The two branches of agama literature of Sri Vaishnavas are
Pancaratra and Vaikhanasa. The differences between these two schools are
restricted to some details of ritualistic worship in temples. Vaikhanasa texts,
which are founded on sutras written by a Vedic sage named Vikhanas and which
were later expounded by his students, became very popular and acceptable to the
people. However, Pancaratra, which was believed to contain the direct sayings
of Vasudeva, the Supreme Godhead, came to be criticized on account of some
rituals which it contained, which were considered to be non-Vedic, such as
prescribing a special initiation ceremony for a man, who had already been
initiated by Upanayana, in order to be able to perform ritualistic worship in
Vishnu temples.
The Pancaratra School had innumerable critics including Mimamsaka Prabhakara. Bhatta Mimamsakas, however, deny the very existence of a Supreme God and believe only in the sole authority of Vedas. Kumarila Bhatta, the famous Mimamsaka Prabhakara, seriously doubted the Vedic character of Pancaratra texts. He included Pancaratra as a non-Vedic school in his work, Tantra Vartika. Shankaracharya’s commentary on Pancaratra-adhikarana highlighted the opposition between some of the philosophical tenets of Pancaratra and those of Vedanta. Naiyayikas were also opposed to these Pancaratra texts. Yamunacharya believed Pancaratra texts to be Vedic in character and thus wrote Agama Pramanyam, in order to prove the Vedic character of Pancaratra texts.