The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hindusim vol 2

Vachaspati Mishra
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Vachaspati Mishra
(ca. late 15th c.) Commentator and compiler
of the dharma literature. He composed
dozens of texts in his working life,
including a number of digests (nibandha)
organized around various subjects,
including daily religious rites, purification,
pilgrimage, death rites (antyeshthi
samskara), political life, judicial procedures,
and funeral rites. In these digests
Mishra would draw material relating to
the theme from a number of different
religious texts, weigh them, and sometimes
interpret their position on a religious
issue. Mishra was much respected
for his learning and piety, and his texts
were an important resource to those
who followed him.
Vadagalai
One of the two main subsects in the
Shrivaishnava religious community, the
other being the Tengalai. The Shrivaishnavas
are devotees (bhakta) of the
god Vishnu, and the community’s roots
lie in the devotional hymns of the
Alvars, a group of twelve poet-saints
who lived in southern India between
the seventh and tenth centuries. Two
centuries later, the Alvars’ devotional
outpouring was organized and systematized
by the philosopher Ramanuja
(11th c.), who is considered the
Shrivaishnava founder. Ramanuja was
convinced that Brahman, or Supreme
Reality, was a personal deity rather than
an impersonal abstract principle, and he
was also convinced that devotion
(bhakti) was the most important form of
religious practice. Vishishthadvaita
Vedanta, his philosophical position,
stressed both of these convictions and
thus opposed the Advaita Vedanta
school, founded by the philosopher
Shankaracharya, which believed that
the Supreme Being was impersonal and
that realization (jnana) was the best
spiritual path.
The split between the Tengalais and
the Vadagalais came several centuries
later and stemmed from differing perspectives
on what the individual must
do to gain final liberation of the soul
(moksha). The Vadagalais not only
stress the saving power of God’s grace,
but also assert that the individual must
respond to that grace and take an active
role in his or her salvation. This belief is
in complete contrast to the Tengalais,
who emphasize the need for absolute
surrender (prapatti) to the grace of God,
through which devotees are saved with
no action of their own.
Vagish
(“Lord of Speech”) Epithet of the poetsaint
Appar, reflecting the power of his
devotional poetry. Appar was one of the
earliest of the Nayanars, a group of
sixty-three southern Indian poet-saints
of the seventh and eighth centuries who
were devotees (bhakta) of the god
Shiva. See Appar.
Vaidyanath
Form of the god Shiva, in his manifestation
as the “Lord of Physicians” (vaidya).
A temple is named for him at Deoghar
in the state of Bihar. Shiva is present at
Vaidyanath in the form of a linga, the
pillar-shaped image that is his symbolic
form, and the Vaidyanath linga is one of
the twelve jyotirlingas, a network of
sites deemed especially sacred to Shiva,
and at which Shiva is uniquely present.
Vaidyanath’s charter myth is associated
with the demon-king Ravana, who is
said to be a great devotee (bhakta) of
Shiva. Ravana travels to Shiva’s home on
Mount Kailas and practices harsh
asceticism for years, hoping to gain a
vision of Shiva. When his asceticism
proves unsuccessful, the ten-headed