Nāsṭika Ṣaiva Khanḍana Introduction. (PART 1)

  Hare Krishna 

All Glories To Sri Guru And Sri Gauranga!

Never before the vaishnava acharya have refuted the lingayats, the sole reason is that they don't deserve any attention, for they are just a bunch of atheists with a set of false words and beliefs.

I pray unto My Guru and Sri Krishna, before continuing.

nama om vishnu-padaya krishna-preshthaya bhu-tale
srimate bhaktivedanta-svamin iti namine

I offer my respectful obeisances unto His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, who is very dear to Lord Krishna on this earth, having taken shelter at His lotus feet.

namas te sarasvate deve gaura-vani-pracharine
nirvishesha-shunyavadi-pashchatya-desha-tarine

Our respectful obeisances are unto you, O spiritual master, servant of Sarasvati Gosvami. You are kindly preaching the message of Lord Chaitanya deva and delivering the Western countries, which are filled with impersonalism and voidism.

I dedicate this post to the lotus feet of Jagaḍguru Maḍhvāchārya, who is known for his accomplishment in mayavada nirasana, the total destruction of mayavada(false doctrines) and I, therefore invoke his blessings. 

Abhramam Bandghrahitam

Ajadam Vimalam Sadaa

Anandathirtham Atulam

Bhaje Taapatrayapaham

Oh Undeluded one , Filthless one

you are always unobstructable and slothless.

Oh Anandathirtha(Madhvacharya) oh uncomparable one

I salute you ,oh the remover of all the difficulties

jayatāṁ suratau paṅgor
mama manda-mater gatī
mat-sarvasva-padāmbhojau
rādhā-madana-mohanau

Glory to the all-merciful Rādhā and Madana-mohana! I am lame and ill advised, yet They are my directors, and Their lotus feet are everything to me.

dīvyad-vṛndāraṇya-kalpa-drumādhaḥ-
śrīmad-ratnāgāra-siṁhāsana-sthau
śrīmad-rādhā-śrīla-govinda-devau
preṣṭhālībhiḥ sevyamānau smarāmi

In a temple of jewels in Vṛndāvana, underneath a desire tree, Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Govinda, served by Their most confidential associates, sit upon an effulgent throne. I offer my humble obeisances unto Them.

śrīmān rāsa-rasārambhī
vaṁśīvaṭa-taṭa-sthitaḥ
karṣan veṇu-svanair gopīr
gopī-nāthaḥ śriye ’stu naḥ

Śrī Śrīla Gopīnātha, who originated the transcendental mellow of the rāsa dance, stands on the shore in Vaṁśīvaṭa and attracts the attention of the cowherd damsels with the sound of His celebrated flute. May they all confer upon us their benediction.

Why NĀSṬIKĀ ṣaiva?

Because nāsṭika means atheist

Basava(the leader and founder of the lingayats), was born in a family of veerashaivas, a deviant cult. He started another cult known as the lingayats.

There is a specific reason why they are referred to as nāsṭikas here.

the Ṣiva they believe in is not the lord Ṣiva that we get to see in the vedic literature, he is not the Ṣiva who is the most exalted amongst Vaiṣnavās, who is mentioned in Ṣrimaḍ Bhāgavaṭam, the Ṣiva they believe in is a totally different mythical character, or more likely "Ṣiva is just a term they use to refer to their false god.

So thereby, here, the lingayats are being called as NĀSṬIKĀ ṣaivas, to highlight the fact that they are avaiḍikās, and are merely insulting lord Ṣiva, branding his name to refer to their bogus non existing god. So as they don't believe in the vedas nor do they accept a bonafide authority, they shall be called atheists, for not believing in real god, as their philosophy too is void, and impersonal. 

This is going to posted in 4 parts, each part shall deal with the following topics:

Nāsṭika Ṣaiva Khanḍana Part 1: Introduction to the faith.(The present article).

Nāsṭika Ṣaiva Khanḍana Part 2: Criticism of their beliefs and practices.

Nāsṭika Ṣaiva Vachana Khanḍana Part 1: Introduction and the criticism of their 'vachanas' or their bogus scriptures.

Nāsṭika Ṣaiva Vachana Khanḍana Part 2: Continuation of the criticism from part 1 of Nāsṭika Ṣaiva Vachana Khanḍana, and a note on their short comings.

Lingāyaṭa Ḍurmaṭa Khandana: Addressing the fallacies and fanaticism of their faith, an analysis of their cult from a viewpoint of a vaishnava/vedantin.

Let us first know about the consequences that led to the formation of this cult.

1. Caste System: This is the most basic misunderstanding most of the avaiḍikās have.

This is the symptom of being a demon influenced by the age of kali yuga, let us analyse the case of Basava(nna) here.......

He was born into the family of Vīraṣaivās, a deviant sect, the members of which, claim to follow true vedanta, but they actually don't. The entire issue is lengthy, but to put in shortly, they don't accept the vedas, as it is, they accept, only the rudra adhyaya, of the vedas, to prove their fallacy. According to Viḍyāvāchaspaṭi Dr. Bannanje Govindacharya, who is an eminent scholar of vedanta, who is also entitled to the padmashri award, the word "rudra" has many meanings in sanskrit, one of which is the one who removes all kinds of 'rujus', meaning illness, (the word ruju too has multiple meanings), so the word "rudra" can apply to a number of personalities, including the lord Ṣri Kriṣhna himself, many personalities in the vedas, such as 'vayu', are entitled to the term "rudra". The rudra in the vedas can refer to many such personalities, the rudra in the vedas, which is meant for lord Ṣiva is obtained by vishnu, which is clear from this post. The other rudras, and their interpretation and meaning related to the puranas, can be found here. We find Adi Shankaracharya asserting the statement that rudra(shiva) is a devotee of lord Narasimha Deva in his Lakshmi Narasimha Karavalamba Stotra.....

Brahmendra Rudra Marudraka kireeta koti
Sanghattitanghri kamalaamala kaanti kantha
Lakshmi lasat kucha saroruha rajahamsa
Lakshmi Nrsimha mama dehi karavalambam (2)

The Lord before whom millions of crowns of Gods like Brahma, Indra, Rudra, Marutas, Arka (Sun God)
Get together to prostrate before the glorious lotus like feet to obtain its splendor
Who is the royal swan playing at the lotus lake like bosom of Goddess Lakshmi
I bow to you Lord Lakshmi Narasimha, please give me the support of your divine hands.

So henceforth the faith of the virashaivas is not valid, as it lacks proper pramāṇās (proofs and quotations) from the scriptures. So we can disregard Basava(nna)'s birth as inauthentic and without any authority. These virashaivas have horribly interpreted the varnashrama dharma of the vedas, due to which a lot of commotions arose and cults like lingayatism took birth.

If Basava(nna) were really a person with spiritual temper, then he would have further studied the shastras(scriptures) under a bonafide authority and would have embraced the vedic knowledge, but it seems like he could never come out his narrow well and committed a lot of blunders while criticising the vedic practices.

A Lingayat Pandit, who was misleading the King Arasappa Nayaka of Soda samsthana, was easily defeated in the debate by Sri Vadirajaru. The pandit not only surrendered at feet of Sri Vadirajaru, but also offered all his winning certificates and his Basava Ghante. The king who had completely surrendered at the feet of Sri Vadirajaru, later got back his kingdom and he highly honored Sri Vadirajaru with Simhasana of pearls, Kireeta, Chatra and Charmara and also donated the land of Soda to him.

Lingayats are known for their misconceptions and misleading others, which would be shortly posted on the blog.

The lingayats in their website https://lingayatreligion.com/ claim that, it is the only way of truth, without true inquiry into knowing of the absolute truth, thus they seem to contradict the very first instruction the bramha sutras, "aṭaṭo bramḥa jigṇasa" meaning, now let us enquire about bramhan or god. And since they call him Basavēṣvarā, or Lord Basavēṣvarā, they do not know the fact that, the real īṣvara, i.e., Sri Krishna, who is the real liberator of all living entities, and their so called fake self proclaimed īṣvaras cannot liberate or following their deceitful paths or worshipping them would do no good to the society.

They consider mental concoctions superior to the scripture, not knowing that the human intelligence is fallible.

"Perception apprehends things material; while scripture has as its object what is not determinable by perception and inference. There can be no contradiction between empiricism and scripture". (Ramanujacharya - Vedartha Sangraha)

"Objective perception is its own standard of truth. It cannot be negated by inference or Scripture. There is no reason to reject the empirical evidence regarding the existence of a world external to our minds." (Madhvacharya -Tattvodyota)

They speak of equality, Discrimination is a virtue & sign of human intelligence. It is the judgement power to separate real from unreal, and suitable from unsuitable. Discrimination is not oppression, oppression is evil. Humanity is naturally plural and all of us are naturally unequal & unique. We are equal only at atma level. Only those who first acknowledge and then manage human differences peacefully live best of lives.- Tatva Viveka, Madhvacharya.

These māyavādīs also criticise the vedas, and reject them to the core,

Garuda Purana 3.12.17 therefore states —

तत्त्वेच्छवः प्रविजानन्ति नित्यं वेदे सूक्तान्क्वाप्यनुक्तांश्च सर्वान्

"Some special traits are declared in the Vedas which are known only to the aspirants."

These have also miserably commented on the vedas, using derogatory words for the vedic deities, 

In his Mahābhārata Tatparya Nirnaya, Chapter 9: Ramasvadhama Pravesa, 138, 139, Sri Madhvacarya says—

“In the Lakshana work composed by Krishna Dwaipayana, it is stated that one must not comment on the meaning of the Vedas without knowing the three modes of interpretation, one hundred ways of annotation, and the seven kinds of differences.”

Madhvacharya also asserted, yathecchasi tatha kuru, which translates and explains as "one has the right to choose between right and wrong, a choice each individual makes out of his own responsibility and his own risk"

So the void audacity shown by these misleaders is going to lead them to the nine form of hari dwesha, which ultimately leads to hell, which is another controversial topic, as these māyavādīs do not believe in the existence of heaven and hell, which again leads to tons of shortcomings, and which would be discussed in the further posts. 

These days we see masses of people protesting against bollywood for anti vedic propaganda, but was it bollywood which started this trend? 

Maya followed Brahma as Saraswati.
Maya turned to the world as Lakshmi to Vishnu.
Maya haunted Rudra on his lap and on his head as Uma.--Dhakkeya Bommanna/1782

We see the fallacy of this lingayat, which would be refuted in the further posts, which is clearly anti vedic in nature, and which defames the entire vedanta, and insults the vedic deities, and the lord himself. We also see basava(nna) criticising the practice of abhishekam, a practice in which the deity form of lord is bathed with sacred liquids, and the remnants with which the lord is bathed is distributed amongst the devotees, a practice we see, which is made fun of in bollywood, was condemned by this man, centuries before bollywood even existed. 

This would be continued in the future posts, where the vedic practices, varnashrama dharma, would be defended and the beliefs and practices of lingayats would be debunked. 

Hare Krishna

ṣri kṛṣnārpaṇamasṭu!

सर्वं एवं मम हृदयं राज्यं कृत्वा मम प्रेमविषयं श्री अप्रमेय श्री श्रीराधाव्रजचन्द्राय च समर्प्यते।

Everything thus is offered to the lord who reigns my heart, and who is the object of my love, Sri Aprameya and Sri Sri Radha Vrajachandra.