Elements of Hindu Iconography v2.c15.16

v2.c15.16

The members of some of these maṭhas were great authors and exerted considerable influence over the sovereigns of various countries. The Kriyākramadyōtini of Aghōraśivāchārya, the Siddhāntasārāvaḷi of Trilōchanaśivāchārya, the Jīrṇoddhāra-daśakam of Nigamajñānadēva, son of Vāmadēvaśivāchārya and many another work will bear testimony to the above statement regarding the literary activity of the Śaiva Brāhmaṇa settlers in the Drāviḍa country. The first of these lived in the Śaka year 1080, the second lived sometime later, for he quotes the former, and the third in the beginning of the fourteenth century A.D. The great Rājarāja, the builder of the Bṛhadiśvara temple at Tanjore, is stated to have appointed a Sarvaśiva Paṇḍita-Śivāchārya as the priest of that temple and to have ordered that thenceforth the śishyas and their *śishyas* alone, belonging to the Āryadēśa, the Madhyadēśa and the Gauḍadēśa, shall be eligible for the office of chief priest.¹ Again, some of these Śaivāchāryas became *rājagurus* or the preceptors of kings, and appear to have wielded such great influence and power that they have sometimes set aside even the royal commandments and acted on their own authority. For example, Kulōttuṅgachōladēva III appointed two Śaivāchāryas for the service of the temple at Tirukkaḍavūr, but Svāmidēvar, the king's guru, cancelled the order and appointed two others, in recognition of their hereditary rights.² All the Āgamas declare that the Śaivāgamas flourished to the south of the Vindhya ranges, which is corroborated by the statement made by Aghōraśivāchārya; and it therefore appears quite certain that Rājēndrachōladēva implanted in the south a large colony of Śaiva Brāhmaṇas of Middle India.