Dated between 400 and 550 CE,<ref>{{cite book |author=Ellen Gough |title=Making a Mantra: Tantric Ritual and Renunciation on the Jain Path to Liberation |year=2021 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=9780226767239 }}</ref> it is the earliest surviving text of the Pashupatas.<ref name="Gavin2005"/> Kauṇḍinya wrote a commentary called ''Panchartha-bhashya'' (IAST: ''Pañcārtha-bhāṣya'') on the text.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Peter Bisschop |title=Pañcārtha Before Kauṇḍinya |journal=Journal of Indian Philosophy |volume=42 |issue=1 |pages=27-37 |year=2014 |doi=10.1007/s10781-013-9210-7 }}</ref>

== Contents ==

In the text, [[Shiva]] enters the dead body of a [[Brahmin|Brahmana]], which comes to life as [[Lakulisha]] and imparts teachings to four disciples.<ref name="Gavin2005"/>

According to the text, a Pashupata ascetic must be a Brahmana male who does not speak with people from the [[caste system in India|low castes]] or women. He transcends to a stage beyond the [[Ashrama (stage)|four stages of life]] of the [[Historical Vedic religion|Vedic]] tradition, by undertaking various observances in three stages.<ref name="Gavin2005"/>

In the first stage, a person aspiring to be Pashupata ascetic should:

* reside in the environs of a Shiva temple
* bear the mark of a Pashupata ascetic, that is, the ashes in which he bathes thrice daily
* worship with "song, dance, laughter, and mantra repetition"
* develop virtues such as not stealing, [[celibacy]], not harming creatures etc.

The aspirant (''[[sadhaka]]'') thus gradually purifies himself, and enters the second stage. He leaves the temple, and engages in [[anti-social behavior]] in order to attract verbal and physical abuse. The text states that the aspirant's [[pāpa|sins]] pass over to his abusers, and their [[punya (Hinduism)|merits]] pass over to him. Examples of these anti-social behaviors include:

* pretending to be asleep in public places
* making one's limbs tremble and pretending to be paralyzed
* limping
* pretending to be mad
* engaging in [[lewd]] behavior towards young women

Next, the aspirant enters the third stage, where he should:

* reside away from the public in a deserted house or cave
* live off [[bhiksha|alms]]
* meditate upon the five sacred mantras of Shiva and the syllable [[Om]]

The text states that after following these practices, the aspirant unites his soul with Shiva. After six months in this union, he starts living in a [[cremation ground]], survives on whatever is available, and finally dies. He thus unites with Shiva, and ends all his sorrows through Shiva's grace.

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* [http://gretil.sub.uni-goettingen.de/gretil/corpustei/transformations/html/sa_pAzupatasUtra.htm Pāśupatasūtra], Göttingen Register of Electronic Texts in Indian Languages (GRETIL)

[[Category:Sanskrit texts]]
[[Category:Shaiva texts]]
[[Category:Revelation]]
[[Category:1st-millennium texts]]

Pashupata-sutra - Revision history

Isaac3301: Adding basic article w/ sources