Annual Reports

MISCELLANEOUS

(Ep. Rep. for 1912, p. 73), and so the cyclic year Saumya in which the present record is dated, must have corresponded to Śaka 1411 (=A.D. 1489-90). Mādhavayyaṅgār, who is styled the disciple of Kandāḍai Rāmānujayyaṅgār in the Kōyilolugu is, in a record (No. 92) dated in Śaka 1422 and engraved in the Viṭṭhala shrine in the Raṅgavilāsam¬-maṇḍapa, stated to have built a new shrine (navamāga) to the north of the Nānmugan-gōpura in the temple, and to have installed images of Viṭṭhalēśvara and of Madhurakavi-Ālvār therein, and built a kitchen. This item of work is also mentioned in the Kōyilolugu (p. 129) wherein, however, it is mentioned that the Viṭṭhala shrine was simply repaired. From some Tirupati epigraphs, it is learnt that this Mādhavayyaṅgār was in charge of the porpaṇḍāram of the Tirupati temple, and was wielding much influence in that temple’s administration (Tirupati Devasthanam Report, p. 216).

Chandraśēkharaguru-Uḍaiyar a grishastha Pāśupata,
in charge of the Jambukēśvaram temple.
   79. No. 135 from Jambukēśvaram which is dated in Śaka 1506, Tāraṇa, is an interesting record. It is not dated in the reign of any ruling king, though the Chandraśēkharaguru-Uḍaiyar, a gṛihastha-date Śaka 1506 falls in Veṅkaṭa I’s reign. It purports to be a tirumugam issued by Chaṇḍēśvara appointing a certain Chandraśēkharaguru-Uḍaiyar to the post of the Trustee of the Tiruvānaikkā-Uḍaiyār temple at the place. It is couched in a high-flown maṇipravāḷa style and appears to be an apologia for the selection of a married person (gṛihastha) to the pontificate of the Pāśupata-maṭha at Tiruvānaikkā, which had till then been probably in the keeping of a celibate only. The quaint style of the record bristles with bombastic quotations from several words in seeming support of this transition, and affords interesting reading.

   It is stated that when Pāśupata-vratam and the rights of archchanai, tirukkaṇśāttu and mura-svatantram were in the enjoyment of the heads of the maṭha in the lineal succession from guru to sishya—

   As according to the Parāśara-Saṁhitā (Mādhavīya commentary) long term celibacy, using kamaṇḍalu, performance of human and horse sacrifices and drinking of spirituous liquors are deprecated for Brahmans in the Kaliage ; as according to the Kālāgni-Rudrōpanishad, a learned man is desirable, be he a brahmachārī, gṛihastha, vānaprastha, or an ascetic ; as according to the Sanatkumāra-saṁhitā, the Pāśupata-vrata is enjoined for twelve years for a true devotee of Paśupati, for gṛihasthas agni is not allowed, for śrōtriya-brahmachārīs upanayana is prescribed, and a period of twelve months is sufficient for. . . . . . . . ; as according to the Saura-saṁhitā, a term of twelve years, or a year, or a half year, or yet a fur ther half of it, or even a shorter term of twelve days is prescribed as a concession to the gṛihasthas ; as Upamanyu, Dadhīchi, Agastya, Rāma and Kṛishṇa, who were all of them married men, observed the Pāśupata-vrata ; as according to the Ṛik-Brāhmaṇa, a man is absolved from his ṛiṇas by begetting a son and a man who is childless does not attain to salvation, and so the three-fold ṛiṇas should somehow be worked off ; as according to the Śrutis and the Smṛitis performance of yāgas is obligatory on a householder from the tenth day of his marriage, and performance of certain obligatory rites on special occasions and at special places is compulsory ; as in the Yajñakaraṇa (-chapter) it is stated that he who does not do certain rites is considered an excommunicated Brahman ; and as according to Śivājñā (command of Śiva), the ordinances of Śruti and Smṛiti are to be closely followed, and a transgressor is considered an enemy of Siva—

   Chandraśēkharaguru-Uḍaiyar was commanded to be a gṛihastha-Pāśupata, i.e., a Pāśupata though married, and conduct yajña and other rites, and enjoy privileges of archchanai, tirukkaṇśāttu, kōvilkēḷvi, kaṇakkeludu, muddirai, and murasvatantiram in the temple in lineal succession of son, grandson and so on. It was, however, stipulated that an elder, both by age and learning, should be the head of the maṭha (adhisṭhāna) and maintain the brotherhood of disciple in the maṭha.

   The record closes with some benedictory and imprecatory verses,
The Pāśupata-vrata, on the observance of which so much stress is laid in this record, has been described in the Atharvaśiras Upanishad thus :— “ In the inside of the heart exists the subtle body, in which there are anger, agreed and forgiveness. Destroying greed, which is at the bottom, of human motives, and concentrating the mind of Rudra, who is one and eternal, one should be moderate in eating and drinking”. Then follows a precept to besmear the body with ashes by repeating the words : “The ash is fire, the ash is water, the ash is earth, everything is ash, the ether is ash, the mind, the eyes and other senses are ash.” This is the