Pañcaratra

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Pañcaratra means "five nights". It is believed that Lord Narayana taught this Agama for five nights to five rishis. Hence, it is called Pancharatra Agama.

The Agamas prescribe idol worship in the place of rituals like Yagas, mentioned in the Vedas. The Agamas accept the authority of Vedas. Agamas talk about construction of temples; the rules for installation and consecration of the deities in the temples; the methods of performing pujas in the temples; philosophy; linguistic occultism (mantra -sastra); theory of magical-meditative figures (yantra -sastra); yoga/ bhakti yoga; domestic observances (samskara, ahnika); social rules (varnasrama-dharma) and public festivals.

The Agamas are predominantly divided into Saiva, Sakta and Vaishnava Agamas. The Vaishnava Agamas identify Brahman as Vasudeva. The Mahabharata subscibes to the Pancaratra philosophy in its Narayaniya section. The Vaishnava Agamas are: Pancharatra Agama and Vaikhanasa Agama. Some of the Samhita's are:

Agastya-Samhita,

Aniruddha-Samhita,

Ahirbudhnya Samhita,

Brahma Samhita,

Brihat-Brahma-Samhita,

Isvara-Samhita,

Kapinjala-Samhita,

Gautama-Samhita,

Citrasikhandi-Samhita,

Jayakhya-Samhita,

Jayottara-Samhita,

Nalakubara-Samhita,

Naradiya-Samhita,

Pancaprasna-Samhita,

Parama-Samhita,

Paramapurusa-Samhita,

Parasara-Samhita,

Padma-Samhita,

Paramesvara-Samhita,

Purusottama-Samhita,

Pauskara-Samhita,

Bharadvaja-Samhita,

Bhargava-Tantra,

Mayavaibhava-Samhita,

Markandeya-Samhita,

Laksmi Tantra,

Varaha-Samhita,

Vasistha-Samhita,

Visva-Samhita,

Visvamitra-Samhita,

Visnutattva-Samhita,

Visnu Tantra,

Visnu-Samhita,

Visvaksena-Samhita,

Vihagendra-Samhita,

Vrddha-Padma-Samhita,

Sriprasna-Samhita,

Sanatkumara-Samhita,

Sattvata-Samhita,

Hayasirsa-Samhita

This list is mainly based on the list of the Sanskrit texts from the H. Daniel Smith Agama Collection, Cleveland, Ohio.

[edit] Literature

• Matsubara, Mitsunori, Pancaratra Samhitas and Early Vaisnava Theology, Motilal Banarsidass, New Delhi, 1994.

• ---, Monotheistic Theory of the early Vaisnavas, Vyuha Theory in the Early Pancaratra, 1990.

• ---, The Formation of the Pancaratra's Theory of the Four Vyuhas, 1991.

• Otto Schrader, F., Introduction to the Pancaratra and the Ahirbudhnya Samhita, Adyar Library, Madras 1916. Second edition 1973.

• Rangachar, S., Philosophy of Pancaratras, Sri Devi Prakashana, Mandya (Karnatak) 1991.

• Sutton, Nicholas, Religious Doctrines in the Mahabharata, Motilal Banarsidass, New Delhi 2000.