yajñas have largely given place-specially in South India -- to resplendent rituals of Temple-worship based on the Āgamas So too the rituals of Vedic worship at the domestic fire-altars of the Ancient Aryans have largely given place to worship practised according to the teachings and traditions of the Āgamas In both cases, certain elements of the sacrificial rituals as practised by the ancient Aryans of the Vedic period have been incorporated into the rituals of Temple and Domestic worship as practised in recent times In any case, it is correct to say that the living religion of the generality of Hindus of to-day is one that is based on the Āgamas--Śaiva, Śākta or Vaisnava—which inculcate the worship of Siva, Śaktı or Visnu through symbols and images consecrated according to the sacred texts and traditions of the respective Āgamas According to the eminent scholar, the late P T Srinivasa Iyengar, "the Āgamas, like the Upanisads, were the ultimate development of the Brāhmanas, though they contained other elements besides, hence the followers of the Agama schools sought to prove their orthodoxy by interpreting the Upanisads in accordance with their own tenets They even gave the name of Samhıtā to them, as also the name Smiti, thus indicating their claim to be, what they really were, based on and regularly evolved from tradition This movement gave birth to most of the later Upanisads, which unlike the earlier ones do not denominate the Supreme Being Param Brahma, but are expressly Vaisnava, Śaiva or Śākta in their tone and are probably in many cases but Āgamas under the name of Upanisads Many of the Āgamas themselves are called Upanisads, though not included in the recognised 108”[१]
- ↑ The Vaisnava Saiva and Sākta Upanisads with the commentary of Sri Upanisad Brahma Yogin have been published as Nos 8 9 & 10 of the Adyar Library Series
