Pancharatra
Traditional Pancharatra (IAST: Pāñcarātra) was a religious movement in Hinduism that originated in late 3rd-century BCE around the ideas of Narayana and the various avatar and forms of Vishnu as their central deities.
[12] Pancharatra has likely roots in 3rd-century BCE, as a religious movement around the ideas of a sage Narayana, who much later becomes identified as an avatar of Vishnu.
[1] The Narayaniya section of the Mahabharata (XII, 335–351) refers to seven rishis who say the Pancharatra ritual was made consistent with the Vedas.
[14] Though the five day ritual is mentioned along with many other sacrifices in the Vedic text, the origins of Pancaratra devotees and their tradition is unclear.
[12] The Advaita Vedanta scholars, such as Adi Shankara, criticized elements of the Pancharatra doctrine along with other theistic approaches stating it was against monistic spiritual pursuits and non-Vedic.
[2][10][16] According to Suthren Hirst, Shankara supported the use of icons and temple worship if it focussed as a means to comprehend Brahman as the sole metaphysical reality.
[citation needed] Ānanda Tīrtha the founder of Madhva line has written in his commentary on Mundaka Upanishad: [19] "In Dvapara Yuga, Vishnu is exclusively worshiped according to the principles of the Pancharatra Scripture, but in this age of Kali Yuga, the Supreme Lord Hari is worshiped only by the chanting of his Holy Name.
"[citation needed] Jiva Gosvami had stated in his Paramātma Sandārbha, forming part of six principal Sandārbhas, or philosophical treatises of Gaudiya Vaishnavism, that, "Seeing that the imperfect scriptures in the modes of passion and ignorance bring only a host of troubles, and also seeing that the original Vedas are very difficult to follow properly, and thus being very dissatisfied with both of these, the all-knowing scripture authors affirm the superiority of the Pancharatras, which describe the pure absolute truth, Narayana, and the worship of the Lord, which is very easy to perform."
[1] In the beginning, states Pancharatra doctrine, there was only Narayana as the highest changeless god and as explained by their concept of Caturvyuha, this supreme god-head transformed into four earthly emanations, the first of which was Vāsudeva-Krishna (Vāsudeva literally means "indwelling deity")[22] Further arrangements or emanations followed, secondly into Saṅkarṣaṇa (Balarama)[13] as the lord over all life, thirdly into Pradyumna creating mind, and lastly into Aniruddha as ego (ahamkara).
Ramanuja taught that the deity absolute, Parabrahman, manifests in five possible aspects: Para, Vyuha, Vibhava, Antaryamin, and Archa.
Living beings can interact with the divine through one or another of these five:[23][20][24] The Vyuha-related Pancharatra theology is a source of the primary and secondary avatar-related doctrines in traditions of Hinduism, particularly Sri Vaishnavism.
Through practicing the reversal and moving from the empirical to ever more abstract, according to Pancaratra, human beings can access immanent Vāsudeva-Krishna and thereby achieve salvific liberation (moksha).
[12][31] The Vaishnava temples and arts since the Gupta Empire, states Doris Srinivasan, attempted to present the Pancaratra ideas.
As one circumambulates the ancient and medieval Vaishnava cave temples, the devotee walks past from the icon representing Vāsudeva (most abstract) and then the successive Vyuhas (literally, "orderly arrangement").
[1] Like the Shaivism counterpart, it not only presents the theology, but describes the details, symbolism and procedures of Vaishnava temples building and rituals.
