Elements of Hindu Iconography v2.c15.35

v2.c15.35

Pāśupatas; the later author, Madhusūdana Sarasvati, also reiterates the same statement in his Prasthānabhēda.* The Pāśupata sect as known by the name Lakuḷiśa Pāśupata is older than Śaṅkara at least, or perhaps even as old as the Atharvaśirasōpanishad. The authors of the famous Dēvāram hymns have sung the praises of the Śiva temples at Nāgapaṭṭaṇam (Negapatam) and Kumbhakōṇam, which were known even in their times by the name of Kāyārōhaṇa or Kārōṇa, so named evidently after the more famous place of that name in Northern India. The age of these hymnists, is settled to be the middle of the seventh century. This fact pushes the limit of the age of Lakuḷiśa by one more century. Hence, Lakuḷiśa the founder of the faith, should not be confounded with his namesakes of Mēlpāḍi and Baḷigāmi, nor can his date be taken as the first quarter of the eleventh century. The Kāḷāmukhas also appear to be a subdivision of the Pāśupatas, as we have seen above. To substantiate this, we have not only the authority of Rāmānuja, but also that of some others. The Śaivāgamas sometimes divide Śaivism into Śaiva, Pāśupata, Sōmasiddhānta and Lākuḷa; and in other places divide Śaivas into Śaiva, Pāśupata,