Introduction
Temples are the central foundation of sanātana dharma. Society was organized around the temple, deriving not only spiritual benefits but also social, economic, administrative, cultural, wellness and other benefits.
The key actors that kept this ecosystem going for millennia were the ādiśaivaācārya-s, based on the Śaivāgama-s. Inscriptions record that the śaivācārya-s were rājakulaguru-s, personal officiants for the public as well as temple priests. They also taught the scriptures, gave dīkṣā initiation, listened to personal problems and played doctor, friend, psychologist and philosopher and so on. Apart from this, they carried on their core dharma of ātmārtha and parārthapūjā maintaining their specified lifestyle through the ages, learning, transcribing, teaching and preserving the āgama-s.
The training and development of the ādiśaiva neophyte into a full-fledged ācārya depended in great part on the rigorous pāṭaśālā training.
This paper explores the role of these pāṭaśālā-s through the ages, and lessons we can draw for modern pedagogy from this unique system.
Methodology
The methodology is through qualitative research, with one on one in-depth interviews with different generations of pāṭaśālā preceptors and students.
Sampling was done to represent different kinds of institutions – small and large, private and affiliated, relatively new as well as established decades ago.
Background
The Śaivāgama-s are the canonical texts of the Śaiva tradition that are believed to have emanated from the five faces of Lord Śiva at the time of creation, along with the Vaidika, Atimārga, Adhyātmika and Laukīka knowledge. Also called the Mantramārga, the Śaivāgama canon includes the 28 mūla or primary āgama-s, 207 secondary upāgamas, the 18 paddhati-s written at various times by the śaivācārya-s as practical compendiums and guidebooks as well as the 8 Aṣṭaprakaraṇagrantha explaining the Siddhānta philosophy of the Śaivāgama-s. The tradition is believed to have been taught on earth first by Sage Dūrvāsa to his disciples, who further set up learning centres that propagated all over the land over time including Āmardaka, Kolagiri, Mattamayūra and others.
The canon is the basis for the establishment of the temple ecosystem of societies both urban and rural, with the temple as the dharmic heart of a social system set up in order to elevate people’s consciousness towards mukti while also helping them live good lives with bhukti.
Establishing a temple according to the āgama-s, required first requesting use of the wild land from the visible and invisible creatures that inhabit it, treating it to make it fit for human occupation with vāstuśānti and other rituals, testing the soil to understand what use the different areas can be put to, using padavinyāsavidhi to plan the layout of the society with the temple as the heart and the various residences, common traders, service providers and agricultural land around it, including the grāma devata temples at the borders. Further, the āgama-s describe various structural measures, design options, proportions of sculptures, and layouts for the actual construction of the temple. It also explains how to invoke and invite the Supreme Lord and the parivāra devata-s to come reside in the garbhagṛha created for them, and how to further to keep their sānnidhya, living presence in the temple through parārthapūjā – daily worship as well as regular temple festivals. It also prescribes many prāyaścitta rituals in order to expiate for various errors.
The ultimate purpose of this construct is to serve as a living working model of the four-fold path of caryā, kriyā, yoga and jñāna that would lead the soul, paśu, away from the bonds of this world, pāśa, towards the Supreme Godhead, Pati.
By enmeshing all the four paths in the design of the temple ecosystem, āgama created a participative, simple and clever system where entire societies can be transformed slowly but surely merely by living in the vicinity of a temple. This explains the age old Tamil saying kōvilillāūrilkuḍiyirukkavēṇḍām – don’t live in a village that does not have a temple.
Role of the ādiśaivaācārya
The Śaivāgama tradition seeks to bestow liberation on every soul – human and otherwise. It exhorts everyone of all creed, colour, community to take samaya dīkṣā, initiation into the śaiva path, perform personal worship, ātmārthapūjā to a śivaliṅga at home and continually progress towards mokṣa.
However, the temple worship for universal benefit – to invoke and keep the living presence of the deity for the prosperity of the village, the king, the kingdom and all beings not only in this world but the entire multiverse of creation – the powerful parārthapūjā, is ordered to be the svadharma of a community called ādiśaiva.
The āgama declares that compared to the rest of the world who are Brahmasṛṣṭi, these are Śivasṛṣṭi, created by Lord Śiva for the specific purpose of worshipping Him.
It is seen from the literature as well as inscriptional sources that this has been in practice for thousands of years. Known variously as śiva-vipra, śiva-brāhmaṇa, śaivācārya, śivācārya, deśika, dīkṣita and bhaṭṭa – the ādiśaivaācārya-s have from times immemorial established and sustained temples, as well as acted as the kulaguru of the people and the kings, guiding them in all material civil activities as well, teaching them the siddhānta as well. While worship at the temple involves a diverse mix of people including the vaidīkabrāhmaṇa chanting the Veda, the Oduvār to recite the devāram, the dancers and musicians, cooks, sthapati-s takṣaka-s, the treasury-keeper, manager, accountant, sweepers and guards and others the pradhānaācārya of the temple was the spiritual head of this sthalaparivāra family, giving dīkṣā and guiding all activity.
There were several levels of the ādiśaiva practitioners serving under the pradhānaācārya in various roles – arcaka, sādhaka, vācaka, alaṅkṛta as well as paricāraka and so on who were his sons and disciples in hereditary succession.
They conducted the daily pūjā as well as the periodic utsava-s, helped the consecration and festivals of the grāmadevatā temple (run by non-ādiśaiva priests), helped conduct the gṛhasamskāra of the community, taught various subjects to the children of the community, acted as the first response in cases of family emergencies often doubling up as doctor, advisor, family friend, psychologist and most of all, their guru.
They also studied the āgama, made copies of the manuscripts and are single-handedly responsible for the survival of this canon through the centuries both in practice as well as in letter.
How did this community ensure the transmission of this knowledge through generations and ensure that irrespective of other lucrative vocations and lifestyles, their successors continued on this often lonely and austere path of service?
One of the important institutions in this vision is the śāivāgamapāṭaśālā.
Run by experienced ādiśaiva preceptors as small residential communities often attached to or near a temple, either in the ācārya’s own home or in a small gurukulam, the pāṭaśāla was invaluable in creating successive generations of dedicated ādiśaivasādhaka ready to serve the temple and the people. In ancient days, it was even one’s own home, learning under one’s father along with one’s siblings.
We spoke to some of the ācārya-s of a few pāṭaśālā-s and some former students through direct and online interviews. We share some of our learnings below.
Key Features
- Immersive learning
The first design element of this education is residential learning for the duration of study. Children arrive at the gurukulam (or residence of the guru) when they are 8 years old (up to 15 years) and stay for 6 to 8 years learning the tradition. They go home only for two major breaks in the year. They are completely in the environment designed for this knowledge transmission.
- Lifestyle
The students follow a day plan that roughly reflects the lifestyle they would eventually live. Their schedule is closely aligned to the natural sun cycle – they wake up early and sleep by 9 pm. They practise their anuṣṭāṇam religiously. They observe the tithi-nakṣatra of the day and any special requirements for that day – like amāvasya, pūrṇimā or pradoṣapūjā.
- Mita āhāra – power of food
Students eat mild and nourishing food avoiding overly spicy and fried food as well as packaged junk food. They enjoy occasional fried treats and sweets. But in general, their food is sāttvika, conducive to help them focus on their studies, cooking within the pāṭaśālā.
- Discipline
Children follow the schedule strictly and are penalized for tardiness. Children don’t have access to any external media for strict control over senses so can focus on knowledge alone. Once a month, some of the pāṭaśālā-s screen a religious movie for entertainment.
- Ācārya as the Role model
Children learn best by imitation. There is the living presence of the ācārya from whom one learns both lessons like how to perform anuṣṭāṇa and how to perform pūjā as well as life lessons such as how to talk, how to conduct oneself, how to treat others and so on.
- Geared to be a guru
From an early age, they are encouraged to teach. The older students teach the younger. If someone younger in age joins earlier and has had more lessons, he is considered senior to the older kids who might join after him. Seniority is by learning.
- Memory serves right
While there are some schools of thought dissing memorising of lessons, the pāṭaśālā students have to commit many things to memory including vedic chants, dhyānaślokā, paddhati-s, and so on. The power of committing to memory is not just rote learning but something that is transformative and serves them throughout life.
- Practice makes perfect
The students get lots of practical experience, applying the lessons in real pūjā and utsava. They help collect material for worship and also get the chance to conduct certain rituals themselves. They gain experience in working together, managing a large festival, delegating tasks, and the value of doing one’s task well.
- Multifaceted curriculum
The curriculum is comprehensive and covers all that one needs to do the job. An electrical engineering graduate might not be able to set up a grid for a city or even a house by himself on the day of graduating but the students are trained to conduct many rituals independently. They also learn to compensate for the absence of other team members since they may be the single priest many times. So they learn to conduct everything from start to finish – creating one-person armies – clean, collect material, cook naivedya, perform homa, worship, chant Veda, recite dēvāram, sing songs and so on.
- Service to the local community, temples and Grāma devata
The students serve the community they are in and this involves serving the local temples as well. They frequently do homa there, offer japa and other offerings. They also render service at various utsava festivals and kumbhābhiṣekam-s.
- Embedded ecosystem
The students don’t have to wait for a higher degree in order to access stalwarts in the field – they learn from many great ācārya leaders and visiting scholars. It is considered important to learn from various guru-s, strive to get important mantra and rare dhyānaśloka from various guru-s.
- Early Responsibility and Community living
They help with chores, take turns and senior students are often responsible for the overall functioning and running of the pāṭaśālā. They also take responsibility to help with organizing events, receiving guests, maintaining accounts, overseeing purchase of groceries and so on.
- Small groups
Small close-knit group of students means that there are always personal relationships and deep bonds.
- Non-commercial
The education is free or at negligible cost. Some parents offer whatever they can afford by way of rice or groceries. Students learn early on that vidyā cannot be bought but only be earned through humble service by the grace of the guru, examples for how to lead their life.
- Dīkṣā and Guru paramparā
The grace of the guru is a crucial aspect of mokṣā in ŚaivaSiddhānta. By establishing a close relationship early on with several gurus, the student is equipped strongly on his path. The gurus are dīkṣā guru, vidyā guru, siddhānta guru, mantra guru and so on depending on what they impart to the student.
Conclusion
The āgamapāṭaśālā has several lessons for modern pedagogy. It is a small-scale institution that is close to a home school in many instances. Many of them don’t have the accoutrements of a large academy including personal learning material, modern computer equipment or even desks and chairs. But they have a strong framework that has an embedded ‘why’ to perpetuate the siddhānta and the āgamavidyā in both theory and practice, not just for creating a band of next generation priests but also to create servant leaders who contribute to the societies they serve.
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Conference on Pedagogy And Educational Heritage
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