The Saivaparibhasa of Sivagrayogin (An Old and Rare Book)

Professor S. S. Suryanarayana Sastri was the first Head of the Department of Philosophy, University of Madras. During the fifteen years of his service (1927-1942) in the Department, he brought out editions of texts with English translation relating to different schools of Indian Philosophy, besides independent monographs. His area of research covered Advaita, Sivadvaita, Sankhya and Saiva Siddhanta.

Conversant with both Tamil and Sanskrit Traditions of Saiva Siddhanta, Sivagrayogin has written a number of book on Saiva Siddhanta in the form of commentaries and independent treaties. According to tradition, he is one of the illustrious preceptors of the Suryanarkoil Adhinam in Tamil Nadu. He had the good fortune of receiving diksa and saivasannyasa from his guru, Sri Sivakkolundu Sivacary, and succeeded him as the spiritual head of the Adhinam. As a preceptor of the Siddhanta philosophy and practice, he occupies an important place in the school of Saiva Siddhanta.

Sivagrayogin's Tamil commentary (written in the manipravala style on Arulnandi's Sivajnana-siddhiyar is well-known. He has also written commentaries in Tamil on the Sarvajnanottara, Devikalottara and srutisuktimala. His sivaneriprakasam (in Tamil) is an independent exposition of the basic doctrines of Saiva Siddhanta. He wrote in Sanskrit two commentaries on the Sivajnabodha – a short one called Sivajnana-bodha-sangraha-vyakhyana and an elaborate one popularly referred to as Sivagra-bhasya. In addition to these, he wrote in Sanskrit Saiva-sannyasa-paddhati, Kriya-dipika, and Saiva-paribhasa.

The Saiva-paribhasa which is a valuable manual on Saiva Siddhanta is comparable to Dharmaraja's Vedanta-paribhasa of the Advaita school and Srinivasa's yatindramata-dipika of the Visistadvaita school. It consists of five chapters. Chapter I deals with logic and epistemology of the Siddhanta school. Chapters II and III deal with Pati and Pasu respective ely. Problems connected chapter expounds the Siddhanta conception of moksa and themeans thereto. Sivagrayogin follows the conventional method of purvapaksa-siddhanta dialectics in expounding the Siddhanta views on epistemology and metaphysics, ethical discipline and the goal, and justifies the Siddhanta position in all aspects by citing the authority of the Pauskara and other Agamas.

Professor S.S. Suryanarayana Sastri who was the first Head of the Department of Philosophy brought out during the fifteen years of his service (1927-1942) in the Department several editions of texts with English translation, besides independent monographs. He chose for translation texts belonging to different school- Bhamati (catussutri), Vivarana-prameya-sangraha, Siddhantalesa-sangraha and Vedanta-paribhasa from the Advaita school, Sankhya-karika of Isvara Krsna from the Sankhya school, Manameyodaya from the Mimamsa school, and Sivadvaita Sivadvaita-nirnaya of the Saiva School. He was able to complete all these translations during this period, in addition to the scholarly monographs and learned articles which he published from time to time. The work turned out by Professor Sastri is, indeed, impressive. He not only formulated the ideal to be followed by the Department, but also gave practical expression to it. The ideal, as he conceived it, was "to consolidate our own intellectual heritage with a view to understand and regulate better the lives which have been guided by it all these centuries," Without any need for justifying our ways to the outsider or making them appeal to him. Not only be gibe the department a "content", but also a "direction".

Professor Suryanarayana Sastri English translation, hitherto unpublished, of Sivagrayogin's Saiva-paribhasa was available in the Department. On scrutiny it was found to be incomplete as it contained the English translation for only the first four chapters. Dr V. K. S. N. Raghavan and I prepared the translation for the fifth chapter of the text. Professor Sastri must have followed the text of the Saiva-paribhasa in grantha script available in the Adyar Library, Madras; and this manuscript copy of this text in devangari script, which contains all the five chapters, published by the Oriental Research Institute (Sanskrit Series No. 90), University of Mysore, in 1950. The text of the Saiva-paribhasa published by the Oriental Research Institute of the University of Mysore has been helpful in the preparation of this edition of text with English translation.

I am thankful to Dr N. Veezhinathan, Professor and Head of the Department of Sanskrit, University of Madras, For his timely help and Guidance in the preparation of this volume.

The Radhakrishna Institute is Grateful to the Vice-Chancellor and other authorities of the University of Madras for providing funds for the publication of this monograph.