VAIKHANASA AGAMA BOOKS

Introduction:

India is a land of Temples. The temple is a public place of worship. It is the common belief among all religions in the world to worship their Lord through prayers. This is called Bhakti Marga. In this system Priest will be there in the temple to conduct pooja to the Lord on behalf of the Devotees. This pooja system is otherwise called as Archana or Aradhana to the Lord. Daily the Priest prays to the Lord to give peace and pleasure to all the people in the world.

The mode of this worship is clearly and elaborately explained in Agama texts. These Agamas may be classified broadly into three groups on the basis of their sectarian affiliations: Saiva, Vaishnava and Sakta.

Now we are dealing with Vaikhanasa Agama books. Sage Vikhanas is the founder teacher of this system. He has writtend Vaikhanasa Kalpa Sutra and taught the Agama to his four disciples Sage Bhrugu, Sage mareechi, Sage Kasyapa and Sage Atri. This Vaikhanasa Agama adeher to the vedic tradition and it concerns the worship of Vishnu. These four desciples have written the Vaikhanasa Agama texts as follows:

a) Bhrugu         -           Thirteen Adhikaras

b) Mareechi      -           Eight Samhitas

c) Kasyapa       -           Three Kandas

d) Atri              -           Four Tantras

Total                -           Twenty eight texts.

Out of these twenty eight vaikhanasa texts only ten texts are available now and T. T. Devasthanams has printed nine texts so far. In addition to these original texts there are some explanatory books written by scholars explaining the details according to the subject wise for practical purposes. They are also printed by T. T. Devastanams. All these books explain the wsystem of worship of Sriman Narayana in Idol form.

The Agama texts have four main divisions in their books. They are:

a)      Kriya Pada:      dealing with construction of temples, the making and consecration of Icons.

b)      Charya Pada:    dealing with the actual worship rituals daily and occasionally and prayaschittas.

c)      Yoga Pada:      dealing with Astanga Yoga.

d)      Jnana Pada:      dealing with the basic philosophical principals and knowledgs concerning the ultimate reality and liberation (Moksha)

Some of the Agama texts contain all the above four divisions and some may give more details on few divisions only. But all the texts give details of charya pada i.e, worship of the Lord. The above four Padas are complementary to each other. The main goal is liberations from the phenomenal fetters(Mukti) and prosperity in worldly life (Bhukti) through Bhakti and worship of Lord Vishnu and his other form (Avataras).

List of Vaikhanasa Publications and Availability:

Tirumala Tirupati Devastanams Publications - Tirumala, Tirupati

Sri Venkateswara Swamy Vari Devastanam - Dwaraka Tirumala:

Executive officer, S V S Devastanam, Dwaraka Tirumala, West Godavari Dist., A.P, India

Phone: 08829 27142

Sree Vaikhaanasa BhagavaCHaastra Grandhamala:

Agama Pravara: Dr. Deevi Krishnaswamy Iyyengar, Nalluru (Post), Repalle Mandal, Guntur Dist., A. P., India

Phone: 08648-222158

Sree Mareechi Grandhamala:

Secretary, Sri Vaikhanasa Divya Siddhantha Vivardhini Sabha, Sri Vaikhanasa Asramam, Ring Road, Tirumala, Chittor Dist. A.P., India

Phone: 0877-2277282 (Publication details will be updated soon........)

Sree Vikhanasa Trust:

Secretary, Sree Vikhanasa Trust, Sri Vaikhanasa Asramam, Ring Road, Tirumala, Chittor Dist. A.P., India

Phone: 0877-2277282