Elements of Hindu Iconography v1.c7.139

v1.c7.139

The Sanskrit authorities relied upon in this work are mainly the Āgamas, the Purāṇas, and the early Vēdic and Upanishadic writings. The Āgamas and the Tantras do not appear to have received much attention from modern scholars. Many of them are probably not older than the fifth or sixth century A. D., and some may be even later than that. The Kāmikāgama, among the Śaivāgamas, is perhaps the oldest. In the Uttara-Kāraṇāgama, we find it laid down that, on the seventh day of the mahōtsava of Śiva, the impalement of the Jainas, said to have been carried out at the instance of Tirujñānasambandha, ought to be celebrated; even now the name of that day’s *utsava* is given as the ‘impalement of the Jainas’ and is celebrated in Madura, the historical scene of its occurrence. When an event of this description, associated with the life of this Śaiva saint, is found mentioned in the *Kāraṇāgama*, need we say that it must be a work belonging to a time later than the time of Tirujñānasambandha? And he is understood to have lived in the middle of the seventh century, A. D.