The oldest documented Shaiva ascetic order, ascribed to Lakulisha: liberation is the end of suffering, reached by discipline, devotion to Shiva as Pashupati, and the ash-smeared life.
The Pasupata school is the oldest Shaiva order for which texts and inscriptions stand, and its teaching is ascribed to Lakulisha. The Pashupata Sutra, with Kaundinya's commentary, sets out a path of staged discipline in which the ascetic first lives by the temple and then deliberately invites dishonour, shaking off attachment to reputation on the way to the end of suffering.
Sources
Primary
- The Pashupata Sutra with Kaundinya's Panchartha Bhashya.
Secondary
- Alexis Sanderson, The Saiva Age.
How this compares to Christianity
How does this branch relate to the historic Christian faith?
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- Reviewer
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What this assessment cannot settle
This assessment determines what this entity teaches and how that teaching relates to the historic Christian creeds. It does not determine whether any person is saved, whether God accepts their worship, whether they are sincere, or whether the criteria applied here are correct.
This assessment is made from the standpoint described in our editorial statement and our criteria page. It reports classifications; it does not rank sincerity, spiritual standing, or the eternal state of any person. To persons, rather than teachings, this site says what it says everywhere: God's law shows every one of us our sin, and in Christ God offers every one of us forgiveness and new life.