Context: Early history of Shaivism is difficult to determine. However, the Śvetāśvatara Upanishad (400 – 200 BCE) is considered to be the earliest textual exposition of a systematic philosophy of Shaivism. Shaivism is represented by various philosophical schools, including non-dualist (abheda), dualist (bheda), and non-dualist-with-dualist (bhedābheda) perspectives. Vidyaranya in his works mentions three major schools of Shaiva thought— Pashupata Shaivism, Shaiva Siddhanta and Pratyabhijña (Kashmir Shaivism).

Question: In what text is Shaivism recounted?
Answer: Śvetāśvatara Upanishad

Question: When was the text on Shaivism written?
Answer: 400 – 200 BCE

Question: Who reported the major schools of Shaivism?
Answer: Vidyaranya

Question: How many major schools of Shaivism did Vidyaranya mention?
Answer: three

Question: What is the Kashmir Shaivism mentioned by Vidyaranya?
Answer: Pratyabhijña

Question: What is easy to determine of Shaivism?
Answer: Unanswerable

Question: When did Shaivism first begin?
Answer: Unanswerable

Question: Who created Shaivism?
Answer: Unanswerable

Question: What philosophical school is Shaivism not represented by?
Answer: Unanswerable

Question: Who wrote the Svetasvatara Upanishad?
Answer: Unanswerable