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Santidev - Encyclopaedia of Tantra Vol 3 PDF
Santidev - Encyclopaedia of Tantra Vol 3 PDF
CDC)PAEDIA
C)F
qFATNW!FRA
by
SADHU SANTIDEV
VOLUME3
COSMOPUBLICATIONS
l!r99 INDIA
AI rishtsreset vecl.Na pa' tofthispublication nav be rcpt odu'e(l
or siot.d in rctrivat svsten, or transmitted in any font or by zny
nre.ns ttithoul theprior permission ofcosmo Publcal ions
C) CosmoPublications CONTENTS
IrnitPublished 1999
ln comrnonpadance,Kashmiris calledth{rsvaraga(heavenon
earlh).lt,indeed,occupies a uniqueposition in India,notonlyinthe
panoramic scenic beauly, salubrious climale, butalsoin lhs realm
ol Indianculture.lt produced polyhistors likolcemendra (11thcen-
tury)andAbhinavagupta (c. lh€ lanerhalt ot lhe |oth cenlto eady
11thcent.).The system of poelics viz.,Alamkem, Ritiand Dhvani,
originated in thisprovince.The foundersol theseschoolswerere-
spectively Bhamaha (c.7th--{th cont.),Vamana(8th-9hcent.)and
Anandavardhana (9h cent.).As regads Ras, school,Kashmirmay
be said to have been th€ pioneer.ln lhe Dhvanebka,
Anandavardhana, forthelirsttime,clearlystatedtasaas lhe most
exceilenlelemenlol poetryln laterlim€sVisvanaha(c.14thcenl.
lsl half), in his satllyadalpara, unequivocallystated rasa as the
soulofpo€try
7he Rejata@ngin ol theKashmidan Kalhana(11ttr-1 2thcent.)
s practically th6 onlyworkin Sanskrit,whichcanclaimto be his-
loncal.
TheKashmirianDamodaragupta (8th-glhcent.)hascreatd a
new literarygerre by his Kuttammataan erclico-comicsatire on
courtesans.
We shall give a briet accountot TantricSaivismof Kashmir,
whichis uniquein ils philosophy.
The celebratedSaivaschoolis callgd Lika (triad)whichhas
beentakenby dilferentscholarslo meanditlerentthings:
(1) Siddha,Namaka, Malini.
(2) Siva,Sakti,Anu.
(3) Pati,Pasu,Pasa.
(4) Siva,Sakli,Nara.
(5) Para,Apara,Parapara.
{6) Abheda,Bh6da,Bh€dabheda.
Theliteratureof the Dka system,knownas Trika-sastra, Trika-
-
Ct|aDt€ht
- Saiva Works And Tadras ot Kashmlr
sasana,or Rahasya-sampradaya
canbebroadlyclassifi€d
as on lhe
snandakatikaswh|r;nare a sort ol runningcommenlary
A. Agamasastra sp*autulraqannbulod toVasugupta byKsemaraia
ii"i-J'r*.ii pupil Vasugupia
loo"-ij. . r'"u" 6""n by a
Kallala' ol
B. Spanda-sasira "omposed
y/tti or commentary by Kallata
C. pratyabhiifia_sastra Jrithe Sutrasthereis a
C. PRATYABHUflA-SASTRA
A. AGAMA.SASTRA ol the
Believedto havebeenrevoaled, For abouta centurylollowinglhe developmeni
il compflseseEv€nTanlras therewasa sort ol interrcgnum in Saiva philosophF
tnctucttngMAttni-viiayaandRudayemab Spandasastra,
calliterature.
Inlhe eadystage,thesewo*s wereinterpretediromthedualis- wasmarkedbytheonslaughl ot Bud-
tic, evenpluralislic
viewpoini. Theoeriodthatlollowed
.ihrsmon Saivlsm. To contatn the lormidable toe Kashmir devel_
The-IrikasystemacluallybeganwiththeSiyasutras, pnilosophy ol Pratyabhiha lt is so calledbe'
.ronave
- - - beenreveated supposed Joel rnf svsremaric
tovasugupta(c.gthcent.)toretutelheduat. MJ",i'"gutat '""ogn'tto \p;aryabhiika\ ol rcahlyas essenlrallor
io'Jt"r.n irti. O'ro"iphy is based on lhe siv'dts' of Somanada
lsvata'
..
Samkardcarya (c.gthcent.)is saidto havevisitedKashmrr. Of the olher works ol lhis class wellknownare
Frsvrs[ supptGdthe impetuswhichresunedin the tormulation o( Palyabhiiha-vimatstnt ol
of onNabhtan ot fuatyabhina-suta
Sivasulras. aulhor also ol thepratyabhiiha'vivtlr
-uli^ri^i" ounln,n"u"gupia'
iroiruti
Of thecofimentarieson lhe Sulras,we _Knou/ i" ^.n utpalas yrfl':Ksema raPs Patyabhiina'
, ^. n arc lhe Uarlik ""1on
compendium He has othelworks loo-
or unasxara(c.t1thcent.)andlhe yrra,.siniofKsemarala. h/davais an imporiant
identi-
tredby somewiththealoresaid Ksemendra, byotnerswth Ksemen_ ln theKashmirian Schoolol Tantra, liveMakaras arenoltaken
oras namesakewhowErs a pupilof Abhinavagupta,
lhentonedearlier. rnthe literalsense bul lheirsubstilutes are prescribed'
.
Wilhthelirmfoothotd ol lhe fnka system,someot thealore- WeshallnowtakeuptheTanl€sandSaivaworksol Kashmrr'
saro ctuattsltc
Tanlraswereinterpreted tromthe monisticpointot
ISVARA.PBATYABHIJNA
BesidesVasugupta,
severalothorschotar_oevotees li is bv UipaladevaSon of Udayakara' he had a son'
contrib_ Accord-
uledto the devBlopment
of Saivismin Kashmh.Ol them,famous vllfrramat<aia, andatellowslud€nt'namedPadmananda
(end
)somananc'a Ulpalawas a natv€ol Guptapura {Kashmrr'
i?1"{"^111 19]|l:1l"ent orehcenr.),
urpab t"
(modernKalaspur)
lrjl_Jayaratha
-ll]l-lll,:llna"kra(c.
erhcent.).
Abhinavasupra,
Ksema€ta "" "-tJao",
O!,uooru1.o1 ugrytarawaylrom Kalasripura
ano (c.beginning
of 13th cenl.). intheI'rstquanerol thel Oth
Utoala, whoperhaps llourished
tromUtpala Vaisnavaaulhorol
B. SPANOASASTRA cenl.A.b.,mustbe drslinguished
Ihe Spanda'Pradtqika
Spandameansvibration or activiyot Siva.lt is supposedto ol the
-oe _,
rnecauseol all dislinclions Besides thiswork'Utpalaiscrediledwiththeauthorship
Jollowingwolks:
This Sastrais basedon the Sapndasafas, generallycalled
Saiva Works And Tanlrasol Keshmir
_-.
!]
talphatameya_nirupana,(iv)Karya_karana-€ttva-nirupana. One,lollowingit, realisesthat Afma, makesthe worldand
absorbedin SivahoodattainsSddhr:Abhinavaraisesthequeslion-
(3) Agamadn'kara--d-iscussing belweenits recognation
the 36 lat&as ot Saivism.lts sub- if Ahan exists.thenthereis no diflerence
secbns arqi)Tattva_nirupana,(ii)pramatr-an and non-recognilion. Whenlhereis sproul,the seeddoesnol re'
. _. _ *"lri"i".
(4) Tattvarlha---€amgra_hadhikara-_discusses mainunrecognised. Whenlhereis sprout,theseeddoesnotremain
the
ot the HighestBeing.ana recapitr,tatesessentrat nature unrecognised. The replyis-therearetwothings,one externallike
ttresutsianlJoi
the.Jor€gohg Adhkaras.ttss,.rtsecrions the sprouls,andlhe olherinternallikelove.The,ormerdoesnot
a,e (,1fattiairna". bulthe latlerdoes ln th€ realisation that'l
i n,vt/arEi rtr,\ruruparya-k|?tma_nrrupana, necessitale recognition,
-rhe am Mahesvara' recognitionis a mustThenecessity of recognilion
.- lsvaz-pratyabhifiahasa comrnen
ca,ed ima6ini; hi;he i; fi ; '-;":J:1il,fli,r[]T,,:$ by a veryconvincing
is illustrated The husbandmayb€
analogy.
presentnearlho wile,bul so longas shedoesnol recognise him
"v trrl,"r4.
ll-ltl"11?no,"r. Th€tanerrssupposed tou" Lri"o shedoesnotgetjoy.Similarlythough is in one'sAlman,
grossby Utpajahimselt,which
is now lost
oi J Visvesvara
Hispresenceis unknown; as suchthereis no etfectonthe person
The tourth Adhrkarars
ih€ epilome o concened.So pratyabhtjkais necessary
, .. .
Adhikaras.'s.conrenrs
a," lH" iJirT:ll
";,"iJJ;;il:,ji,:
oraxbcings.Abhinavagupla Theauthorconcludes lhe workby sayingthatit is writtenby
makesit clearthatHe ,sot tf,e na-r,lr-e him lor the peoplewho can attain Siddhi$rilhoutelfort Abhinava
oI conscrousness
whrchhasnodiflerence
anoInnature.The indifterenlptaces,tim-iJ statesthatit is accessible ol casle'etc.
to all irrespeclive
questionmaybeposed_we, il lr.,lahesvara
rslhesout,whatis the bondaget;r atone
releasing wh|chthrsetiortis SIVA_SUTRA
maoe1 | he answerrslhat,throughthe
torceol ego.peoptetn,nf.i
amso andso'.Again,thequeslionmavb e as believedlo
As slatedbelore,the Slva'sutasarelraditionally
rsr!.whoexrsts
otherrhanrsuar".
rne ,"prf"i.d-r#i::i*::::r"; havebeen revealed lo Vasugupta. lt containsthree sections
SaNaWorksAnd lanttasol Kashmir
f,*jl+1fr1s$J;*,i*aru,+**,,
;tH#:i,fi
:il"!',,:,:::{i$l :f Hffi
"flffij:
withSiva,theuniversalsoul.
tionandmeditation)
lheEternalOne,
Samadhl-sukha
is Lokananda.fhe
thesoulofalliii is Hewho
place
the staleof Cakresatakes 'l fromthe
is
(theiobolconcentra'
yartika
joy
rise
identilies/okawith
ol
Theattainment
stale
knowledge
oi
ol
i.e.,ihe
Cakresa
13;*q6"61{pu+r;*:m,*r;u:,*",#
il"xTil::xnH,*"Jlifl"tH:T jfi,""rn"uomh,m,hecom.
ldentification
hasbeenexplained intwoways.ltmaymeantheeightwell-known
SiddhiscalledAnima,Laghina,dL. OL Cakais Samvil(conscious_
nessl:so lhe slateof Cakresameansthe possession ol excellenl
tohjsy-*,. _"",i"'"ii,il"i"
corophon 3,iilli;t"l"f,!,,,"1j',."" knowledge welfknown inYoga-sast€. Pure consciousness inAlmat
ior lhe realisationoi which manlla is necessary Those, who are
y":*iiii"iili,i!li::"tfJiil,xl?#;i",1ti"TT::rr
rnenrary,
ratherexplanatory
yartkas,,names
very powerlul
ManlraBul,
spirilually,
ihose, who
can
areless
have tho
powerful
above
require
realisalion
Ma nlrc.
without
Mantrais
':;;::;:E:,firy#::{ffi therf,r""pofrrraof identiled wilh Cltta(mind)which,the yadlka,says,is Sivawho is
yrnlis
,x;;,",uoa-i,,o"n..s.iii. devoidol attrubutes,is omniscient
space and lime, For success in
and beyondlhe limilations
mantra ellort is n€cessary The
of
Ksemaraia,s a runningcommentary Va ika explainslhalmantrais the innalenatureol the powerof Clt
Thecontents of Srya_sulras
arebriollyas to ows_ Byincessant meditation onitYogins atlainsuccess. Manta-tahasya
Cailanlaorconsctousnessjs idenljf consislsin the bodyin the tormof y/dya.Whenlhe mind,tlrned
::l'nff ::'m*'[,I::"'.y','1'{:
iffi:ik";"J:"'"i",#'"'ff
re.t awayfromtheobjectsof sonses,isfixed,in Cit nescience
disappears.Whenlrue knowledge oflhe non-dual
\avidya)
Supremedawns,
lhe slafeof Siva.calledKheca , arises.Khecariis de.ivedthus.
*r"Ji",fi"ffi,"#"::i l+fff;#Ty edse
rhevarrika Kha is lhe skv in lhe shaDeof Cll Thatwhichmovesaboutlhere
is calledKhecaz:As it leadslo lh€ atlainmentof lhe slateof lhe
m*fruli:;lllj:,;,,rt:ir,,lli,li*i";Xi,?X?,,",i#tiili one who is medicaledupon, it is calledthe stale ol Siva
(Sivavastha).
i#?i f#"'l*r#ii
ii":p"T::[ini*,""**:
are^a/asconsisljng
n lhelener,romA t. ,a.:
fhus, Muda(Khecai) andMarra, as meanslo lhe goalhave
beenstated.Bul. howto get the powerarisingfrom thsse?The
:txfr:1,U:"f;#JHtnTj El+i.";:#tH
answerin Guruwhorepresents lhe Saktio{ Sambhu.He explains
the lrlth, and showslhe way.Guf4 leadsone lo lhe knowledge
scro!snessis pervasive.
jnltl#
:,[:il"':il'""'",?'."i:$x
ffi,ffi".:i
1;#f As a meansof rern
aboulthe Kfiyasak,(powerol doing)oltheLord.ThelireoJknowl-
edgebeingburnt,the grossbody,whichis subjecilo lhe lruilsol
acton,yieldsplaceto the divinebody.Thesustenance (anra)of
*i'Hxr***il*#ir;liil'Hrml!,fi
thisdivinebodyis /nanalhat astrue knowledge. HereKsemaraja
edge,andoneperceivestheillusorynatureofihingsarisjng
iherelrom.
Atma2has been identifiedwilh Cila which is enveloped outof the pasasor bonds.Thenlhey become{il for Dlksa which
.
Jnana,re., petceplionol passjon,etc.,connectea
by consistsin dara (giftol mantra)andksapanalwaaringoutol pasas.)
witn tne ou;eci!
ol senses.Maya (illusion)is want of discrimination A Keval, is lree lrom pleasureand pain,i.e.,no lhoughtol
with rega;d to
the lattuas.The idea is that attachftentto ihe oblects
ot seises is
theseenlersinlohim
lhe obstacleon the way to the goal. Mohais statedto arisefromAbhilasa(desire). WhenMoha
comeslromrheconqueslot detusron(moha). disappears, a personis{reedkomthefruilol action.A person,who
_"^
lne J::
yo9r'nloltedSe
rrJst be ever awakesprfltualty:thrsteddsro is notliberated,is enveloped by a cloak(Kadcuka) in lhe lom ol
ivanmukti. llve grosselements.By lhe means,statodearlier,one becomes
Atma, is called a dancer as it lhrobs accororng
condrlrons.Of thts dancer the stage is flre inner
to dilferent llkeSiva n this|fe, andonewilhSivaaflerdeath.
so,il. tt mal Oe of the lccha(desire)of
seen lhat Almarand the Antaratman(innet soul) Theenlireworldis the manifeslation
arediflerent irom prescribed
each othe-.The yar.rta makes it clear l,.al, wnen the Lord.Whena persof,according to lhe instruclions
there rs outward lheAlman,heis
nas^ tDahtrunmesa). AIma, is calleda dancer.Whenlhere ts inwaro earier,gelsridol lheimpurities, andagainrealises
w|nk ranlarunmesatthat very Atman ts cahed reunitedwiththe Lord-Whenhe realiseshis idenlitywiththe Su'
Anlaatman \inner
sourJ.Ine sensesare lhe speclalors. oremeBeing,he becomesSiva,full of joy.
3TJ"'""T:t:Ti[ff
rejliiii'Jit';Tg:;:#"JJl*ffi
oerngasanaslhd,easily stnks Into lhe inner lake. Here
asana ao.
SPANDA-KARIKi
Wehavereterredtoit earlier.lt consists ol 52 Kalkes,divided
pe,trs o rre€n the greatesl powerderivedIrorn ntolhreeN/syaDdas called
or sections respectively Svarupa'spanda,
Sakl. by whtch he and Bibhuti-spanda.ll has a Vrlli or commenlary
gves up arlklndsol dhyana. dhatana and othet Sahajavidyodaya
acl:v,t,e;.and, be-
,ngrur-ed'nward. conle.nolales tFeSup.eTe8e,.9 alo^e.Tnelake by Kalala.
rs lhe realisationof lhe Hiohest_ Thecontenlsol ihe Kadkesarebdeflyas follows.
The destruc,tonot false knowledgeby Fleanc S va, possessed of Sakli,createsthe worldby his unmesa
, ot t.ue knowl_
eoge eaOstoltse cessdtionot reb,rthith:sis (opening of eyes)anddissolvesil by nit esa(closingol eyes).The
/;ianmukl,:The lexl is
vtava-vtnase Janma-Vinasah. Vtdyatat\enby lhe Varikain rhesense questionis-how is the Sivahoodol a man,who is subjectto re'
ot asuodhavdyallatse knowtedge). But.Kse.narajatakesilto 4 ean b rlh.declared?The answeristhis.Thereis noobstruclionlo onein
corre!' knowledge.He rnlerprelslhe sur/alhus Vtdyaya whomall this phenomenal worldresidesand lrom whom all lhis
avnase,
r.e . rnefeoetngnodestruction ottrue knowtedge. By;bnm) he means ohenomenal worldresidesandkom whomall this enanates.The
lhe senses which are the cause of aclion accompanred ideais thatas he is notenveloped (bydelusion, etc-),lherecanbe
by igno-
ranceand are lLll ot mjseryOne, who has acquired Srvahood evenin the staieof one who is slbiect to rebirth.His
the co;eal
xnowredge. becomeslke SrvaIn life.and SrvaHrmseIater ctealh S vahoodis notcoveredin anycondition ol lagral,svapna,susupti.
The functionoJthe body is the greatiestival(mahayrala) He s beyondhappiness, so(owanddelusion. He is neithergrahya
ot a lthatwhichcanbetaken) nor grahaka (one wholakes.)
powenu person;this is pasupala-veta.fhe
speechof one, who
oose.vesth s vow.is /apa.By lhts wataa-d ppa rha knowtedge Whenone'segodisappears, onealtainslhe Supremeslate.
o,
4lrna. Oaw-son lhe pasus{peopteliedby,he bond! o,
detu;ron
In sucha condition, one becomeslhe knowerand the doer;ihen
elc L rF15 dawningof knowtedge is danawhich,eads lo lhe wearnq onecando or knoweverylhing thatis desired.
SarvaWorksAnd Tanlrasol Kashmir
Chapt6r-1
mind rs of this nalure
Thereare Nvoavaslhas,one Karya, the olhet Kan4va. bhoqya\ab)ectol enioyment)on6' whose
io'rner.sdeslructible. fhe rhatrl reelsthal allthe wortdis pervaded by me and looksal every_
theratterimperishabJe ltrsortytheefiorlfor
Karyat\al is elfaced.On6.who is unwtse,thinksh,rnserfto thingas sPorl,becomeslivanrukta
be
eliacedwhenthai etfodis effaced.In reality,one,sown natureis Adevolee, by meansof marfas, becomesone withlhe deity
notsubjectto destructjon. Thebhaya,thal is turnedinwardand is ol lhe mantra.Thisrealisationof one'sown naturewithoutthe cover
omnrscrent, ts neveretfac6d. Thatbhayaas Ctremains.ThatCllis ol ialse knowledgeis the acquisitionot ambrosiaby a devotee
rs wet' awakeor futrypossessedot ^nowtedge This. indeed,is the iniliationto Nrvana that leadsto the revelation
:"1-!1"::,.l/r'no
sapBouddhatn ol ihe true naiureot Pa€masiva.
a| [\e conditions ol Jagfal SyapnaanaSusup;.
ol Supreme Saktjin the lormsol Jfiana(knawl- A yogir, in lhe condilionol /agfal finds,amongvariousthings,
. .Possessed
edge)ano/deya(oblectof knowledqe.) theLordshinesinlhecono- lhe very thing desiredby him. In svapnaalso he sees lhe desired
\a-s ot JagGIand svapnaln Susuptiandluryaconortions, lhings.Thefactthat in svapnathe heartis clearlymanilestedshows
He ,s
Percerved onlvas Cll the independenceof it; this is the penehalionot the evil. Laying
slresson etfortthe authorgivesan analogy,
lhe Gunas,Saftva,Rajas,and Tamas do notenvetop the in-
-
herenJ nalureof lhe yogin,fheseGunas,obstrucltng Evenwhen ihe mind is intent,a distanllhing ashazy-Due lo
lhe oercep-
r'onortheexistence of Cil causethepeopleol hntee-ntignrenment elfort it appears clearly.So also what really exists can be soon
ro rarrIntothe fiercepathol rebirthwhrchis diflrcuhto;ross; rea ised by resortingto Sakli.Anotheranalogyis lhis. Atman pe.-
be- vadesthe body,a personcan at onco leel lhe bite even ol a small
causesuchpeoplefindAtr'anpossessed ol thesequaliliesandnol
as,Suddha \pwa) andBuddha(entghtened). louse.So, one, who realisesAlamd, acquiresomniscaence every-
One.whoaf*aysmif.es
erro(rorthemanifestation ol lhe reatnalureof Spanda-taitva, even
rntheJagnalslate attainsone'sownnatureca ediurya-bhaga.When or decay)wearsoutlhe body.llaises froma/rara
G/an(debility
a personbecomesveryangrydelighted or bewildefed or whenhe wl icr is avordedby lhe Inowledgeof Ahan.
runs,lhe rjseof spandais to be understood andshouldbe leafnl FtomAtmanatisesgindu,Nada,Flpa icapacilyfor seeingin
tromlhe Guru.A manwho,havingleftall otherouttes,rsabsorbed
darkness),,gasa(tasleof neciarin lhe moulh).
n spanoa-kffva, realises thehighest truth.Insucha yoginthefioon
(manas)andihe sun{spanar.havjnglettIne TheseSiddrrs,whichare obstacles,appearto menvery soon.
booy.a rephcaof the ll is the yoglnswho have realisedthe identityol al worldly objects
unrverse. setr,)sosufinaNao[:Then. jn thatvaststy.oevotdol tne
moonandlhe sun,a man,fullol delusionby syapra,erc.,remain wth the SupremeSoulthatcanthemselves knowlhe realtrulh.
conlinedin astateolsleep.When awakened]ie remains uncovered Oneshouidbe everawake,compr€hendby knowledgewhatrs
(oyrgnorance etc.). to be known and lix everythingon one, i.e.,the knowledgeol lhe
Themantlas, real lrulh. By so doing one is not lomented by Kalas,etc., to be
whicharepowerful. havngresorted lo thatpower
or, sahtr.
^ proceedin respective duties.With dutiesceased,
describedhereafler
peopte,who afecalmandtreefromlhetainlsof Maya,aremergedin One who, beingan objectof enjoymentlo lorces like Erahmr
lhal skyalongwiththedevoteesmind.So.as theyare arisingfrom the mass of words,is led astrayby kalasin lhe shape
torne;wilh
5rva,theyare saidto be possessed ol the characlerslics ol Stva. of the lettersbeginningwith kalasin the shapeofthe lettersbegin'
Wrththat4tnar, whrchis a -encompassiri J, lhereis nocondrtrcn in
ningwith ka;such a personis calledpasu
lhe lhoughlsof wordandsenselhatdoesnotsuggestSi!.ahood.
So, the bhokta(enjoyer)himselfis presenreverywnere as
14 Chapter-1 SaivaWorksAnd Tantrasol Kashmii
ril';ft
gold,onebigandthe othersmall,andtwocanopiesof wfiileclolh
il{flififfr
d#"|i"i,;4ffi$rt#:",:."s
,."-i:!i"il':{:1".,::::fl
overthem.Indraandotherdeities
inlluence.The
areto beinvokedto wardotl evil
srrallervesselis passedround,andil6walerallowed
to trickledown.Thenlhe Yajfia-kunda
carred in a coppercontaineror
is lo be prepared.The fire,
an earthenpot,shouldreceivethe
:ilTx';;tTsJT:?:ff """:
severalceTemonies
mulamantra
oi birth,etc. He shouldperlormhomawilh
teciledane hundredtimesandlhe anclllarymantras
.,, ;:'_(il: :::,":i,:;'ff:i"",,:i,;?;l'e"*o,,he
prddrJca
o, len lrmes.Thehomabeingover,heshouldgoto sleep.
riiii.,nr*:r,
Thedisciplehasto observelhe lollowing vows:
*!j;!!iite*,#'
";:Xi
i,i::illi illi! ii:,i,:
";:;:,:::[Z,i:,j:i:,":,i
ii;:_ji;,
1. He wouldalwaysofierworshipto his delty,Ijre,preceptor
andlo thegoddess.
2. HewoLrld noi eatanything wilhoulofferingit to them.
3. Hewouldnotusetheproperlydedicated to the deily,guru
ji'"';;gou
* "ii,5['#:?Y#*X#i,.; 0,'.',,'"n,",,,
"' andCandr,
4. Hewouldnolbe idle,andmuslavoiduse{esspursuiis.
',"" ij"]#"il[T*iool des'rins
roperrorm
sacn,,ce.
rnus, 5. Hewouldbelirm inthe practiceof yogaor in the recilalion
d;,r*-ttffi
#'ilff
-q+fttrirf
"i:::['n:,";2i
#,'*"'":ii;*-ff
i,i: ;::::x,
I
ol mantra.
Whenthe preceptor is convinced
of the personseekinginitjaiion,
of the sincerityandfilness
he (lhe preceptor) shouldgetthe
mysticdiagramdrawnon a carefullyselectedpieceof groundn
#*ruk{*l*ip;i,ir.ffi +;
+li";l'-
;slr:nn:::i[:::**:i;#mfu
accordance withlhe ruleslaiddownin \he Malinivikyoftata-tanttu.
Inthecenlreofthediagram,heshouldworshipBhairava,
to Himihal He mayresidein his bodyso as to makehimqualiiied
ior iniliating
andpray
;il[,'ffffifJ",:i'#li:,ffy]]Tl"l'"djscipre
isrobe
this
method, conquerlhe
adoptedfordiJletenldhaqM' hewillcertainy
entire isjnme;t
universe prop .fealitv; entifecosmos-
".,r," "ni""il!l"Jo?
fi,Jff
:;"l|:#::i",ffffi
"",,,rli"rH:r,,:'.'n,":"Ji, :lT,1l;
MRGENDRATANTRA
fhe Mrgend?-tanta,available in print,conlainslwo seclrons'
[i!:iiil"iiii:ff?,it;t'",tffi
rousetheserp.ent-pox/er
ro.anoth€r
?iili,l]
l:tx$t*::
il
in him,andmoveh upwadlrcm oneCakra
calleC,Viclyapada and Yogapada.
ctassot Tantras.The
the Pasupalasyslem.lt
systemof
is ol a
Th€
lale
Tantra
philosophy,
date
belongs
taughl
having
in
been
to
il,
the Rudra
conlorms
compiled
to
al
lillit reachesBehmarandhta.fhedis"ipf",
oy nrspreceptor tnu" ,-n-if"i theinstanceof HariSingh, King ol Kashmar, and pubished in 1930
withtheSupremeBeahty. witnesses
rhedesrr;
:ly:{i;ft*[yj,f;jF&;il;.;;:;
$::;;,:":';ffi TheTantrahasa commenlary
Vidyakantha and
Kantha.Narayana
grandson
quoies
of
from
Sasikara
the
by NarayanaKantha,son ol
Kanlhaandlatherof FIama
/svaras/ddhi of Utpaladeva' a
-* toacquire
'"-"[:1""]:?'::"fi5,!".1"""1il;T:i rnvstic iamouswrilerol the gth cenlury A.D.;lhis iixes the upperterminus
ol Narayana's date.Thecognomen Kanlhais typically Kashmirian.
ffil,rffi ilr"**H";,
?:T1 ifi!:i.}1ft i:TlJxffi he
So. appears to have
fqe vidyapadais
belonged
diuided
lo Kashmir'
inlothirteenpalalaswhichdescribe
:"#ililffif i":J;#:i'#"#Ji""1':t"'astobeheves,n' pasaandpasupatiTheseare
gln*ru1
j:lr*ih,"'.','*d#"'H';:::J,!{,::
o"'n"o
lhe threefundamentals, viz.,
thelhreemaincalegories.This
ol lhe dualisticSaivas-The
pasu,
sectiondeals
yogapada
alsowiththetheology
dealswiththe eighttold palh
rhe,mpur;rjes
accompan'nn,n"
0,,n";,"oitL""tl?lJi; "t ol concentrative practicewhich helpsiheacquisiiion of variouspro_
Jt"xili",*###ii,",ff
i:ffi'ff #:{niil#":L'i#,
Thepreceptor,
who hasacquiredcon
Thethreeiundamenials
S va isomniscient.lhe
fectioncausedbVdefilements.
aredesctibed as lollows:
doerolall,andislreefromtheimper-
He is alwaysbusywiththelivelold
:mru:l**1ru*hljl'#:"#41"1"^'#"fr:
Ii,#i;i;:i,ffi';,111',ff
lunclion,viz.,evolution,sustenance,
tionandassimilation.The fivemaniras,
jnvolutaon,polenhalpreserva_
relalingtothelivenamesol
etc.,tormthe promi
""",;"'n"
"1ffi "li?Jl",n]il;:
Patiand operaliverespeclivley in evolution,
nenlpartsol hisbodyandthebodyas a whole.lsanaoccupiesthe
placeoi lhe headthusindicating supremomasleryoverthewhole
*", cave
orace,,
-,.n"J,',ij5iT;iil"'J!::?;,nfi1["]T" oi crearion,Tatpurusaoccupies thepositionot lhefacewhichisthe
'Jtr
ruli;;i:ruruirh*
*".:.;.f
symbooJlhe innermost essenceof all organicand inorganic life.
il'lrJTU:ffi
pranayana.,All
sense-actjvities
mustb6keplundercontrol.
Hemusi
Aghoraor Ghoraconsltutes
body;lhisimpliesmanilesiing
theheart,andrepresentslhe
pnncipe ol thelJnivrse.Vamadeva occupies
lhe worldol creation-The
vilalising
theprivalepa{s oflhe
body,as a
i,lliiifl
i,il;,?i;311?i":1,'i""",]".fi
X?ilIHl;l""mtlii: whole,is represenied
inqmanilold
bySadyolata,
lormsal will.
andimplieslhepowerolcreat'
31
Saiva Works And Tantrasol f\ashm'r
iifi:ffii":1tffi
free dndpureCrf So rl 's purely
;:?1ii$ili ffi;nfl:
\:J:::ij:
v/orl, rt,sstated,In lhe colophon.
to be a pad ol Ihe Rudayamah.
oa reans F eew,l .lt rele'sto lhe
i onisic. tt taoicattyaife $lrcm l.le
ot-oiiiinu""ru, *i r"presenl the
Mtgendta
dualistic
and Matangafantas
schoolo{ philosophy'
HighJighlsof its contentsare as "n ll rs
lollowsl Thetooics a; the dilJerentchaptersindicatethe contenls
the usLal Ta'lnc lopics ll ls a
main,vriludlslic,and dealswlth
", j"," erd rhemodes nolrc;aoleiealJrelhal il does 4ol dwell upon lhe slx cIJel a'ls ol
",,'^l;::";;5::;,::;fnilTfr
,orionrs-a,ana(,e-emf;;;;:l;,";:7;:;:J'::,1:':n\ kn|a
naoa..
Marara,elc. lis accenlis on lpasana (medilation)and kria
(rilual)
;ffi:iJ:,i.T:il'.?t',,#
;:::*1":"1""*i:*nru;ff '
Fromthe lnlrodLlctory remarkswe learnthat it is an abndqe_
npnl ol Ihe ortgnd work;ompnsrag a hundreocIo'e versesTho
il:".::ff:liTi'in;','
"""" iT;H,;i *"
;:#::l::"""i1#
work is ol unknownauthotshipand dale'
ll has a commentary,called Uddyota,by Ksemaraja
(ll1h
Inlhrs commenlary werearn lhal l'ere
11s.125) Maravlo/arssrated cenrA D.) Fromrelerences.
;",iil:.ilo5
:i:: :::"v".",n".
: *::'||,:(i:l1il I "ers€s
i,"iili';ilii";::jl:: wereearlrer co'nnenlalles Including the Srhaflrkaof which lhe aJ
jlilf;1f
ll.".lli ""0
:ld;;;;;;;:;#T;:"Bl;[:J.::Jl:
';':i:,Y::'* thor was BhullakaRaianaka a typically Kashmirian name
Li,::
mentltsddhls.
*; i;;;i,;,Jj''!1i"?'.''""ii;l
lt
onddrr""r"o li"",li Ksemaraja,who is menlionedin verse 5 ol the introduclron
lo
penectyoqin.
n,'n," ,i.Jr,i"}r[]r;dliilJ: his commenta;y, gives a monisticinterprelaionwhich' as he hrm
dualisticllnter
seltslatesin th; c;ncludingverses,supersedeslhe
,.,. .JbisTarkaconlajns(parala17,verse4)aneutogyo,the,4/har_ oretalionoJearlierommentators
vdyedadeclaringthataltgods.atjbeinqs.all!
MahavdvT tiveinil.versi r *r, Kamawdvdand Fromthe concludlngverses of the Vlvrtion Stava-ctntamant
^i ,'n--l'-.""g9s (modernBiibiharorVyajibror')a
rlr. caKr'aswlthin the body.27.
jl:
:il:I-ft1iii::i#:'
:::"-r.i:!:!,:ii;;.;;;il;;Jffi we lear;thal he livedat Vi-iayesvara
citv aboui 30 miileseasl ol Srinagarin Kashmir'Ksemarala
1Olh
was a
cen_
.ak',sand SB-7Odeat crl oi nunin"u"g,ptu*ho livedIn lhe lalle'haltor lhe
sahasrc;a
;;;; -il ;,ff #i::TfllJ'#H; ou'o'f
iri o, ea.rvpan ir ir'e rllh Ksemaraia was lhe aulhor of severdl
SaivaWorksAnd lantrasol Kashmar 35
otherworkswhose numberis
overa dozen. wholivedin Antaruedial
Abhinava appearsto havebeenAtrigupta
1r De
^^ contents
-:!:^:,v:cchanla.tanlraconlajns t 5 Chaprers.catjedpala/as. the time of kingYasovarman (C 730'40A.D.)of KanaujHe mi
are indjcatedbelowl qated lo Kashmiral lhe timeof kingLalitaditya(C 725-61A D )
t. Manlroddhara ;bhlnava's qrandlalher andratherNarasimhagupta'
wasVarahagupta'
fl. Arcadhikara aliasCukhala.His brotherwas manorathagupta and mother_
llJ. Adhivasa
Vimalakala,
in the secondhallot the ienih century
AbhinavalloLlrished
tV Diksabhiseka.prakasana
A.D.
V. Taltvadi_djksa_prakasana He namesseveralleacherswhoare statedto haveenlight_
Vl. paicapranavadhikara enedhimon varioLls subjecls.The namesof his Gurusare given
Vll. Abhyantarakaladhikara belowwithihe subjectstaughlby themagainsitheirnames:
Vlil Amsaka_njmaya,sambandha Vamanalha dualisticTantra
satnirupana Bhutuaja- Bahmavwa
tX. Abhisla-siddhi-sadhana Bhutirala-tanaya - Dualistic-cum-monistic Saivism
x. Bhuvanadidiksa_nirupana -
Laksmangagupta Krama and Tika Darcanas
xl. Laksmanagu pla'- PralYabhiy'E-
Tattvadhava,srslyadj,njrupanalattvataLa_sthili-njrupana underwhom
Besides theabove.hereterslo otherteachersalso
Xll. Dharanadikramenalattvanam hesludiedothersubiects.
saksatkara-nrrupana-32
Abhinava's Dhilosoohico'Tanlric worksaretheJollowing:
Xlll. yagaradhana
Bodhs-pafrcadasil,a,Isvara'pratyabhijfra-vina rsini,MaIintvij aya'
XtV Mudra-taksana ika, PaB martha-sara,Paratimsika-vi vtli, TantGsara' Tanlra-vata'
va11
ABHINAVAGUPTAI
AND HIS WOBKS Besidesthe above,Abhinavais knownto havecornposed
risure
inthe,rerary somehymnsconlaining theeseniialsol lrikaphilosophy'
meanllor
i;iii;;;;d;ffi
i.1li,":itT,: S_"1",lsrandins andcuf
l;;il:,;,r^::T:l The hymns
followlng
I;lif ,i:I":l** -T."". popularlsing lhe .naintenetsof the system
;:l;ln::*:""P::'; J:jii"".idi
wnler,
heisknown
roha""*.in*
i'llJili"'ff;l',::il:
r":i"i[r,i][i"rTli J
may be mentioned:
slava,Dehastha-devata-caka'stota,
Anubhavanivedana,
Anutlarastika,
Krama-stotra'
Bhaiava'
Mahopadesa'
",
ot therantratokLa vifitsati,Paramartha-dvadasika, Paramanhacarca.
v/vala,a
1":""::r5::r:.tl
conrain so;eind."."" anayaratnmsika.
,{:J:!:
Iile. "oiriniili.i"{ !:; TANTRALOKA
BornIn a tamityotBrahminshe ,fi.. r It is a hugework in 37 Chapters'calledAhnlkas.ll has a
ll^,::"".^,1":"1,:, !.;i!;lili,lilL,.iii"Bfl
ir;.;"-jiiJ illliii; commentarv. calledlatlra lokavivekaby Jayaalhawhoisdescnbed
Heappea6to havecommenled
;ii:i::flli"T,,,'#i",#:';i:T:5Till;T'j#:iJ asRaianaka
abo ;pon
lvlahamahesvaracarya,
Rlyyaka's A/a
lalher
tukarcsatuasva.
was
F.omhis commentaries
Srngaranatha whoseolherson
we learn lhal his
SaivaWo*s And Antas of Kashmir 37
';:
::':":,i"
::,:::l:xi:ili"":*l"i:",1t poe.ca,
woa, Thenamesot theChapters areas follows:
-rayara'ra
eves tne ",he
ror._;ffi ;il:ilJ,il,J[?"f;fl 'j,J ViRanabhedaprakasana, Anupaya-prakasana. Sambhavopaya-
","#; prakasana,Saktopaya-prakasana, Anavopaya-prakasana,
Purnamanoratha
(Ministefolkingol Kashnir) kalatattva-prakasana, Cakro-daya-prakasana, Desadva-prakasana,
Tattva-prakasana, Tatlvabheda-prakasana, Kaladipradarsana,
rurnamanoratha
(lvlinisle
I of kingol Kashrnir) Adhvopayogaprakasana, Saklipata-pradarsana, Diksopakrama-
prakasana, Samaya-diksa-prakasana, Prameya-prakasana,
Ulpala Viksipla-drksa-prakasana, Samksipla-diksa-prakasana, Sadya-
I utkranti-prakasana,Tuladiksa"prakasana, Paroksa-diksaprakasana,
Prakiisaatha Lingoddhara-prakasana, Abhiseka-prakasana, Antyesti-prakasana,
Sraddha-prakasana, Sthandila-puja-prakasana, Lingarca-prakasana,
Dhairnaraiha Parva'pavikakadi-prakasana, raksana,Mudraprakarana, Ekikara'
prakasana, Unnamed (dealswith thediversityo{meansofattaining
paramesvara who is but one),Saslrasammelana, Ayalikrama-
(lt/jnister). nirupana, lJpadeyabhavadi-nirupana.
Djscjpleo, malernal
uncje,,Bjbhutidatta,
ln lhis work,Abhinavmainlylollowslhe Malinivijayatantra-
son ot Kamamaladafla
Thehistorical imporlance oftheworkisthatitgivessomebiograph-
and grandsonol
lcalandaulobiographical intormation.
Laksmidatta ll dealsexhaustively withallmatles,ritualisticandphilosoph-
^. r_---_--_----r_-
s vd'atna sakratha s",nJ"-,n"
-- ical,relatinglo Saivisrn.
ll is a systematic presentation
of the Kula
f andTantrasysems.Occasionally, il givesinformation
aboutolher
.Ac!epteo \andiatna systems,suchas K/amagtc.The namesol the chaplersindicate
Gubnnaralha ther contents.The highlighls of thephilosophicalaspectoJlhework
Krnguccala, L.ankaratha
I
butresigned Srngdraniitha
anersometime). ([,4inistef Thewoft revealstheproJound intluenceolTanlraonAbhinava.
of Rdjardiha) But,rlls clearthathehasindependenl thinkingandwayol expres'
Discipleof Subhatadatta. s on. He followslhe authorltyof Saivagama lhough,in inlelpreta'
sonofTribhubanadatta, tion,heshowsconsiderable oiglnality.Theapproach oJtheaulhor
gran0son ofVisvadana) rsnon-dualislic,
J Theaulhortakespainslo eslablish thalthesolerealityis Cit
Jayaratha
(PupilofSamkhadhara) Accordingto him,thecauseotSamsa€(rebirth) is non-knowledge,
andknowledge isthesolecauseolliberalion. Non-knowledge is not
wanto{knowledgewhich exislseveninaclodofearth,butil hasno
rebi h.Non-knowledge iswantoftrue orearth, butithasnorebirth.
Non'knowledge is wanlol trueor pertectknowledge. lt grows{rom
thereleclon rnthelimitedsoul,blurredbylhe sixkatcukas(cloaks
38 39
Chapler-1 Sava WorksAnd Tantrasof Ka
as cause
move about in lhe sky and eanh elc. making a shouting
sound edqels salvationSo.tho slalemel'lol ihanaandmo(sa
(fayana)lor causjngalarmlo lhe peopleof the pa6!/type. an; eifecl,is nottrue:it is mer€lyimaginary
The signiiicanceolthe word Devahas been slatedthus_One The authorrelutesthe Vais€sikaviewlhat Saktisresidein
rs
who plays (dlyyar) is Deva;this play is the ecslasyal the
univrse sNa in the sameway as dhan a residesin dhazn' His stand
thal Siva is
encompassrngeverythinglrom siva to the earth. In other
words, irrai 'r t s positionis accepted,thenthe slatsment
His play is the desire to excel all. Variousother meanings Onebecomesbaseless.
ol the
verb dryathavebeen suggestedte.gy4rglsate (wshs to conquel.
vyauaharaf tbghaves.i e. appears in a .ltusorylrcmt. Theauthoratsoreiectsthevieu/,expressedin dualisticSaslras'
tsnrnrng or Indrcating
dyolayatt rhal the crealedbeingsare distrnctfromthe SupremeBeing H€
iotasttal eueMh'ngis nudra'saktisomeolthe Saklisol Sivaare
things),sluyate(rseuJogisedJ. /ara, (kno;s,.
Srvars catledpa, as he protects(patt. He rs Sivaas he rs lutJ inlintieas theyp€ryadeeverywh€ro.Ohers are limitedas theseare
ol whal is good (sr'eyomaya): there|s nothingevitin Hrm. notpresentat all Places.
.
His three Saktis, para etc. shine in crealion, preservation, It ]s statedlhat wbodhaor Samvdis bothquestionand an-
de-ctruclon and the toJrth srateI luryaj.Hencelheseappeartwelve_ swer.lt existsin bolhGuruand Siva:lhe dillercncein theirbodyis
.9?myi is the only realjty;ithas o division.Th€n, how is there Theconcluding portionol the chapterspeak's ol the goodel_
Ihe dlvisioninlo./adaard apda? Ihe rcptyts lhal diflerence iectof studyingthe urork,andsetslorlhthe conlents ol it'
arises
oue ro lhe degreeof mala (impurity)thal covers rl. discusseswhetherSiva
Chaplerii, calledArupaya-prakasana,
Jkana is staledas upeya(objective). Then, what ls ihe ,paya s ,eal'sedby somemeans(upaya). Thecommentator makeslhe
or-'means to it? Jfrana, being upeya, i1 cannol be upaya_ posironclea;sva doesnotbecomemanilest by th€ means (upaya)'
Nof is
upaya.fhe meansrs the sub e /rianaas d,siinguished butthemenasappearthrough His grace
:llanltle
|rom Sakta tiana elc. But. how lhe same
upaya and up.eya?n is conlusing to think of
/,iana can oe il once The aulhorstatesthal Samvidis the meansot the outwad
Itana as upaya and
upeya.ln rcalily.siva is upeJ€.Bul, he is exlremelyrnanrlest, manilestationof Kr,yaeic. Samvidis self_manitestln lhe absence
ooes nor requ|leupaya.One thereshouldbe /bchasakt,twijt_lorce)
and oJit.thewo d wouldbeiadawithoutbeingmanifest'
io know Him. lr mavboarquedthal,il exl€rnalacts arenotprescibedlhen
on" ."u t.te toltte knowledqe ol Guruelc as lhe meansThe
jhan?.is t:rpaya,then haw anava
, ..lL lhana lknowledgeot tne
sJblle) |s.caljed*flyopaya?The replyis lhal yoga and Knya
autho/sieplvisthal allacts,odernalandinternal,d€pendon Samv'rd
arc nol so thatthes; cannotbe the meansto it. Atlention,concentraton
orre'ent.wnen thedesiresol the nind are at rest,that is Arla.
jiana ilsell il ktiya canbe illustratedas follows:When
That iavadhana) in this matteris ol no avail;so, thele cannotbe any
a man thinks aueslionoi bhavana(meditation,contemplation) of whichava'lhana
(l shallget', then lhe rnotionentersinlo the limbs. the attempts olthose,who
i; theoreredisite.The authorstatesthat
Jha.a, )ndeed,leads to salvation.lt may be objectedlhat, seekiiie Supremeby resorting to means (upaya), are lulile'
Oeyordlhe knowtedgeoithe independent,4lma4there s 10 satva- Being,it is siatedthat
Indescribing thenatureoflheSupreme
troni r.e. this knowledgertseltls salvalion.Then, how can knowl_
He neilherexisls;noris it thatHe do€snotexistnoris He existent'
edge and salvalionbe staied as cause and etfecl?The answer inter
is non-existent. He occupiesa positiontht cannotindependent
lhat the nalure ol Alman is Samvitot Caitanya,its proper knowt_ and secures the radiance ot
nalandexlemalmeans, supremebliss,
SarvaWorksAnd Tantrasof Kashmir
;:l"i;:il::""J";'".#:"'.?#lH:"":::::?lt
"J""lJjiij;
l*::H Theilashingof lhe greallustreot Sivain th€ mindhasbeen
the independence of Siva Hims€lfshining,
+lfftr;t;iJf
::Ti+hti'" ,"#"
fJ3':;Tl
:?ili:ili
rr rsslaredthatone.who lakesdelightIn
the sell. is conlentwith the
said.Nowis examined
he makeseverylhing
Supreme
shine.Beyondhim,thoreis no universe.The
Lord,beingunobstructed in theskyol rnind,showscrea'
tionanddeslruclion. As in a clearmirlorearth,walereic are re-
f ected,so all the elementsof the universeare reflectodin cil. As
:,I]fi
p::'ff"fi$!i,i$l[3",ii;,ill,Lii."lli",i#"il'.i"Ji
Decomeslike Him.The commkentatoradds
the refectionpervadesa cryslal,whichis clearon all sides,so,in
couscrusness lhai is clearin all resp€cts,Rupaetc.are refleclecl.
that such a personbe_
come€llxea lamp ndtedfromanotherlamp(d,;ea S va is inseparably connecled withtheSupreme Ka!likaSakti.
a Apai ivoditanl.
,'il;:n:1:??ff
:""i-,"T:f
"ff #r;*i::i,Tixi:11i
Theircombinedform is calledSamghatla
Anaendasakilrcmillhe
whichagainis lermed
universeis created.This Saktisvariously
ffip1{:"i:T,ffi
calledKalakarcini,Matrsadbhavaelc.
fflff":il".IT'f
fi:*lJ:u;ti..'rull Besidesthe above Cidananda-sani,lhe,e is lhe /cchasakli
.I",ffi
,i::ilffil
:#:1.:l1iiq!ffi :,:i"".'kg:,,
r#
sucha person,there is n eilherMandalanor
whichis superirto all otherSaklis.This Sakd,beingagitaled,the
AghoraDevisare born.Thus, /cchasaktl istwolold,unagilaled and
Kundano, ity."iiti., agtated.
ffi::"?i':i""""::Jii"Ti,X,jll,I^ttrere
isnoneiessrtv
oi Again,thereis JtalrasaAliwhich islwololdaccording as whal
is to be knownis moreor less.
Abhinavaguptacteartyslates the comparatue
_.., vanous
or_the eitectjveness Samvilor consciusness is both Ksobhaka(agiftator)and
prachces,and concludegthat true
t<nowteOge is ine Ksolrrana{agitation orthatwhichcausesagitalion).
nlghesl of afl: it makes one Mahasiddhe
and yoEsrrr. "H;
rorrows'each succeedins item
";;"is Thal,withwhich/bchabecoming ono,becomes accomplisher
::"Jff:'i3'fl #:::: [",f:that ol aclion,is calledKsobhadhara whichthe commenlalor explains
torsacritjce), as yor,:That,withwhichthisonenesslakesplace,is th€ bhavas
^- vesset9. {ntu9"
..-fl!11ail3 Iure(a,iguredrawn orengraved withinthebodyorlhe lettersbeginning withKa.
on pala(pjcture or painted ctolhi Ohrlamf."Jirir-.ni
ury€ya (lhal which is Theoutward appearance ollheuniverse, thatiswilhin,iscalled
vd";.,-i*';;i;i#;?
medttatedupon). D/,
;fi:jffi",f,:',
[fi,,iiji*; Bia or thechielcause.The Svaras(vowels) arealsocalledEriaas
theycauselettersto appear.
The udbhava(source)s calledthedesir€ol8ibto create;by
ffi ffjffilx;"f
fl[fl;,iiJ,ljiili
""*"oJ"";,!$"oJJii,il".,";:f lhis,lhephenomenalworld looksditferent lromCid-Almar.
the unitywilh whichlhe desireto createhas fruition,is called
Thai,by
J:J,",l,"',$ffi
;iriiii!ilffi :trf;21il!:,13i:;an!!lt
lron hrsmindthe ctoudol apprehension
ksobhadhara.
evolves_
F.ofi lhe Bia of the universealltho exiernalworld
.'_1i".",l".oy" the and
mrnd
asonerouches
lh€ravs
olthesun ThesupremeSpardaandjoy becom€v€rywonderluldue to
il'"ti":l'l,T,Lff:"""": thecontactol /bcha(desire)and unmesallash).
Jada(unconscious) is of the natu.eol limitedmanifestation.
Chapl6r-1 s,"a wg$t!9rl!9rj!59:!aI
i::*,",H%l;
["_::,".iT"i'{lriF:"i.""":li&:Htffi
lccha,Jnana,K ya.Heshould graduallyproceedthroughlhe suc'
cessive sleps ol bhrubindu nacla,nadanla and rcach Urdhva-
;"%.:rH:1i1il;rr3n'fl
*!1ili+tri[Fiqi;
kurdarni. There exist hvo Elndusol Siva, ol lhe nature of will lo
create.wh ch are beaulifulby the essenceof Spandara.Thereone's
mind shouldrest as in the bellvol a fish.
The willol the SupremeLordto createis the Kaul,;kaSakli lls
ChapterV iscalledAnavopaya_prakasana.
ag lation,ratherthe substratumofagilalion,is lhe alphabellrom KA
to H,4.The phenomenalworld is the spreadingout ol lhat substra-
49
Sava \,VorksAnd Tantrasol Kashmir
wi o'rheLord
isjnherent
inrheLod, The lanirasara is an abridgedversionof lhe lal1lralokawhose
;:l;:X:'rf;ill;li11illthe com_
bu k andprolunditynaiurallynecessilaledihe composilionol a
worrdas
identicar
wirh
cd oneshourd
r,"";:::,i:,'i1iH:i:
rhe Tantravatadhanika is a shorterepltome.
[ffifl1{ifi*f,""hlli:i*r#H#r#."i*:r:n
q,ff
*".,J#"*il*!;ff
Ihe Malini'viaya-vattika is a commentaryon some ol the ob_
scureversesof the Marniviiaya'tantra'alsocalledSripuruaSastra
The oortion,discoveredhiiherlo, revealsa trenchanl crilicism ol
i,j:fl-qJ,,:^i""ifi
suspenoedithe mrnd is then
asteepso tong
:,.#*:
as Samyl is not fet!.
some imporlanlslandpoinlsoJ Nyayaphilosophy.
fhe Paralnmsha-vtvttlilor,wvarana)isa commenlaryon lhe
j,l,""o*'"."sA,"'ansa,va.
i"T:1';:"ffi11ili:Si,lnij:: Paratrimsikalhe lexl ol whichconsiituesthe concludingporiionol
:H[:*:";:rti;L1
r "];::;;:i;l the Budrayamalalantra,and givesa resumeol lhe wholeof il
The Badhi-pahcadasika
pupils
iis designedlo enablethe less intelli
have an ideaofthe essentialsof monislic
oenlot the autho/s to
"tg,#i,_i#:i
ilt':gff]iffi?:"r,?,€iX1
"*[',U,,',1#)',!,ii1i)ru:if Saivsm. lt consistsol16 verses
lect-matter,and the sixteenth
oosilion,
ol whichliheendealwiththe sub_
explains lhe purposeol sucn a com_
iscated
'"f:,iil'"i;3';#H"'i"""""1;il1J:t* rerleror Ihe tsvara-pratyabhiiha-vima6ini. btielly called VinErsini ol
"" Ebi.i Ay"s'ripl""'Js'rili:il"j Laghu viftErcini,is a commenlaryon lhe /svara'prclyabhiifiasutra
::nla ; ilr"',i"Jffil'
i",,^!?'l#,'ff
:;n":x
;l 7::,:;"*::r,ffi
f#f
ot Utoalacarya,
Ol lhe otherphilosoph
able n manuscnpls whrle
cal worksol Abhinavasomeareavarl_
olhers are knownonly kom relelencesir
$i:J::"T"fi l1:ffi
i,liliflff];
Jld"_1i::;",,::",i,f
Abhinavais creditedwilhthe aulhorshipo{ sevralhymnswhrch
are moreohilosophical thandevotionalThesehymns,in lyricaliorms,
sel lorth the quintessence ol the lrka philosophy.ano serve as a
*" ownnattrre
istherearsanvlr/:
rharis mediumof popularisingthe abstrusedoclrinesand dogmasol pa'
"#il.1511i*:::neh licularsects.Thewell'knownhymnsoJthis class,allribuledto hlm'
One'sownAtma, is Siva.
in orverow Krama-slota, Bhaiava'st ava, Patana rtha-carca, Mahopadesa'
a .""s,:il?ilT;'ff blue colo,tiov
orsorrow;rhere vimsati, Anufta@stika, Pa'ana rthcdvadasika, Oehastha'd evata
cakra-statra, Anubhava'nivedana,
50
ru saivaWorksAnd Tanlrasol Kashmir
"i:;:fi
::":j:#iliitff ."::::xx::"::J,:::;:T,':3:;:l to the fast iading ot the system and lhe
loss of its grip over the
ffJ:*:j: ;;
[?#iiJ,l#3i:',ff
:11;,3;';7;;
peooLe
The orioinal Krama literalurecan be dividedinto
two broad
class llelong
-'..... t ivea ed and no4_revealed Tothelormer
kernetorAbhinava,sphrlosophy " -lhe Includes
,^^,._The rs set lol|hrl the fohow- *otl'. a1d lhe KramaAgamas lalter
tng rne : stva-saktya-wnabhavan-nihn ike ml io_." o'
,'i"
' ""n lo"t," works The kraaa Aganas ate Paicasaltka
""o^y.or.
l::,1s:l;:,1"1"'h".:;;;;;;;,i;:,:izl:;!:::::',i,:!;^::il:;:::,i:;
wfln sahtt. Indeed,S,va is manrlesred goth
iiu,iancisatixa, sa,onasatika Krama'rahasya
woAsateKrama'sul@
Krama'sadbhava
thfoughSat<t,. a,ree; Thenon-Agamic
xrama'sdahi
f,rt,fa-nana.
Mahanaya'paddhaliKmmadayaAmavasya'|nmstKa
Sidanasulra,
KRAMA TANTRTCISMI
including
ofTantrain Kashmjrcan oe complete We know ot at leasttortyjive notablepersonalities'
^. --No.accounl wilhoutan 1o lhe Krama syslem ol philosophvbY
rFmales.who conlrlbulecl
illl{{tilifrJsJi:,fi j:"""r"
iil"1,1;:;il'::#1n: j ,,,,r"n *o,ts. co.posinq hymnsor impadlnglessonson
i." o";;'-";, are m-entioned
Xram-a
belowchroooloqically
:#i ;!!,2;,!:#! ananarauana
sa,a'ii -
!:;!l: :i !i!:H7 alonowilh lhe ".;"n,h;m
l[les of lheirworks I any
"u Valulanalha(c. 675-725)' Valulanalha-sura
jr"ff""t:ijHjj:fli,1i:#*f
,'.l:f:?"*r"{i:iiilili: : (HisioricalPersonalY attribuled)Chomma'
(Tradilionally
rar\' rn lhe south.That lhjs syslem was doublful)Nisk Yananda- samp@daya
-e not conlned to the I,mtlsol
\l Siva-sulra
wirh
some
8i:illli:3:?:t"?l,i:€ssociation P'I
n"'snanais natha(c.725 775)
(,) Spanda-kaika
VasuguPta(c.800-850)
(/0 Spandarn a
o"i.""O
_..,. T99eof o ginot rhissysrem
]l: mysljcrsm.
myln and areshrouded
,n (/v)VasaviTika
With Jayaratha{c. j3il
;".rt"1iiii,"1_ill
* "l;:;:::,;m,::;; ??li;,.i",ii,Ll"%
li (Noworkexclusvelyon
(v) Siddhanla-candrika
Spanda-karika
rdn|,ataka. esa;;";;;"i;i,#'""?;i, ji:ffi :Xrr,,ti":
hesN Krama,But, in some ol hls
(AuthorshiP conkoversial)Proba
liliflIiililX1,lli,",iiiifji,jl!il,l,"Tl!li;",ijffi
i!."",:,lH lrcmoneanorner'
Thetotalnurnberof laflyasjn ihjs sysrem|s 36. Eachotlhe nlmerousPurusasb€comesan Anu.
rhis,t
isrhe Whilelhe Purusa,who is sleepingas it were,experiences a
",,",1i:,:f::::,9#;:tf:1i,::,il1*1":f.","
::;:;;j::mljl*b,"ff
p'eme-rea
"xtf :l:IffH'""n: J..::; vagueand indefinitesomething,
comesinlomanifestation.
simultaneously with him Prakrli
riry,
accorcr,nrl;;
;;;ffi;3.iy,.,#T;""l"?.T: Purusaand Prakrtiareonlythe limitedrepresentationof lhe
lactorsonihe two-sides
experience ot theSoddhaVidWstate.Fol
:J::f,:?ff:,'j:""$
J;5JinJii ;;j"""$"":
:ff:iiili","; eachPurusa,thereis one Prakrli.In his experience
Purusahasno specific{eeling:lhereis no movement
of Prakrli,the
of thoughlor
j'i.,ii,jj'ff
:*:11!i:.{iiii:Ii,ii",i?iiiili!;
aspect,the c,laspect ol Saklt in ,i,1
T'il:: Prakrtiis in a statein whichatfectiveteaturesare heldin a
mosl mantresr
staleol equipose; the lhreequalitiesol Satlya,Fblasand famas
;[:'fr
.
:;ia:*t ,"':r"1:ffi
Next comes Sakti-tattua. Whlte
"j;ft rSk,
illl"i?]frf
arein a slateof eauioose.
"*{*f
,;:il:."ffi j,**'4a!|va.ie.the
Thethreeprinciplesof menlaloperalionateBuddhiAhamkaa
and Manas.Maras desires;il singlesout a particulargroupof
sensations lrorna whofecrcwd.Aham'€/agalhers, andsloresup
fi
",,",1#l'i""";r;ff ;,J": lhememoryof personal experiences, idenlitiesand
jj:ilff#ffij'H:t::il:"#
nffi:;;:,',.:'Jf, lllili: expenences of lhe present-8r./ddhl
assimilatesthe
is that which€nablesone to
p clurethernenlalimageof objeclsas of a cow lt istheimpersonal
Nert is lhe ,4,syara.laLva or supelpersonalstale ofconsciousness orexperiencein a limited
:"ill!""|ff ffi ffiJ :''iliT:J:1,:l'i:"t::il?,::
|n whr.h rha
ndividual.
""ili In dealingwiththe meansand generalprinciples
experience, this philosophy
of sensible
i:'i,:.i",',;:Xmf
"'"'s:,""'iili""f |n:":ll'Jt""ii"?
:Jlfi
;,""J
mentionsfivesenses,live powersof
aclion,andlivegeneralobjecls ot sense-perception.
Thelivebrulasare recognised as principlesof materiality.
Thts philosophystales lhe limtt
. of rndi, Sivais the Saviourand guru,assuminglhis lorm out of his
l#:n:.'.1ff"1"f
iiiil,::il;:l::x'li:"',:f""'i:i:ff;'i: loveIor mankind.
Pasu(literallyanimal)or thg infinir€hostof soulsbelongsto
''" J,::I?5'#:'i1",
"""J,'1""'fffl
-ffi: ll:,:f*, .red.objecr
a'e Siva.The soul,distincttromthe bodyis not createdby Him;it is
" r,m,rarion
orrhe oii;l; ;;::"#r? jlj,;:?,:iff
eternal.Individualsoulsareol lhreeclassesaccording as lhey are
Ti subjectlo three,twooroneol the impurilies.
ffi !"i'-"'i;i,"J,""":,Ti,Llt":1"":U*:[:;n:U:,::* Thewebot bonds(pasalala),
avtdya,karmaandmaya,
thattiesthesoul,is dividedinto
s:rva WorksAnd Tantrasof Kashmir
60 ChapteFl
TwoElndL/s, whiteand red,are Sivaand Sakti'who,in lheir
Maya is the 'r,aterialcauseol lhe world, unconsciousin na- mulualenioyment, expandand contractalternately Theyare the
ture,the seed of the universe, roolot the creation ol the word (yak) and meaning (arlha) which
Accordingto the Saiva Siddhanta,the universeconsisls oi somelimes uniteand somelimes separatelrom each othet
lhity-six lattuasincludingthose of Samkhya. One,whoknowslhe lrola of Kamakala, dealingwiththe Cakras
The stagesof evoluttonare as lollows : ol Devi, becomes liberated and ideniiliedwithNlahatripurasundari
Al lirst. Maya evolvesinto the subttepnncrptestnd then .nto Fromlhe red B,indu, aboutthe creale,arosesoundwhichis
rne gross. the rtrslprincipleevolvedkom Maya s Kala.ll .en\oves Nada'brahman sptolll, From soLlndarosethelivegrosselements
lhe impuriliesobslructingthe manileslationor consctousness, tbhutasJ and letlers ol the alphabet The whiteBinduis alsothe
and The universe, hom the minutespartlo Brahman,
helps ils manilestationaccotdi)ngto karma. By y/dya lhe should ;ource of these.
acqutresthe experienceof pleas!re and pain. consisls ol lhese five Y/krtis.
The centreof Caktuis Para.At the time of evolution, it is
Samknyars.tse[ a produ.taccoroingto lFe
^ ,.,V,laryax1i9t
s'ddranla. transiormed, and manifesls ilselJas a trianglewhichis the source
Prakrtris thematerialolwhrchtne wo,ds.ro be erpe..
encedby Purusa,are made.Frompraknjevolveguraswhich lead oi lhe lhreeSaklis,Pasyanlr'and others.
to lheevolulronof buddhl:The remarningprocessol evo,utron,s,ike TheMrgendra-tanta slalesthatSivaisthedoerol allandfree
lhat ol Samkhva. Iromimperlections due to defilements. His functionsare fivelold:
The world is not illusoryThe world has a seriousmoratpur, evolution. suslenalion, involtrtion, potentialpreservalionandassimi
pose.cod isalwaysengagedin preservingthe soulslrom lalion.Sivaas isana,Tatpurusa,Aghora,Vamadeva andSadyojata,
the bond- pertorms
age ol matter difterentlunctions.
The graceof God js the pathol treedorn. Thefetlerc(pasa).whichtie humanbeings'arelourtoldThey
standInthewayot trueknowledge andcausedefilement.
Thrsschoolrecognises /;yanl,rukt:ThoughDossess.ng 'lhe
.- body Budrayamalalays downsevenmodesol bhakr,which
rne/ryanmirktais one with the Supremein leelrngand,acuhy.
He arestatedto causeliberalion lo onewhilealive.
conflnueshtsbodyunltlhispastkarna is exhausted,anothe oeeds
or the Interveningperiodare consumedby the graceof God. It statesihat Sivais bothNigunaand Sagura,the lormer
beingdistincllromPrakrtiwhilelhe latlerisassociatedwithPrakrti
id:""..gonlained in lhe principalworhs.are bnefly
-,-. I!"..u'l
staled betowilhe delailsmay be studrcdIn the accounlsol respec_ ln it,theoderol creation hasbeengiven.Saguna Paramesvara
is slaledas lhe lirslorinciple. SaKiis thecrealerol lhe wodds.
Accordingto the Kamakata-vitasa, Adya Sakl,is lhe seed ol As slaled.in connection withK/amaTantricism' lhe malnlea
.
ati lnat moves and is irnmobrle,parasaklris al once lhe seed and lurelhatdisting!ishes it frcmIhePratyabhijna systemis ils Sakti_
sproll as the manitesledunionof Siva and Sakti.She is very sub_ orientedrnonislicSaivism. Anotherdistinguishing characleristic ol
tle, and is manifesiedlhrough lhe union ol lhe tirst lener oi the Kramaschoolrs its beliefin spiritualprogression,lhe gradual
ihe
alphabel,i.e.A and lhe y/l?,arsa
letteror Ha. parasivais reflectedin reaisationoi lhe SupremeReality.
the ymarsa miffor of the mass ol the rays ot the sun.The Nada,
Dtnduappearconlhe Cittawallilluminatedby the rellectedrays.
saiu'wo4el!q!!lg!I39!Iij 63
FOOTNOTE
I 16 For delals, see N. Rastag. TheKnna Tanticisn ol Kashnii
are inlhe torms ol Kar,/€s,and a16purponed to exptatnwhat
-These
nas oeen sard. what is unsaid or said in a ditfrculr Ouraccountis mainlybasedon lhiswork
man;er.
, n" j 7 Thelite-spanof 50 yearcol lhose,whosedatesareunknown, rs
I_"-",1:11" 9lu"" meanins as aan sawacrivritly-
avaembanena yonth"tymotogicat
sarncrlar,.itgoas hom one brrrhto anothir y
mere a rough conjecluremade by N Baslogi
oy rosontngto th6 quatitiesof Sattua.6tc.Atma, is to
is lollowers
lo notelhat the Euddhadirected
slatedas Inu 18 rt is inlerestrng
3. One ol the elevenRudrasis so callecl.In tn|s work,rrrs propagarehis teachingsin localdialects.
the name
or brvaHrms€[in His Saituikaform,The stgnrlicance
ol the name
rs ooscure-.at, m€ansserpent,and budhra bottom.th laterVedrc
::*:jll9y1n"r:.:
ot :l"soricalyconned€dw,rhAsn
uomesrcr[e (vacttc
carhaparya
Mythologlby Macdone, p 73).tt sioutd
rl." hyll in the vaiasaneysdnhi,a{v 33) whrch
l.^:::o.:l:r
n,e.n|onAhnbudhnya Aqni.comm) cont,rInsIhe name
lcarha-patya
or vtsnutor s€verattilh6s
4. Chap 52.2-88 deatwlh tinguist|coccu ism ot
suchman,.ason
um namo vaEudevave
5. See_O, Schrad€r,tntro,to pafrcantra anctAhitbudhnya-Sanhita,
pp. 42-43.
6 . Analysedby F.O.Schrader
in DasSastitantrain ZDMA.j 9t4.
7 . The depa.turetrom the conv€nttonat
six sysremsot orthodox
pnrosopny ts marked.
8. Discuss€dby Schradatin ZDM1, op, cit.
9. See M. Kauls introto MatiniviiayonanTanra, p. rxitor
deraits.
10. Se€ i,4.S.Kaul,sintro.lo the N^trctantz.
I 1.O€ccancoll€geMS.M.667(i)of 1895.t9O2iAOpt
Catot MSS,Vot.
^vl on-lantra,p.247.THeRudrayamala wassaidlo be a hugework
In a rac and a quarters/okas
12,Thewor&_is so ca ed as it eutogrsos,
andintrrates
Intotnesecr€t
worshipot Agho.a,the righi ftouth of SvacchandaBharrava.
l3.Ksynoteot Kashmir Saivism.
14.Fordctails,se6 K.C. pandey,Abhjnavagupta.
15.11appearsthatlwo ditferentpersonshad the samename.
(E
=
.g
CL
a
!,
c
o
Oc
EO
i f;E
=x(s
53&
Chapter-2
particularly
In all religions, in theVedanlic syslemso1Hindu-
ism,sex-relation hasalwaysbeenregarded as opposedlo spirilual
progress. Vedantasaysthat kamaor lusl is the greateslnipuor
hurdlein lhe pathot spjrilualprogressandthatthefirstdutyot one
desiring to enlerintothefieldol truereligion islo deslroythis kdna.r
InTanka,ontheotherhand, sex-relation hasbeenprescribed
as a meanfor spititualprogress, Malthuna ors€x-relation is oneol
thefivema-kei€s'declared byTantralo be mosthelpfulin lhe palh
ol sadharaor endeavour lor spiriiualrealisation. lt is thussaidthat
a Sadhakaor sDiritual asDirantshouldlake somewomanas an
associale torhisspiritualpractices.The \,!oman shouldbebeaLrtiiul,
shouldhavea clearideaof sex-senlimenl andshouldnecessarilv
be previously enjoyedby others.lt is betteri, thewomenis herseli
a sudhikaor spiritual aspkant. '?Hiredwomenalsomaybetakenas
associates.Women choson or hired shouldprelerably belonglo any
of the nine groups:Nati (dancinggirl),Kapalini(daughterol a
Brahmana-molher and fisherman-father), Vesya(hariot),Rajaki
(washer-woman), Brahmani (Bdhmana-woman), andth6daughlers
ota Napita(hair-cutter), Sudra,Gopala(cowherd) andMalakara (llo-
One'sownwiteorlhewiteof someotherpersonmaybecho-
rist).3
senforthispurpose.Practicewilhon€'sownwffeis, however,looked
uponas freetrom all blemishes.a In someTantras,sons,wives,
sisters,lemaledisciplesor evendaughters are also prescribed.5
Butin generalpraclice,suchrelatives are notchosen.
Thepraclices withwomenareto beperformed at nightinsome
secrelplace,preferably ina cemetery6Women in manslruation are
saidto be highlyusefultor suchpractices.T In cakra-sadhana or
group-practice, womenbelonging to lhe aloresaidninegroupsare
' Thefivema-k€lasare:nadya lwine).mansalmeal),rnatsya{fish),
mudra(cookedice and vegelable)and maithura{sex-rclation).
These ar€ called ma-karas, since lh€ words denoting lhe
objsclshavema-karaor lhe sound'm' as the initial.
corrcsponding
68
Chader-2
*#1Ti*$*;d;#
1:l;;E*ii#:,,#fu
iJiH:ff ill3:X
*. pracrice
inasroup
wirh
women
beronsjns
lhetermsdenotlng sex-behaviours andtheprivatepartsot ourbody
are expainedin these lanll'asin a different
Eventheterms
'vesya
wayto suit them10
t hati'elc ' wh'ch
somespiritualbehaviour.
Dopua'ly oe'ote somewomenol unchasle nature or ol somelow
i".lliil,"fl
n5i:i?,J:i#'"::H la,tras in a technicalway to
: :{"irr,;r
sntp_hrs trffi?l
temaleassociateandpayofi;rings
of llower,vermjtronetc.
;asts havebeenexplained
meanpowersorstagesof lemale
daiions.''
in these
spiritual aspiranls oldifterentgra'
;*tni i:,:1"",,".jl":5:",i
q:nh:,J:ri:l :3il1
members
meansthe unional the kundalioi'powef
sp nalcordwiihSivalyingatthe topoJ the
lyingat the baseoi the
same cord Accordinglo
iersmuch eo;r#"llii"'jlJLTjT::il:,j,li,^;:;
rorsexuar he Kulanava-Tanlz, mallhtlra means lhe union belweenSakliand
that malthuna islhe unionoftheilvaor
i:,f"i''?1t:;:#il:veradvisedtoperrorm
these
actsasorre' Si\ta.IheMeru-Tanlra,holds
theselJintheformot p/ana orlhe vital airwith Saktior Powerinthe
lormoJlhe nervesusumna. Inthe view o{ the Kirarn ava-Tantra and
,:H"ti#i,i:Jil':.,:533txfJ
:::i!'iii:iGffi:,i?:fr lhe Meru-Tantra
mentoftheawakened
whal is called
kundalini.l5
maithuna in nolhing bui the enjoy-
R*:ifi
t+""'1,::,t''ii"i^":H"",1#:,iji:","j;::Hkx*;
nav€to sutterin hetl., lt rssaictthat
w;menarerhemanitestalrons
Now,manvscholarsacceplthe directmeaningsol the pre_
scriotsol sex-oraclices loundin Tanlra.Sadhakasare alsoihere
whoacceptnol
who practice accord Thereare,again,scholars
ingly.
iii:tn*i'1ll"ii..ii3;iilii*1,111,1X"",T,.,"_T:Tff
:: the directmeanings of the said presc.ipts but lheir
p€ctices
lechnicalones
withwomen
il"#i;+::^.1,tJ1TTfi ':itil""tili:
i*?;:jH# .e.,according
are nol the
suppoded,
tolhis
desired
as
second
meanings
itwillbe
group
clearlrom
ol
ollhinkers,
Tanlra.r6
thstollowing
But this view
discussion
cannotbe
thatboth
:*iti-.{,".j,dii:i"":,ilJlll*n:l:nm*;:*;;
i:"J;Ji;T!::l]::lilffi:nj#ilI *.desses,,hey
a.e
thedirect
two qrades
and
of
the technical
sadhaks -
meanings
lhe direct
will
meaning
have to
lor a
be accepted
sadhaka ot
lor
lov\l
"," grad;,thetechnicalone lor a sadhakaot highgrade
ij':jji.,t$:t:
One ol the importanlaspeclsol lhe pathof Indianspirilual
t#J:ir;Ii:",tff
ff:#iili:li:ii;iffi pursuitis thal rt considerseveryihing fromtwo pointsol view-
l#lj"",":i"#ff
vyavaharikai.e. populatot ouietandpanmetthika i.e.realor inner'
1'lfli::fJffi
;':iT"[i::
merrtechnicalsenses,the saic, :"*l;
termswhrchsFem to be retaledto
Thus,alllhepedorrnances likeotfedng of incense, {lowelsandleaves
'---Ruliidili-tor sell^oower as it ware,likea snake
:il:"jil:"J:1i:T:Hil;in";:;i",:"";1fi
::,i::.:'";:[]
existsin slumber,
in a coiledformat lhe botlomof the spinalcod- A sadhakais
thiskundaliniandraiseil to thelopol thecotd
requiredto awaken
ihrouoh lhe nerve susurnn€ running within lhat cotd
70 71
Chapter-2 Sex'Belationand SpiritualRealisation
which
men.derive thesrearesr worrdry It is,ol course,extremely to pursuethispathol yoga
dit{icult
,[:::ijrilll"#ifj:"]rom
ptaaiure. tnatwe shat,hdveto,"r,.n iJi,r."
o,r vineb|ss Tantra throughbroga.The Gandhatva-Tantta saysthatthispalhis to be
says: We are lo rjse lhroughthose person who has fullycontrolledhis sense_
thiI n g s w h rl chbringour down lo lowedonlyby thai
organs,who is notsensually distlrbed thecontactwiththeob'
by
jeclsof enjoymenl, andwho is alwaysabsorvedin the thoughtol
rr:'
iji::::i*
lt:il Iffillj l,,:'
:.":?Jril
;";::i,:i Bahman.3D the Kularnava-Tanlra sayslhat thispalhis exlremely
nfi1:3:1 ;i;::Ii;:;::.:
r:t'"hf:*Tii:"t,,5 wllh proper sell"conlrol.
Here areconjronted
we witha problem ihus:spiritual practices
itt'* i #jlil#ilf:::i"Tfl are meant for se tconlrol, and ii thatseli'control has already been
'""t*r*'=.1 altaired by a sadhaka,whal is the need ol these praclices?
To th s, our replyis thai,thoughlhe sadhakamay thinkto
t*"ffiiil$hi;"",::"'3;;:r*;;r'***, haveattainedseltconlrol,hisseltcontrol,
proper, andlheremightbepossibility
mighinotbecomplele
ofdownlallin lulure.And lhrough
or
sense-enjoyment
sDirilual
helindsa scopeto testhispowerof selt-conlrol
and lo stabiliseit on a lim tooling,so lhat he is neveralluredby
in future.But it doesnot end here.The end ot
pursuilis notsell-control buttheattainment ol lhe highesl
;::ll"l$,ft jt,";;,;,
:ij:""1 :x#iil:t ;:"fiT
;j: spirltuablss in lhe stateof samadhior trance,sellconlrolbeing
merelya pre ccndiliontor theattainment
ta nmentol self-conlrol,
of thisbliss.Alterthe at
a sadhakais requiredto dir€clhis sell-
*li
3;il-+;jil#l*-{tilr,r::'i*ffi
j:_it
*::*1m.1
i*;iil,J"t#*:,,#"_""";
ooweriowards'active'realisation
rate.he isto raisehiskundarnltothe
to diviniselhe
ableobiectsot the world.Thepractices
lorlhesepLrrposes.
ol divinebliss.Tobe moreaccLl-
higherandhigherplanesand
wholeworldi.e.to realisedivine blissinalllheenjoy_
of makraare highlyuselul
Andthep@cliceol maithuna or sex-relation, in
:nff'i:"* ;*i:r,";gji:;il',i:
parUcular, s regardedas the highestmeanslor bolhlhesepur
:::::*:,:'lffi : ."- posesi.e.,tor raisinglhe kundal,ifl to the higherplanesandforlhe
:;:..:ff
:::;"li:f '!ff:H[l:
;i::""1:::i:Ti:lr:3ift
divinisation ol theworld.3?
Butthe questionis: is it possibletor any personlo comein
tr'"
o;;*.;i';i"]i:"'::"Y;::i:;'"":ffi
t1 1131113',-"' # closecontaclwilh lhe membersof the oppositesex and al the
:.:,"H.11,"f
!F',#" ll;!'.illlx
I;i"#:i1#:f
fj}
sametimeremainfreelromsex{eeling?
Our replyis lhal il is possible.In lhe livesof grealsaints,we
I ndsomeaclswhichoutwardly seemtobetheexpressions ol lust,
j::';iilffi
[:#iii
*l1jti.ru*;i=l**'1,t"'*:ti'.",
risesupwardsthtoughthe n€rvecalledsusumna.
kundatini-saktigoesupwards, themoredivinelaelings
lhe lowersensualleelingsdisappeatWhenlhis
The morethe
creepinand
kundalini"sakti
ffllii:1tqli!,:illtilfi::"*lt;"";ll,ll""ru""rln:;
rseobyitrnaslhe expression
ordivinebeauryo ove.as a resulto,
reachesthe cenlrecalledmanipufalyingparalleltothe navel,lhe
splrilualaspi€nl alwaysremainsabsorvedin lhe seadivinebliss
ihe eniovment ol the divineblissby the spiritualaspirantof this
ff;Tffi:I""':::,:ilfi
"ij":,,:#;l#:#J''' r "ttrrose
oolecti slageissomechanicalihat nofeeling ot lustcan haveentryintohis
*:n:Ll*: ;";ilfi'.T:i:"i:H
,ifl,"":, ffJ;:1 m nd.This is not merelya lheory,but is
historyinlormsus oi saintswho have reached
practically true Human
such a slage
;11,ff
n:n:n::^,l,ly:i:1;#:,ifi T,,:;:;l'
111""fi Ramananda Raya,a closedevoteeof SriCailanya,
-
anddresssomedevadasis womenat lhe service
used
of
to bathe
deities - in
hls own handsand mixwiththemin lhe closesl possible way, but
It maybe pointedoutthallhis divine is clear trom the {actthat
^..^* sentiment
is presentin yethe was nol at all movedby lust.This
i:,iijrulfi:tm',yff:ff"T:l"i",t"?nnl;#
i.p,o.'n"n
r''" r ii"
Sri Caitanya,a teacherand lollowerol rigorousself-conlrol,
oaidhis hiqhestttibutesto himas a man from whom lustwas
alsowe findsimi'
has
com-
l',"?,ii,l;'";"ffi
f ffi ;:,{T"5fl
if Asain aperson
pleielyrooiedout.xInthelileol SriRamakrishna
laf events.One day,by lhe ordeaol his-lady'preceptor Bhairavl
deeprvshockedby rhed";i.;;;;;;.'"'"t" girl But
;:llflj?I",,f,";il,'fl
tull'grown
tff;1'"""ft':i::",ff*il::::
Brahmani, hehadto sitonthglapol a naked and
:',::: evenin thiscondition, he didnotshow any
35There
mark of sex{eeling; on
:-m;ul*ri*s*iifu $:rn#iJ::
pry expandslhis ingrained ri
senlimenl;he ha
thecontrary, he behavedlikea child
numerousTanirikas whowere not at allmoved
are
by
in the closeslcontactwilh the membersof the oppositesex Mr
in hisr /orkfanfiEbhila
also examples
sexjeelings
Ei Sadhosanga
ot
even
human
psychorosy:rf PramodKumarChattopadtyay
ara*;;";;;;; ;;";'"t?ftJl$ilt,fi,:t:i; oivesthe description of someTantrikas of this kind. He describes
il;ffill#;":i'f ?J*Tnorrove
otheresrrrs
w'|th
thesame reer' howa maleaspirantand afemale aspirant embraced eachotherin
in samadhi. 35 Numerous
f :jtrJffi jTl"::",#ffi
;',""J".#i:l"",ff a naked position and were absoNed
l"*T ffijJ;r"'; Vaisnava-saints
withwomenremained
have also been
unmoved
lound
by
who,
sexJeelings.
in the closest
And, we
contacl
are sure,
progress in his spirilualiourney
[:.T:-;ff#;:,J#,1:,1i#"i",Tilii:iii..#:;
or mechanil
worldlyieeling canraiseitshead
ryrngbebw |he spinalcordgetsup
slowlylron its stumber,and
76 77
Chapter,2 Sex Flelalon and SpiritualBealisalion
REFERENCES r bd . 1 1 6 2 .
1. videjahisalrummahavsho
kamarupam
durasadam _AG, 3. 43 13 vide Nnuttara'Tanlra, 14.78'a5 and Yoni'Tantra-
2. djksrtam va^avram_Gupta-sadhana-
t anta. 43. cl. Nta- 14.\)icleNiuttarc-Tantta, 14 7A-85
-yau
o
;!:'; ""0 x,.," i,'u, ci. s"r'" 15.kunda ni.saktih dehinam dehadalini' laya srvasya samyogo
mairhunampaikinilam - Aganasant pata'sakly'a ma'mrlhuna_
"::,i:;::::;,:i,::::"":
3 nari..kaparrnr
vesva rajakrraprrangara. sarnyogananda_nirbharah yaaste maithonamtatsyal- Kulanava
brahman,sud.a.kanya
-hanyaka.maakaravsir<a
catalha9opata n T a n t a . 5 . 1 1 2 : s u s u m n as a k l i r u d d i s l aj i v o , y a m l u p a r a n s r v a n
n"_.-ioi"r"n,i.'ci.il;; j1T;t"'"::l:;lj":,";,i,;:;:: tayos r! sangamo devah suratam nama kiditam
- Matu'Tantra
t an:ta,6 9. cl. Gupta.sadhana-fanta. yonr_Iatlra
1 I l -121andKufra,a Tant;a I 6 . v r d e J o g a j ' b a n a n a n dTai h a n a t h a ' sI n t r o d u c t i o tno
;:1lrxnn"m:i:i::;;Yffi
ffiz:;:;1tzx;
l? stnyodevahstayahpranahstriyasva
Kularnavi
1 a _ y a r 1 ad J s a r a m k v a c n - K a u l a v a l t ' n n a t a C h I
26.bhooa-voqalmakam
yog;uai" - iola 2.25:
kaulam
b\ogena
Nulanava Tanm 224 blaga
laghate yogam - Matka'bheda'
viDhusan.m.
sada bhavyan_ A/,A.Iantra.t t. r ZZ; srri_meianamstr_sanqrna Tantta,3.2.
-
:^:^!.,::!.",:.
8.r.2i pranamyamanasa devrm ";;;i;;;
cumbanam 27.idam acaranam devapasor'nadivya-virayoh Yogini'Tantn Cn
sundarimnasaflm dtstva _ Ntufta?.lant,a. 6i divyanam caiva viranam sadhanam bhava_sadhanam-
l,"T::_:T:::t.
I l'd yaxacrd anganatokesamatr.kuta-samDhav a_ Kutatnava- Mu n da n a Ia ' Ta ntr a , 2 . 5 9 .
napryamnan(ambruyathasyaDr kuta.yogrnan-
79
sex-Rel9!gL3!fq49!-!93!:3!!9!
28-videKutamava-Tantn,5.104 andNirultaft- tantta,5.34. ON ANI''AL-SACBIF'CE
29.vide YonLTanta,Ch.4.
lntheHindutradition ol worshipping somegods.orgoddesses
30.vide Gandh
aNa-Tanta, 40_30. h^eS.va Durga. Kali ancl others lhere is a pedormanc€ of pas'-
31.i<rana-clh yal/or thesacrificeof someanimalor animalsbalongang generally
ara"gamanat vyaghra-kanthavatambanal
bhujangadharanan
nunam r"i"."in""". _ nr*,r*. io the classesof goatand sheop.In thisperlormanco, th€ animal
Tantta,2.123. "*ry". is killed by chopping olf its head and is otl6redtolhe god
;;cdliced
orqoddess worshipped. Thoughlhis perlormance is looked upon as
a.!t'g'ousone.therearemanytenderhearled persons who do nol
"!!;#:lyr::::lahesanistri-sansamyarnatas.care,_Gupra.
33.vides.C. Datta,SrtSt Ramakishna-dever
likeiiand lry to avoidthe scene-The reasonlor thisdislikeis not
lJpades,pp_1 Z,152 diilicultto u;dersiandWorshipis a manifestalion ol the pureand
lendersenlimenlsof man,whilethe act ol killing an animal's a
34.vide Caitanya-catitanra, Antya, 5. cr!elscenewhichgoesdirectlyagainstthose tender andpuresen'
timenls. Hence,lhe problem before us is:Why has such a cruelacl
35. v/deSvamiSaradananda, Sti Sti Ranakishna-l a-prasanga,\ot. beenregardedas a pa( of the pure perlormance ol worship, or
|,p.221.
rather,ol religion? This problem includes two questions: First, has
36.vjde p K. Chattopadhvav. Tantrabhilash beenreallyenjoined inthescriptu res?Secondly, if
237-A
Sadhusanga.vot. L pp. lhispertormance
it hasreallvbeen prescribod inlhs scriptu res'il may be asked' why
havethesageshavinguntainted knowledge andbearingloveand
sympathylor all crealutes prescribed this cruel act as a pan or
religion?
Our replvto the firslquestionis thatanimalsacriticehasre_
allvbeenprescribed in th€ scripluresln lheVedicsacrilices lhere
w;s a kindof sacririce called pasu-yagao( animalsacrilice lnlhis
animal-sacritice, theanimalsac licedwastiedin a woodentrame
calledvura and headwaschoppedofl' wilhall the necessary
its
formalities, by a sharpchopper. Atterthat,the vapai.e sottlat or
marrowofthe corpse of the animal wasculout'cookedandoffered
to thegods. InAsvamedha sacaitice, numerous animals-domes-
I c anJ wild-were sacri{iced and,at tho end,lhe horseselecled
specially forihisperformance wassacrilicedBehindalltheseper-
lormances. lherearescript!ralinfunctions. According lo somethink'
ers. humansacrijicealsowas per{ormed by the Vedicpeoplein
pulsuanceol scripiuraliniunctons.
ln Tanlra,animal_sacdfico is morepopular, as it is enioinedin
clearlerms by the Tantric scriptures more or less as an obligatory
ritual.Hefe,wefindinjunctions lor thesacrilice ol animalslikegoat'
and SpiritualRealisatron 81
Sex-Relalion
sheephorse,bullalo,etc.Thereafe jnjuctions
,or the sacrjliceof Thirdv, the I\,'limansakas, wilha viewto givinga moraland logical
prad;e
;?ilil.r1il 1;fiJ;;,",:inerar inrantra
r"*"."lipi"]i .rooo'irro tf'" perlormance ol animalsacrifice, say thal the vio_
tenceprescribed in lhe yedasshouldnol be lookeduponas vro-
jffi Tjr:;[i::fi,ffi
ji*"ili"i'i+1,!,:':,,i.1il:1 iJ: lence. lran,mals werenolactually
detencebv the Mimansakas
krlled in theVedicsdcnfices
wouldbearno meaningFourlhly'the
lhrs
:i:ru
t#,tH*il:
*"y:+.,!lifi;:i",ffiJ ruj];i'"{ iamknvisisnavecntrcisedl\eVedK-
rr'f''"dny ol violence
katma'kanda
likethe killingot anrma's
or palhol riluals
elc acd
j:ii4:ilrui:[,1;:tt',fi
:."1.:
w-orshrpped.The
jX'J
tr;:jj[:*",,,
kiltingol an animalin sacri,rce
"a ".r. ot showingus thepalhlowardsliberationthe
f'en.r, as lncapaUle
summumbonumol lifeThisalsoshowsthallhesyslemol anrmal_
in the Vedicritualsand lhat I was not
o, *;r";; ,; t"i; sacriliceacluallvprevailed _
u svmootl"one Hence,to explainthe itual of an ma
H"":l}irj#i*
;1"*"t",j,{"::,lHJIT,:?ini::ffi
oeme4ls,by the swordot knowledoe.
tr"ai"J
sacriiice ""simplYas a symbolicone is buta dislortion ol lacts
ifJ'"l3,ii,r|;;g3x:
fl:r::5H^gl;;iru1y*ir"iliffi
ic Doesit meanthal all the symbolicinteryrelations
thrownawayas withoutany valueor trrlth? No' like the
relatrng
shouldbe
orrector
to anlmal
ooDularme;ningsof the termsand iniunctions
-d:,:r,,"y;:ilrx:l:;;
lT:lUflt:*Jui;ffi
speecn;/rahlba,lor krodhaot anger
carrc-d
and on,g""n"", If,"
sacrlfice,lhe symbolic
havinoeoualtmpodance
rnlnd;n l(adition,
meanings thereofare
orworth.The poinl
alsoio
to be
be
noled
startingkom theVedicageup to thisday alllhe
accepleo
here is
as
l\al'
sacrifice
ol theseanimatsme;nstheannihrjatron
"o "J_ fromlwopolnls
***a ot rheeviis relioious iniuctions andperformances areconsidered
,n" o."cticeol speech'conrror.
and so o.. as rhe olher' internal or spinlual
lll*t of view-one is externalor material;the
Theexlernalormaterialview'poinl is concemed with lhe direciol
oooular meaninqs:lheinternalor spirltual vlew-point wilh lhP sym_
ffif''*{H':;fft"#":'*sHilr;s}:'in:'li:*
jn,sone
asio,LJnd aurho,n"tii,"-"".r"'*ii,'"ilji"'il?Jlj,ll,lll,l
loil ones.rnuJ,t'om tnemalerial
s.rn,wn'teitor tnesp't'tual sland_poinl
stand-poinl
t
Itsoruteo,BrannanlnthePnernalse'seyalia orsdcr{icemeanq
means
Surya
lhe
means
sell
lhe
rra^iiesl
Lli,l:
:Hi,:'##""::
:il;:::",,:lN:l
i,,T.:'"d+:jir!!H,f ofterinaoblationsto
it .""is
thesacredlireetc',whileinlhe inlernalsense'
one'sindividual sellto ihe t'Jniversal Selfor
Hffi
::ii::r":lifi
ru;m:,n:":rli:1,::".ru'ii
oe p_ertoh€d
betoreandaflerth€animal-sacrifrce,
.""n"gf".". n
theSupreme "urt"nOetinq
Lod. ln
shioperis lo olferllowers,
olos.wt"||e ,nworsf' p
worship taken
belleaves,
ra(en in the
in the
internal
external
sesamum'seeds
sense
sense
he s lo
lhe
etc to
puri'y
wor
the
hi<
humility to the god wor-
:a
#x."jthil#f
t;
:li,ii"Jiii{i:.i?:ii.":::11%t*'ff
ed pas.r-vibshoutdbs muneredlo
ihe ri
;;;le exrslence and s,.rrrender
ar'ioo"J.rit""i"", inrn" extemallorm
io kiilanimalsandotlerthem lo
il
the
wilh all
ot worship'theworshipperis
gods, whilein ihe inlernallorm
tharlhe
head ortheanim,'";;;;;;#;:i'.?",j,$ $i"iJl[l, Ll woisfrip,treisto aestroy allthe imp!rilies or spiritualevilswilhrn
Ine godor goddessconcerned
is to be worshtpped ;l proper knowl€dg€ andlo drssolvehis
Droodoozing,out by tne fiowol i,m."ti nv t'"
kom theaninal.andso on.lt wiftUeunnafuiaf,
,t exisience, tnus lo lhe boscmol the SupremeTheselwo
"rtriuat'o"
p,-rrilied
norrmpossible,
to grvssymboticinterpretations to the lwo view-points are to be
to aI theseriluats. ;;;;;i;";;;";"
"ott"sponding
83
sex'F!l3l19E!! lPlltu3l x99lE3ll9!
:*'trl:r*ru
x:iH;:ir#iffi
: j:
acceptedInallcaseso, religious
yHii:ili
perforrn and
or In lhe lile he(ealler'
trurlso'|thetracllonse'lherIn this-llle
;:;::i""j
,l::fff i:"ft
rjii.{:rl;"ffi
::rr;:m::ili;j#;*';rf ril:; :r::li';:irm,*: ::ii:':;:?'ii,l: upanisadic
themeanrngsoflhe
tt ir", o!grasping
l.i"i.u"""lor srate'
axrernar
perrormances
;, .;;;;; ;;;iil;Ll""l:","':;iffJ!i: ::;;;;;;.;;;,;r"' rheseeminslvconrradictory
the ltulh
"vnrh;sEins
"-i)^i""^t trro ttoanisnadsanlndtlyasana ot on
medtlaling
*"*';";*'],rmffi
t:,f j:{'d*ll,t"#
:Hi:ii
,l:i:;ij,*"*# ;;r':;";;;;i;v 'nrerecrualexim natro'.r' rl'e same wav rhe
a'o also'n'uct'o's
::mj::*::g#,1ffi jn::?::l,,ff
meorumlhrough which jt coutd l---"-. "^"t"'; n r,.lronsforanimal-sacrriice
exoress reasonbehind thrs is lhal our saslras
,""iti.t h'gheslpra'e ol
Ij",,."^ ""*"t.rt'i'"".The
r" rne teao['e people ol all types lo lhe
'iluals perlormances
i['.il;xl""",xT
fiffi:,::*ff
{.""j#r:*::,tll: ]ol't""1''t.
"""" ""," ""o
ll_esediliete^l
i,i..rn rt'J'r.r"a oi p"t.o^s oi oillerenl
and
lenperamenls a^d qrdoes
acton or pFdorm_
Does rt,oltowfrolhthe aboveInat Anolher polnl lo be noled here ls lhat an lo
,- .! anrmat;ac ticepresc bed as oblgalory or ds subservienl
,_." ,rJr,Jnlin" rooleoupon
:j::J:i1'.:tlsfi"":l1l,,J:;:1l"r
j:?::,::,"""r.;;;;;; J""""";;:l.lxi.:T:
;:*:*.::l l[ Jil:Tf]l
::::li"-.
:,t;;:ri:.'[::#.*:iil
[:: jlirtH':ff
l';"ffi
::,i o"Ao'a"n""'o' aohcaras at black arts
hke k'llinq sone perco_
seoararonbnngrng
oerrormances
orrer,siontB;l;;;.ili;
i;]: l-ii,ng 'o."on" 'ntrn" causrngsomebodys
;HE: iil?f ::? we can^olrFgsrd
jt-,[*tjntji:
ff::,:lit"#':!:.#,"il?:T:::3:"::ii
,o-"Jn" rna"'="lpg,lion and so or
'T::'ff;
*:::i:,nr,:.',*::i.*:it::i'Jl5LJ:',,:x
Here
:ff:,ii.".:
ff il?i!ilru:"h:,m: l,"ljgli::ll: ;il;;;";;;;;;"t
i,"'^^i -.r. ot
10havesomesellishor materialqarn
no
aspiranlsincelhere;s such
rhev
inru4c_
wr,cn
ffilffi#i,lx.1?:H:ffi;j:l::j'i". seem roLe il; ;;; ;; .;";;i; " "oiritual sublimarion
sp'|ritual bv perlormrrssJc"
,ry.
however.
rhefe
isnod ,.r. i. in. *." ruu.unimal-sactr{ice should 'ol be regadodas
upllllsimplybecause rt rs
";;,;;;;il;:J;,[:ffi#:lftT::l; to sprritual
lhere are
.*rr*. In the viewol Vacaspalil\'4isra
t"#f"[""",u1T]:trf."J".ff
tg1"n',*tr;:l
"o"o"toiu.iir*""."b!"tienl
1,,1"",i''^
;',";il;:;i;;;;,; *istrue tharbvrhe periormance or an''rar'
canattainsomedesirediruilseitherinthrs
ffi ffi ji: J,iT;xi
''TJi"f"",g
il:iii:;iild:J,j::""tl,i", .i"ai""
"^Jit "
;:;il';;;;.;;;;;",
rit"
""" *orld, but' simulianeousl\" thereare also
wilh andaccruing
,1u,".""i. i" tn" v"au. thalthesinsassociated by lhe oer-
ff
["$:{::i:::ilildil":",t#J:*",tid?,**,#
or sex-conlrolare applicaOte
no,rorhe
nouse.hoijersl;;;;:
fo tne sannur.;
'',J--tn""""o"lott"n""s alsohavelo be experrenced
lorrner ol sLchacts
;#;:"r#::ffiT.;l: Theviewthal'violence enioinedin the Vedasis no vlolence
First'it is a view
;""T::[1i-1,#,1i#::x;:ill"'""ff
:ai"i*1;iXTi][",",,1 ill,ii"iit,*""i"pi"o
".""ot'i"" ",
u ontheiollowing
?!a* n,tbvthefollowers
grounds:
orthe aspecl
riiualistic
vedlcvrorence
Misra'
ol
il;"d;"ls;iliu, bvvacaspati
argued
""
85
Sex'Belation and Spiritual Realisalion
also enlatlswdh rt lhe correspondino
,"".".,'.,";;";;
;;;;"'.'#;;:fl sin
ff:"l:;1lli"i:ff"::"# asp ranlsol ralas-quality.
Fromtheaboveconsideralions' we partlygetthe replylo tne
is notobhga_
fl j,'fi
Jt;:l$.;J
:,.1#;!:."i!i::1ili"il1J:"::,1,"#ffi
secondquestionalsoThatis to say,animal-sacrifice
t-orv:perionsol tamas'quality are notentitled io it, and personsoJ
li::ffi ;x1;1;"""tff
fllxxxl11'"1"#;":rulll;,il sailva-qua iiy are not requiredto perform
haveenioinedthe olleringol fruils,suggarcane,
il l\'oreover,
arum,
scriplures
gouro' elc-
ln rep,ylo Ine l,rstOuestion. as anuk;/pasorsubstitutes lor animal-sacrilice, which also clearly
rrce_nas we are lo say lhal antmalsacfi.
" been enJorned In the Vedtcscnplures t;, showslhatanimal'sacrifice is nolobligalory' lt maybe arguedthat
; ;;;; torlhe aspirants of thequaliiyof
ror
persons, "","""" ihouqhthlsrilualis nolobligatory
ll#i;:l;iii;:::i,',',:T,i;;;o"T*"''"0
"", sat;a ar tamas,t maybesolorthe aspiranls of the qualityol /a/as
afenarLra,ry
symparher
.; ;;; ;;"::'::;'":1,'il#;Tj;:l {orwhomit is enjoined To this, our reply is thai' even lor theaspir-
" ao"' qualily, animal_sacrifice is not obligalory: an asplranl
" "orii "-ol,,"Jl
antsol ralas
1T-Jilff#::'ff:"#ltrt'"""''tr""t'i' ol ralas- qualilv s nol bound lo pedorm the ritual: he is simolyal
:,
i:::;;*19't t ;:h:l";#;: ::;:t;:i::1iJ owedlo
aulhentic
p"4o;T t. I he desr'es This is clea'lrom
worksliketheMahanirvana'fanta, theSarads'lilaka
lhe lacl'hal
elc'
an-nar.sac.,r,ce
inpursL"""'";;;;;"'f,il_,'#i:'J havenotenjoinedthis rilual,and thal greatTanlrikas like Ramakishna
J""#: :.T andolhersdidnotperformthisritualasa partollheirspirilLralprac'
;:H::1ffi:::ff::,,:1,ra1as arso
rerra,n
rrqm
6.r.nar
iacnr,ce 1ices.
comesthethirdquestion:1f animalsacrilice
iffil:,il[ffi
:tdi"::l:iii:ifi ffiii],1;),t"tTi
J??l
sons In whom the .aas_{Ualily predomrna
Now,necessarily
is nol obligatory,
reolvlo lhrs
why
quesllon,
has
we
it
are
been
to
presc
reler to
bed
lhe
by
two
lhe scriptures?
dislinct margas
In
or
':i::irtfr:ili".:,11;:;:":i:;!;'::;iilt*;ff
nilffu
rorcaltltudeor the aniludeo,
r.4as_qualjtvand (ct dtvya.bhava
maloa or ihe palh ol enjoymenlNivrtli-malgais a path oJ direct
coniontation withthenaturaltendencies
is reouiredto deslroy his natural sentiments
ofman Hetelhesadhaka
ot lust,greed'desire'
al resolute mind and lo dissociale hlmsellfrorn
alira;tionetc. with a
;lrny{:ii,::,":ii"Tr:;:T:iH'i,:#li::J#j,."1,fl
'eve,sol sptrilualprogress.I
tl is more reasonaoteto regard
lhem as
all the objects ol enjoymenl that are liable to arouse
ments.Thesoleaimol a lollovtetol niwtti'maryais io slickio the
thesesenl_
fiitfliiij
l,n+i,i:,fl1i$i$:illl#*i"fl rarismans
d€sisneo
ooseolo resumelhe etfecl
Apodaka,Aligi,
thisconnexio;,
guage.
Vlgi
appearto
ol snake_porson
lJruguta,
have
Asikni,
been
elc
Somewordslke larrndla
' (AV v 6, elc ) used In
borrowed from non_Aryanlan-
l::.1':'il'.
o.,i'i g') y.:1"'*'''"'
innE il;;;;;;'t
i' iZli:l:l'ff
birlh ol her son (AV.xiv.2-22, 23).
:li'#:t"jyi::":::'
ot the Palasawood,etc:
"'"TI'J
A childs teelh appearingin the lowerjaw first lorebodedevil
resullonthe partol rlsparents.Amanl€(vi 140)wassupposedlo
Sornerjteswereprescribed,or counteraclthe eflect.
.
rure,
sare thc h orasflcuf
derveryor
chir;;;;ffi;;j5.ll'"vemenr
,ns^v,ar,ry,n SomeBrahmanasrevealcerlaincrudepraclicesFor instances
men. rheoo,"ii
wasro rmpartyoulhtutbeautyJiiiJiil.""j,]J*jf;,li
:;:";:;i:: in Asvamedhasacifice, the queen' wrappedin a cloth,used lo be
to men aid besjde the dead horse.The queen prayedto that animal tor
lranslerring its procreativecapacity lo het \Satapatha xiii 5 2
heKa
""",i:::# ff ;:,:l?,i,,lil#lyl^::,::t uska.sutra Tatlttriva3-g).
if;:::,fl
;:ffi""#1;;1".#",:s::d*r"J#5f
X","",J.ft
Aiter the cremationol a corpse'lhe peopleattendinglhe iu-
neraLhad to pass througha yoke, madeol the wood ol a holy tree
jlj,i:j:H:H"j""'1,?lx1'?j%jJ:,i1""""1f
;"J*,::f slatedlo have reporledlo sinJulacts
lilj; A classotiemales,calledApsaras(nymphs)ismentioned
as
dem godoesses.
*",,":;fr.:;iff
:HT"1llffixlff; fhe ch e'characlensticol the Mahabharala(ptesenl
lorm c
ruff:#
;l;il11t"""g.#itrfli:
#:l::J::i:? 4th cent.) societywas the
".n.
tn"ret*ornut"
i tneVeoa.T_p Pancaralra
popularrty
"depanure
ltom
ol Vaisnava
lhe
and Sakta
convenlional
seclol theValsnvas
relr-
allegiance
andlhe oasuoala
'a'ge nLmber ol adherenls
,,1fl
;f;#;f,t n:a
*tfft:T
#:"inr,il
ol Sdrvasgar.eda
The N,'lbh. revealsmany departureslrom the tradilional
Brahmanicalrehqion.Draupadifurnishesan example
cresslonot tne iieatot awoman having a single
ol the trans
husband
*;;$#srftr;g!:"*ltisift
";r,,"",:l*,,;. Bolh the epics tesiiJyio ihe prevalenceof moral
I icitconnexionol men and women,their ple'mariialrelalion
Thouqhlherewas Brahmanical predominance'
laxiiy like
elc
peopleoi other
ot high
'#3il,"J"""".t"T
orservantdoes a^.."".-Uv-dinl ot e*cellenceof qualilies becameobiects
.."" J?:f nordesert
h,m,
one ;-r""1-'i: rn1.'" lrue lor lhe lvtbh age Krsnahimsellwas
:il,",i"i
:ruli;i::l:im,Xli;:#J,'::;:'Hi]ilfl ,
"""-gr;t'"'".
revered
""p""i"rry
v;dr* i a comparalvery
lor his exemplarycharacter'
'niefiorLaslewas highv
relers lo
ln tne eoic aqe we ltnd lhat the Famayrna (Raml
il,T;J;fi,';,;:1i""'.wo
,",.J,W,nf.!,.,x: rship (es tree-worsn,p (2 5s.15-26)rhe Mahabharcla\Mbh)shows
demonesswho
hadapresiding
house
lhal peo'
oL u""oroir"ri"u"ln"r
.,. ;il: J: j:":i'J:1; anosodoess
l,j"r:1";:',"*sods esin- had1obe propitialed "very
(sabha182)
This eotcre'lectssomesuperslilious beliels For example
isrererred
roinsome
surra
works
(e.e. lhesrql'lol a tackalinlhebattleJieldwasomrnous l3 23 10l Also
t".[A:r:;:i1:X1'r:::es (4 34 32) Among
l-ino"r. *u.'tt" t"n or a headlesslrunkthere
g*ffi {fu
fu;i#i}lf.";?Hl:""{tr:
otheromens
elc.. unusJal
andPorlenls were:
tnela| ol a burningmeteo(tealsintheeyesol camels'
as tnalol
oirlh;l an'mals an ass kom a
asses
cow
slgnswerepleasanlmind unaccounlable
elc
Amonoausplcious
sabara erc.Arflbe
wascaed oreasaniiei'ngin mina lremblrng ol the lefthandor lefteyeol a
ll,:.:-::1':1llisada,
3i3fl
orwenl tomonep,"""," :::
ill',1*l:l,ll::::l;;ffi;;i:""i;i;:::#:ffi
"?vj,l:ji
rorem
li"l!,",.,],g"r:',;nii,loT 17 33
Thereis rnentjon "i"i,,", Goodandbaddreamsare relerredlo (Ram 2 4 '373
alsoofyaksas
andNaga-s. erc.)
Asurasare mentioned
as hostileto Faksasas.Asuras
are
101
to0
Chaplel-3
rheI told.andgavewomenandSudras thenghllo wo'shiodeiles
romenpossessed
bvevirspirjts ^-1.".rr. lmonotnemlhe Kapalikas were tnemoslabomnable
, r. #$:i!".::l"JiJces (e.s. withbones. they usedlo holdblood'
il"",i"q i'rn"t roir,. oecked
tte"Os'n rheirhands andwear sacredlhreadsol halr
,o haveborhmateandrematerorces bones
garlandsol human
iyiJ,l:."iT::i"::
ffi.,,,o,"0"0 oy."ii",
"*::::,:?.-.^r.o.!:""o
i"i;.*. ;ffiil
j'."".'ii:i;ilI':ru:
"iui""o-nu-"n
n'irr.f'"y r."o to*"nde'wlth
rarrya
non-Aryanj',r^:"0u"""i
I"",J"JT;_".*ij::::
deiry
(a""yri" ryi:,i,!jr"
lnlhe SaNadarcana samgraha
intofour
ol Madhavacatya
sub-secls
('141h
cen'
sil:i:lTi:fi gi:is
:""trini*:"mffi
i,*_#
Furanascame intobeingin
the periodbetw
TheBuddhisls taughtmendicancy
teritvThesetwo religions allowed great
andlhe Jainssevereaus
freedomlo womenano
The edifice ofVarnasrama-onarma crum-
ilnr#
;"*95**#:*::H,".;r1*;"lf Sud;asin religious matiers
bledlorMo;ore reasons;
the norlh-west
one was lhe incursion
andlhe otherthe spreadol Tantricism
ofioreigners lrom
amonglne
upto the
masses.The onslaught onBrahmanical religioncontinued
:lni::x"::jt{i?s::il:'J[f
Jain,sm
an
lffr:J:i:9,fl
A;ivak,sm.
"J::l
s"",.i,"0"
ascendancv of theGuptasin the tifslquarterot thefourlhcentury
Tanlricism spreadmainlythroughVaisnavism and Saivism'
;:"' i:T :j:"^8i,.,-tom, too TantricinJluence madeilsell
rhenon.ved,c
;,,'#1"',.':i,,["j"";Jil:"0^""',"d"""". ThereweremanybuddhidTa;tras
lromthe liflh centuryonwardCladuallyTanlra
lell aooroxrmaleiv
"lil,i."""Jff
Vaisnavaswere niO 'is,rnpacton'Purana andSmniTantrapreachedthat lheVeda
^Tie broadtydivrdedrn for the Satya'
S*ri, prtan" lgata \./eremeantrespeclively
::i"it"rJfl
::;l::T*Hi":'#fl?fll.ililTtfi
paie of the Brahmanical
""s",J,:".ffi "nO
ireta. Dvaparaand KlaliAges Thereappearslo have
uerweenHinOuand B;ddhist Tantras For
been
instance'
rivalry
the
socretv Th;; , lhal Deviman'
(Kalikhanda 1 17-l9) stales
Ha5:,#i:",Tirf
#:illlxil*"',,5"r'iiii,'J.',"";
Sakl,samoama'lanlrc
restsher;ll forlhedeslruction
sects,
o{theBuddhisls ard otherherelrcal
The Varsnavasa owed treedom
to won
ru;:rm;:i;e*Eh:*:*r*lliti".
*
suorasusedto worshrp
VisnudirectL
Wilhthedeclineanddecadence
reloionmanvpeopleembraced
o"pjo'"Ofe.onOir'on
ofihetradilional
Buddhism
otfle Brahmancalsociety lhe
Brahmanical
andhailedTantta
Bral'manas
lnthis
made
desoe'ale alle'npts to rehabrl(atetheir'eligon
The Pasupatasusedlo resoftlo som(
.-- versedinVediclore,wereallowed to receivegllis
ifr:*:il:lf*ird#'quiliffi11H'il,:1# Brahmanas,
lromprostitutes andSudraswhowere
Asstatedabove,
ordinarily
Tantrainliltrated
looked downupon
inloSmrtiAmonglhemak-
103
rffji:"t';il::s#irx";
,'ffFi,:ii!fi,iruff
gai vvlthrhespateot Sam*inanaaji
il Han. aia maoerrre-Uotc1-nO
tionwe lind Saktiwhoappearsto be at the rootol creation.In the
Vedawe meelwiththegoddess of speechwhoistheupholdereven
ol gods.In the Kera UpanisadUmaHaimavati is represented as
camotrc asseflionlhatevena Candala, omnipotent, evenmorepowerfulthangods lnthePuranaslhegreat
devoledto Han,wdssupe-
oowerot Saktiisslressed.Thus, ihepredominance ol SaktiinTanlra
hada longcontinuous processol dsvelopment
iiff j:,::,:"^,.e::^a'::perstftious
beriers
andvarjous
prac.
ff"."di""fjix',#i;
i,::: Ji::J:j:*:"j:,9:1d@
houses,derrveryroomsa;d;;"."i';;;"'J;J""&;;#;?l;l TheriseofVaisnavism, SaivismandSaldisnhadlhoirstrong
":':
,lni:':: r:,
impact on lhe the
society.Thus, wayo{lutureTantraas a deparlure
iromtheconventionalBrahrnanicalreligion waspavedlongago
t
:::^1.,:,:deso,sabarcEavain conneron
p"'fi" w,rh
y,Jl;':::'',"'.g?j " ii i"liffi;::il:;::J'::
3ffi3l;:'ll'":i,P.::9Tt'r" ;[1l'ff
ii^?xH:
ThePuranas andBuddhism allowed greater
keedomlo women
;ll:,:T#i ;.:::1"1"':i;qe;;r*ffi
g::13^"_""." "r u,"
i"",i""'i i::l:#.
andSudras;thusthegroundwasgradually
dominTantricritesandp.actices.
prepared fortheirlree-
necled wjth rt appearto h|nf
"l
"""iil#:i
if" non_ary"'""o"S;n.
Belie{in ghostsand goblinsmarkedlhe Indiansocietyever
,".,)!.,1n"::1"::!" l"hapler3ls) rsfers
rorneusuar
s;racts s nce 'he Ved.caqe.We lind thPprevalence of magic bolhwhite
",atatra, vastr.a.ana,
elc,, so comrnon in the Tanlra. andblack.slncelheVedic lfi|e{.f heAha1avedaappearslo have
thedeepeslinfluence onTantric praclices.
andother
i:l,"$i""j:,ilT"herls
",-,,",":X1oJ:J"llo";'"U"":ffi Caste'rigidily wasgradually relaxedandtinallydisappeared in
forensuring
thesa,edetivery Buddhism andotherheterodox faithsThisprobablyresulted in lhe
0"0,"y,1',",,iJt:."flJ,:escribed o, liberaloutlook ol Tantrawhichbrokathecaste_barriers
ihatrheevirin,ruence Theadeaof liberation (mukl4,taughtinTantra,perhapsowed
orsar.
## j::::i:,i:::ir-:11--;
31Tl:'":1r":l:t l"^,le.berief
;i; ;;;; ;iil;$"J::fl
manlra
wasbetrevecno ;
r""a**"" *"ip""" ,"p'"iji,"!.
itsorigintolheorthodox
temsol philosophy.
Brahmanical religionandtheorlhodoxsys'
The idealof enjoymenl(bhuktDmightbe im-
bibedlromthe heterodox and hedonistic schoolof CarvakaFrom
fl!K;::J:iTlil:f
",".'#ff ::[';J:::"""#:]1"."il: Yogasastra Tantraprobablyderivedyogicpraclices.
bothFaja-yogaand HathyogamayhaveinJluenced
Inthisrespecl'
TantraTantra
;,escribe',es
i Tr#lil:1,2?2;*i:::,r.8)-€tc_. rorpropi. hddrrsownphilosophy suchas lookinguponthe bodyas a micro_
betieveo ;"i'i;n;.1i
i:l;:9i:11'iTi,*1""':
"ilc;;ff
tnatsarmya_sanri #il::X""Xf:.:',ffi
:: cosmandperforming Sadhanalhrough themedium oflhebody.The
;""i.,Jil?,ff : unionol lhe Kutkundaliniwiththelhousand_petalled lotusinthehead
ThePuranas contain copiousrcferences ol Tantric
losaivaandSaivism. penelrating the cakrasis regardedas the consumation
On the religiouslifeof lndialhe jnlluence Sadhana.Tant.a developed its ownethicsanddiscipline.
ol Surismwas not
Socialand ReligiousBackground 105
;iiJiff:ilif:.:ffIil:i,5:ili'",;fl
Ui"?;y,WJ
;T:tffi
Kapa,laand Khatvangaate the lwo minot Mudras.
fney
orevalence
Fro,.n
theredaiesback
its opposition to Buddhism
io a period
and
before
Jainism it
lhe Christianera
galhered strength
that,by meansof Mudlaqonecolld attainfhe highest f:efieve-J andsuoerseded those laith about the lifth or sixty century A D ll
bliss. deveopeda dislinclphilosophy, calledSaivaSiddhanta, aboutthe
. Alm-aftupposed
,Theybelievedthatthegoalcouldbe reached by meoikringon elevenih century A.D.
yr_e to resic,6
in theseatol theterur" o.g"n.ih" independently in Kashmirand in
^apallKas belleved ThoughSaivismdeveloped
intheSamkhya dockineol prakrtt.Maiat etc., between lhelwosys_
ina krndolyogaonthesyllable
a,'r-d_-atso thesouth,yetthereareprominent similarities
Om.Theultrmateatm wa; tems.WesetJorthbelowlhe salientleaturesol soulhernSaivism
Ioeraltonandcessalionol sorrow_
sashaswercktown as gharavastaka, Candrajnana, Literalure
,Hrdbheda-tanka,
, ,, .Th?i
Kalavada. SomeTamilworkslikeihe lolkapp,'am conslilulelhe sources
Theythoughtthatoneshouldnolaspireanersatvatonin ol soulhenSaivism. Besides,thetwenty-eighl SaivaAgamasespe'
.-
lherersnopleasureT. whch
ciallytheparisdealingwiih/tana(Knowledge), thehymnsoJSaiva
TheNathateachersJalandharinatha sa nts,andlheworksot latertheologians arethepinclpalsources
andKanhapa
calledlh€m_ ol Savism.Oi the SaivaAgamas,the chiefis lhe Kamika.The
selvesKapalrkas
in lhe Caryagitikosd
SaivaSiddhanta was basedon the twololdlraditionof the Vedas
and the Agamas.A reconciliation of the two was attemptedby
N lakantha(14ihcent.AD)whointeDreted lhe Erchmasutta inlhe
Social and
a lacl lhal
ljghtof the Saivasystem.He g€nerallyacceptslhe standpoint of rnce ca^nol be delerminedw h precisionll is' however'
in
andthevira-saivas
Ramanuja andraiseshisvoiceagainsllhe absoluteidentityof ab- iii"'JuL"i irt".-" progressrve Lrngayats
solutedistinclionof Godonthehandandthesoulsandlheworldon the
eclipsed
ao consideraoly gloryol lhe
i'ni i*"ri,rt
theother.Sivais Supremewithhisconsort,Amba.havingthecon- Kalamukhas "".rrrv
scrousandunconsctous entities asthisbody.AppavaDiksita's mosl
manlary,Siva*amanidipika,ts hightyvauable.
com- The otherSaivasectsol the FarSouth,o{ whichthe
poputarweie theSanstritSchoolotSivaSiddhanta' lheTamilSaivas
TheKala(or,Kalamukhas), so calledperhapsbecausethey liili" vit"'."iuu" o, rhe Lingayats, got a lirm footholdlromlhe
markedtheirforeheads withblackslreaks,was a sub,seclo{ the srxthcenluryonward.These schoolscomeunderAgamicSavism
LakulisaPasupatas.There aroev'dences, mainlyopigraphical,,3 rne marnditference between AgamcSaivism
to
prov€thatth6yacquiredan inlluential posilionin SouthIndia,oar_ d.*u. of x"anmirli6sin the
"iiorai"giJf"rqrtt"t
,nal* tact that the l/ika systemol
liculatly, Agamas In pnncipal problems'
in theKarnataka region.in theperiodroughtybelweenthe i.sfrmir. ttouqhagreeingwiththe
rnnlhandtheear'ythirteenlh tar as the idenlity and oneness
centuryA.D.SomeepigrapFs andthe aoootsthecoctrineot Samkaraso
sflohasya(11.2 36) of Ramanuja (b. 1017AD)rhrowhghton lh€ir Jigiahman, theinoivioualsouls andthe wo d are concerned
dressanddoings. belween lheSanskril andTamilschools
Farouhar distinquishes
Whofoundedthissub-secl,whenand howcannotbe deteF .. totio*]. ii'" S"nlrrritschool. wrthits literature in Sanskntand
mined.ll is possiblethal Kauruspa,ons ol the four disciplesot ir"tr.un." chiel lollowers, holds the Vedantic view of yisis-
Lakulisa, wastheodginator of theclass.'. "" withitsnon-BEhmanafollowers andTamil
LJ*,ra.ft'ei".ir."rrool,
view of Advaita ot Bhedabheda ac'
Somel\,4ysore inscriptions intormus lhat theymigratedfrom ii"iatui". itorO"tr'" v"aantic ground
.oriino ro ffl|s uiew ls challenged by some on the
Kashmir;lhereasonotlhe exoduslhe unknown.Unslableoolitical
conditions, "o.. Brahmana
tnatthire were lollowers alsool theTamrlschool'
coupledwith repeatedMusliminvasions.migir have
lorcedthemlo lindpasturesa n6w. Theooctrineol theAgamasonwhichTamilSaivismis mainly
o".eO.i" on lhe lhreeloll;wingmarnprinciples' viz Pa' (Lord)
Theyare statedto haveresortedto practic€sevenmorehide- Theenliresys_
orrsthanthoseol the Kapalikas. Theytookfoodlrom skllls, b€-
prs, rinc,viouat sout)andPasa(wo d as bondage)
smearedthe bodywithashes,ateashes,drankwine.Flamanuia. tem t'as to,.', pa;as (feet\ viz ' Vidya lleatning)' Knya ltite)' Yog.a
souls
whodescribes themas Mahavratadharas andLogudadharas, lelll.ls i."oi"ti""i""J crw, f"jorality)TheLordisd lerenllromthe
that,besidestheabove practices, *f icn nof inO"pinOent andthe tetlerswhichare uninlelligent
theyatelheft€shol deadbodies. "t" agent lnlerenceeslablishes
Theyhadmattodlocks,andbracel€ls CoJ.tt'e omniscrent. is the universal
of /gudraksa seeds. the fruitsol acton He is lree
tnelx'stenceol the agenl knowing
Frominscnptions we team lhattheymanagedbigeducational bvthelive
Inslilutions, i'o. ii" Ltt"* ril" uiia, action.Hisbodyis constituled
calledMatt€s,whichwer€anachect and
to Satvalemoles i"rr" J s"r,rr viz., lsana' Tatpurusa,Aghoravamadeva
andenioyedlhepatronage ol kings.governors ol lhe live
orleudatory chiets. s"Juoi"t". Hu toav' ttt" rssultol his will,is the cause pro_
Someoflhem,eg.,SivesvarasaKi, Vamasaktiand Krivasaidi.
were graceobscuralion, deslruction preservalion ano
ooeiationsot
Fa./bgurus or royalpreceptors. liberated souls b€come sNa
ducton,The
Th6Kalamukhas appearlo havebeendividedintotwomaior libera_
Saivasditlerintheirideasabouttheslaieot thesoulin
schoofs, calfedSakti-parisad tpare) andSlmha-patisad(parce). tron-Accordrno lo some,lhedefilement ol thesoulcanbe removed
Thetimeandreasonofthehdeclin€ andeventual disaDoear- '""oi^gi" p""r.u"""f ,elease kom allbonds Othelsthinkthatlhe
"
113
socialand ReligiousBackground
m""t*;$*#lin,,s#;ruitilt;tt;Iiii.
lces ot oewilchng people by charms and the science ot
Basavatriedto placewomen'who werelelegaledio a low
withmenTherelormist
asttology
zealofBasava
Dosilion, on anequalfooting
.. TheVrra-sarvas,
popularlvknownr! and divorce Anolher inslance
iedhimto advocatewidow-remafiiage
gffn:::*An,ff :::':f,*"?;::1":..i;
^.j;l;:i,H,Yffi of the progressive
labour.
oullook of Basava was the recognilion ol the
dignityol
,". ijiil,H:lif*ff,JT:;:f l."ojj*",har
th,s
sd,oor
ex Thelargenumberof monasteries
rosocio-reliqious equaliryare
oflhisseclandlhe altitude
nolon adequalegtounds
atlnbuled'
n::1,:l#;"1;*1",.r:f ,":i
""l"xnffi
{""l;,J;:ilff bv some'6l; the rmpactot Jainismand lslam'and by others lo
Ciristianitvwhichclaim€da largenumberofadherents inlhe
e
neigh_
jf:i,*hti,;
llit#*j
,"lt*zu+:*r,:","r"
bouring areas.
ln courseol tlme,thisschoolwasspl lnlolour groupsviz
Sarnatrya,Misa, Suddhaand Vira
trl{*$"fti1,i#}:*ll"jir"+1}1,i:#*;{
Bl,ak is conceivedas bas€cl
ln ViraSaivismlhe roleol Guruhasbeenemphasrsed
A notewohy leatureof this schoolis thatihe Jollowers
calledlangamas(lhe movingones).Thisword,
lhe orovision
wanderingfrom
lhat lhev wereaskedlo be constanlly
to
Place Place-
perhaps,
on lhe
are
relers
move'
to
..
ffi ;",1*e*r,$"'ni:*ll*1ffi
*fu
on th6
, va
tsatva
;*#fr
ata*ec.
thh
Useof ashes,
d.inkinaDadodaka
weainga necklace'
ol lhe Gutu,
holding
padakingot
a rosaryol Fudfaksa'
Nasada i e , the rem-
nantolihe lood,olleredlo lhe Grru or thefoodoffetedloa hngama'
iKf ;|: ;,fr:,lj l;u{,il;#'""t ihe recilalionol lhe mantn NamahSivaya,etc are someol lhe
duiiesol a Vira'saiva.
mfrl'T'llll"?,'iiii
i;ry#,*iirnl" 3llll,ifil':l The six slagesin the pathtowardsthe unionwith Sivaare
bhakti,mahesa, pmsadapana-linga,saranaanda/kya(mergrng In
iflf
fif#$ff6*n":,ffi
*t*:'ifi,ii''',{.!i{
Basavais not
inclinedto enlorcethed.
thedeily).
A s'ib-sectol lhe Saivasis calledHarihalaTheadhe'erlsol
thissub-sectmakeimagesin whichHariandHaraarecombinedlt
seemsthatattemptsat lusionol SaivismandVaisnavrsm wereat
re'.".
Hesays
rhar
rhed";",;";;;;,l':;li3'iln,"'j:|itrT;f; lhe roolof thissub'secl.
appeaF to hav6closesimilarlywiti ihe idea;rpressed
In lhe verse
114
Chapter-o Socialand ReligiousBackground 115
j,",t':ri;""i"#'j:,i;
m::"1#i##*#,:3,lh",ilrn: The causeol lhe attemptat the fusionof the two cultsper.
hapsliesrnthelollowing circumstances. Buddhism looka lirmgrip
overlhepeopleeversince pre-Chrisliantimes.Asokagavea boost
lo it. Till the rise ot the Guptas,Buddhismconlinuedlo flourish.
trfr
;Z:
ft';+rffi
rlilxx"#
#:fi;*::,,17?;,?fi Therewas a Brahmanical
preachings ol Samkaracarya
revivalunderthe Guptas.Finallv,lhe
sounded ihedeath- knellior Buddhism.
;;:"',:f;';{iyXi 9,}tl i' i"i*i+"
ffi231i91,^"
11,.t";'t TheBrahmanas wereeveranxiouslo resistthesurgingcurrenlol
;.1fffi,J:JbjU""J
ilfliT.l,fjft,:i,,tr,"il;J."": Buddhism
Puranasand
and madedesperate
provision
attempts,likelhe composition
for a networkoJ y/alas, lo rehabililale
of
their
i:.ff+t:*,ffit?:':f*:l,:{":l:i,jrtJ;i#:i;;
religioninjeopardy. A senseol commondangerperhaps prompled
thevariousBrahmanical seclsto close their ranks in orderto olfer
uniledresistance lhe 1o tormidable loe. This probablv led to ihe
harmony belween the olherwise disparate faiths.This synctetisin
lendencvisnoliceable alsoinlhe Pradyumnesvara molilinthetime
-",,.1j:,",'j:::flt?""#,",il
:?;1'"","i;ff
,$fi:fi:1""j,i:
of kingVijayasena (12thcentury
Uma,LaksmiandNarayana,
AD)otBengal.'?s HerewelindSiva,
caruedonbothsidesoJa statlte.This
m'g5 ri,,;*}:m:1.;:r";#
{;:l#in:: is an efforl to coalesceHari-Hara,Laksmi-Narayana,
lllahesvara
atl ude-
torms.The Sobhanesvara inscriptions
Uma
bearsoul lhis
*"",ii#.Zi?,iX?!lill#1,#"ffi
;"i,i;{",::,,,::AT
We shalldeaiwith KashmirSaivismin a separalechaptet
Thereare manysimilarities betweenKashmirSaivismand Soulh
IndianSaivism. But,in philosophical ideaslhelwo differ.The dilieF
encemaybe expressed bysayingthatwhiletheKashmirschoolis
*.',l,g-+*!#i,$*'*fl*
caseol theoneborrowing
It is interesling to notethal,as we haveseenbelore,Soulh
IndianSaivismappearsto havebeenintluenc€d by Kashmirians
Farauhar, lhinks"thal Samkara, the southIndianAdvailaascelic
inlluenced lhe Saivaleaderso{ Kashmir.
116 Socialand FtelglousBackground 117
Chapler-3
:xli3i":u:i:., ; ;;;,;";
f ,i'"1i:HlTj:::ilR*
Agni_Soma,
dualdivn tiesas [/ilra_Varuna,
Literaryand archaeological
elc.
evidenceshowsthe harnonising
relalonwtlhhrswile,Canga. oi Ma(anda(S!rya)-Bhailava (Siva)Thereareremalnsalsoindrcat_
cr ^,^S,vas atsoanracted,hearl,slg Lnglhe composilerepresenlaiionot Brahma,Siva Surya-r'
5r)e rs.epresentedas berngcarredov;r theheadotS,va
orrneuntonol S,va-Ganga,s lte,jea
loundIn theBdnayana ZnO Besrdesthe kindsoJimages,referredlo above,thereare many
cenr A.u.) and the ilahabha.ata 1C. or:rJ (hallwoman haliman)per
lC 4th magesand fig!resoi Ardhanarisvara
are,oL,nd
cdneaoFara a,,"" ,"sij,l,,i::,,;:!ii# hapsoriginatrngirornlhe ideaol purusa'prakrtiAccordlngto some
".,,-v
uangesrs a riverofthenorlhern
reqton. t represenis, in a moreconvincng and vivd form,the Lrngaand
acLounlampryoe.nonsrrares Yori lhe symbolotcreatron.
-,,Tteroregorng
, or
trv thewroeoopu,ar-
sa,var!nin Indra,particular,y
In Kashm.r $ Anolhercompositeformoflheabove deitiesis represenledby
nav€ also seen thal thefe arose ano SoJn r. j.r-1i" I
manv su theliguresoiUmaMahesvaraorHara'Gauri Theorginofthewor
:.,H{r,"1,"":+;
l***-,'pir*:s:**fu
oe connecled,wh lhesetmages.
{no 'wo broad cjasses.viz.. Ferce
The ,magesor Sryacd. bed,vrde;.
rRudiat and eu,c rsaunya;;.
shipol lh s lorm daiesbacktotheageol the l\,'lahabharala(presenl
tormC.4thcenl.AD).Suchimageshavebeenloundat manyp aces
of Bihar,VaranasL, [/athura,Bengal.
Kalyana-sundara is yet anothercomposrtelorm represenllng
the marriageol Sivaand Parvati.Thismarriageis beautifulLy repre
, - - , r l r s b e l , e v e d b y s o m e l hhae K u s a n a c a l d c r e p \ s c o n L e t v e d
a'd'ne!^J'|Dro's
oiIne senledin the ElephantaRelief,Anolherexquisltespeclmenrs a
3"'J:? :f"::f;f'.rt"Trandeoddess wel-knownrelielin the cavesot EIlora.
o'l"etrnagesoiAroFanarisva,ainsorthrnoro.anotaoleone There are many literaryrelerences10Ardhanaisvara,sorne
.,-
arran,o'e.
dainsoackro.heco'aoe.oo times by dilferentnames. Puspadanta,perhapsof the Gupta pe
: :1""1:ij:""""",'x;:."," riod,relers,in his Mahlmnastava,loI as dehardhaghalana (Avalons
t"mple
wasbuiltinhonour e d . ,p . 5 3 ) .
oibolhvlsnuand
Utpala'scommentaryon lhe Brhatsamhilaltvll ' 43)describes
"n""jt""'i11"a$3j.tn"
A.examDleof il as Ardhagauisvara.A detaileddescriptionoccurs in lhe Matsya
rhehdrmon,si^glenoencyis
lunishedoyntmudl
,- .- Purara(Adh.260,Sls.1'10).
il",i""':"1
[11t'fl1l
;i':;::#l["":t;:",j]1,",';ll:,::fi
'1a, ha,a. rLp lafe.wa!
c atlodHdrHdra p1anHtH S va
An inlerestingslory of the origin ol the inseparableunlon ol
and Parvati,in whichhumankailty is ascribed1odivineberng
-ne
sa.e renoency ts ,oJnoin lne eorcno,rrot Vrs-L,- occurs lhe Katika'puranalchap 45). Once the appearanc€oi
in
,rorm
._ or srva r, e bosomol Siva Takingil io
and Srvarnthe Jormof V snuTi Parvatiwasreflecledin the cryslal_clear
be the tigureol anolherladyParvatibecame furio!sias Bhaltisays-
g:T;:,i : j: ".rc,rnFor e\a. nyasamgamanF-1oharoutableladybrooks
" ",JT:;;*:',"^::u
na man;ni-samsahate,
hd v's' , a-dsiva her husband'sunionwith anotherladyHowever,Slvasucceededin
" " -" g"o-,r"*rr",," *"i".ilr. removinghis w le's suspicion.After thal, Parvaliwished to be ln
"-#,^"'ut
I l8
ChapteF3 Socraland ReligiousBackground 119
|.:nbH:il"""#;v:rhsiva
jnorder
roprevenr
therecurrence Tantracan be brandedas Nasrka only in the sense thal it
::ff or
does nol recognisethe aulhorilyottheVeda,bul nol as denyinglhe
ol God lke lhe CaNakas.
pr,:,"."{["*:q]i:!,,#"lT:$::1]?iJ::ffi:::fl
JT:"ff
:l;;
oul theiymns ol the Fgyedain whichlhere
existence
Yamunacarya,in lhe Agama-pramanya,slales thal Tanlras,
ya.r]l(RgvedaX. jO), pururavas,Urvasi
are dEloguesof yama- nottavouredbytheVeda,are popularamongpeopleof low classes.
(X. 95). Ksemendra,in his DesopadesaandNanamala, relers,in a deroga-
The Bthadaznvako LJpanisad lory manner,loTantricrites.
. pu,usa.drvrdrnglt.at spedks of lhe bi-serual
4/mdn_.rhe.o..rc.oar nrmserf r10 mateanC,em;le Apararka,commenlingon the yalllavalkya-smrti
quolesSmrl
l?:rt::f:'ffi ffffi:j#|r' 7)iescribed
Prajapati
asas5uirl passagesvehementlycondemningthe adherenlsolTanira-samkaa,
n his commentarvon the Brahmasutz, deptecalesTantraas run
ftgures_otArdnana svara can Oe ningcounterto the Veda.
sec on tafiaLo[a seals .
dnd, slates'. Besioes,
rhereare manytmaqp! .. Ihe Rudtayamala(Ch.xvii) regardsSupremeGoddessas be_
When the conceptionol Ardhanarisvara long ng to the Alharvavedicpanlheon.TheKula-saslrais stated, n
,,, ofigrnaledcannolbe
oeterrrr-ed wirr certatnly.The abovesle,e,cpresente lhe Kularnavafantra |ll.10, 85, 140-41),to be basedon ihe Veda.
\,sdna peflod/C..lst cenr.A.D.).The a lgureollhe
auuA.u ) apoearslo relerlo such
Greekauthor St;laeus(C In certainVedicworks,e.g.,S/aulasulrasot Laiyayana(lV 3.
an rmage. 17), Gabhila-Grhyasutra Aranyaka(lv. 7.
(ll. 5. 6. 9-10), Taitttri.va
We have.elsewnere
,ley.rhere
, seen thal, arnongtFF rFrtccot l.d.ls Val- 50.),to mentiononly a few,sexualintercourseis regardedas a parl
:s a.t,g.le ,oo\r-g of religiousrtes.
tit<eS,va n rrei rar,o-. .ere rs a
mar_
:"i:,:'ll
:itr{!ii:,tl::f :::,.:;:}*
::,1:1i":"d::
ofher,has been in voguein lndjafrom pre-Veorc
Drinkng ol wineappears\e.9.Satapalha Brahmana,v.1.2.9;
Ailarya,Vll. 1.5.elc.),lo havebeenin vogue n sacrifices.
lmes.ll was loufd The Vaiapeyaand Saul,€maniseem10be lhe precursorol lhe
Ina mannerevenamongnon_Vedic peoplel
CakraotlheTantricdevotees.The former,meaningDrlnkof Strength,
wntersanempredro snowIndr ,anr.a usedto be olleredby warriorsand kings;inil, besidesSomawhrch
,DarFd
, -i:::
on.tFp Vedd.:1,"
"l:'.t r!
I he Audayamatd,Ch. l]Vn,tegdrds was oermissible.even ihe ordinarv Sufa used lo be drunk.The
l,oooF!s as belong,ng SLp,e,re
lo lhe Alharvavedicpa-lheon The KJ,a-sastra Saulramanlwasa sacrilicialceremonyin which,insieadof the drink
n ILFKralruvd ranta (ll.'0. g5,
r<srdtad | 40-4'I. robe basedon of Soma. Su/a was otferedto deilies. lt is recommendedlor one
who hasdrunktoo muchot Somaor one whomil doesnol su t. Sura
Some Tanlras,includtngthe parasurama-katpasutra is also prescribedfor a Brahmanadesiringsuccess,a banished
-1""^
_^... \lll.3A),
|T j"i 5g':ol ., ntast.22po 2t t. rs42 rv 40 5,vrr king vr'ishinglhe restoraton of kingship,a warror inlentor1vrctory
*,"' maka and Ior a Vaisyadesir ng to acqu re greal rches.
;",,i',;, :as 1ne
"i;,,""'""1;":,::";:,:,1;[,;n The Tanlricattitudeol doingaway with casle-reslrlctrons ap-
r-lj'."
n*"!,,:manlra hasbeenadapledlor apptrcalion oearsto be to lhe eifecl Inat, in the perlormanceol a sacrifice,the
_^^,-,\l:Invocation
rafltc in
toderlies.
Orthodoxwrilershau. DersonsoresenlbecomeBrahmanasand the dislinctionol casesis
lf-
*" thea itudeorso-" p,,,n"s
"ttu"f,uO
"n J!. obllterated.
::",:":;ili:#:"- "harrsee
,?a
chaoler-3
Tanlraand SaklaWorka:
Thesetwociasses ot worksaresimilartoa grealextent.But,
somedistinguish betweenthemincertainr€spects.PVKane poinls
to the factlhat the SaktsaconsiderDevias Supreme,bulTanlras
(includng BuddhistandJainaworksare not confingdto Saktllo
Devialone.
;il,:""::irffi
::..:lChXrt,,y#itriftx{f
fiTili
ln connexionwith miscelaneousTantricworks we shal see
howlhe/sopanlsalhas
1tmay,however,be conlended
beeninterpreted
thal
lromtheSaktaslandpont'
Tanlric ideas,whrchwere ol a
laler developmenl,appear lo have been read inlo an old work by a
mi"mmffiY",iff
1!!1Un'""5i:5"":': homa s not slressed:Tanlraemphasisessell-surrenderwh ch ls
the innersignilicance 01homa.
Kuli!kabhatla,a commentatorol lhe Marusmrli quoles (!n'
,","yli'Jj:1," ear,h
,nanode,
1T;."i"J':i:X,l:"':lJ:"." der Manuii. 1) Haritawho dividesSruliinlo two classes,c z .
yald/k/
and fanlIhi 'hus.Tan'rds,ega'dedasVediL
*m':;:liffi#*i:r*1",":"".,il:il":t:
j !ri:i:'$ Somethinkthatthe conceptol Sakliis derrved lromlhe Vedc
ranr.u.
,"'#ff
;,';:';J;:
;:yr::n**lrl*i"1,,",:lr.if dea ol lhe lorces (Sakt/)ol nature underlying the Vedic de lres'As
an evidenceof lhe ant qu ty oi Tanlra,it is he d lhal abhicaraal lhe
',ar*,;s
veoa
*;: il# ffiiti::::".ffi:'ff;- Atharvaveda was lhe precursor ol Tanlra. The
d""S*r"O as tey;, i.e..rhe rried Nsimhatapaniyapanisad,bdonglng la Atharvavedais likeaTantra'
!]]rj"o]"" ot Bl_)a/us and That it was genu ne appears lo be proved by the lacl lhal
Sarnkaracarya commenledon li.
".i,:il,:.iillTjl;,,:il;
:::r,"',"Jr1$[Ji:'",#:!:ffi The or grnoi the doctrineof Nadls n Tanlracan be traced n
\ui.16) andChandagyaUpanisad(vi'6 6)' ll rs
':iffil:'ff:Ei;,#,3:ij".,::';'"3 ",",;:;";,;;;
lhe KathaL)panisad
jTfr
::;r:r:,i:/,::";:{ji:!, ::::{::::
fti#ili{fi
each ol which has one thousandmore. In this conneclon,lhe
l',4undaka lJpanisadlii.2.6) also may be relerredlo This Upanlsad
j:;""l"T*;t
;#i;ffl:li
also reiersto Kall,Karali.fhe Chandogya\vii' 6 1) stalesthal l he
".*iiy;"li:}ii*
Nadis ot lhe hearlconslstol a subtlesubslancewhichis brown'
whle, blue,yellowor led.This may have been lhe basisoi lhe
name PlngalaThe /aiirayani Upanisad(vi 21) relers lo lhe Nadi
going upwardsas the Susmna.In the Uma_Haimavatr mylh ol lhe
131
Kenopanisad,anempthasbeen lhad€ro
estbhshthe non-duahtyol
tvpicarrv AJlernamingsomeglrus, the N,;/afantfa characterises lhem
rantric
ide
a r heHtranvakiJr- to larinlkula, i.e,a lineot gurusimparlingTaini'mantra
;il:"T:, ;:m e as belonging
(v68).
Behmana,so in theNigharru(i.j I Vakrs
.^,^-"*,'::n",,o,":?y.u
re'erreotoas Nana(Nagna) whichrssupposed
) The positionof the gurusamongtheTanlricSadhakas is so
bysometo,oreshad- exaltedthal he is regardedas evensuperiorlo one'sfather'The
ow.lhefuturenakedformol Katr.doddess
Nrkr.LmUnila
of fnl Njlatant/a,lotinstance,citeslhe verse{ii. 146)of lvlanu,which
Hamayanais regatdedas a lorn a TantricSakli.
extolslhepreceptor, impartingVedic initialionloaperson,as supe'
sacriticeto Nikumbhita.by Bavana.s son.rs considered riortotheprogenitor; obviously, it substitutesTanric d/ksalorvedic
as a ,The
btackritedesignedto destroytlle enemy. ThisTantra,in anothercontext,declares 65) thatlhe
initiation. (V
a"nUn"t"nuchyasurra(ii.14.14)lhereis reterencero manlrada\givetal nantraissuperiorot one'slatherUanaka4adhika)
Indianculturedoesnotsetmuchstorebythephysicalbirlh olllesh
"n"Ol:*; andbloodwhichis commonto loweranimals. lt lays grealer stress
.. TheBuddhjstMahayana work,SuvanaprcDhasa,
rmpressol a Tantra.ll is saidto have bearclhe on intellectual and spiritualregeneralion as more important than
beer
xasyapa
nraransa
ou,in!
ir;;i;;i i:
meregeneraling themassoftlesh.Thewise Indians oftenexpressed
"*,i(il9?111'lfill:
evrdenceof the BuddhahavingpreacheJTanrrrc lhe sublimeidealhatthebodyis suretoperish(ekantavidhvamsr'
rdeas.Tantnc
ele- whereasmerilslastlhrovgh ages(kalpanlasthayino gunah).Flesh
incorporarec,,nro
Buddn,sm
ronsafter and blood of the body are also called mantn (Raghava on
;:T#HT;."T::,::n
SaradaliIaka v. I 5-961.
transtation by Dharmahsema (414-433AD), ol
-^-. _tl:, "t"::g
Paramartha and his pupits(5S2_S57) Somelexlsprescnbelulestor roustnglhe consciousness
and ttsing (ZOS)areavarraUie. (P rcnatos ini lV -1,p.222, G andhaNatant ra XXIX. 24-25).
Mahamayurj.which rs ol the ,ihara.,/: mantGs
,rhe ctass.appearslo have
been transtatedlor the first time,rntoChrnese
in the 4rh cent. AO SomeWorks{e.9.Ianttaraia XXXV.64'66 Purascaryarnava
theMahamavui
atercrerred Vl, 526)providelhatoneshouldnotonlyunderstand
p. the simple
'1ff'#Jil: r',6'in'"ind robvsome meaning of a manfra, is the manilestation olthe real nalure of Sakli.
andiellthat he is merged in the essence oltheobjectol hisspiritual
Nirwdtatantta,
,,,_ ^9:.",1:11ra","n ,pa memronorr
crasses
o,gurus
-suru. pa," exe.cise.
i,1:..1-u-,!
: l!,t*.5*u, rcpara and ^""n,.i,,i.- ii-.
cororng ro the Nita.tanka(v.73.) coddess satti ,s parap"ara_g{rr:u Thelenwaysof puritying mantEtsate ianana,jivana,tandana,
sva ts paqmeslh|guru, ones preceplons
his guru and gurr s. Some bodhana,abhiseka, vimalikaana, apyayana, taryana,dipanaand
worhs e.g ,.ty'lalarrraV 65.66.drviciesgurus gupli(Krsnanancia s Iartrasata,p.52)-
into thr;e class ;iz-
u/vydr]ga (dlvlnebeings). SddhaugrE (sa;es)
and Manavaugha thu- One,whoatlainsmantraslddht acquires a peculiarbrightness
man be,ngsl tt appears to divids guru;
in anornerway Inlo two ol the body and a lasting peaceful state o{ mind-
classesviz.. Ialagu.u{V64)andDeWuru
te g.Syamatahasyaalsogive lv.Zll.Some otnerTantras Mantl€-sikha isthenameof a pudtucatory llame'supposed lo
the abive ciassitrcation ol gulus. Kundalini- (Puras'
be roused wilhin the body during the ascent of
I rsslaledtha he namesof malegurujshould 01\Saradatilaka ll lll
,^.
te'g.brah rananda). oFnalra(e.g.Matsyendranatha,
endin ananda carvarnava,vl,pp 527_28)Baghavabhana
l\rrranatha.; speaks of lhe puificationol mantras wilh p@nayama accorolng Io
ano rnoseot lhose ol lhe lemateprecepiors and eight
r,r-amoa.. the Yonimudra process and reciting lhem one thousand
133
Tantraand CulluralCompl€xol lndia
raysdow. lhe processot pu.fyng a mantta
- crt,nq
ov - ,T\e.Kutdnava.lv1
lhe tellersfromiellto dgh.dndrghr lo tell.
aresomeoi thenamesoJ Durga;Kali' Kapali, Bhadrakali, Mahakali'
ln some texts,the body to God is ca|ed lrlantatanu. Candi.Thesehave, however, been excluded in the Poona crllcal
Manteyana is the nameo, TantficBuddahtsm. ;ditionol theepic.Some scholars think thai the idea ol Dtuga and
worshipwerederived from non_Aryans
,^^. y!,Ma (powerof assumingexcessive
lightness),
garma ot Asvattha-
rpowerot assuning excessive heaviness).p/aptr{powe.or oblain. Thisepicconlains(Santlchap. vii)a description
'ng anytn,.g ar !yitr).,pfa*amya(iftesislrole man'sworshipol Siva in which the rilesand practices are to a greal
wrtt) /s/lyatsupelolry
ov-erorrersl uasrlya(plwer ol keepingolhersunder extent.similarlo Van@cara ol fanlra
cont.oi.)Tnere
are lessersdd,i/sloo.Thegreatestsritdhllsmahannvana fhe Mahabharata .eveals lheinfluence oflhedoctfine ol Sakti
ot moksa,
AsadvisedbyKrsna,Arjuanpropitialed Durga(Bhismaparyan'
MantraT victoryinlhe Kurukse_
23).lorherblessingenabling him to achieve
lt occuptes€ very high place.Cod ,s concetved
as manlra lra war.ln Ariuna'ihymnlo th€ goodness' Durga is calledSaras_
,,
Mananat trayal iI Mantah_ manlra E so called as il saves vati.The Pa;davasinvoked het blessing tor their successful resi
one
Irom^thebondsol rebirththroughconlemplationor knowledgeorthe dence incognito for one year lollowing the 12 years excile lnthis
epic,the g;ddess is varoLrlsy namedas Kumari,Kali, Kapali'
ll,elesssyllablesol a manta- being uflered In tiaharali.6andi.Kantaravasini, Thenamesaretypically
etc Tantric
, ^The conlacl inTantdc rites At lirst lhe goddess
w|In susumna,acquireInlhite powers.Joy,will.creat,vepowerand Kumaibuais an essenlialitem
peaceare promtnentin dillerentmantras wasworshipedon lhe Vindhyasby lhe loresldwsllersas Kumari
Soonalterihe comelo be lookeduponas lhe consortot Siva
.. ^^-Yrl1ll.::"n",n:,"d byteners
from.a,ro
isr. are
catred
b,./a.
r5eeol:rl rsobtarnedby a disciple.
Theleners
ol thealpnaber ln Yudhisthiras eulogyol the goddess'she is characler€eo
calledMar'kas(sources.) dre Vindfryacalavasini andloundol wineandmeal-
ast\rahisasura'nasini,
Theooddess's epithet,Vindhyacalavasini, occursin ihe Canditoo
Tantraand Mahabharata she; abodescribed as Kali.The goddess is alsocalledBhadrakah'
Candielc.. in lhe Mahabharata
r"ueathighregardtor ihe Bhagavadgita. Fol
^..^-1,:r:rnconnexion
example ]1nuu: Thefollowing aresomeol theTantc elemenlsnolicedin the
wtthTattva-ca\ra.
tl ts prcvioed
Inihe Maha-
ntvanatv n,214\lhallhe TattvaqMahansI sha.jobeoileredto lhe epic:
rrgnesl Se/t wllh the ve'se btahmarpanam behmahavtt Kunti's acquisition ofa manl€
eli , ol Ii)
'' BvlheboonolaBrahmana
the Gtla\tv24.l (Vanaparvan)
tor bringing gods under control
Yaksa
^_ - li:*
u.uga l*9.nu.ns.consioered
tn,r-ei,Manabharala
by sorneroDespLlous,ro I!;r E)(cnanqeot maleandlemalocondrtons betwee4
oneoyyuohislhtra
,nvtrdtaparvan (chap. Sthunak;rna andSikhandinr (Udyoga l82)
v I andlhe otl^efoy ArjdnaIn Bhrsmaparvan {chao. xxril D,,r^:
I guresnotoniyin purana.butatsoinTanlra.Thanrrt (iiD Therestoration ol mamsa'plrda, byJara'eaiingfleshand
presenlinlhehymnsIntheVanapawan, ril blood,inthehouseof Brhadralha. (Sabha18)
","rnfni"
thenamesof Durga, among
others, areKaliandl\lahakali.
InlheBhaismaparvan, lvleniionof fierceMatrkasin theSkandopakhyana ot the
thelollowina
Vanaparvan(go).
(vl VariouslegendsaboulUma-N'lahasvara'
135
Tanlraand CulluralComplexof lndia
(vi) Mentionin the Tirtha sectionVanaparvan:
o,lhe S.akl- .owrng opening
ellects:automalrc sleepinpeo
ol thedoor'inducrng
nnnaq Devrka(Kamakhya), yonr.sakambhari.
Kalka-samgama(conlluenceol nvers
Dhumaval,, ple,makingoneselfinvisible' otc.
Kausik:and Aruna) worshipof lire'
sfl parvata,Manikarnika,etc. Therewasprovision forthe propitiatory
(iv-s)
eic ll wasbelieved
river.rals,serpents, thattheworshipof hillson
(vii) The protectivemal,t.asof the epjc remrnd
one ol S,arr- soe;ia occasions couldavertthe attackoJbeastsand birdson the
manla ofTantra;e.g.Draupadisexpressjon
o, the lollow callle.
Inggood wjshesto Arjuna:
p Eyahy-abighnaya....... The praclces. designed to get rid ol eprdemc diseases in-
cludedthemilching ol cowsin acemeleryburningof alorsomade
.....5ith.....laksmih sarasvati ol lhe powderol riceandsomeothergralns
ima vaitava panthasya patayantu dhanafilaya
Tanlraand Purena:
vlnl 33 lManvoi lhe Puranasrevealconslderable InllLence olTanlra
In ihe eLrogyof rhe goddessjn rhe most deeply inlluenced Among
.. l f.e Bhaoavataappearcto have been
*i*+:a"-,;+ill':.:l'"";xft
;[{"r",T",:;
:l,J:'','#ft:','lii"'"rs
tobea supplement
dou"r"ir"o
inroiiJ
olherrhr;gs.Ihis
accordin;
F,r
rana presc ibes (xi3 47.49) the worship
lo Tdnlricrules.In xt 11.37'xirll2etc lhisPuraoa
relerstoianlriccullsofVisnu,TanlricdiksaandsomeTanlric
prescribedin this Puran a'
o{
rclerclo
Vrsnu
melh-
Bhuta'
ads.Aaain,Pindasodhana,
suddn;prov.ded inTantaTheTantric modeofworshiplullofmanl€s
TantraandArthasastra
and kavacas, 's sr.li'a'lo lhe Puranic modeTheditletenceis lhat
'lliili,1,",i+'rru'::rur;,
,,_.^.t:l]1". 9::"Jn:..rch a powerfutforceevenIn pfe Chr,slran
;::y*,"'l
theTanlric worshiper identilieshimseltwilh thedeilyworshipedBut'
the{olloweroJthe Purnadoesnol do so;he is everconscious that
Hf ?n*:li
j;r::ilj&?lTt4ixtxii,flTiili3"j.li3sdilltj,r,i
he is tiniiewilhlimiledcapacitywhereasGodis inlinitewith
rledoower.l heDevrbiagavata holds(xi 1.25)lhatas mucholTantra
unllm-
Thlsworkempha_
as rs not opposedlo lhe Vedais authoritatNe
i4lhcenl8.C.).In
iv 4 ofthtstr€atise. sises(xi.1.49)the importance of Glru in lhe ve.segurur'Danma
n"'0.-t',*!o"io,.iJf; th;;
J:il:',"1:f;fJil."ff
i::fi:; etc.This Puranastales(xi. 16.76)thal Nyasasholld be a partol
Sardhvaworship.lt alsomentions(xi 16 98-102)Mudas Fheim'
manenceof ihe boodessis slatedin the Devlbh agavata,lll6 the
*'irsare'ei,ected
,". -*:ii:;l'i:;:;:Xii',inl":';;,1;.;11 in PadmaDu Ena lvi. 85'26\andlheMats@lrav (266 29)attachgreal
to Tanlra-Tantrlc
m';xli*:i"rl*rulTi;i"".ffi imoortance tb NvasaAllthisshowsthe iniluence
,,-Tilp.:,:jili"1,ff fl[|",,?,:ffi
fl nante, mandala, mudra,nyasa,etc.'inliltrated inloPuranas- Some
ouranasbelravan atliludeol disregard, il not contempi, towarcts
X,l#l?::"J';'"";f
;Tl!T:li:i.l
JamDhaka-vidya:nil,besidesmantras,
somerootsand herbswere
iantra. For example,
SatraslikeBhairava,
the Kurmapumna
Yamala,
\1.12
Vama'etc' oppos€d
261-263)statesihat
toVedaandSmrti
i:;";i;,::::'i:,:;'i:.":;"*;!.;:nmffill.gi wereoroduced
contarns
tordeluding (mohaya) peopleTheVi9nudhamonara
BiasandKavacasSectlonl'Chap 226namesovera
hrndred Mantrasincludingthat ol Kali Verse237 20 referslo
136
Chapler-4
ri::!:"'!,f!i!;;;Iz:ti;":;^ri;i:::T:::3:"J:;'::;:#"
hatm hai hai.hatm,Om ctticitimitjniti...,
Ihe Vamana-Purana \46), which is supposedlo have been
competedbelweenabout900and11ooAD,glorifiestheholyplaces
whereancientLlngasare established.
elc. t. 165 prescrjbeslhe
order
::iLTil* ::{:ff l[:reverce olthesvrra
it""ii ilnii". Ihe lwelve Jyotilingas are tfadilionallyknownto have been
hedat diflerenlplaces.Theseare mentione
establis d in the Satarudra'
tn connexlon
with Dtksa,theAgnpu (''aps 27 8- B/ samhnalch.42).
^^.
JU-., \ers.o,rnmanyr"nr"" ,',rnr.r. ljli. The worsh poi Slvartgas has beenwidespreadn lndiasince
Th.s ordails TCCCL "no
prJ,ana
XXll-3d,lnat the worshp oi thF very early tirnes.ln the Kasikhanda(94/36)ol lhe Skanda-Putana
dene>V,:n.landol ersshoutdbe jn 1C 800-1000 principa
AD)lhirty-six I L/rgasarereferted to.3
lnreeways Vedrc. Ta.111g6a6
M.'ed,h^ l,'slandlheti.d torlhe
Dv4asdnd,hp seco-dtorsuo.as
Tantra and Samrti
ranacontainsa portion,ca ltedLatitasahasn- ParllythroughPuranasand partlydue to the compellingsocial
^ ^ _ -.Th.e,9rghmlnd+qu
,ama which is clearlyTantric. condilions,Tantra inlluencedSmrti. Manu, lhe most alihoriialive
Smrl wnter,referslo abhicamand mulakarmantiteior bringingoth_
devotesconsjderaDJe space to the treal' ers underconlrol.He regardstheseritesas singul,Nevertheless,
^^^,lle-t:1!ka-pun?a
.r.,emot mantras, mudras, nyasas. etc.
ihe prevaence ol suchTantricrites atlhe tlme ol lhe Manu-smrli|s
Puranrcquo_taltons
in Smrltdtgestsand corrmentaries obvious.The work, ln ils presenl lorm, is supposedto have Deen
. . -Fror,
texts
,tis;a'rharrhepuranas
i":ff: ;"r|?ffi,J1,1'J.i;1a.'c dre comp ied or composedin lhe per od betweenthe2nd cenlurycoBC
and2ndcenturyAD.
A passagelrom lha Dev,purana.quoted Raghunandana(16thcent.)was the JirstSmdi wriierol Bengal
..-_... rn Apararkacom-
menraryon lhe Yatnavalkya-smrtt, v/horecognisedTantricDiksa.
lAnan;a
,avs
down
rFF
capac,ry
ro,.p".r"..,,i1
#i,i'.1,',1i.
qual,l'Lation 3!;i;t
oi onelor t.slahingrmagesof Oetles.
It may be notedthal, on lhe lestimonyoi Raghunandana,we
""?]f;l can inferthat,at his time,lhe elaboraleprocedurelorTantricoiksa
raJso was much s gnii cant.qSome other Smdl works also, like lhe
,^ ,_ -The_Devnahalmya ca ed Dulgasaplas
n"t"e,Marhandeya-putana, attCand4inctude
is nolhingou-lrhe gtonttcatton
ot Dev, Dhalnasindhu,tely anfaniras for D/ksa-
she dpclareshersettas Supreme(C;nd,
chap X)
In lne puranas.trasrwoaspecls Tantraand vedanta
-, rrntch
or .. "^,otJed In one
she is lhe sldyer
"ll"-9o9o"t.. ot demonsand. in anotn",, ao.po"a,on- AccordingloTantra,Kundall/,1is the innerspirilualpowerdor
ate to,her devotees.She is a combtnation mantwilhinthe humanbody.By Sadhanaman can reachthe stage
oi
oeaut Ji. Shp alonets lhe creatot preserver tr,e t,erceaJ itte when the humanis translormedinlo the divine.Then/iva becdmes
ano oestroyer.She ts,
*it' tre B,ahman
or lne Upanisad
anovedanra Siva.TheUpanisadprescribesmeanswhereby./'lvatman (lndividual
]l[!l;'"dent;""' sou )is melamorphosedinto Pafamalman(theSupremesoul).The
basicdifterencein approachis thal, accordingto tlle Upanisad,the
.^^."^"r:I1"$" qr,"important iorthetexruar reconstructjon
oI meansol reachingthe goalis bhavara (contemplation,medilation)
",
i'"'i:::".J,.",{::,li: a chaprer'wse
sta,is whereas,accordingtoTanlra.it must be accompaaiedWKriya\ac'
'n s rdnr'a.r.,e lfliffii,'1nt'?Dsves Accordrns to tion).Tantra requiresphysicalellort along with menlal or spiritual
rorar-Lrno,;;i;;;;";;;;;l'''va
138
Chapter-4 Tantraand CulluralComplexof India 139
power. Vedanta
acceptstheeternalSivahood olliyabltTantraholds Tantraand Yoga
ihal Sivahood is altainableby practices
ol specratktnds.
Llke Upanisads, Tantrabelieves Wehaveseenthata partof TantradealswithYogalt appears
.. . thalcreationis bulthe sport yoga philosophyandTantraexercised mutualintluence. The
(/rh ol theSupreme Bejng.Ljkeupanisads, that
Tantrais non-dualisiic.,; Ghenndasamhita, awo* on Hathayoga' menlions (lll 1'3)twenty_
TantraandSamkhya liveMudrasincluding theKhecaimudhf heimportance, attached
it
n lo Mudras, can be gauged by the tactthat it describes lhemin
Bothrecognisepurusaand prakrti.THislendsto prove one hu ndredverses. The Hathayoga'ptadipika elaboralely descnbes
_ thal
Tantrais basedon Samkhyaphilosophy. But,thereis wiaedivei_ (111.6-23)ten Mudras. TheS,vasamhr'ta, anotherwork onHathayoga
s-"::;":.".Y:9" t* y^" UilkeTantricSiva.rhepu,usaoiSamknyd rnentions (iv.15-31) ten Mudras.An impotlanlMudrcin Halhayoga
nor
_s lhe unrversar soul:he ts not lhe invisible.
intnte eternat is lhe Kheca mudradescribedin the Sivasamhila (iv 31-33,),
to Samknya. purusasd,e many.dnova,y Ghetandasamhilaliii. 25-27\andHathayoga-p@dipika (iii'32'53).li
9,j:Ta:.-A::ord,n9
r_ov,oJats. w,rh
thorghstay,ng wrthprakrt,he.s r^acfive havr'rgno dilierslromthe Khecaridescribed in the Jranamava, described in
powerto createanything. He is the passjveonlookerwhenpr;krti (iii.15-23)The Vairolimuclla, desctibedin
.arrrA!on 'ls cfearlve the Hathayagapradipika
aLl:vtlySak ar patapraAro, Tanl.ar\ dr er- theHalhayogapradipita (iii,82-96), is vulgarlt wasbelieved to pro-
enl ttarfLthe Mulapakdi ol Samkhva.
o1g'he e ol a Yogrnevenaflerunrestrained sexualorgies
Accordingto Samkhya,prakrli, consislingin the fhe Guhyasanaia\pp.163-164) selsforthsixaccessories ol
three quati-
ties ol Saltva, Raias and Tamas,are the source Yoganga
'ndle',dtworld trom which lhe Yoga(Yoganga)omittingYanE,Niyama,Panayamaollhe
e.randles,Due to Ihe proxtmityol purusa creal,on andaddingAnusmris- ThisTanlraintloducedYogic praclices Iorthe
proce.os In .he order of Mahal,elc. AI dtssolution, An innovation ol lhe Valrayana
a,t Ine created ouEkacquisition ot Buddhahood.
objects merge into prakrti which is eternal.In Tanlra wasthe provision lorthe L/pasana of Sakliasmeanslo
bolh purusa Buddhism
dnd praxrt are slaledlo e.re,gelro.r the Supreme Yoga.
ae,n9 *no_,s liberation through
s\ata pt,ak,ris likerreal.veenergyoy posses","g
*nc,, g,a-
ma- -s caltedsb/ralalhesetwoare nol abso,ulely
dil,nct p, littcs Tantraand AYurveda
Lrear,on ts lot oosstble
wtthoull|-eun,o,lot pJ,usa{Srlaltnd pfa^,t,
(Sakti). Thesetwobranches of knowledge exercised influence oneach
other.PortionsofsomeTantric worksaredevoted lo Ayu rveda.Again,
Sanhhya.Ine exislFnce ot Goo i5 .ol esrdb.ished. someAyurvedicworksadoptedTantricprinciples Forexample,the
_
bur. ,Accordrng
tantricreJtg'or is basedon theis'l..SdmktsVa leachesus lhar, Kal/-tanfadevotesChapterXl to lhecauseso{diseasesDiseases
d-p,rottse!niorof pLrusaa.d prakrt:.c.ea,ton mentalandphysi'
o,ocaedsBu.,ac. are dividedinlofourkinds,natural,exlraneoLls,
Lo-o,ng, o iantia,creationtbthe sportrrlarof B.aFnanposse(!ed cal.In anotherway,diseasesare classifiedas Karmala(arisisng
or ouattltes(sagudal. B,aFnan,s nol d,slincl,rorr h s p,akrtt.So (causedby aflectedhumour)andKarmadosaia
oulof action,)Dosa./a
Prakrii is not /ada (unconscious).She rs conscious, (arlsing partlyfromlaults.)Thosewhich
partylromaction, arecaused
ana Oyresori-
ing to he(Sagura Brahmanor lsvaramanifests arecallednaturaldiseases;e g
Himselfin the di bvihenalural-phvsicalconditions
verse objectsol the world. deathOr,thatwhich is sell-causedis
hunqer,thirst,wakefulness,
Saradatilakaenumerates36 ta[yas includingthose call;d natural;e.g.congenitalblindness. That which i6 produced
. -fhe ol
Ihe San.hya svslen.L,k" San khya.tantra.Fgard5,,ccnr
narve aJterbirthor causeby injuryandthe likeis calledexlraneousPas-
<nowraogF ) Js esseniialio.,ea.1tnorr_egod
ryrL,e/ra sion,anger,greed,delusion, fear,conceil,jealousyanddepresslon
arecalledmentaldiseases.Or, re-
lnsanily'lainting,lorgetfirlness,
r40 141
Chapt€r-4 rintra and CulturalComplexol lndia
i#"*::iiri,.,,,,:;::r:*r";"*::"*H:.:rff
ts Xarmalawhich is nol cured
dlseases. Ai anolher,
attepnlegm,andwindarestatedto bethe causeol lever'
OneBhavamisra, sonol MisraLajakana anda courl'scnolar
jn#i"I
s['*"4Jj:+F$.r::'dt"itr?r:t
bV lreatml
atfectedirrrnorr.,a f"fi"O
Ayurveda appearsto havedeveloped in tlvolines,Vedicand
:l1lt"f'lF::{:ilxin:r,:1;l1:";:t;,llimi*i:i
trsrone
ilnll _*,i,Jinl;,1]," iso,rwo
kinds, *i n
Tanlric.Accordingto some
irmes.This methodol trealment
the latter prevailed
proceeded
in lhe pre'Aryan
along lwo hnes'one
The
",^or" """", aoov nqchemrcals. panicularly mercury' and lhe othe'poison
decay wilhrrer_
tormer;asusedlocurediseases and arresl sen'le
. diseaseq€nume'rares
some curvelc.Thesecondwaywasdeallwithin medical lreatisesknown'
ff
"""Ji:"#Jtfi :]n:",,f,r?sesd Rasafnava'tantra Basendasaa-samgnha rcsendta'
Somegenerajhygjenic
asTanta.e,q.,
_ pfrnciptesare c,ntarnanr, iasa-hrclava,Rasarala etc. Wo*s called Aupadhenava'
*a11ii1r;*r{rir*s1li:l':lil[::,#
jt
:;l"T:[:",il:iT"l,.T.,J;*t
tantta,Aurabhrc-tanta,
etc.,alsobelong lo this
Nimikntra'Saunaka'tantrc,
class.
whousedmainlychemical
Videhalantta
drugspre_
x1i:q::itli"&!;ii::ff
,xffi.oT:,"
iilH:J,:l? '"*, ppr,i"
r."
TheTantric
'v.aown
physicians,
oaredwith mercury,sulphLrr, iron,gold.silver,etc , camelo oe
mercurywereparlicu'
ra^y_season.
baih
;t"
;ji","i;'j::
,nwa,,'*"r;;;;;"";"":Ti,j##:::t;[i:
"i as Basa'vaiSvas;drugs,
lanypopu|aa
preparedwith
:::li;l;n"ri.:".-;"n+':ti["J."",*#:W;';
*9.T ,r"1""J"*"v
i*"u.
debtof Ind an chemicalScience
Naqariuna's Basa€lnakara
toTanlra'
isthemostcelebrated workonal_
::1,:e """ f:li,:ffi:J:JHi; chemv. dth;r noieworthy works on alcheny and medicinalchemislry
ii".'l?i;3lll"8,li"il
won€n.drjnking .n,ri-o i"i,i"
:r". uur"
lil,1,,.fliil,T:_;1ff ;i"u,'"
enpvmenl
of vounq
are iasamava;Rasaralrasamuccaya,
samgrana, erc.
BasaajalaksmlSangadhaa'
::il:fr qi:Ji::l"yfl
ijififf T#,fi
T.ulXff ji
""'::1[:] r o., Tantn (tantradbhula...) andDakini
arinTantra,
(dakinisamp@kirnamJ 'lamil
:H,".""!'ffg,ir';#
i;J?i
nates(51._5^4-6I
lsit" i:,|?iff|,",3ff
ill,,f fhe Laksmitantn, as pointed oul on the discussionof this
work,thougha Pancaratra texl,speaksof yamacalawhichisTanaic
) SakliasTaraas we as A
s,p."."?"1,$",F-]""liijl]
;H ; ;,,,,#"-",,,"",r," Tantricinf uenceon Vaisnavism
navsm alsoexercisedconsiderable
was nota one-wayvaffic Vais_
influenceonTantra lnthe /sana-
descnption
ot Visnuand his Saklt,taksmi and ol samh/la,regardedas a part ol the Kularnava,atlempt has oeen
^, _._Ihe thefi made to establishthe divinilyof Caiianya.lnlhe Gdhavatarapor
ill!1"fi :,"",,"?f
n:,}:A,J,:'3""jI#["#
i4l:i,:a'?ifi tion,regardedas a partolthe VisvasaBTanln ot Visvasaroddhara
ihere ;a descripton ol ylsru incarnatedas Caitanya.In lhe lisl ol
lill;il"; j:
ijill3?j,lilil ;:"";;1'
lffff;H: i,?F";;; Tantrasoi Kashmirare predominallySaivile From varous
works we co're lo learn that tantlcismc'ept Inlo lfe praclrcesol
,"vaisnava
works, _sayattipoinls
oftheKa.ra some subsectsol the Saivas.Forexample'the Kapal,kasadopled
," ,,"]ffifiiJJil::, pa ol the Panca-makalaworshipr6, their practicessometlmes
aulhofltatveVaisnavatreatiseso, Bengat. resembling lhoseof yil€ca/aandVamaca@ollania.rTTheAghorins
--, _The by Rupa,Jiva ot Aghorapanthins,fiembers of a Saiva subsect,are reported10
1i: :tT|' ll"9*S, arereptere
withquorarioni ;
rromran1ia5. reso;t io ce(ain practiceseven more deteslablethan the worst ol
ffi*:fflt '[n*;'*f:m:;mf
;.;;zu::*l":: the Tantricpractices.They are statedlo teed on animal excreiion'
corpsescollectedfromtuneralgrounds,and insectsrollingin a dead
man'sskull.'3
s'n
#"n;1ili;l#ff;l?s:l.!,"i:
:i:iu#,:,y"1K Scflptu'esol KashmirSarvismcame to be regardedas
authorilaliveworks onTanlra.Some authoritativewriterson Kash-
144
Chapter-4 145
mirSarvism,
r6put6d
inTankrc
tradjtion
areVasugupta,
Abhinavagupta, Somananda, According to il, Prakrti,the malerialcauseof the universein
Ksernaraia.
etc.
unconscious. a potler,the eflicienlcause,requiresclayas the
As
orKashmir
saivism
wirlrevear
afrinily malerialcauseand the wheelas lhe inslrumenlal cause.so also
*onr*:,:"",i"1:J:","r"s Siva.lhe etlicienlcause,requiresPrakrtior SaKias lhe material
theauthor*v
otthevedas' causeandMayaas theanstrumental cause
andcasre
*""Xli::rX1":"J::."ise TheSaivasidd hantahadaTanldcoffshoot, knownasAgamanla
|':3,',tis Siva.Themanifesrarron SaiviamwhichlloLrrished lron aboutthe 11thcentury
,_enected
rs ^_-ll"_yll'."9 ofthe universe
throughSivas Sakliwhois notdiftere"rtrorni,rn,i"lii Thelollowersol thisschooldo not recognise Vedicaulhorily
thefemaleprincrple, is insepa.abl€fromSivaas heatlromtire_ andBrahmanical tradiiion
nordolhevbelievein thecaste_syslem
The ultimategoatot tifois identitvw Therecognise thevalueof guidance bya preceptor'Alsorecon_
,oerarron
which
means
rerum
torheorisinal:rastrJ:toti;:
;tljil,:: gisedwas d/ksaof whichthree kindswere dislinguished' viz.'
Thisreatisationis possiblethrough Sar.raya (worshipof preceptor andfirededicated to Siva)'y/sesa
.. mectiiation:
norrnportance
rsattached to worship.ritesandritual;andexlernatidtsc;Dtine. (observing ritesandyoga,N/iata (wayof knowledge)-
By
deygteghas pratyabhijha. ttecosnronof hrsseH Thefollowersol thisschoolbelieve inTaniricritualsandcer_
:^Yl-ali:n.ll':,
roenlrcat
wrththeAbsolute). al
lt is €xplainedby Madhavacarya in his emonies.Besidesmatl6s, lhey recognise the difterentmethods
naNadarsana-samgaha (p.90).As Abhinavagupra lor achieving lhe eightSiddhls.
says.as soon
:: fl:?J:::ffi::f merges
intoBrar'man
o'sua ldeniificationwithSivais regarded as theultimategoal-
ifffiv;',,'r'"'
A sectoJSaivism, calledViras'avism,llourishedinlheKarnala_
h", p!3"!"esof the Saivasect,ca ed pasupata,
--^^^SjI:be9l
appearto linged withTantfism, ka regionabouithe12ihcenturyA.DTheobjeclol ihefounderwas
pasupala.vata.
TheAt aryasira
s upanisadmen- lo driveawaythe Jainskom the regionsas to eslablishan ideal
lons An 6ss6nlial elemenl ol constsrsin
lhe socrety.
apqlatignofashesinlheditferenr
timbso, tte Oevoiee
:^ej.el:1iat
n lnemanner ofTantric pasupata--1utta t .) Theyareinditlerent toVeda,andaverseto casle'syslemMen
N.yasa.The 11.21 speaks
trorn
adistanc",
o.n'""i"n"". andwomenareplacedon anequalfooling.
:ifil"ff Hffi:if-l"Jislarisins Sivais boththe etficientand malerialcauseol the !niverse
Thissoundstikethe acq-uisition
of S/irdhlb
by Tantricriies. Creaiionis the resultof Siva'sVinaB'a'sakti(consciousness)
'ookuwnGod
asPati'Jiva,
as suandworldlv Throughhis Sahi he is the maieialcauseand' in his own
o""oJl"i"?f"u,f" nature,heistheefiicient cause.Thereis idenlitybetween Sakliand
ln,hiscommentary onthe Bhatsamhha Saklimntas belweenattribuleandsubstance.
-, ..
Bnatla.Ulpala le.d.Dvivedi,
Lix.29). con_
slatosthatthe scriplureol the pasupatasis The emphasison Sakiibringsit closeto Sakta'Tanlric
vatutatantQ. ca ei
fhis is actuallythe nameof a SivaAgama. cepi,and so it is calledSakti'visisladvaitavads
n"O.Sngferslronghold inlhe Sourh.The The FemalePrinciple, Sakti,dominates in laterSaivismwe
,"_
rne_^?:'yl"r scripture
ol sect.Siva-
schootwascalledSaivasiddhanta. are notcertainaboutihe dateof originol thePasupata
Bhagavalas are,however, referredlo by Patanjali(c2ndcentB C )
n his Mahabhasya \L2.76).Thisseemsto be thelirsl clearreler_
147
146 Chapter-4 Tantraand CulturalComplexol lndia
deily with
ence io a Saiva seci. subjectto the reseNationthai Saktishouldbe the cenlral
olherderiiesas PeriPheral
Tanlraand the Ganapaiyas Th s lorm of worshipwas very popularamong the masses'
propagalron
There was hardlyany cult thal was not influencedby Tantra- and, as such,Tanlricelementstoundalertile fieldlor
The simple reasonis thal Tantrawas so popularlhat no creed or
iailh,aimingat popLrlar
suppon,coulddo wthout L Tanlra, Buddhism and Jainism
Whateverlheoigin oJGanesawas,he becameaverypopular HrnduTanlrals opposedto lhe tundamentalprincipleol Bud_
that it ls not
deilyLrndervariousdesignations likeVinayaka, Heramba,
elc. His dhismthat non'violenceis the highestreligion ltthinks
sod ol violence'When we gather lru ls'
popularitywas India-wide.He hastravelledeven beyondlndia,e.9., oossiblelo llvewitholllsome
le commitviolenceto the iree When we drinkmilk,we deprive lhe
Java. He came to be looked upon as lhe grver ci success
\Siddhidata), temovet ol ohslacles (Vighnaraja), erc cali oi il.
In severalsculptures,
Ganesais represented
as assocated Hinduand BuddhistTantras revealbothsimilariliesand dilter
with Matrkas.SomeimagesshowhiminsexualunionwrlhHis Sakli. ences.'eGodsofthe Hindu panlhon are noi generallyrecognlseoIn
Hindu deities likeGanesa andSarasvalrare how-
Therewere severalsub-seclsot lhe Ganapatyas.According Buddhism;some
Corresponding lo Siva and Devi(sak')' the Bud'
lothe IVlahaganapati-worshippers, Ganesa,in perpeiual!non wilh J'ier. recoqnised.
and Praiia The Buddhists poslulate so'yata
H s Sakii, is lhe creatorof the world and the highestrealty. dhists ha; Upaya
(nihilism)notrecognisedby lhe Hindus-As regardsthe goaland the
rrn
Theworshpersof UcchislaGanapatbetraygrealerinlluence meansto its attai;ment, boih have remarkablesimilarityThe
of Tantrism.The deily is representedas having Sakti in his lap, pirlaace ol guru. mantra'mandala'elc" is rccognised in both
emb€cingand kissingherwhilehe drinkswinewilhhislrunk.The
adherentsol lhis cult indulgedin free sexual inlercourseamong ThouqhBuddhistTanlradoes not emphasisthecult ol Mother
perhaps'
men and women. Drinking,non-observanceot the casle-system Goddess li-keHindu Tantra,yel it recognisesHer' ll is'
lgnoreo
and sacramentslike mafiiage we?esome ol lhe lealures oi their becauselhe populariiyol this cult was too muchto be
secl Th,'ls,Tanlrrccharacterlsrics
are obvioLs. The cull 01 Sakti and Tantrismof lhe Hindus is much older
thanthe earliestextantTanlricworksofthe Buddhistsli is belleved
Tantra and Paficopasana bv sone scho'arsrhallhe descr'plion ol Tarain suchworksas lhe
The worshipot the deitiesVisnu,Siva, Sakti, Ganapatiand ;;A;thasva al Bftl\manandaand lanlfasaraof Krsnanandars ol
Surya is collectivelycalled Paficopasana.fhe tise ol th s syslem Buddhsii;orgin.?'
ol ihe
was, perhaps,duelo an atlemptto counteractthe anti-Brahmanical SomethinkihatNagaiuanthe reputedBuddhistscholar
in
lheworshipolMahacrnalara Indra ll
forces-Thesesects,lhenselvesoriginallyanli-Brahmanical, gradu- seventhce.lurv,Inlroduaed
ally came undertheinlluenceot Brahmanas.Theseseclsagreedlo borrowed
lo"ii"""J rn"tin"rr."nt'aom HtimstimHumPhalwas
Hindudeiliesrepresenleo as
worshiplheir respectjvedeitiesas Supremewithoul drsregarding ov lhe H'nduslromtheBuddhlsls in
deiliesending or
lhe deiliesof one another ll'liacinq rf,esesarris and namesof Htndu
inlluence
"V"fu"U"taryBuddhrslic Chinnarnasla and
In courseoJlime,Padcopasarareceivedagreal impetusJrom n"oin"'no"*itf'
Kair.etc- arebel'evedby someto be ol Buddhrslicorigin
the BrahmanicalSastras.Even BrahmanicalTant6 recoqnisedit.
Forexample.lheTanlasaraol Krsnanandaapprovedpaicopasana Thesix yogangas ol yoga)'proporlnded
(accessories in Bud-
148 ChapteF4
Tanlraand Cutura Conrplexof India 149
Duringthispedodcoarseness andvutgarity
likeorgiastic depic- TEMPLES
lronscreplconside|t|bly
intothe realmof an.
Paftadakal---d€prct
Aihole,Badami,lvlahakutes'vara, poses
Belowwe glvea listof somenoteworihy objectsof ari depict-
rngeroticmotif6. ol love-makrng.
Puri,Konarak
LinearRepresentatlon ManytemplesoJMadhya diflerenlkindsol erolicscenes'
Daimadpol(Ahmadnagar districtot Maharastra) Pradesh (inJabbalPur,
Gwaliior,
-Chalcolithicperiod,phaselll lvalwaregions)Raiasthan
IndianArchaeology,A Aeview'1958-59,Fig.7 Mysore-
cuiarat,l,laharastra,
Caves lmages33
Kupgallu cave{Mysore)D.H.cordon,Theprehistoric Amongtheimages,owingth9irconception toTantra, ihe most
Backgrcund ol lndianCuhure,p.115. well-known is thatol DaksinaKala.
Buddhistcaves pitalkhora Theiormof Kali-image, whichismostpopularamong theTanlric
ol Kondanaand inWeslOeccan_ erecl,
depiclmithuna--A. 2nd-1stcent. B.C.M.N.doshpa de in Ancient worshioDers, isthis.SivatiesonHis backwilh Hismale organ
/ndl:a,XV pp 69ff, 81fi. andlhe goddessis sealedon Himwith lhal organ inserled intoher
orgailina woman-superior position.
Ellora,Aianta,AurangEbad,
Teracottasandotherobiectsfound
al Bhita,Jhusi,Kausambiin Up,TeranctN6vasain M;harastra. The otferol lhe severedheadof the worshipper belorelhe
Naga4unikonda in AndhraPradesh. qoddessis a lealurecommonin the Pallava(C 4th Cent'A D to
Someterracoflas ot Kausambi
andBhitadatelrom2nd-1stcent.B.C. ;nd ol gthcent.)andCola(c.100A D 3rdquarierof 11thceniury
A.D.)periods of SouthIndia
PlaquefromAwra-Mandasore districlol fradhvapradeshlC. the
100B.C.-300A.D.)-GoddessSriwithcoupt6s, Someoihernoteworthy imagesarethoseol Ekanamsa'
on borhsides,jn- Varahi, Vagisvari, l,'lahamaya or
gagedin sexualintercourse, andpitchers. Malrkas.Dantura,Camunda,
Tripurabhairavi,Candi,Saruani, lheYogints.
SometerracottasfromCandraketugarh andTamlukdalingback
to a p€riocl TheJainsandBuddhista alsohaveTantric iconsAmongthe
fromC.2ndcent.B.C.probablyrepr6senting wine_pots,
ln rrcnt. Jains.lhemost popular are theimages otYaksints, viz ' Jvalamalinr,
Padmavali and Ambika.
M. Candrain Bu etionof BuddhEm. aretarlargerinnurber'
pince olwales Museum, lmaqes.nsprred byTantric
Among ihe images of malos, well-known are those ol
Bombay,No.9,p_25, fig_17 Vajradhara, Vairasaltva'
Ratnaaambhava, Amoghasiddhi,
Slone: Avalokitesvara, Samkhanatha, Lokesvara, Vagisvara, Hevaira'
lronumentsol SanchiandBhafiul-m,ithi,as Yamanta orYamad, crowned wilha stringol human heads, Jambhala,
associatedwith
Sidevi.2ndcent.B.C. Trailokyaviiaya,Mahjusn.
The art ol Malhuraand Nagarlonikonda
revealsa varietvof Amongthefemales,theJollowing arewell-known: Kurukulla'
Malhuna Molils. havinga garlandol human skulls in one form' Paranasaban,
Tanlraand CulturalComplexot India 161
lhe.Brlddhrsl
Sarallyacuttwhichsupphed0
jr.i#';:::?,:aiti{{.-::'f
::l"1[.':[*; *1i.:,'"::'J: ol a DasaKingof Mehar,a holyplaceol thelollowersof Tantrain
Tipperadislricl(Bangladesh').The Satcakn-nirupana o{Nandarama
:rt;im;;li:I:1*iff ::fiii."""#r
$.::Ti,if
ya.!attvawnich,";;;;;; :i r#il,.:
t,h.e,.adu.a
is statedto havebeenwritienund6rthepatronage of Harivallabha
Raya.In somecases,we learnof theTanlricworkswritlenby au-
ihorswhoarewell-known in otherlields.Forexample,Narasimha
i""1",!?,j]irii,lj.
ji;i"",i:,i:iii
:i,:""t:^{r",ej
itii;:i_ti.;1f'"1f
a Thakkura, authoroflhePradiracommentary
wIole lhe Tatabhakti-sudharnava.
ontheKavya-prakasa,
j*it:i
il:il,1"","":ry:i
fli:#::*""i,::ii::i:::','iff
r_ praceof yoga,lhe Va,snavas
Frornthe poiniof viewof literaryhislory,Tantrashavesome
rmportance. SomeTantfas worksonTantra,
referlo otheraulhorilative
sta,e love.(p/emaJ. someof whichare loslwhileolhersare preserved in manuscripts.
'I
he ra"trasIncrdemalty
tnrowtiohlon I Theserelerences throwlightontherelalive chronology ol theworks
,'Tr#,',J:",:"ilffi
{*,iffild.,fi*rfl
Ttr,;,#;;:tx1
ciiedandlhosecitinglhem.
Sorneinrormation, importanl lorthehisloryof Tanlraliterature
andTantricreligion,is contained in atewTantras.Forexample, the
,",,1J[:T,:'Jniil?","i:ii#:Jffi
ji"#::"*"
H""1i,""", Paranandasutrd6
q!oleslhree
menlions
leachers,
the namesot sixTanlric ieachers,and
SomeTantrasreveallheelhicalouflooK
ot lhe people.
Apari tromthe above,Tanlraspropound RegionalTantra
a distinctphitosophy.
sso.nentsto.icalvalueol.lanlrasa,tdthe|com.nenlar. Tanlraisa terarygenre.lt includesworksoftheSaklas.Saivas
o" .The.e-
il;ii#,f:,'ff"::l""""
:f:l;rufn::n**:;.:;; andVaisnavas.In
nant.Saivism
Bengaland
developed
Deccan, Saktacultbecame
chieflyinKashmirSouth
predom-
Indiawasaslrong'
*'"oa., rio-
r'o,r-re',
;:t.'.ii3",';#lf',?l#J:::l fl.,, holdoi lhe Vaisnavas,
wasnot negligible.
thoughthe numberoJSaivasand Sakias
In northernand easlernIndia,Saktadevotees
s'ues,r,eoa e and p,a;e;;;;;::;;.": ot connpnrdro,
lar oulnumberlhe adherents oJotherfailhs.Thereis alsoa Saiva
jtir:?i.ii[.lr;,"J;,"T;
i""J::?::"i:r*i#H
l_,rnecaseol sone Janlras.
"'"'n"' sectin no(hernIndia.In genqalandAssam,lhe Saktasarefo!nd
in a verylargenumber;lhe
werethreemalorschools
reslisVaisnava.Time
inlndia,viz.,Gauda,
waswhenthere
Kerala andKashmir.
wetinoroydIaJlhors.
c g.SaAtaprdmoda
l"#llJ"'l 'i;#::''r:"r"n.'p,"aiil
ffll?l',",ili;i.1i"iff ln the Gaudaschool,the yamamodewas heldin the highestes-
leem.fn this school,lhe live Makaras,in thei otiginailorms,are
ii,,?i,ff
!^i:L:l"t:fl;i ':,:1T:';"_"#
o'""t'""t' particu
larlyTantric
[{;H"J""J::,",."".,".J:: KaliAnkamman
thecemelerv.
is poputarly
SheeatscorPsesrs
believed lo be a Saktidwelling in
deities,
among
rhenon-
lf,ll!*nu'" Originallya ruraldeity,Candesvari is worshippeda6 ln
Ihe Hatiuamsaslales thal Devi, as Kiali, Nandavaram in Kurnauldistrictbylhe abongrnes
used to be wor-
-.,
j,'.4;
:Jli:T :i#5ili#"ftil1:j,;ffi
ll,,"J:.3..';";;;;. KaliAmTen or lvolherKali is wotshioped
e g..Ianjore. InchinoPoly elc
in someareas'-
,.^
dgi_.1?J",led
P:"1 " to as tlvrnsin mounra,ns
dndroresrs Mahakaliis worshipped insomeplacesforsavingpeoplelrom
tne uevtputana lxvlt.p3)may be menlronedin lhjs connexron. epidemics, Sheremindsoneof RaksakaliofBengal
limes
asvindhva-vasini'
sabari(e.s Kar' rlahasbeenin voguein Keralalromveryancrenl
lotBditrcn.the pulaol thisdeityonginaled amonq lhe
",,r:L"r:il"HtT$.lesisnated accordrnq 'n lhe
peoplelo live
Thgreis an impression
some among ]ili.ln"-.. eh"otuL"i''s believedby common
was
orsinary
anonAry"n
n,.uui.'."r,u,
0",,y
3ili5"',i:::ili::[: c"t"i"ry
Thegoddess. sevensislers'calledmari areworshlpped Ma'l
.^ worshrpped
by theChut ln Mvsore,
orsuoans.,frand
Drhjrsriu",.
*a".urr"axr"Jirl;:::1:11::[] meansSakt'Theya,e regarded as wNesol Siva'
:ffi ]:;5;1iX
T:"T:"#:i
[:':iff;*:::.lill
was belrevedlo be,denhcaJwith
Beiorefernale goddesses goats,sheep'elc-'pa icularlybufla_
loes,are sacriliced;sbeioreDurgaandKaliin Bengal
Dikkaravasrnr
ol Ine Katitapurana;. Iantricideasperhaps ledlolheIntoduclion
5.1ehas lwo aspects. r/ksna (tierce)and Tnewrdesp'ead
Lalta lgracef;t). In the ^r rhF nslrlLrtron ol Devedasls (lemple_giy's) Mailhuna(sexuaL In_
re_r.easoect.she ts dark.pol.bellied. 'ilual
and wearsmafledlocKs.Be.
srdeso'terirgsol w,ne,meat,etc.,numan r-",iorit"i *"t ."" o' 'ne trveessentialthingsin a Tanlficprovrde .ll
beingsweresacril.eo
*r.-t"li"*a rhal qodsare pleasedwithwomen So lo
rlwastherrdLtvlo
Ji'qni'ot rn". ,hio"u,dasiswerededcalpd lhe
iino'"nJor*" o"i-" the deitresln courseoi lrme however'
nowregarded
::,::T,iL:i"1.,lT,Hl:,1;;:
::::$!ilJf"ilHffi
as a lormof DurgaorKali.3,
l',.i"JJ1aeoene ratedintoproslitution
p'""""rv
allilstcovenly andt\enove Ly
andspreadin SouthIndiaand lo
lit't
Amongthe the Dravidiansol Souih lnora, ""t.i"
te.ieiJeqj"". "'igrnated
in.ome olherprovrnces as in Bengal
vanousMoihergoddessesis widelyprevalenl?a.lhe worshipo,
" andlhelaw_g:vers we'eBrahTaras
In tact,arnonq fhe eadersoftnesoclery
lheyshowed
or sec'llar' olaslowa-os
Wni,ena^rng'awsrel'giouq
167
166 Chaptef-4 Tantraand CulturalComplexol lndia
Kapalikas andKalamukhas. Someoflhe inscriptions are be onged to this school.The followersol Kaulacara were divided
lgatpuricopper,plateol Nagavardhana (7thcenl). nto lwo subsecls,Putuakaulaa d Unarakaula.Accotding to lhe
Nirnandcopper-plaie {7thc€nt)in Kangra, iormer, Siva and Sakti are known as Anandabhairavaand
Inscription
homArsjkore(Karnataka) etc. Anandabhairavi. They are relatedto each otheras Sesa and Sesi.
TheKalamukhas appearlohavebeena stronqsectInlnegth_ Accotdingb Unarakaulas,Salliis alwayspredominant.and never
11thcenrurres (videN. Sastri,fbe Colas.t\,Ld.as,j955. op. ends.Siva appearsas faftva, bul Sakli is ever beyond Tattva.
648-49). Fromanolherstandpoini
SaktaTanaredividedintolwo classes;
Eplgraphicalevidence oflhe lOthandllth centuriestestilies lhose basedon Daksmacara andthaseon Vamaca?,52
to theexislence ofa SaivasectinTripuriand neighbouring areasof In dilferenl paris ol lhe Saktisamgama,lhere is mentionol
Centrallndia.This is calledManamayura. A hibe ol thrsnameis someTantricsecls.
Rnawni^ lhe Mahabharata zt_5).T'ls s€ctappedrsto have
{11.32.
floJrishedin the Palaperiodin Bengat{V.deN.\. Bhaflacharya. A we l-knownsecl oJihe Saiva'Saktasecl was Kaparka.lt is
AncientlndianRituals,pp.l33-34). generallybelievedthal Kapallkaswere so calledbecausethey used
Tolhjs sectbelonqtheworks.
calledSomasambhupaddhali to carry humanskulls (Kapala) or drink Jromthem.Thereis, how-
andtsanasivagurudeva:paddhah Ac-
cordingto H.Goetz,the severalbas-reliels ever,an inner signilicanceof the name,as stated in lhe Pakas'a
oi Khaiuraho ternotes
owelheiroflgrnlolheinsprration commenlaryon the Sanskrildrama, Probodha-candtadaya. Ihey
ofthissect(4rtsAsattqueq];me
V Fasc.I pp.35 ft.) were so designaledas they used lo drink nectar or candri lrom
wilh n Brahmarandhra, knownas Kapala.With this drlnk they con-
SectsandSubsectstoTanlra(AlsoseeTantricoffshoots) c uded the great VratalMahawata,).Mahaylalaappearslo be an
olher name of the Kapallkasect.
- Erodlyspeaking,Hindulanlra wasdjvidedintotwoschools,
SaivaandSkata. Ihe Soma-siddhanta.named bv Sriharsain Naisadhacarita
(X.88),is consideredby scholarslike GopinathKaviraj53lobe lhe
Among_the SaktaTantrasagain,despitelundamentat unily, sa.r,eas Kapalikasiddhanla, Soma means Sa+Uma, i.e along
.
iherewereditl€rences whichweremainlycausedbytheditference wiihUma.
of the objeclsandmodesof woFhipas wellas ot acaras.
fhe Agama-pananyaofYamunaMuni,Slvapurana,
etc.name
Sakta Tantraswere broadtydrvidedinto two groups,Srikula someTantric
secls,
and Kalikual.
ThelamousVacaspatiMisramentionslourlvlahesvarasecls.
Again,therewasa divisionbasedon KadimataandHadimata.
Eachol thesetwo hadsubsects. Phallus-worship was, perhaps,in vogueamong non-Aryans,
and graduallyinllllratedintolheAryan society.ltis reterredlo in lhe
In anotherway,we nay divideTantraintotwoclasses_pure Rgveda (vl\,21.5, X.99.3). Hatredand fear appearlo have been
Saktaworksaslhoseof Bengaland wo*swilh a l\,,lixture
ofsaiva_ voicedby the seer who praystor proteclionagainstSisnadevas.5l
Saktaapproach, as someoflhe worksof Kasnmrr.
Phalus-worshrpwas invogueamongprim ive peoplesalmosl
Fromanolherpointof view,Tantrasaredividedintotwoclass- throughoutlheworld.Phallicsymbolsol dilJerentkinds,representing
es, lhose followingSafiayacaraand those loernqthe line of the goddessand her male parlner,havebeen lound in ihe ancient
Kaulacara. fhe lotmerisbelevedlo becoevalwih lheVatdtka mafqa landsol the Agean, Egyptand lhe siles of Semilccivilisation.
and relatedto it. Gaudapada, Smakara,etc.are Deheved lo na;e
176
Tantraand CulluralComplexot India
FOOTNOTE y o r l i o no l l h e C h a p l e ro n W o s o n T a n l r 6
l 9 . S e e i n t r o d u c l o rp
S Aj?"."S" Sex In Sron€ and the vedic Mltnlna. aaoRt 20 See B. Bhallacharya, Saclhananala, Inlroductron.
:-""
uEnond Jubttee Vot, p.p.546l.l 2 1 . l n t o . \ a S a d h a n a n a l al,l , G O S ,N o . X l _L
2. tbid, p. 550.
22. See Svami Pranjanananda,ahatatiya Sangitetlthas (in Bengali)
3. C.l. alhatvavedastu yananupayukt a -sa nti-pausr^a. l, pp.300 ft.
- b hrcata d t.
Kama p a upa ctahatuena atyant a vtla k sa n a e va p t a st h
I anab hed a ) 23 See M. Lalou, tcanogtaphic des etolfes paintes (pata) dans tes
See A. Avalon, P/i.rc,p/esot Tante, p_4j t\,tanjusrinutakalpa, tndia. 1930.
5. Names of some South Indian tadtes, not necessafity Tanrrc On eroricsculprures,see D.Desai, Etotic Sculptureof lndia;K. Lat
saorr,ias, end in amba. e.9.. pamabhad.€mba, IheCult o{ Deske: u.Ptokas, Khaju.aho;P fhonas, Kanakatpa
tncrcdible lndja, R. J Mehta, Konatak Sun'Tenple Also see
6. r, 55, . 57, v|.r(Rashavascomm) Tantrayana Ad, ed. S-K. Sarasvati, Calcutla, 19771P. Rawlinson
2e-e,,::n!arikkj;
oancrhatuatantE, XL. 10, Tanttaaia.lantn. XXVI, 36.43. Tantrc:P.Rowsan,eraticA,l ottte EaslM. Ananl, Plastacsilual on.
7. llis inlerestingto
n o t et h a tm a n yp e o p t e so t t h e a n c r e nttt m e su s e d M a r c , M a t c h , 1 9 6 5 ; J u n e , 1 9 6 3 ; A R o y , S c u l p l u r e so l
ro o€leve In the magic pow6r ot le ers and wo,ds; no Nagarjunakonda,Marg, Match, 19651S. Kramrisch, Utktow, /n
matter /ndia etc.: E. Zennas and J. Auboyet. Khajurahot R Lennoy. Ihe
:Tll:::::"lrh"": ssnse.E.J.rhomaswnres
rhdrspes.
srmrrarto Hrnduandl"qany
Buddhist
rypesaretoundonOrdFngtrshOtd E y e o f L o v e ;O . C . G a n g u l i ,M i l h u n ai n l n d i a nA r t . R u p a m .1 9 2 5
iilgn rie,man and Ketric (Htstory ot Auddhtst f hought. 1926.
; fts)
8. E.g.B.C.Majumdar, J,qnS,1905,tp. 355-362. 24 See Cunningham,,4rchaeologicalSuNey Repot, lX the lemple ol
6 4 Y o g r n i si n B h e l a g h a t .
9. Diksatattvajn Snnj-bflva, l, pp. 645-659.
25. See A. Coomaraswarny,Buddhu and the Gospelof Budha,P.p 35
10.1nsome laterTantras,duatismrs r€cognrseo: 33OiGrunwedel, auddhisi arl,., /rd,a (lrs A C- Gibson),tig'rre 126
eg Mtgendta-
tantr.:,ii,
1t. A. Bhatracharaya,Euddhisticonography,Pla\e xxvlll Memotrsol
11.See c. Hatdar,Vajdyaka-vdtanta, Archaeotogical SuNey of /nd,a, No. 66, Plate xlll (g)i v smlh.
p. 21O. Hlstary of Fjne An ln lndia and ceylon,Plale l 13:N.K. Bhallasali,
tz.See Jiv€_s.lagrruDhagavatanda and his commenra,y lcanognphy ol Buddhisl and Brchnanical Sculptu.es i^ Dacca
on rh€
E.anmasamhitaand catanya-cailahna ol Rts.|adasa.
A;i, ch. rv M u s e u m ,P l a t e sV l t l , X X , X X l .
13. Se6 S.B. DasGupla,Stiaclhar,kamavikas, p. g32. 26 . See Tantayana Adi P'awlinson,Ianlrai S lvl Na\dab, Jaina Paintings
l4.For referencoslo or quotationstrom-Iantras,conlatnodrn
the slx
Sandabhasol Jiva cosvamin,se€ S.K.De.vagnava Failh
and 27.N.K. Bose, Canons ol OrissanArchilecture,pp 92, 154
Movement, t961,pp. 418-419.
2 8 . A l s o c a l l e d R e n u k a .T h e n a m e Y e l l a m m ai s d e i v e d l f o m t h e
178 179
Vik€rnapura,
now
ddhara dhyayaPari- in Bangladesh.
He
vrajakacarya is alsoknownas
Kalika- Pumananda Gosvami
rahasya Bhatiacarya.
Kalikadi- Pumannda NPV 138AS v l Kramastava Samkara
a€hasranama B 6643-,f6 Gururaja- Rarmlocana SSPA 1183
DaccaUniversity tanra
No.552BNSt61 Gurupaduka- Durgadasa Visvabharau
Travancore slolratrka VidyavacaspatiAnnals
190{b)
University
No.7799 VSPp. 267 SSPlll.
Visvabharati
509,S1O. U.52 Dacca
Kalitattva- Kaliprasada NM|X.2956 University
sudhabindu Kavyacuncu It4S.1350AS3401,
Kali- Srikrsna 6118,5289,3917 A
NS l. 60 Author,sonol v t. 8.67S85799-
6801,6802
VidyalankafaVarendra Nyayavagisa.
samputa 979Dacca Do Raghunandana
DaccaUniversity
tpancaKa) Nyayapan- MS.No.1974,2964
DR33
canana NS l.97.
Kulapuja- Candrasekhara
NS ll. 37 Gautamiya- RadhamohanaVSP39(117),Aulhorseemslo
nacaMnka
lantra- 40(335) be identicalwith
orKulapuja- SSPI, J. 53 tattva-dipika theVaisnava
candrika authorof this
Kulamula- Samkara name,whowfote
the
Kaulikar- Ramaratna SSP411 K6Mbhaldi
canadipika 6udhamavaand
commenlarbson
Krama- RatnagarbhaNM l.331 Containsnarfag theSuddhitattua
candrika Sarvabhaurna
SC761 applicablein of Baghurrandana
Tantricrites. and the
Authorappears lo Gdutaman-
havebeenthe yayasuata.
preceplorof the BadtaftDha@
tamousCandRay wasa writerol lhe
. andKedarRayof
190 Chapter-s Tanlrasof Bengal 19r
A . D ) i n1 1
Chapters. Author,
Colebrookes,
Vide a discipleol
VSP,p. 16. Kasinathanan-
Cakra- Famabhadra ASG141Vlll Quoted in danathaolherwise
dipika SaryabhaumaR6622Dacca Tantrasara
LJniversit Auffecht's Paramaniranjana.
187A.1884 BodleianCat.gsa. Tantra- Gopala ASG5097 Aulhor,grandson
Cakradipika Ratnesvara SC633 dipika pancanana NS| 138NM of Krsnananda
Jiana-dipika Amarafirailra Forlrs and vt2262SC Agamavagisa and
874 son of Harinatha
biographyof
author,seeunder Bhatlacarya.
lantric Textsof Tantra- Jagannalha N S| 1 3 9
Bengal. pradrpa Cakravarti
Jianananda- Siromani NMt286 Tantra- Sanalana NS ll80
larangini pradipa-prabha Taftacarya
Tattva- Jnanananda NS | 137 Composed jn Tanlra- Govinda ASG5641 Deals with d,ksa,
prakasa Erahmacari 1730Saka(=1808 prakasa Saruabhauma
A.D)in 12 andthe worshipol
Chapters. TalaandTripura.
Tatlvananda- Pumamnda AS Cat.Vlll. Tanlraratna Krsna ASG10494 Dealswith
tarangini 6200 Vidyavagisa lO lV 2573 woFhip ol Kali
TanirakaumudiGovindacandra Nf 240SC andTara.
SSPA. I 184 913
Tantra- RamagatiSenaAS6274 Author,perhaps
canonxa Tantra- Bhavani- NS llSl
identical withihat samkespa- samkara
ol the yoga- canorKa Vandyopadhyava
katpalatikalNS. t.
299).Heis saldlo Tant€-sara Bamananda AS ll A 48 complelein 10
naveDe€na Tirlha Chaps.On page
residenlol Easl 93,thereis a
Bengal quotation from
(Bangladesh). the sr|lattua-
VideNS.I, Pret- cintarnaniol
a c ep . 2 1 . Pumananda.
Tanlradipani RarnagopalaNS ll79 Composed in prot696
ol
Sarma 1626Saka(=1794 Krsnacandra
192 Chapt6r-5
candnka(Supta). prsdominance ot
l\rantrakosa Jagannatha VSp 43 ln thesecond Klsna.
Cakravarti
t\rs., Barmgopala NM1280 Dealswithorigan
(154AKha) theautho,,snarne Pancanana of soundandthe
bhairava
NlvlVll2378 ends|n signilicanceol
Bhattacarya. ln lettersstantng
lheconlentsar€ with'a'.
mentoned, ,,irl6r Yadunandana ASG8144 In lhe lasttwo
atia,Tantrjcbia_ bhidhana Bhattacarya NN411560 MSS.,theaulhois
manttasandlheir lO ll 1046 nameis
expranation. tt sc 1492 Sdnandana
alsocontainsa Bhatlacarya.
briefaccounto,
theoriginand Rajafama ASG3463
atureofalphabet. mafrjari Bhatlacarya
IVantra- Yadunatha ASG6028 Saklakrama Pumananda Nt\4Vt2067
rahakacl Cakravarli Sivar-cana- Samkara
Mahimnah- Raghunandana
VSp55lt4B2) maharalna
stoka-tika Nyayavagisa Saiva"ratna Do
Mundamaia- NyayavagisaSSp 417
lantra Syama- Ramacandra ASG3459
kalpalala NS | 372
Kavicakravarti
tuludraprakasa RanaKsota
See Diksataftva- Syama- MathuranathaPub.Guptapalli Saka
praka'a (Supel kalpalatika 1825(withBengali
Yaksini-lantra Adjtya translation)
SSp 774
Yogakal Ramagati
patatika NSl299 Syamapuja- Cakravarti ASG5958Indian
Sena paddhali [ruseumCollection
Rahasyamava vanamati No.4590
vsP 60{1408}
Acarya Syamaratna Yadavendra NM| 377
Lalita- VSp64(753) A digesr.jn nrne Vidyalamkara
rahasya l^_"-:id..
rarxavagisa NMtV 1674 chap'ters,b;d Syamar-cana- Ralnagarilha NM1220 Forparticulars
on vaflous candrika Saruabhauna theaulhor,
about
pLJranas saeKBma-
andTantlas.In it candrika(Su1ra).
atemptshave Syama- Kasinatha ASG3540
beenmadelo
establish
the
197
Brahmana,
Maitreya. Sonof
Narayana,
grandson of
t\rukrnda,
discipteof
Gopjnatha.
Sundadsakti- Adinatha ssP A 1237
vaEtdanam
Svarupakhya- Nandarama VSP154(1336
Ka)
stavalika 1s5(1356Kha)
NS | 39.
Chapter-6
Tantrasand their Details
chapter -6
Abtret ialiorrs
DK DaMkum.did @,nttuMnda.Bib.Indba.cabma.
DV DurgoEavav ivekadSubra.ni, Skt SahityaParisalCalcltta.
EI E kadasilatvah ffitluaot RaghurEndana.
s< s ra&lakunudi 6 Go'titfurtstfu,Bib.lrdi:a,calcuna.
TT Tnhiatva inSfi tli-tattvad Raghunandam.
VK Varsakivakaumudid Gojndananda. Bib.indic€,Calcutta.
Vraalalaviv*adStr/€parri.
(ln Devanaqarlalllphabeticalorder)
KapilapaRcaralra v K - 1 1 8 , ' 1 5125, 8 1
, 7 61
, 79
DK-s,13,126,129,130,
180,1g2,n4N ET-74,6
DV-23 Bhuvanesvaritantra
Gavaksatantra VK-lM
DV*12 Matsysukta
Garudaianlra DK_2M
vK-283 DV-7,11,13,23
Gautamnantra Mahakapilapaicaratra
vK-146 DV.23
Naradapancaralra Yoginilantra
!1<-150 vK-l20,132,149,157,
175,372,44,441,442
Naradiya-samhila Rudrayarnah
TT_51 sK-266
nh.hra.!
Tantras and th€il Dotails 203
Nigarnapadsista vK-157,2A
sK-63,317 Katyayani-tantra Gh€€rd+sarhna
w-17 SaradaOhl(a?) Kamadh€nu-tanira CinaianFa
Putascar-anarardrika lGrnakhya-i,adra Jana
Dr'-l1 Kalikalpa-tantra Jnanabntra
SaEdatlaka Kakulamrla-tantra Jmnamava-l,atnra
vK-1192t,1&4,14 DK-g,10,68,74,75,89, 112 Kalikuhmava-tanha DarES.tanlra
1 3 61
, 3 9 , 1 4 51,4 9 t, s o , 124, 125, 126, 128, 130, lGlikan€-tantra Tart"a.kaurvdi
152,153,157,159,162, 13t, 141,144,146,.149, Tantacudarnari
170,171, 173,174,176, lGlitantra
150,15.t,r53, 154,155, lGlivilasa-tantra Tantradipika
190,384,385,391, 565 't56,158,
159,164,176, TanlEpaartoda
't78,'t79, K'.rbjika-tantra
180,182,185,
188,190,'t91. Kurnad-tantra Taa raraha
Tantraraia Bd|annillrana
SivaganE
VK-76 Tantrasagala-samhita Brhannila-t
Tanlrasara &tranrElra-t
Hayasirsapaff
ca|atraorHayaiirsa TanFadarca Bfah,nqarYEb
w14 Tantdkadalpana B€hmanda-bitsa
TaraoanE Bhagavad-bhaklivilasatantra
TantrasdH Inthe HarrHtvadHhili
(lnOevanagari Taralant€ Bhuvan6\rari-tantra
alphab€ticat
order)
Littleknownworkshav€b66nleftout TararahaqE Bhulasuddhi-tantra
Tarafiasya-vrtta BtEira/ai{rEb
Tarad€va Bhairava-tantra
&EnEi€lpadrunE KulapEkasa-tantra Todala-lar{ra ghairavi.lar{E
AganEtattva-vilasa Kulacara-ianlra Trailokya-sarnrnohana-tantra Matsyasukta
A96madvaita-nimaya Kular|ava-tantra Daksinamurtikatpa Ma|tlratantra?al€sa
Agana-sandarbho Kulavali-tantra Daksinamurti-sarfiita irahakalanphini-tanlra
Agafirasara Gardha|a-tar{.a Dattat€ya-ifita|a MahaniMana.tailra
Ulta|akarnaktrya-hrnra Gayald-tantra DurgB-kalpa-lanlra Matanila.lanlra
Una€-tant.a Guptadiksa-tantra OevillfrEh Mahaling€6vara-tantra
Utapani-iantra Gupta-sadhana-br ra DeryagafiE Mahisarnatdini-tanlra
UmairrEb GuptiarEva-tarfia Navaralnesva€tanra Mat.kabheda-iantra
Kankalamalini-lanlra Guru-tantra Narayana-tianlra Mayatantra
lGn€la-lantra Gotafii!.a-tant
a Nitarnakalpalata Malini-tantra
Kamalavihsa-tantra GatiirnEh Nigaftakalpasara MundarYEla-tantra
Tantrasand their Details -
205
Nig€rnatattvasara Mdani-lanka tl
Nityatantra Meru-lantra
Nibandha-tiantra Yogni-tantra Wo*sandAuthors Clted in the T.ntras ot Bengal
Niruttals-tantra BudEfradEh-tanta (Arrangedin EnglishAtphabeticat
Orded
Nituana-tiantra R6va-bntra
Nilatamra Lingarcana-hnlEr
Picchila-tantra A/.&-The figuresrctor to the pag6sof the wo.k againstwhich
Varada-tartra theseare m€ntioned.
Pu€scarana{arddka Vaanak€svara-t
Purascaraia-bodhini Van|adeva-t
Purascarana-rasolhsa-iantra Varahi-t A. WORKS
Ph€tkarini-tantE Vidyotpani-t
Alhattantrasara Ylmala-t Ti e Tanlrain whichnetioned
Brhat-todala-tartra Visvasa|a-t wih rcterence
Bd|ad-gautamiya-tanta Vrsnujarnala-t
Bhad-rudraianah Mra-t Acaracinlamani PV Kandav
Vyornaratna-t Sritattva-cirfamani Acarasaaa P 344
SaldirrEh SaidclnEra-t Adatyapurana s41
Sakti-i Sarnay+t Adiyamala T611
Sakti€an'gan'a-t Sanqacara-l Adhyatma-viveka P 12,2A
Saktanandat SanrrdwFt Agamakalpadruma T 16,35,240,S 5 PV Kandaii
Sambhavi-t SarEsvatia-t Agama6amhila T 1 ,S 4
Sarada-t Sarasvati-t Agamasandalbha P195
Sarada-tilaka Simhavahini-t Agamasara P239,T4
Sasvata-t Siddhalahari-t Agama-tattva-vilasa
Sikharini-l Sildhesvari-t Agamottara T 583
Syarna-l(alpahh Svaccharda-rEhe$ara-t Title Tant6 in whichmentioneclwith
qE rEtatErya
Svatalllra-l
Syanwcana{anddka l_hrmafibtrcslrara
Syarna-sap6rydlaarna (HanEapatamesvaa) Agastya-samhita T 37, 38
Syarna-sapaqa-vuhi HayasiFa-pahcaratra (Agneyapu.ana)
Agnipurana P 349,S 8, t8, 4t
Aksaya su 124
TantdcauthoFmentionedinlheHaalattua4idm! Anandapatala su 120
Tarftadipikakara Annadakalpa P 104,PV Kandaii
Pum€rErda
BrahrEnandagi.i
206 Chaptet.o 207
Tantras and their D€tai13
6
chetarldasar*|ita Jhanotbra P321,326
A. Jyolisladva P€
Gia p9
Gopalatapaniya Kaivalyatantra P@
SB Kalagnirudropanisal Pla4
9:t*"* P8,rsg.A lGlika-kula-sarvasva-sarnputaPVKandaiii,P62.S 5.SU49,82,
uovhdavrdavana T$.S42
urarryrEb 9.126
P126.A Kalika(Kali)-(kulasarvasva)S41.SR32
Gupta-diksatarira p 144.531
Gu@ralEsya Kalikalpa T4€6.SU83,89,|07,169
SF,t8 l(alikapurana T46,51
9urynava T,s6.SRi6 Kalikopanisat sR16
rruptaFsadmna_tantra p 11,SU36,76,etc.
Gun0t"i€tantsa Kalihrdaya T 'l47.PVKandaii
ps
Gurugita Kalikapurana s3,41.SR5
pS
Kalikulamrla PVKandaiii
:rr""T P94,SU3r,32,1so Kalitanfra P?30,T475,475AW,52,W.
:"ns"tnah6sva,a Su 67,Og.etc. SU(sirnplyKali)
109,111.S31.
T"""""tt" PVKandaiii sF4
Tn*""r|*"'-a su 87,89,
otc.T,$-s 28 lGlivilaslantra P2.SU136
:rtts+,?rrE1,a,a PB,SR2O Kalikraria sF7
Ha.Unrd€lpq TIST Kalikulamda PVKandaiii
HastihrdayafEbandha p&. Kalirahasya T488
Iathadipika pvt(ardavl Kalotta.a P321,326
Hayastrsa-pancaratra
(Hayasirsa)p i SO.T6 Kalpa 171,@,365
tsanasamhfra pD Kalpasdra P 17.T,145.T 693
q* P.n,s7 Kalpasutratika P12
f*q su7,14,
dc. Kalpalaru PS
T*t*)a P27.s1.A Kamadatantra P 188
JrnnapraqF S3l Kamadhenulantra
Jffanar'\€ (orKamadhonu) P 15.S 24. PV Kandaii
ll74.Tz r27.s14,r9.su,r6, TR 23
._ 68,eb.SR2 Kamakhya-mula
.1Ettan"h f7@ Kamakhyatantra P 91,92,149
1p**"I"ii plzr,pvKanoav Kankalamalinitantra P34
1T*lar". pVt<aidaiv Kamavipaka P26
,JMnesvari€amhi{a pV Kandaiv Kasikhanda P 142
Kathopanisal P 449
210 Chapt€r-6 Tanirasand their Details 211
6. Ujjvalanilamaniol Aupa UN
Gosvamin
222 Chaptar€ Tanlras and their Details 223
(Kavyamala
€d.,Bombay, 1913). SB374
fhe Gopala-cdtupu ol JivaGosvaminconiainsreferences lo UN61
severalTanlrasall ot which have boen reterredto also in his 8,521,24,111,170,187
Sandarbhas.So,for the presentpurpose,we neednot takdthe Tantra-bhagavata: ss. l. 53,72. lv.224,421
Gopalacanru inloconsideration.
Tantrantara: ss. v. 627
(n Devanagarialphab€ddonter) Tantrikah: HV-r.92-93
Asvasirah-pancaratra: SanFasttaJ€stsa(q,v.) HV. ll. 179
Trailokyamohana-pahcaratra:
AgBnE: tN. t.41-42,79,82-83,15+55,267, caratra:HV.l. 60-62,71-Z3, 377-7A
Trailokya-sammohana-paff
5rel 9,54€,552,582{3, 750, tv. 39-40,46-49,58,60
789790,807@,81 1-13,117G71 s s . l v . 2 2 0 .v . 5 2 3 , 6 3 0v. l . 7 2 5
117679 Navaprasna-pancaratra:H V L t 5 1
t.110-14 Narada-tanlra: H V1 . 8 5
tv.2-3,a-9,21-2. Narada-pancaratra: HV. |. 20-22,32, 34, 44-45,.123
s83B 125,15t -152,199-201 ,233,286,
ss lv. 76,2s5,271,335,565.V.626, 287,359-363,436,449,552,790,
634.Vt_477,958 822,1087-88, 1352
Krarnadipika: HV.t. | $16,28,71,78,353,397-98, tv. 13, 20,24-25,28-29,Ss-36,41,
4oss,51s20,723 52-53,54,68-69,175-76
tv.5 B S 1 1 , 2 3 , 5 91, 0 7
UN349 ss ll. 182,257,386.lll.25,127.lV.
299,466V. 576,595,596,628,629,
Gautamiyal HV.l. 83-84,33G31,475,703 630,633,640,650V1.225,246,247
11t.44,60,164,285
tv.21,30,32-33,67,184-85
Naradiya-tanlra: ss . 33
Gautarhiya-tantra: HV.t.8, 192,2IJ6,ZJ7,432-3s,46,2, Naradiya-paicaratra: HV.l. t87
l. 136
913,I 14&50,126, 1344
[. $10 Narayana-paicaratra: BS218
.4,m-23 Nigama: H VI t . 3 5 9
tv.1@-@ Paicaralra: HV.t.39,t 25-26,267,349,74s-46,
SSlV.220,,f23.V.547,640,651.Vl. Tn-74
959,1074 lt.5-6
Tamra: !N1.70,1176-77 B S3 6 ,1 2 9 , 2 1 3 , 2 1 6 , 2 1 7
t.183-84 ss lll. 75,80.v. 472,625.Vl. 417,
lv.12 426
224 Chaptst-' Tanlrasand their Oeiails 225
Only the maior publishedworks have beentaken intd acco Kamasutra P Candrasekhara T,P
Thelollowing
abbreviations
areused: Karnata P Jayanu P
Kalamba P Jalandhara P
S'. Sritattua-
cintanani Kanci Jvalamukhi P
SR : Syamatahasya Kamakhya Trikona P
ST: Sakta@nda- taangini KalaRiara Tripura
T . Tantn'aan Trivenl l\rathura
fR: Tararahasya Trisrota Madhupuri
Durga lvlanasa
(In Devanagani Dvaravati
alphabetica
I order) P Mahismati
Nandipura
Narmada P, SR, TRMithila
Aksayavata Kalamadhava P Nalahati Yamuna P ,S R
Agastyasrama Kalighala P
Nagalirtha
P Kaveri P, SR, Nagarasamb,hava Ratnavali
TB
Nepala Ramanaka
Ayodhya Kasi T,P Ramagiri
Naamisaranya
Avanit Kasmira Ramatirtha
Amafakantaka Kubjaka Paicapsara Ramesvara
Asvatirtha Kuruksetra T,P Patala Lagnikasrama
Aryavaria Kusavana Pinga Lanka
Ujlayini Kedara Pindarakavana Viraja(Viraia) T,P
Uddiyana Kausiki P Puskara S!kratirlha P
Elapura Ganga T, P, Prabhasa Sona
SR, Prayaga T, Srisaila(Srigiri) T,P
TR Btahmasira Sarayu P
Oghavati Ganesvara Brahmavarta Saradalirtha
Kanakhala P Gandaki Bhadresvara P Sindhu SR,TR
nanyasrama T, P Gaya T,P Bharatasrama P Haratirtha
Kamala Godavari P ,S R Bhaskaraksetra T Haddvara
Karavira P covardhana Bhairavaparvata Hamsatirtha P
Karatoya P Gautamesvara lvlanipura P Hadta
Karnalirtha P Candrabhaga [,'lanibandha T Hingula
Matanga T Hrsikesa P
224 Chapte|.6
Tanlrasand thoir Details 229
V Pantheonin BengalTantra
AparajitaVaisnava PU (Kamala)
The maior publishedworks havebeenutilised here PU
Thefollowing abbrevations Karnapisaci T Gayalri ES,PU
havebeenuseo:
Karnamatangi PU Goraksanalha PU
P '. Pranatosini
Kalyayani IPU Gopala PU
Pl ] . Purascarana-ratnakaB Kama PU Govinda PU
S : Sritattva-cintamani KamesvariBhairavi T, PU Gauri I S, PU
SB i Syamarahasya Kartavirya PU Graha P
ST I SakIananda-tarangini Karlrkeya (Surya,Candra,Mangala,
f. Tantrasan Kali TB,T, P, Budha,Brhaspati,Sukra,
PU,ST, Sani, Rahu, Ketu)
IR: Tarahasya
Eesides thedeitiesmentioned here,lherearemanydemigodes, (Ehadrakali, Candika s
mlnordeities,elc.fhe ditfetenlAvataashavebeenmenlioned tn Daksinaka i, Candesvara IPU
sometexts.Wehavenotstatedthemseparately. Oi Vamana, lhere Mahakali.Siddhikali, Candramauli T
arelhe aspectsol Dadhivamana, Sadvamana, Thevariousweap- S, PU
Smasanakali, Camunda
onsandotherlhings,supposed to be heldby ditterent
deities,e.g.
Samkha, Guhyakali Cinlamani PU
Cakra,Khadga, Dhanus, etc.,havebeendeijiedandmen-
tionedin somelexts.Wedo nol setlorihthesedeitieshere. :l KarnakalaKali) Sarasvati PU
Sometextsmention thediflerentplanestasdeities,whichwe ! Kelu PU Cailanyabhairavi PU
do nolstatehere. KaulesaBhairavi I, PU Chinnamasta PU
A separatelist is gjvenof thosedeitieswhosemanttasare Kaumaai PU (SeePracanda
Candika)
menl|oned. PU
(lnDevanagad alphabeticalorder) Jayaourga IPU
Name Workin Name PU PU
Kesava Jnanasarasvall
which Mbh
Kselrapala T,S, PU Tara T.P
menlioned
Ganga T, P,S, PU PU,TR
Agnl PU lndra T,PU Ganapati PU Tumburu PU
Agnidurga PU lndrani PU (Sakr,ganapati, Tulasi
PU UcchislaGanesa T Mahaganapati, Trikantaki PU
Aniruddha PU UcchistaCandalint PU Vighnaganapati TrikutaSarasvali PU
AntarikaSarasvali PU UcchistaMatangi PU Ganesa T,P Triputa T. S. PU
T, PU Ekajala PU (Sakliganesa, Tripurabhairavi IPU
AnnapurnaBhairavi T Kamalatmrka T,ePU Laksmiganesa, Tripurasundari I ES,PU
Vighnaganesa,
230 ChapleF6 Tantrasand lheir Detaits 231
Annapurna T ParijataSarasvati T
Annapurnabhairavi T PracandacandikaT
Indra T Balagopala T
Ucchislaganesa T Bhadrakali T
lJcchistacandalini T Bhayavidhvamsini
Kamapisaci T Bhairavi T
Kalyayani T Bhuvanesva T
Kamesvari Bhuvanesvad
Klsna T Bhairavi T
KaulesaBhairavi T Bhahavi T
Ganesa T lvlaffjughosa T
Garuda T Mahakala
Bhairava T,SR
Guhyakali T Mahilaksmi T
Gauri T I\rahasamardini T
Candesvala T Matangi T
Candramauli T L/lrtyuhjaya T
Jayaourga T Yogin s
Tara T,TR Rudrabhakavi T
Triputa T Laksmi T
Tripurabhairavi T LaksmiVasudevaT
T purasundari T,S Vagalamukhi T
Iryambaka T Vajraprastarini T
Daksinarnuru T , valuka T
Dadhivarnana T Yaraha T
Durga T Vagisvari T
Dhanada T Vasudeva T
234 Chapter-6
Tantrasand therr Delaits
Dhumavati T Visalaksi T
Nitya T T Vl.Listof Mudras,yantrasand Mandalasmentioned
in
Nityabhariavi T Siva BengalTantra
Nilakantha T Sulini T Themaiorpublish€dwgrkshavebeentakeninro
Nrsimha T Smasanakali T account
Syama T,SR Thelolowingabbrevations areused:
Surya T
Srirarna P : Penatosini
T Hanurnal T
Srivjdya S : Sritattva-cintamani
I,S Hayagdva T
SalkutaBhairavi J: Tanlrasara
T Haidraganesa T
Sakala-siddhida TR: Taznhasya
Bhairavi T Hadhara SR: Syamarahasya
Sampatprade Sf : Saktananadatarangini
Bhairavi T Herarnba T
(lnDevanagari alphabetjcal oroerl
The ptincipatmudrasonlyare ljsteonere
Nada S
Anjati T padma T
Apana S prana S
Abhaya I, SR prarthana
Avagunlhana
s
T, S, SI SR BinduS
uoana
S
Kumbha T,SR Bhutini T
Kauliki T Mahankusa S
Khadga I SB,TF l4ahamudra T
Khecari T, S [runda T,SR
Gajatunda S fulusala T
Gada T l\4rga TR
Galina IS Yoga S
Cakra YONI T, S, ST,
SB,TR
Carma T Laksmi T
T Leliha T, S, SR
Tattvarnudra T,S, SR,TR
Tantrasand their Details 237
YANTRAS
T, SR TheYanlrascan be broadlvdividedintotwoclasees-Pula-
Trikhanda T, S Vismaya s Aswillbeseen,somenamesarecom-
yanttaandDharana-yantl.a,
Durga T mon in both the classes.
Dhenu T,SR,TR Vyana 3
Samkha AnnapurnaBhairavi T Ftudrabhariavi T
TR Ganesa T Laksmi T
Srivalsa T Guhyakali T Vagalamukhi T
Sarvavrdravani S Sarua S
samksobhani Vajraprastarini T
Sarvonmadrni S tann Vatuka T
Sambodhtni T, P SR Samhara T,TR Triputa T Vagisvari T
Sakalikarani T, S, s, T Sunda S Visalaksi T
Sannrdhapani T, S, Sr, SB Sthapanl T Smasanakali T
Ourga
T, S, ST, T Syama T
Dhanada
SR
Pracandacandika T Srividya
Samana S
Bhuvanesvari T SalkutaBhairavi T
Sammukhikarani T, S, ST,SR
Matlangi T Hanumal T
Sarvavasyakarani S
MANDALAS Dharana-yantras
ine prominetmandalas,mentionedin the Tantnsan' are
Navanabha, Sanatobhadra a d Svalp|saNatobhadra7he Sritawa' Kali T Mriyunjaya T
cinlamani men'lionsGoru-nEndaIa ta€ Laksmi T
lvanla Siva T
Nrsimha T Sdrama T
Bhuvanesvari T Srividya T
Bhairavi T
234 Chapter-6 Tantrasand lheir Details 239
{InDevanagari
alphabetical
order)
Workin
P Pracandacandika T tioned
T Brahma
Karlikeya T Bhuvanesvai T
Bhaiavi T
Kundalini Bhairavi T Kinkini T Ivlanasa T
Ganga T Mahavidya P Kundalini Mahakali T
Gayati T I\rahisamardini T,SR Kumari Mahavidya
Guru Matangi T Ganesa T Mahisamardini r, sR
T Yoni Guru RST lvlatangi T
Tripura T Laksmi T Gopala T Yoni
Tfipurasundari Vamsalabhakhya T Tala T Laksmi T
Trailokyamangala T Siva P Vagalamukhi T
Smasanakali T,P Triputa T Vatuka T
Daksinakalika SR Syama T,SR Trip!rasundan T,S T
Durga T Srividya T
Daksina T Santi P
Dhanada T Sarasvati T Durga T Siva IP
Nayika T Surya T
Dhananda T Syama r, sR
Nrcimha T Haridraganesa T
Dhumavati T Srikrsna T
Nayika T Srirama T
Chapter-6
Nrsimha Sdvidya T
Pracandacandika I :jastnl T
Balarama T Sarasvati T
Banalinga P Svaha T
Brahma P Hanurml T
Chapter-7
TantricDevotees
Chapter-7
Ramprasad(1)
Bamprasad(C.1720'81).Daleol birthaccording10others1723
or 1781.Death1775accordingto some,1782,accordingto others).
A poel, Saktadevoteeand a singer,all rolledintoone, Ramprasad
was born to RamramSen at villageKamarhaliin Halisaharin the
districlof24 Parganas,WeslBengaj.Al tirsta clerk undera wealthy
person(GokulGhosal, Dewanof Bhukailash, accordingto someor
Durgacharan l\,4lra,
accordingto othels),he subsequently enjoyed
lhe palronageol a fewolher landiordsincludingKrishnacandraRay-
Krishnachandraofleredhim ajob. Ramprasadhavingdeclined,he
244 Chaple.7 245
Tanlric Devotees
openlydeclared
lhaltherewereas manywaysas therearereligious Towardsthe ftiddleol 1890he,as a wandering mendicanl,
traversed manyregionsof India,andacquired lirsl-hand knowledge
HissimpleliJe,precepts of epigrammatic aboutthe counlryand its people.Al this time,hestudiedmany
brevityyetpregnant
wrthnoblethoughls andsincerity, and,aboveall,catholicitv Saslras.
ol heart
soonaltracledmanydtsctpl€s. In 1833(May),he wentto Amedcato represent Hinduismin
Vivekananda,. an intelleclualol highorderandhavinqtiberal lhe Parliamenl o{ Religions al Chicago(September ). Hissoul,stiF
educalrofl. wasat lirstscepticaboutlhe existence ringspeechlheredisp€lled ftanywrongnotionsofthewesternpeo,
ot God.;nd had pleaboutlhe outlookol lhe Indians.
scantregardlor the Daksineswar priest.But,the magicwandol
Ramak.ishna's spritilualgeniussoonconverlect him,and entisted Afterlhat he spenlsomenore timein Ame ca and Europe
himas his toremostdasciple. Himsellgreat,thissaintcameto be lecturing, interprelingSatrasandwritingbooks.
glorifiedthousandtold through Vjvekananda. A grealeventof this odysseywas his acquaintance with
It was,indeed,a mistortune lorlhe peopleof Bengatthathis lrargaretNoble,laterknownas SislerNivedilawho becamehjs
greatman(Rarnkrishna) tella victimtothelalalftaladvol iancerand dasciple, camelo lndiaanddedicaledhersellto socialservice.Her
b.eathedhrslastat thecomparalrvety eartyageof 5b. book, 'TheMastetas I sa!,vh,,in'throwslighl on the manyJaceted
lileol Vivekananda.
Vivekananda5(1863-1902)
Havingreturned to Indiain l897,Svamiji,as hewaspopularly
Hewasoneol thosemenwhoneverdie,lhough
lheirphysical called,devotedhimsell,heartandsoullothemoralregeneration of
lrameperishes. lhe peopleand socialreform.A powerfulspeakerand writer,he
Bornas Narendranalh Oalla,In 1963(Jan.12).to Visvanath urgedlhe peopleto adhereto truth,sacriljce,acquare mentaland
Dattaol Srmuha in CalcunaandBhuvanesvari, hermb,bed physicalstrenglhand to shakeofl superstitions and redeemlhe
a liberal
oullookon lifeiom hjs fatherand religiotjsbentol mindlrom his countrylrom political
bondage andinternaldissensions anddiscords
causedby sectarian and communal feelings. He tried,by his
As a youngman.he reluclany parda vrsrlto Ramkfishna speeches andwritings, to removelhe socialblots o, untouchability,
throughrheinsistence childmarriage, andinsisled onliberalandscientiliceducation.Above
ot hislriends.Thrs
wasa turnrngpointot his all, heinsistedontheuplitlof lhedowntrodden,
life. andontheservice
The eadydeathol his latherplungedlhe tamityInropenury.
^
uneoay, Thefoundalion ot theRamakrishna mathandMission(1897)
unaueto bearthepinchot F,overty,
heaskedThakur Ramhr-
rsnnalo Inlercede. is a mon!mentto hasorganisang abililyandbreadthol vision.
on his behall,to ^rothergoctdess
lor removing
hrsdirepoverty.Thakuraskecthrmto go to th; nearbytempte,and He wasoneol the pioneersin lhe useof spokenBengalilor
preaohrsowncase.Hedidgoto theGoddess, buthecoutdasktor lilerarypurposes.Hewrotein Englishalso.
nothingmaterial. Theyonly thlngswhichcameou ol his mouth In 1899(June)heagainvisitedweslerncountries,
andlounded
were/nana(knowledgeland bhakl,(devolron, somecentreslor leachingVedanta,
Atterthedemiseol themaster,he,throughthemunilicence of Towards theendof 1900,hecamebackto lndia.The onslaughl
peopleandthecooperation ot hrsco-disciptes,
estabtished(1806)a ol diabetesandthe stressandslrainof a stormycareerwereloo
Ramkflshna Malhal Baranaoar. muchlor himlo bear.Hismonallramegaveway,andhissoulletlil
l
t