AGAMIC TRADITION OF WORSHIP

Abstract

The word Agama means "coming near", "approaching", I a traditional doctrine or precept, collection of such doctrines, sacred book, anything handed down and fixed by tradition.2 The
term Agama is used in contradistinction to nigama, Nigama is used to denote the tradition or spiritual teaching which claims to have originated from tpe Vedas, whereas Agama refers broadly
to the. avaidika or non-Vedic doctrines and practices of Hinduism. The Jain Agamas collectively constitute the Jain canon."The Agamas", wrote Pundit D. Savarirayapillai, "are the oldest products of the Dravidian literature" and they contain the experience, beliefs and practices of the pre-Vedic, non-Aryan religion of India as it fanned out under various influences including Vedic, into a plethora of religions and sects. The very antiquity of the Agamas entitled them to sanctity equal to, if not more than, that of the Vedas. V.V. Ramanan and  W.H. Schomerus placed the Agamas before 'the first Buddhist Council, i.e. 480 B.C.4 But the Saioa, Vaishnava and Sakta Agamas, being codifications of the beliefs and pratices of these sects, written in post-classical Sanskrit, may safely be assigned to the second half of the first millennium of the Christian era.