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It is clear that in giving an account of Vishnuism he considered that he had for all practical purposes described the religion of the parts of India which he knew. In their main outlines the histories of Vishnuism and Śivaism are the same.
But if we continue the experiment, different gods and different teachers are found to be much the same. We can write about Vishnuism and Śivaism as if they were different religions and this, though incomplete, is not incorrect.
The sect did not originate in Kashmir but its adherents settled there after attending the Council of Kanisḥka and made it into a holy land. Subsequently, first Vishnuism and then Śivaism entered the mountain valleys and flourished there.
But the basis of their faith is not Śivaism but the recognition of the great body of Indian traditions known as Sṃriti.
The lingam is worshipped all over India and many of the most celebrated shrines, such as Benares and Bhubaneshwar, are dedicated to the Lord of life and death. The Śivaism of the Tamil country is one of the most energetic and progressive forms of modern Hinduism, but in doctrine it hardly varies from the ancient standard of the Tiruvacagam. European Influence and Modern Hinduism
All Śivaite philosophy is really based on this last and teaches the existence of matter, souls and a deity, manifested in a series of phases. In Kashmirian Śivaism Vedântist influences seem strong and it even calls itself Advaita. It is noteworthy that Vasugupta, who discovered the Śiva-sûtras, also wrote a commentary on the Bhagavad-gîtâ.
Tamil Śivaism, though important for the south, has not spread much beyond its own province, but the Vishnuism associated with such eminent names as Râmânuja and Râmânand has influenced all India, and the latter teacher is the spiritual ancestor of the Kabirpanthis, Sikhs and various unorthodox sects. But in filling up this outline the possibilities of error must be remembered.
But the characteristic form of Dravidian religion is an emotional theism, running in the parallel channels of Vishnuism and Śivaism and accompanied by humbler but vigorous popular superstitions, which reveal the origin of its special temperament.
Nevertheless the fundamental conception of Śivaism, the cosmic force which changes and in changing both destroys and reproduces, is strictly scientific and contrasts with the human, pathetic, loving sentiments of Vishnuism. And scandalous as the worship of the generative principle may become, the potency of this impulse in the world scheme cannot be denied.
Śivaism in Madras and other parts of southern India is still a vigorous and progressive Church which does not neglect European methods. Its principal organ is an interesting magazine called Siddhanta-Dipika or the Light of Truth.
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