Whose Dharma? Śaiva and Śākta Community Rules (samayas) and Dharmaśāstric Prescriptions

Overview & Synopsis

In the tantric context, samayas are the rules a Śaiva or Śākta neophyte is to follow after he is introduced into his new community and receives an initiation name. The samaya rules are therefore part of what defines the Śaiva or Śākta Śaiva tantric community, at least according to the scriptures. This paper attempts to see what these rules are, how they are related to mainstream brahmanical rules prescribed by Dharmaśāstras and in what way they may actually demarcate various Śaiva and Śākta communities. Before turning to the samayas themselves, a nontantric Śaiva story is presented, which clearly shows that in spite of their overall conformity to traditional brahmanical prescriptions, lay Śaivas also saw themselves as following a different set of laws and rules. Then three different types of samaya sets will be examined: those of the Śaiva Siddhānta, the heterogeneous lists of early Śākta scriptures and the strictly 'nondualist' rules of later Śāktas. While these rules cannot reveal the exact relation of the respective communities to their contemporary society or to each other, they may betray something about the way in which these communities saw themselves within a larger context.