Bhagavān Śrī Paramashiva

FOUNDER

Paramaśiva, the Cosmic Source and ultimate Divinity, started the lineage of Akhāḍās with the ascetic warriors (Nāgā Sādhus) along with His direct disciples and descendants – called the Paramaśiva Ganas.

It is from Bhagavan Sri Paramaśiva, the Primordial Source, came forth the most ancient living lineage of ĀdiŚaiva traditions and sanyas (monkhood) called ‘Akhāḍās’ of ascetic warriors who defend the land and Dharma (the Cosmic law). Paramaśiva came down to the sacred city of Varanasi in North India with his empowered direct disciples (Śiva ganas) and sons Śrī Kumara and Śrī Gaṇeśa (king of Gaṇas, followers of Paramaśiva) and established the eternal unbroken spiritual flow of ascetics, forming the first Akhāḍā.

Lord Śrī Kapila Mahāmuni

The Organizer Of Akhādās

Lord Śri Kapila Mahāmuni is the incarnation of Lord Śrī Paramaśiva and Lord Viṣṇu, who appeared in the Sūrya vaṁśa, the sun-dynasty as the son of glorious Prajāpati Kardama, one of the nine sons of Lord Brahma and procreator of human life on planet earth and as the son of Devāhuti, the daughter of the reigning Manu Svayambhuva (the lord of the first manvantara or aeon) the original ancestor of the Sūrya vaṃśa, the Sun Dynasty.

Srimad Bhagavat Purāṇa, the Hindu scripture (purāṇas are scriptures that record the historical happenings of cosmos, of cosmic laws (dharma), of all incarnations) gives detailed accounts about Śrī Kapila’s divine lineage and His purpose:

Anasūyā is the Mother of Bhagavan Dattatreya, the Incarnation (establishing Dattatreya in the lineage of Manu)

अत्रेः पत्न्यनसूया त्रीञ्जज्ञे सुयशसः सुतान्
दत्तं दुर्वाससं सोममात्मेशब्रह्मसम्भवान् ॥ ४.१.१५ ॥

atreḥ patny anasūyā trīñ jajñe suyaśasaḥ sutān
dattaṁ durvāsasaṁ somam ātmeśa-brahma-sambhavān
~ Śrimad Bhāgavatam 4.1.15

Translation: Anasūyā, the wife of Atri Muni, gave birth to three very famous sons — Soma, Dattātreya and Durvāsā — who were partial representations of Lord Viṣṇu, Lord Śiva and Lord Brahmā. Soma was a partial representation of Lord Brahmā, Dattātreya was a partial representation of Lord Viṣṇu, and Durvāsā was a partial representation of Lord Śiva.

Devāhuti, the daughter of the Sūrya Vaṃsa (Solar dynasty’s), is mother of Lord Kapila. Lord Kapila Mahāmuni is the Siddhagaṇadhīśa, the emperor of perfected beings (establishing Kapila in the lineage of Manu)

एष मानवि ते गर्भं प्रविष्टः कैटभार्दनः
अविद्यासंशयग्रन्थिं छित्त्वा गां विचरिष्यति ॥ ३.२४.१८ ॥

eṣa mānavi te garbhaṁ praviṣṭaḥ kaiṭabhārdanaḥ
avidyā-saṁśaya-granthiṁ chittvā gāṁ vicariṣyati

अयं सिद्धगणाधीशः साङ्ख्याचार्यैः सुसम्मतः
लोके कपिल इत्याख्यां गन्ता ते कीर्तिवर्धनः ॥ ३.२४.१९ ॥

ayaṁ siddha-gaṇādhīśaḥ sāṅkhyācāryaiḥ susammataḥ
loke kapila ity ākhyāṁ gantā te kīrti-vardhanaḥ

~ Śrimad Bhāgavatam 3.24.18-19

Translation: Lord Brahmā then told Devahūti: My dear daughter of Manu, the same Absolute Lord who killed the demon Kaiṭabha is now within your womb. He will cut off all the knots of your ignorance and doubt. Then He will travel all over the world.

“Your son will be the emperor of all the perfected being, Siddhagaṇadhīśa. He will be approved by the Acāryas, the spiritual authorities, experts in transmitting the real absolute knowledge, and among the people He will be gloriously celebrated by the name Kapila. As the son of Devahūti, He will increase your fame.”

Transmitting the Sānkhyayoga to his mother Devāhuti

About 20,000 years back, Śrī Kapila Mahāmuni brought forth the “Science of pure thought currents to humanity called Sānkhya Darśana’’ initiating and revealing this science first to his mother Devahuti. Sānkhya is the naked philosophy of the Truth. Śrī Kapila Mahāmuni lived in Varanasi, and further formed and organized the Akhāḍās, which became the foundation for all other Akhāḍās. Many of the shāstradhāris (the warriors wielding the  revealed scriptures) of the Akhāḍās, carried their bodies with spiritual purity and freedom.

Thus was born the naked Nāgā Sādhus of the Mahānirvaṇi Akhāḍā. Śrī Kapila also created the Dasanāmi Sampradāya – the  10 traditions of Sanyāsa (monkhood) given to various Sanyāsis of the Akhāḍā. द॒शा॒नामेकं॑ कपि॒लं (daśonāmekam kapilam) – meaning among 10 divine names is “Kapila” – says Rig Veda 10/27.

Śrī Kapila Mahāmuni is also known as ‘Sākhya Muni’ or ‘Sānkhya Muni’. The Buddha, in the lineage of Mahānirvani Akhāḍā also came to be known as the ‘Sākhya Muni’.

Transmitting the Sānkhyayoga to his mother Devāhuti

His Divine Holiness at the Śrī Nithyanandeshwara Paramaśiva Devasthānam

Śrī Ādi Śankarācārya

The Reviver and Organizer of the Akhādās

Sri Ādi Śankarācārya is an incarnation of Paramaśiva, who assumed the body in the 8th century. He organised and unified the main thought currents (Truth threads) that exist within Sanātana Hindu Dharma, in the form of various traditions or Sampradāyas called Akhāḍās. He is the reviver of the Dashanami Sampradāya (the monastic tradition), organizing a section of the Ēkadaṇḍi monastics (monastics carrying a single staff) under an umbrella grouping of ten names (‘daśa’ meaning ten, ‘nām’ meaning name in Sanskrit). He also revived and organized the Mahanirvani Akhāḍā. He formally organised it in 748 C.E constituting a democratic structure giving stability and legitimacy to Hinduism’s core spiritual traditions (sampradāya) in the form of the Akhāḍās or Apex bodies of Hinduism. 

The Ekadandi Sanyāsis (wandering renunciates and monks bearing a single staff) were organised into ten sects (daśanāma; dasa – ten; nama – name), which fell under four Mathas or monasteries under the sacred system entirely based on the guru-disciple tradition, where the lineage of each sect was maintained and inherited from Guru to disciple.

Image of Ādi Shankara ruling the kingdom seated on the Mahanirvani Peetha, while being worshipped and served by the regent Kings along with his disciples

All the knowledge and traditions of Sanātana Hindu Dharma (Hinduism) are traced back to the original source, which is Paramaśiva. The Guru-parampara (Guru’s lineage) begins with Paramaśiva as the primordial Guru, who descends as the Incarnation from time to time to transmit, preserve and protect the Science of Enlightenment and the enlightenment ecosystem to for his disciples and humanity at large. This is the Daiva-Paramparā, which is followed by the Rishi-Parampara, where the enlightened seers were able to transmit the direct words of Paramaśiva to the next generation of seekers. Finally, comes the Mānava-Paramparā, where the disciples who received this knowledge maintain and uphold the tradition from one generation to the next.