Vaiṣṇava Pāñcarātra

The Pāñcarātra is a Hindu tradition that worships Viṣṇu as the supreme god. Its origins date back to the pre-Christian era, and certain features of it can still be found in the related Hindu-tradition of the Śrīvaiṣṇavas. Its earliest textual source, having been composed around the 3rd to the 5th century CE, is the so-called Nārāyaṇīya, which is a part of the Sanskrit epic Mahābhārata. In this text the Pāñcarātra does not yet bear the tantric features that become characteristic for the tradition as known from the Saṃhitās, which may have been composed from around the 9th century onward. The Saṃhitās are the most important texts of the tradition and are traditionally considered to have been revealed by god Viṣṇu himself. They deal with the theology and philosophy of the tradition, but most prominently with rituals. Rituals are the main means for a Pāñcarātra follower to achieve the tradition’s religious goals. As in other tantric traditions, these goals are worldly pleasures (bhukti) and liberation (mukti) from transmigration. In early Pāñcarātra Saṃhitās, rituals are to be performed by individual persons for their own benefit. In later Saṃhitās, probably due to political influences, public temple worship for the benefit of the king and the state becomes the main focus. The early extant Saṃhitās probably originate from North India, and there is evidence that Pāñcarātra was widely practiced in Kashmir. However, from perhaps the 11th century, Pāñcarātra mainly flourished in South India. The social background of Pāñcarātra followers over the centuries has not yet been investigated in depth, but we do know that the tradition’s historical development was shaped by various social groups and subtraditions, as well as their interactions, sometimes involving rivalry.