Pancha means five and ratra, nights. Pancharatra is said to have originated around a third century BCE saint named Narayana, who was considered to be an avatar of Vishnu. He is said to have performed a nonstop sacrifice for five days and nights, to attain transcendence. It is also believed Pancharatra refers to the “acquisition of vast spiritual knowledge” and the nights have nothing do here, except to denote “coming out of the darkness”. At a more elevated level, the Pancharatra movement identifies that the soul is at par with the Supreme Being but is also individualistic, while it attains salvation. Its practitioners believed that there was only one Supreme Being – Vishnu.
It is believed that the Panchratras, over centuries, were inspired by the Dvaita Vedanta of Madhavacharya and the Srivaishnava Sampradaya of Ramanuja, though Adi Shankara (aka Shankaracharya), an early philosopher and the theologian behind the Advaita philosophy, denounced the movement as non-spiritual and non-Vedic.
As per Ramanuja, the absolute deity manifested in five ways – para (formless eternal supreme), vyuha (impermanent invisible form), avatara (incarnations), antaryamin (inner-self that can be perceived), and archa (iconic forms). These attributes could be related to daily, in the form of:
- Abhigamna, the ablutions and morning prayers to Vishnu
- Upadana, the preparation for rituals and practice of worship
- Ijya, the beginning of the worship along with offerings of ghee, milk, etc.
- Svadhyaya, the process of self-learning
- Dhyana, the harness of Yoga and meditation
The Shandilya Sutras are considered to be the earliest known systemized Pancharatra texts (c. 100 CE). Inscriptions found in South India indicate awareness of Panchratra doctrines as early as 2nd century CE.
Pancharatra movement gradually merged with the Bhagavata sect and provided the foundational elements of modern-day Vaishnavism (worship of Vishnu).