Jaṅgama

By Swami Harshananda

Jaṅgama literally means ‘that which moves’.

As per Philosophy[edit]

In the philosophical literature, Jaṅgama signifies living beings. The whole world comprises of two types of things:

The Sthāvara - stationary or non-moving, lifeless, material objects
The Jaṅgama - moving objects or living beings

As per Vīraśaivism[edit]

In the Vīraśaiva or Liṅgāyata sect of Śaivism, it represents a saint or a man of realization who is ‘dynamically knowledgeable’ or ‘personification of knowledge, who is moving, who is living’.

The ‘Jaṅgama’ is the third ‘āvaraṇa’^[1] out of the eight specified in this sect. A viraśaiva^[2] is ordained to honor a jaṅgama just as he honors his guru and the liṅga.^[3]

References[edit]

↑ Āvaraṇa means shield of protection.
↑ Vīraśaiva are the followers of Vīraśaivism.
↑ Liṅga is the emblem of Śiva given to him at the time of his initiation.

The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore

Contributors to this article

Apurva Mahendra Bhangdia, Deval Sancheti

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[1] Āvaraṇa means shield of protection.

[2] Vīraśaiva are the followers of Vīraśaivism.

[3] Liṅga is the emblem of Śiva given to him at the time of his initiation.

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