RITUAL DYNAMICS AND

THE SCIENCE OF RITUAL

Volume II
Harrassowitz
Ritual Dynamics
and the Science of Ritual
General Editor
Axel Michaels
Editorial Board
Michael Bergunder, Jorg Gengnagel, Alexandra Heidle,
Bernd Schneidmiiller, and Udo Simon
II
2010
Harrassowitz Verlag Wiesbaden
Body, Performance,
Agency, and Experience
Including an E-Book-Version in PDF-Format
on eD-ROM
Section I
Ritual and Agency
Edited by Angelos Chaniotis
Section II
Ritual, Performance, and Event
Edited by Silke Leopold and Hendrik Schulze
Section III
The Body and Food in Ritual
Edited by Eric Venbrux,
Thomas Quartier, and Joanna Wojtkowiak
Section IV
The Varieties of Ritual Experience
Edited by Jan Weinhold and Geoffrey Samuel
2010
Harrassowitz Verlag Wiesbaden
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by Jean-Baptiste Lully (1653), drawing, after 1653.
Original in Paris, Bibliotheque Nationale de France.
Picture credits:: bpk IRMN IBulloz"
Table of Contents
Section I: Ritual and Agency
Edited by Angelos Chaniotis
Angelos Chaniotis
Introduction:
Debating Ritual Agency u u u _
Alexis Sanderson
Ritual for Oneself and Ritual for Others u u uu _
3
9
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Thomas Widlok
What is the Value of Rituals?
Effects of Complexity in Australian Rituals and Beyond hu h__ 21
Christian Meyer
Performing Spirits:
Shifting Agencies in Brazilian Umbanda Rituals 0. 0. 0.___ 35
Claudia Weber
Prescribed Agency - A Contradiction in Terms?
Differences between the Tantric adhikara Concept
and the Sociological Term of Agency hh u_________________________ _ 59
Section II: Ritual, Performance, and Event
Edited by Silke Leopold and Hendrik Schulze
Andrea Taddei
Memory, Performance, and Pleasure in Greek Rituals 0.0.___ 87
Reinhard Strohm
Memories of Ancient Rituals in Early Opera
U
_
h hh
109
Angela Bellia
Music and Rite:
Representations of Female Figures of Musicians in Greek Sicily
(Sixth-Third Centuries B.C.) u uu uU hu_ 127

Alexis Sanderson
Ritual Ior OneselI and Ritual Ior Others
During the early medieval period oI the Indic world, Irom the sixth to the thirteenth
centuries, the old ritual order based on the archaic Vedic tradition became progres-
sively complemented and overshadowed by another, developed and propagated by
devotees oI the god Siva. In the Iirst centuries oI the Christian era the activities oI
these theistic sectarians were mostly restricted to brahmin celibate ascetics; but
around the beginning oI our period we Iind the Iirst evidence that Saivism had
developed new Iorms that had moved beyond these narrow conIines to propagate
themselves in the broader society, creating in this process a new repertoire oI ritu-
als. This new Saivism is known in Indian sources as the Mantramrga or 'Path oI
Mantras, as opposed to the purely ascetic 'Atimrga or Path Outside the World`
oI the preceding period. The Indological term Tantric Saivism may also be used to
reIer to it, though I preIer to avoid this expression, because the term Tantric has be-
come contaminated by notions that apply only to certain Iorms that were mostly
outside the mainstream oI the Mantramrga.
By the seventh century, the Mantramrga had emerged into a position oI domi-
nance, attracting widespread royal patronage, and Irom this time onwards exerted a
proIound inIluence on all the other religious systems that had to compete with it Ior
patronage: Sktism, Saurism, Vaisnavism, Buddhism, Jainism, and the long estab-
lished Brahmanical substrate. Sktism and Saurism were largely subsumed by Sai-
vism as it rose to prominence; and Vaisnavism, Buddhism, and Jainism reacted by
developing new ritual systems along Saiva lines: Pacartra, the Buddhist Mantra-
naya, and the Jain Mantravda. The Brahmanical tradition was also deeply inIlu-
enced, responding to Saivism`s success by incorporating, and to some extent ex-
purgating, Iorms oI Saivism in its ever-growing corpus oI scriptural texts.
The Saiva literature, which we are still in the process oI discovering, comprises
in the Iirst instance a huge body oI scriptural compositions Irom the IiIth or sixth
century onwards, teaching the procedures Ior the propitiation oI Siva and, in more
esoteric and transgressive texts, oI the god Bhairava and a variety oI Ierocious god-
desses, worshipped either as Bhairava`s consort or on their own. From the seventh
century onwards, but in much greater abundance Irom the ninth, there emerged a
learned tradition oI commentaries on what were then the principal works oI this
scriptural corpus, and this was supplemented by the production oI lucid, practical
guides, which set out systematically the procedures oI ritual, claiming to be rooted
Alexis Sanderson 10
in this or that scripture, but in reality drawing eclectically on various scriptural
sources, developing their own standardised procedures, and, to a large extent, shiIt-
ing the emphasis oI those texts, as well as homogenising their content.
When I entered this terra incognita in the 1970s, the learned literature oI com-
mentary and systematisation was the natural starting point oI my investigations,
since, Ior all its shortcomings, it provided the only avenue oI access to what was
then a largely impenetrable mass oI discordant scriptural texts and manuals, a mass
which was, in Iact, much vaster than I then imagined. Many works which seemed
to have been lost, being known only by name or through citations in the learned
commentaries, and many others besides, were still awaiting recognition in manus-
cript collections, principally in the Kathmandu valley, where the climate has been
much kinder to palm-leaI than in other parts oI the subcontinent, allowing the sur-
vival oI numerous manuscripts copied in the eleventh to thirteenth centuries, and
some Irom the ninth and tenth.
The world oI ritual presented in this exegetical literature oI commentaries and
ritual manuals, which was my starting point and remained the basis oI most discus-
sion oI Saivism until recent years, is one oI rituals Ior personal religious beneIit,
perIormed or commissioned Ior the purpose oI salvation at death, conceived not as
the attainment oI some heaven, but the Iinal cessation oI rebirth through the attain-
ment oI liberation. The great selling-point oI this religion was that it promised that
this liberation could be attained eIIortlessly, by passing through a ceremony oI init-
iation in which Siva himselI, or Bhairava, or the Goddess, would destroy the soul`s
bonds, acting through the person oI an initiated and consecrated oIIiciant, who en-
acted an elaborate sequence oI rites in which the individual was introduced beIore
the Mandala oI his initiation deity, Ireed oI his bonds through the oIIering oI many
oblations into Iire, and then united with his deity through a visualisation in which
the oIIiciant drew the candidate`s soul into his own, and then raised it with his own
up the central channel oI his vital energy, and out through his cranial aperture to
Iuse it with the deity. ThereaIter, the initiate was bound to observe a discipline
which entailed the regular perIormance oI a complex and time-consuming ritual oI
worship oI his initiation deity, at least once a day and ideally thrice, until his death,
combined with the regular study oI scripture and the perIormance oI yet more
elaborate rituals on special occasions, both calendrically Iixed and incidental. Here,
then, was a religion Ior which ritual was everything. Ritual perIormed by an oIIi-
ciant, while one remained a passive presence, would gain one the goal that other
systems oIIered only at the cost oI intense asceticism and disengagement Irom the
social world. ThereaIter one had only to perIorm regular rituals oI worship until
that goal, so Iar achieved in advance on a subliminal level, became Iully maniIest
simply through the natural process oI death.
However, since it was initiation itselI that guaranteed salvation, the problem oI
maintaining commitment to this exacting routine between the time oI initiation and
Ritual Ior OneselI and Ritual Ior Others 11
death was acute. Theoreticians strove to construct theoretical justiIications Ior what
appeared to be redundant, and I examined these strategies in 1995 in my study
Meaning in Tantric Ritual. The problem was to keep alive a sense that these ob-
ligatory rituals have a higher purpose than those oI the brahmanical mainstream,
which oIIered as justiIication Ior adherence to its own ritual obligations the realis-
tic view that they were to be perIormed simply out oI a sense oI duty and adhe-
rence to tradition, to avoid the sin oI their omission, or, as we might wish to trans-
late this, to maintain one`s credentials as an observant member oI one`s caste. The
most intellectually brilliant oI the Saiva theoreticans, the Skta Saiva exegetes oI
Kashmir in the ninth to eleventh centuries, adopted two strategies to this end. One
was to read meaning into the rituals in such a way that their perIormance could be
presented as a liturgical contemplation oI the reality that would be realised at death,
thereby opening up the possibility that an elite among initiates could, through their
rituals, experience liberation here and now, without waiting Ior death; and the other
was to support this mystical trend by insisting on the preservation oI the transgres-
sive and ecstatic elements oI their tradition, such as the consumption oI meat and
wine and ritualised sexual intercourse as a means oI activating an inner aesthetic oI
transcendence oI the inhibited norms oI brahmanical liIe, thereby resisting a well-
documented trend to eliminate these elements as these traditions became routi-
nised. But while these strategies make Iascinating and, Ior some, inspiring reading,
they were ultimately doomed to Iailure. They substituted knowing Ior doing in the
Iirst strategy, allowing the possibility oI liberation in liIe through knowledge alone,
and in the second by stressing that the purpose oI the transgressive elements oI ritu-
al observance was to awaken an inner experience they opened the way to the sub-
stitution oI non-ritual and non-transgressive means oI producing the same eIIect. In
later centuries the brahmins oI Kashmir among whom this Skta Saiva tradition
had become dominant, duly abandoned all its rituals, thinking Saiva but regressing
on the level oI rites to the received brahmanical traditions oI their caste, reverting
to the brahmanical duality oI doing without knowing and knowing without doing.
How, then, one wonders, did Saiva ritual survive, as it did, outside this commu-
nity, whose literature Iorms such a conspicuous part oI high Saiva culture? What is
it that set that community apart, and how did Saiva ritual succeed in exerting such a
tremendous inIluence in early medieval India, aIIecting all the other religions,
when the presentation oI ritual in this learned literature with its high soteriological
purpose seems to promise a very diIIerent trajectory? The purpose oI the rest oI my
address is to propose answers to these questions.
Ritual Ior Others
The diIIiculty arises Irom the Iact that the elite literature which has Iormed our
natural point oI entry into the study oI Saivism provides an entirely inadequate
Alexis Sanderson 12
representation oI the historical realities oI the religion. It privileges the Saivism oI
a social elite conIorming to the brahmanical ideal oI personal religious selI-culti-
vation, an elite whose social identity was already suIIiciently established by its
conIormity to the brahmanical stratum oI its observance, an elite Ior whom distinc-
tively Saiva ritual was a supererogatory adornment, rather than a necessity, and
was thereIore always in danger oI evaporating in Iavour oI a purely devotional or
gnostic Saiva identity. What kept Saivism alive, and enabled it to exert this inIlu-
ence, was ritual Ior others, as the proIessional activity oI oIIiciants who operated
outside the narrow conIines oI selI-cultivation. In the elite literature, the oIIiciant is
presented as a spiritual guide acting Ior the beneIit oI liberation-seekers. In the
broader reality, revealed both by the Saiva literature that has been coming to light
in recent times and by the epigraphical record, Saiva oIIiciants were proIessional
ritualists who, while insisting on the superior spiritual character oI their religion,
succeeded in modiIying its core rituals to create a repertoire oI ritual services that
made it increasingly attractive to royal patrons. For these oIIiciants, conIormity to
the post-initiatory discipline, however diIIicult it may have been to justiIy theoreti-
cally, was a proIessional necessity. It was the visible, and thereIore objective, prooI
oI their qualiIication to apply modiIications and elaborations oI these rituals Ior the
beneIit oI their clients; and it was equally vital Ior their disciples, who are best seen
as oIIiciants in waiting. For them, it was gnosis not ritual that was the supereroga-
tory adornment. A reputation Ior learning and spiritual insight could greatly heigh-
ten the appeal oI an oIIiciant to a royal patron, but Gurus who claimed that learning
and insight were suIIicient were the enemies oI their proIession. What mattered to
these Saivas was veriIiable qualiIication, certiIicates oI ritual entitlement bestowed
by recognised oIIiciants, rather than spiritual charisma based on unveriIiable mys-
tical experience, that threatened to undermine their pre-eminence. In extending
their inIluence by these means, they showed little concern, as we might expect, to
maintain the theoretical coherence oI the doctrines oI their Iaith, compromising this
in several ways as they adapted their rituals to strengthen their hold on society.
Accordingly, the traditionalist theoreticians, while no doubt Iully aware oI these
developments, tend to keep them out oI the picture that they present, addressing
themselves to a learned elite that likewise held itselI apart Irom these changes.
They largely conceal Irom us, thereIore, an outstanding example oI how inventive
and adaptable the propagators oI ritual systems can be in the drive to extend the
power, wealth, and inIluence oI their Iaith, a creativity that in this case set in mo-
tion waves oI competitive innovation in the religions around them that completely
changed the character oI Indian religion and thence that oI Inner Asia, Southeast
Asia, and the Far East. None is more striking than the astonishing eIIlorescence oI
Tantric Buddhism during this period, which, Iollowing the lead oI the Saivas,
developed a system oI rituals that eventually died out in India but survives to this
day in Nepal, Tibet, Mongolia, and Japan. But the Vaisnavas, too, made strenuous
Ritual Ior OneselI and Ritual Ior Others 13
eIIorts in this direction, producing an entirely new ritual system closely modelled
on the Saiva and enshrined in the scriptures oI the Pacartra.
In a recently published study, entitled The Saiva Age, I have set Iorth the inno-
vations that brought Saivism to its position oI dominance during the early medieval
period, both on the subcontinent and in Southeast Asia, and I have oIIered an hypo-
thesis that seeks to explain this success, namely that it extended and adapted its
ritual repertoire to legitimate, empower, or promote the key elements oI the social,
political, and economic process that characterises the early medieval period, while
at the same time taking steps to integrate itselI with the brahmanical substrate in
ways that rendered it accessible and acceptable to a Iar wider constituency, and
thereIore all the more appealing to rulers in their role as the guardians oI the brah-
manical social order. I shall end by summarising these innovations.
Initiating the Monarch
The Iirst oI these key elements is the spread oI the monarchical model oI govern-
ment through the emergence oI numerous new dynasties at subregional, regional,
and supraregional levels. From the seventh century onwards, inscriptions and pre-
scriptive religious texts reveal that Saiva Brahmin Gurus were holding the position
oI royal preceptor (rfaguruh) in numerous new kingdoms, both on the Indian sub-
continent and in Southeast Asia, and in this capacity empowering and legitimating
the monarch`s rule by granting him Saiva initiation (Sivamandaladiks). It might
be thought that this would have been an unappealing step Ior any but the most
reclusive and ineIIectual oI kings, since, as we have seen, aIter initiation Saivas
were obliged to adhere to a complex and time-consuming programme oI daily and
occasional rituals. However, early in the development oI the Mantramrga, the Sai-
vas, no doubt in order to extend their recruitment and hence their inIluence, admit-
ted a category oI initiates who, in consideration oI the Iact that they were incapable
oI taking on these onerous duties, were exonerated Irom doing so. The king was
considered to qualiIy Ior this less arduous route to liberation by reason oI his royal
obligations. He was thereIore required to adhere only to the obligations oI an unini-
tiated devotee oI Siva, which in his case were principally to support the religion
and its institutions, and to sponsor and appear in conspicuous ceremonies in the
civic domain.
Moreover, according to prescriptive sources, the king`s initiation was to be Iol-
lowed by a Saiva modiIication oI the brahmanical royal consecration ceremony. In
this way the monarch was incorporated as a new kind oI Saiva oIIice-holder: while
others were to be consecrated Ior purely Saiva Iunctions, the king was to be conse-
crated to take up oIIice as the 'head oI |the brahmanical social order oI| the caste-
classes and religious disciplines (varnsramaguruh), the role already assigned to
him by brahmanical prescription.
Alexis Sanderson 14
As the Iunction oI the Saiva consecration is modiIied in this case, so its Iorm,
though in general Saiva, incorporates distinctive non-Saiva elements appropriate to
its mundane and brahmanical aspects, such as the inclusion oI the royal banners,
weapons, and armour in the objects oI worship.
Just as this brahmanical rite is subsumed within the Saiva process oI initiation
and consecration, so its outcome, the king`s entitlement to rule as guardian oI the
brahmanical social order, now entails the additional requirement that he should en-
sure that the authority oI brahmanical prescription be subsumed within, and subor-
dinate to, that oI the Saiva scriptures, an injunction supported by the promise that,
by enIorcing this hierarchical relationship, he would guarantee the stability oI his
rule and kingdom, implying that by neglecting to do so he would bring about their
collapse.
The Saivas also adapted the theory oI their ritual practice to enable them to
claim that those rulers who underwent their initiation ceremony would be empo-
wered in their eIIorts to maintain their supremacy and extend it through conquest, a
blatant but eIIective amnesia oI the rite`s purely salviIic character.
Nor was it only the theory that was adjusted to suit their patrons. The Saiva
Guru was to close the initiation ceremony by sprinkling the horses, elephants, cha-
riots, and soldiers oI the army with the water Irom the vase oI the Weapon-Mantra
(astrakalasah), one oI the two main vases prepared in the course oI the ceremony,
'in order to remove all obstacles and to ensure victory in battle. They also devel-
oped an array oI apotropaic, invigorative, and hostile Mantra-rites that could be
perIormed on demand Ior the beneIit oI the realm, to promote the success oI royal
patrons, and to Irustrate their enemies.
Just as the Guru imbued the king through these ceremonies with the numinous
power oI Sivahood in the exercise oI his sovereignty, so the Saiva rites by which
the Guru assumed his oIIice ensured that he, as Siva`s agent among men, was im-
bued with the numen oI royalty. As in the brahmanical consecration oI a king, in
which the royal astrologer was to provide him with the royal elephant, horse,
throne, parasol, Ily-whisk, sword, bow, and jewels, so at the time oI a Guru`s
consecration he received Irom his predecessor the non-martial symbols oI sove-
reignty (rfngni, rfacihnni), such as the turban, crown, parasol, Ily-whisk, ele-
phant, horse, palanquin, and throne. Furthermore, according to the prescriptions oI
the Saiva scriptures, the residence to be built Ior the Guru by his royal disciple was
in many respects similar in its layout to the royal palace. It included, Ior example,
an arsenal Ior the storage oI weapons oI war. That Gurus should have needed the
means oI warIare may surprise those whose expectations are conditioned by the
prescriptive literature. But on this point, as on many others, the epigraphical record
shows the limitations that that literature imposes. For a twelIth-century inscription
Irom the Kalacuri kingdom in Central India reveals that the activities oI the Rja-
guru Krtisiva extended beyond the spiritual to those oI a successIul military com-
Ritual Ior OneselI and Ritual Ior Others 15
mander, who expanded his monarch`s realm and thereby added to his own through
the appropriation oI temples in the territories gained.
Kings rewarded their Saiva Gurus Ior initiations and other rituals with lavish
giIts, most notably with grants oI the revenue Irom designated lands and the dona-
tion or construction oI monasteries (mathah); and this largesse enabled these Gurus
to behave like royal patrons themselves, making land-grants to brahmins and
Iounding temples, new settlements, and Iurther monasteries, thus Iacilitating the
expansion oI their institutions into new areas. In this way there developed a Iar-
reaching network oI interconnected seats oI Saiva learning. Figures at the summit
oI this clerical hierarchy thereIore exercised a transregional authority whose geo-
graphical extent was greater than that oI any contemporary king.
Clearly the Saiva Rjaguru had become a Iar grander Iigure than the king`s
brahmanical chaplain, the Rjapurohita, who was tied to the service oI a single
king and was unambiguously his subordinate. Yet, it appears that the Saivas did not
rest with this, but sought also to encroach on the territory oI that lesser oIIice. For
the Netratantra shows the existence oI a new class oI Saiva oIIiciants who were to
Iunction in almost all the areas traditionally reserved Ior that oIIiciant: the perIor-
mance oI the king`s recurrent duties to worship the various deities on the days as-
signed to them, to celebrate the major annual royal Iestivals oI the Indrotsava and
Mahnavam, to protect the royal Iamily through rites to ward oII ills, to restore
them to health aIter illness, to ward oII or counter the assaults oI dangerous super-
naturals, to empower through lustration (nirfanam) the king`s elephants, horses,
and weapons oI war, and to protect the king with apotropaic rites beIore he eats,
sleeps, and engages in his regular practice oI martial skills. We see here one oI
several instances in which the Saivas used their authority to colonise downwards,
producing modiIications oI their ritual procedures Ior this purpose. These adapa-
tions inevitably entailed loss oI status Ior those that implemented them, but we
should understand that this did not aIIect those oI the summit oI the clerical
hierarchy, the king-like Rjagurus, but only the humbler clones that extended their
authority into domains that those Gurus would not deign to enter.
The Consecration oI Royal Temples
The second element oI the early medieval process that I have in mind is the pro-
liIeration oI land-owning temples. All but the most ephemeral sovereigns during
this period, both in the subcontinent and in Southeast Asia, gave material Iorm to
the legitimacy and solidity oI their power by building grand temples in which
images oI their chosen God were installed, animated, named aIter the king
(svanmn), and endowed with land and oIIiciants to support their cult. The great
majority oI these temples enshrined Siva, in the Iorm oI the Linga. The Saivas oI
the Mantramrga soon extended their operations into this territory too, providing
Alexis Sanderson 16
the specialised oIIiciants and rituals to establish these Sivas Iollowing Mantra-
mrgic models, and developing, in the course oI time, a secondary body oI scrip-
tural authorities, the Pratisthtantras, devoted exclusively to this domain.
The Temple Priesthood
The involvement oI the Saivas oI the Mantramrga in the temple cult, covered in
early Saiva scriptural sources and all the early manuals up to at least the twelIth
century, does not extend beyond the perIorming oI the rituals necessary to initiate
the cult by consecrating the images and the temples that house them. The texts are
silent on the nature oI the worship that would be perIormed beIore those images
once the Saiva Guru had completed his task. It would appear, thereIore, that the
temple worship was in the hands oI oIIiciants oI a diIIerent kind. However, the
texts lagged behind reality in this regard. For at some point, well beIore the Saiva
literature was prepared to admit this Iact, there had appeared yet another class oI
Mantramrgic oIIiciants, working as the priests that perIormed the regular rituals in
the Saiva temples, a Iunction that entailed a serious loss oI status in the eyes oI
orthodox brahmins, who considered any brahmin who derived his living Irom serv-
ing as a priest to have Iallen Irom the caste oI his birth.
The Consecration oI Palaces, Settlements, and Irrigation Works
The early Saiva Pratisthtantras show that the authority oI the Saiva Sthpaka, the
oIIiciant who specialises in the installation oI images and the consecration oI
temples, extended to the creation oI the palaces oI their royal patrons. They pre-
scribe the layout oI the royal palace in detail, and the design includes a section oI
the palace Ior teachers oI the Saiva Mantramrga. Moreover, the layout oI the
palace taught in these Pratisthtantras is only part oI the layout Ior an urban settle-
ment to be established by the king around the palace, complete with markets and
segregated areas Ior the dwellings oI the various castes and artisans, with instruc-
tions Ior the size and plan oI these dwellings determined by caste status. Thus, we
Iind the Saivas involving themselves in what I consider to be the third key element
oI the medieval process, namely the creation oI numerous new urban settlements
Irom above. The epigraphical record demonstrates that any king oI substance Ielt it
incumbent upon him to demonstrate his sovereignty, not only by the building oI
temples, but also by the creation oI new urban settlements (puram), which, like the
deities he established, were generally named aIter him.
The creation oI new settlements entailed the provision oI the means oI irriga-
tion. Rituals Ior the consecration (pratisth) oI wells (kpah), step-wells (vpi),
and reservoirs small (puskarini) and large (tadgah), were already provided by the
Ritual Ior OneselI and Ritual Ior Others 17
brahmanical tradition. There is no trace oI irrigation rituals in the early Saiva scrip-
tures, including the Pratisthtantras. But in due course Saiva oIIiciants, seeking to
add this important domain to their ritual repertoire, produced their own versions.
Social Inclusivity
The last respect in which I believe that the Saiva Mantramrga can be seen to have
played an active role in the historical process is that oI the assimilation oI the com-
munities that were caught up in the extension oI the reach oI the state that characte-
rises this period. For the Saivas opened initiation to candidates Irom all Iour caste-
classes, thus enabling the integration oI powerIul agriculturalist communities
classed as Sdra, that were oIten dominant in the countryside, and providing a
means oI articulating a social unity that transcended, at least in certain contexts and
to a greater or lesser extent, the rigid mutual exclusions oI the brahmanical social
order. Moreover, the non-Saiddhntika traditions oI the worship oI Bhairavas and
the Goddess, while perIectly adapted to support kings in the aggressive or punitive
aspect oI their Iunction, also served as the means oI assimilating the local deity-
cults oI the territories being drawn within this Saiva-brahmanical culture through
the expansion oI state-Iormation at the subregional level; and while the Saiddhnti-
kas came to initiate only members oI those communities classed as Sdra who had
already been assimilated by brahmanical culture to the extent that they had abjured
alcohol, the Skta Saivas had no such reservations, opening initiation even to those
that brahmanism considered untouchable.
The Integration oI Brahmanism
Finally, while extending its inIluence beyond the conIines oI the orthodox brahma-
nical world, the Saivism oI the Mantramrga sought to guard itselI against dissoc-
iation Irom that world. It elaborated an inclusivist model oI revelation that ranked
other religious systems as stages oI an ascent to liberation in Saivism, the religion
oI the king maniIest in his initiation, his consecration, and his royal temples, thus
mirroring and validating the incorporative structure oI the state`s power. But
though it thereby asserted, especially in its Skta Iorms, the limited nature oI the
brahmanical observance that Iormed the lowest level and broad base oI this hie-
rarchy, it was careIul to insist not only that the brahmanical scriptures that govern
this observance are exclusively valid in their own domain, but also that their
injunctions are as binding on Saivas aIter their initiation as they were beIore it, iI
they remained in that domain as active members oI society. Saiva ascetics were
allowed a degree oI choice in this matter, at least in theory, but householders were
not. The religion oI the Saivas, then, was not Saivism alone, but rather Saivism and
Alexis Sanderson 18
Brahmanism, a Iact borne out not only by their literature, but also by biographical
data and the epigraphic record oI the activities oI Saiva kings.
Moreover, the determination oI the Saivism oI the Mantramrga to be Iully em-
bedded in the brahmanical tradition is maniIest not only in this rule that initiates
should maintain their brahmanical obligations, but also in the Iact that they ex-
tended their own ritual repertoire in order to bring it into greater congruence with
the brahmanical. To this end, they created a Saiva ritual oI cremation and a series
oI rituals to mirror the numerous brahmanical postmortuary rituals in which the
deceased receives oIIerings Iirst as a hungry ghost (pretakriy) and then in Srddha
rituals as an ancestor, aIter his incorporation with the immediate ascendants oI his
patriline (sapindikaranam). It is clear that the creators oI these additions were
motivated by nothing but the desire to be seen to conIorm to the norms oI brah-
manical society, once they had moved to extend recruitment beyond the inevitably
restricted circle oI ascetics into the more numerous ranks oI married householders.
AIter all, these rituals, and especially the Srddhas, make no sense in strictly Saiva
terms, since initiates are held to attain liberation as soon as they leave their bodies,
and thereIore should require no ceremonies designed to ensure their well-being aI-
ter death. This accommodation oI Brahmanism no doubt gave Saivism a distinct
advantage over those religions, such as Jainism and Buddhism, that had denied out-
right the authority oI the brahmanical scriptures, and there can be little doubt that
this would greatly have increased its acceptability in the eyes oI kings, who could
thus draw on the power oI the new religion to sanctiIy their rule and enhance their
might the Iormer predominantly through the Siddhnta, the latter predominantly
through the Sakta Saiva systems while at the same time maintaining their legiti-
macy in their ancient role as the protectors oI the brahmanical social order.
Conclusions
As Saivism advanced by developing these strategies, it achieved a transregional or-
ganisation and a consequent standardisation oI its rituals and doctrines; and this
transregional uniIormity, I propose, would have heightened its appeal to kings by
enabling it more easily to be perceived as a transcendent means oI legitimation,
empowerment, and the integration oI regional traditions, as an essential part oI a
pan-Indian socio-religious order that each kingdom sought to exempliIy.
It was by virtue oI its great success in attracting royal patronage that it came to
exert such a pervasive inIluence on the religions around it; and it was also on the
basis oI this success that it could construct the impressive ediIice oI a literature
that, in its Iocus on ritual Ior oneselI, is almost entirely silent about these vital but
less elevated rituals Ior others, with the consequence that scholars who have at-
Ritual Ior OneselI and Ritual Ior Others 19
tempted to read this literature have mostly neglected to look in and beyond it Ior
evidence oI the Iactors that enabled and sustained this high-cultural eIIlorescence.
1



1 Most oI the arguments presented here in outline have been presented by me in detail else-
where, cI. the bibliography.
Alexis Sanderson 20
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20032004. 'The Saiva Religion Among the Khmers (Part I). Bulletin de lEcole
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2009. 'The Saiva Age: The Rise and Dominance oI Saivism During the Early
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