Qdoc - Tips - Ramachandra Rao Tantra Mantra Yantra

TAN
T ANTR
TR A M A N T R A Y AN T R A
By the sam
same
e autho
aut hor
r
TIBETAN
TIBETAN TANTRIK TRADITION
TIBETAN
TIBETAN MEDITATION
MEDITATION
The Tantra Psychology
S.K. RAMACHANDRA RAO

© S.K.
S.K. Ramachandra
achandra Rao
First Pub
P ublis
lishe
hed
d 197
1979
9
Publis
ublished
hed by Gulab
Gulab Vazirani
Vazirani ffor
or Arnold-
Arnold-Hei
Heinem
nemann Publis
ublishe
hers
rs (India)
(India)
Pvt. Ltd. ABAB/9,
/9, Safdarjung Enclave, New DelhDelhi-
i-1100
110016
16.. Printe
P rinted
d at
Pauls Press,
Press, B-258
B-258 Naraina Industrial Area Phase I, New Delhi-
Delhi-110028.
110028.
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION 9
TH
THE TANTRIK TRADITION
TRADITION 16
TH
THE PSYCH
PSY CHIC
IC STRUC
STRUCTU
TURE
RE 28
SERPEN
SERPE NT POWER AND MYS
MY S TIC FIRE 35
•
ADEP
ADEPTS
TS AND ATTITUDES
ATTIT UDES 41
TH
THE IDEOLO
IDEOLOGICA
GICAL
L BASIS
BASIS 47
SOU
SOURCE MATE
MAT E R IAL
IAL 51
ANOTHER ANGLE 57
MANTRA 66
SPEC
SP ECIMENS
IMENS OF MANTRAS
MANTR AS 73
REFERENCES 75
LIST OF PLATES
Muladhara-Chakra
Swadhishthana-Chakra
Manipura-Chakra
Anahata-Chakra
Anahata- Chakra
Vishuddha-Chakra
Ajna-Chakra
Sahasrara-Chakra
Swastika-Mandala
Nadi-Mandala
The Sacred Vase (Kalasa)
The Hum Mandala
The Mani-Chakra
Th
The stustudy of the Tant
Tantra has suf suffer
ered
ed from
from twotwo chie chieff disad
disadv van
an
tages.
ages. The enthusias
enthusiastts have
ave sought to projec projectt an imageimage of o f it that
is at once so highly esoteric
esoteric and and mysti ysticacall that
that the scholar who
has a modest opinion of his own own intellectual
intellectual abilities
abilities is easily
scared
scared away. The The opponents
opponents, on the other hand, seek seek so to
high
highliglight
ht the antinomian and obscene element elements s in the cults cults
claiming
claiming to be T antrik antrik that
that the good citizen citizen who has an eye eye for
decency shies shies from it. Very fewfew ar aree aware that whil wh ilee the former
attitud
ttitude e is unjus
unjustified, the
the latter is unwarranted. It is true that
some
some T antrik texts texts work
work with extremely
extremely abstractabs tract ideas
ideas and
and employ
employ
elaborate,
elaborate, and and sometim
ometimes es irrelevant,
irrelevant, symboli ymbolis sm. It is also true true
that some T antrikantrik rituals as described and and practised ar aree who
wh olly
outlandis
outlandish h and
and obviously
obvious ly abominable.
abominable. But these these ar are
e deviations
deviations
and
and perversions
perversions,, altogether
altogether alien to the s pirit irit and core of of the
Tant
Tantra ideo ideollogy
ogy. ,
The
The TantTantra was in origi
origin
n folk,
olk, and th the elem
elemenentts of abstr stract
action,
on,
were naturally
naturally minimal.
minimal. It concerned itse itself with
w ith the normalnormal man
and
and pertained to his daily daily life.
life. There was an unmistakable unmistakable
emph
emphasis asis on the individua
individuall in this culture,
culture, contrary to the collec collec
tive orientation
orientation of the Vedic tradition tradition;; but extravag extravaganceance or
eccentricity
eccentricity in individual
individual behaviour was neve neverr suggest
sugges ted, encour
aged
aged or accepted.
accepted. And Tan Tantrik
trik culture
culture was bot bot.:.id rather with the the
ideal
ideal of 'quiet contemplat
contemplation'
ion' thanthan with the goal o f 'joyful 'joyful life',
life ',
here
here or hereafter,
hereafter, that we find find reflected
reflected in the Vedic hymns. hymns. In
fact, the
the Vedic tem temperam
perament
ent of buoyant
buoyant and ecs ecstatic
tatic involvement
was to a great great extent tempered
tempered as a re ressult of T antrik impac impact, t, as
can be seen in the Upanishadic
panishadic ideol ideologogy. y. The Tantra antra is ; neither
neither
so forbiddin
forbiddingly gly esoteric nor so nauseatin
nauseatingly gly bizarre:
bizarre: it is a simple,simple,
wholesom
wholesome e approach
approach to the problem of good living living in a .wo .world o f
mixe
mixed forcforce es. . . , ^_w.,.-,
10 TANTRA MANTRA YANTRA
The
The expressi
ssio
on 't
'tant
antra' ha
has been va variousl
ously
y de
derived and di
difffer
er
ently explained. It is taken
taken to sigs igni
nify
fy a system
system of thought, a
body of practices
practices,, or
or a colle
collectio
ctionn of books.
books. Like the
the other word.
Yog
Yoga, thi
his
s word
ord too
too memeans many things, both common an and un
un
comm
common, both
both normal and abnormal.
abnormal. As will be explained later,
the origin
original
al meaning appears
appears to havehave been
been in the context
context of
weaving
weaving onon a loom:
loom: itit was a vocatio
vocation-n-de
derive
rived
d word. Tantra is the
NARASIMHA-YANTRA, for dispelling

danger (with the Mantra)
loom whereon the the threads

threads are
are ‘spread
‘spread out'
out' or 'extended
'extended'' (root
(root tan):
it also meant
meant the pattern or design design that
that emerg
emerged ed out
out of this
spreading or extens
extension.
ion. Or it simply
imply meant "ex "expl plan
anaation"
tion" (‘tattriti
(‘tattriti
dhatoriha dharanart
dharanarthat').
hat'). In the
the latter sense,
sense, it stood for for a book
or a chapter thereof,
thereof, where arguments
arguments and explanations
explanations brought
out a theme (like Shashlhitantra), or stories illustr illustrated
ated a point
point (like
Pancatantra) . Original
riginally
ly referring
referring to indivi
individua
duall manuaanuals,ls, it cam
came
in course
course of time
time to to stand for a whole
whole literature of religio-
religio-mmagical
agical
treatises
reatises.. More significa
significantly,
ntly, 'tantra
'tantra'' sugge
suggeste
sted d the act of spread
ing out or the process of extension
extension:: techniques,
techniques, methods,
ethods, pracprac
tices,
tices, tricks.
tricks. The expressi
expressionon thus camcame to mean ean skill
kill or compe
compe
tence in combinin
combining g the methods
methods and techniques
techniques.
We havehave an interesting
interesting defin
definitio
ition
n by an eminent
eminent authority,
authority,
Katyay
Katyayan ana:a: "Tan
"Tantra
tra is the co-occurrence
co-occurrence of actions actions".". That
That is to
say,
say, it
it is
is an organi
organis sation
ation of behavioural acts, acts, a synthesis—
synthesis—exactly
what
what Yoga
Yoga means.
eans. A Ayurveda
yurveda makes
makes use of the the word 'tantra' in the
sense
sense of 'body
'bo dy',
', and
and another word word 'yantra' in the sense of of its
INTRODUCTION 11
machinery
achinery.. B
Body
ody is a colle
collectio
ction
n of organs
organs (angas), an organiza
tion of forces
forces (dhatus, doshas and malas), and a pattern of be
coming.
coming. Even
Even in its
its extended
extended sense, 'yantra' means a geo geometrica
etricall
pattern,
pattern, a synthes
ynthesis
is of lines and
and 'see
'seed-l
d-lett
etters
ers',
', a tota
totall representa
representa
tion. And 'mantra' likewise is an organization of sound-systems
VISHAHARA-YANTRA for snake-bite
such as letters and and words

words with somesome uncommon
uncommon potency,
potency, namely
namely a
magic formula.
formula. Tantra
Tantra technicall
technically y is a process of relating relating the
the
unusual patterns (yantra) with w ith uncomm
uncommon formulae
formulae (mantra).
Basic to both these these patterns
patterns and formulae
formulae is the belief belief that
that the
the
hum
human bodybody is the ground where where they operate. Yantras are merely
extensions
extensions or externalisations
externalis ations of the the forces imagined
imagined as working
working
within the individual; and Mantras are are in the nature
nature of concretiz
concretiza-a-
tions or form
formalisat
alisations
ions of the vibrations
vibrations occurring
occurring within
within.. Tantra
refe
refers
rs to the comm
common field field wherein thesethese forces and vibratio vibrations
ns
operat
operate,e, viz.,
viz., the body
body,, not
not the gross
gross physi
physical
cal body alone,
alone, but the
the
'dummy
'dummy'' body unseen unseen though
though elaborate, and and effe
effecti
ctive
ve though
invisible.
That
That the body we we ca
can see
see and touch
ouch cont
ontain
ains withi
ithinn it a dummy
body we can neither see see nornor touch is a very ancient ancient tho thought
common
common to most people in the worl world d. The Tantra
antra ideol
ideology
ogy deve
loped this thought
thought intointo an internal dynam
dynamicsics,, a sort of psychical
energet
energeticsics within the the individual
individual.. Thus
Thus the individua
individuall context
context be
cam
came significa
ignificant nt in th
the Tantrik
antrik tradition:
tradition: inst
instinct
incts, impu
impulses
lses,, aspi-
rations
rations and
and in inhib
hibitio
itions
ns of the individual
individual werewere sought to be so
organized
organized that that theythey functioned
functioned effectively
effectively,, purpos
purposefully
efully andand unita-
rily. By such reorganiz
reorganization ation of the internal forces one one not only
overcom
overcomes es thethe natural limitatio limitations ns but heightens
heightens the the natura
naturall effi
ffi
ciency.
ciency. The actions involved in this organization or reintegration
are the
the 'ritua
'rituals ls',
', sym
symboli bolic
c and
and suggestiv
suggestive. e. This pat patter
ternn of actions
actions
corresponding
corresponding to the the pattern
pattern of the the inner fieldfield-f
-forc
orces es is what is
meant by Tantra:antra: and and the the yoking
yoking of actions to the the field
field--forc
forcee
within
thin is Yoga.oga. The two express expressions,ions, Tantra
Tantra and Yoga, oga, emerg
emergeded
from
from thethe same
same source, and and areare meaning
eaningful
ful in the the same
same context.
context.
The
The Tan
Tantrik tr tradit
aditio ion
n thus foc focusssse
ed its
its att
attent
ention
ion on th the inindi
divi
vi
dual; his physical
physical structure,tructure, mental mechanism, echanism, modes odes of cons
cons
ciousness,
ciousness, and and organism
organismic motivations otivations.. The Vedic tradition, tradition, on
the
the other handhand,, concerned itsel itselff mainly
mainly with the the cosmos,
cosmos, subject
subject
to the capricious forces which are however amenable to coercion.
The
The ea early Tant
Tantrik tradit adition
ion di didd not str
stretch itsits imagi aginat
nation beyond
the
the imm
immediat
ediate surroundings
urroundings of the the indiv
individidua
ual. l. And at a later later date
date
when, under Ved Vedic ic influenc
influence, e, it cam
came to develop an an interes
interest in the
the
world beyond,
beyond, it comfortcomforted ed itsel
itselff with the
the convic
conviction tion that micro
cosm was ess essentiall
entially y homologous
homologous with macrocosm acrocosm.. The cosmos cosmos
was merely an extension,extension, if not no t ^ a proje
projecti
ction
on,, of the the individua
individual;l;
the universe was in fact contained within the individual.
When we find find similar
s imilar ideas
ideas in the Upanishadic
Upanishadic phase phase of Vedic
literature,
literature, influence of the Tantrik ideology is is toto be
be inferr
inferred.
ed. The
The
characteris
characteristic tic Tan
Tantrik
trik philoso
philosophy,phy, as can be be gleaned
gleaned from from mediae-
INTRODUCTION 13
val texts like Tantraloka, SaradatHaka, Mrgendragama and 777-

pura-rahasya is doubtles
doubtless s heavily indebted to the Vedic edic outlook,
outlook,
although it contains a core that that goesgoes back to pre-V pre-Vedic times.es.
The
The class ssiical Tant
Tantrik concepts such as as bija, bindu, samvit, kata,
mandata, prakasa, vimarsa, ahamta, idamta, and Kancuka are
clearly
clearly concessions
concessions to the the grow
growining g cosm
cosmic involvement as a result
of! interaction
interaction with the Vedic edic thought system. Eve Even when this
involvement
involvement came to pass, the interest interest in the indivi
individua
duall was not
comprof
comprofnised.
nised. In the the individ
individual
ual twotwo aspects
aspects of life att
attrac
racted
ted the
the
exclusive
exclusive attentio
attentionn of the Tantra:
antra: breathing and sex. sex. In comrnon
comrnon
with
with primitive tho though
ughtt elsewhe
elsewhere,re, thethe Tantra
T antra feared
feared that
tha t exhala
exhala
tion of the
the bodil
bodilyy air and
and ejaculation
ejaculation of the the seminal
seminal flu
fluid were
ere
tarn
tarn amount
amount to expenditure
expenditure of of life
life energy and
and hastening
hastening of deat
death.
h.
In order to prolon
prolongg life,
life, it was considered
considered necessar
necessary y to restrain
restrain
breat
breath h and arrest the seminal
seminal dis discharge.
charge. Pranayama techniques
of breath control
control and
and proced
procedurureses like yoni-mudra and vajro/i-
mudra to prevent 'the bindu reaching fire' (ejaculation) were
advocated
advocated in some
some Tantrik texts texts. A text, the the date
date of which
which is
uncertain, Gorakshasamhita, brings brings out the intimate
intimate relationship
between the breath (prana) and the semen (bindu)-, the two are are
in fact equated.
equated. It is unders
understandable
tandable that the the yoga-tantra complex
attempted
attempted to understand
understand sex and to harness harness the sexual
sexual drive
drive to
reach spiritual objectives.
Employment
ployment of sex imageryimagery is no dou doubt
bt frequen
frequentt in the Tantrik
Tantrik
lore.
lore. But it worked both ways— making it adorable adorable andand making it
abominabl
abominable. e. Sex in itseitself is neutral, like like the airair we breath
breathe; e; and
and
it is natural.
natural. Its express
expression ion dependependsds upon individual maturity, aturity,
motiva
motivation
tion and
and mental
ental habits.
habits. The sev severa
erall erotic
erotic andand orgia
orgias stic
cults that are
are at once enigmatic and seductive to the the sophisticated
ophisticated
Indolo
ndologis
gistt grew out of certaincertain unhealthy motivations and and anti
social
social tendencies.
tendencies. But such cults cults do not suggest the the essent
essential
ial
orientation
orientation of the the Tantra.
antra.
The
The attempempt to disc scoover, recognise and emphasiz size myst stiic
meanings in wha what areare paten
patently tly absurd and outlandisoutlandish h hashas some
times
times exceed
exceeded ed reasonable
reasonable limitslimits.. The secret socie ocieties
ties devoted
devoted to
exotic
exotic and unbridled
unbridled sexua sexuall indulgence
indulgence (guhyasamaja) and to
murderous
urderous crimes
crimes have have masquerade
asqueraded d as es esoteric Tantrik
antrik cults
cults,,
and to an extent
extent have
have gotgot away with it. There are are scholars,
scholars, mos mostlytly
non-Indian,
non-I ndian, whowho seriously explain that copulation copulation "makes
"makes respi
ration rhythm
rhythmica icall and
and aids conce
concentrat ntratio
ion:
n: it
it is, then
then,, a substitut
ubs titute e
for
for pranayama",
pranayama", and they always, always, and and can conveniently,
conveniently, cite cite in
support Tantrik
antrik texts o f uncertain date date and dubious authority.
The
They make it ap appear thatthat erot
erotic icis
ismm is th
the ve
very es
essence of Tan Tantra;
and their appreciation of this this aspect of Tantra is not entirely entirely one one
of understanding.
understanding. The attrac attractively
tively got
got up bookbooks s on 'Ta 'T antrik A rt'
that are
are flo
floodin
oding g our book-shops
book-shops these these days
days are instances
instances of this
fact. It is unfortunate that in these these circumstances
circumstances Tantra antra brings
brings
to the Indian mind associationsassociations whic which h are horrible and and dis
disgust
gust
ing. Actually
ctually,, however,
however, sex in Tantra is employed employed not not for direct
direct
gratification, but for 'reversal' (paravrtti) and and restrain
restraintt (samyama
or dharana).
Tan
Tantra is notnot toto be
be const strrued as as a coll
collect
ection of myst stiic cults
holding
holding unusual
unusual idea ideas;
s; it is is a sim
simple, serious, sober and realis realistic
tic
philosophy
philosophy of life, life, which
which taketakes s into considerat
considerationion our normal normal
impulses
impulses andand aspirations.
aspirations. S amkhy
amkhya-Y a-Yoga,
oga, Ayur
Ayurveda
veda and the the early
ROGA-HARA-YANTRA for curing consumptive ailments

INTRODUCTION 15
Upanishadic
Upanishadic textstexts more ore truly represent
represent the Tantrik tradi
traditio
tion
n than
than
all the
the mystifyin
mystifying g cults
cults tha
thatt com
commonly
only go by that name. In fact,
regulat
regulateded but
but effective
effective livin
living,
g, eschewing
eschewing exce
excesses,
sses, was the basic
basic
Tan
Tantrik out
outlook
ook. P reser
servation of hehealth, acq
acquisitio
sition
n of power to
live effectively,
effectively, anand safeguarding of the community
community from ind in divi
ivi
dual
dual aggress
aggression
ion were
were the threethree objectives
objectives thathat were invariably
invariably
emph
emphasiz
asized.
ed. Control of breathing
breathing was meant to secure secure the firs firstt
two objectiv
objectives
es,, and
and control
control of impu impulses
lses,, especiall
especially y the sexual,
sexual,
took care
care of the third. ThereThere was considerable
considerable experimentation
experimentation
and
and the
theori
oriz
zing before the methods
methods werewere styliz
stylized
ed and set
set as norm
norms.
Th
The ememployment of me medicinal and psy sycchode
odelic
lic drugs, alchemical
techniqu
techniques,es, and
and attempt
attempts s at sex-s
ex-sublim
ublimation were
were included in the the
experimentation.
Th
The ea
earliest
iest employm oymentent ofof ththe express ssiion 'tantantra' occurs in
the RgVeda1 (although the occurre occurrence nce isis solitary).
olitary). The context
context is is
the vulgar'
vulgar' trades
trades that the lay- la y-fo
folk
lk with
with unrefined spe speecechh take
take to,
but not
not the
the learn
learned ed or S oma-
oma-extrextracting
acting priests. The word word 'tantra'
'tantra'
is used here
here along wi with 'work
'work'. '. Sayan
ayana,a, in his
his commentary
commentary on the the
above
above,, explains that 'tantra 'tantra'' is an agric
agricultura
ulturall implem
implementent (plough
or loom) which is 'spread 'spread out' or 'elabora
'elaborated'ted' (vistarayanti), or
merely 'worked' (kurvanti). Atharvaveda 2 used sed tthe
he word mo more
specific
pecificall
ally
y in the the sense
sense of 'loom'; 'loom'; and and P anini
anini takes
akes the word
'tantra
'tantraka
ka'' to mean a piece of clo cloth jus
just taken
taken out of the Ioom3
It is possible
possible that this was th the origina
originall connotat
connotatio ionn of the
the word.
word.
But it soon moved out out of its shell,
shell, and
and came in course of time time to
signify
ignify a system composed composed of aspects, as for instance in Apas- Apas-
tamba4 (four or five five centuries
centuries befo beforere C hrist
hrist). This line of develop
develop
ment is intrigui
intriguing ng becau
because se it had already acquired a ritua rituali
lis
stic
involvement.
involvement. Apastampastamba's ba's commentat
commentator or explains that it is a ri ritual
procedure
procedure with multiple
multiple details.
details. A curiouscuriously ly extend
extendeded meaning
eaning
in the same contex
contextt is furnishe
furnished d by Sabara,
abara, an equally
equally ancient
authori
authority:
ty: "whe
"when what what is performed
performed but once serv serves many pur
poses—even
poses—even as a lamp lit up up in the midst of pries priests".5
ts".5 Howev
However er,,
the
the precis
precisee ritua
ritualis
listic import is more more suggested than evident evident here. ere.
What
hat perhap
perhaps s was meant
meant is that in the the event of one one being unableunable
for
fo r some
some reason
reason to go through the entire entire seq sequen
uencece ofo f rituals,
perfor
performmance of a detail there thereof of would
would suffice
uffice to bring about about thethe
desired fruit. Alternately, it referred to some detail which is
employe
employed d in diverse
diverse sequences in the self-s elf-sam
ame e manner but with with
different benefits.
Tan
Tantra asas a practi ctical disci
iscipl
pliine apappears to to bebe a later interpre
tation. The Samkh amkhya, ya, for instance,
instance, styled itsel itselff as a 'tantra';
'tantra'; and
and
THE TANTRIK TRADITION 17
Samkara
kara (latter part of S ixth Cent C entury)
ury) recognises
recognises it as such such;6;6
Panca
ancararattra was known known as 'Sattvata-tantra'.
'S attvata-tantra'.7 7 Kautilya
autilya (about 300
B.C.)
B.C.) uses the the word
word in the sense sense of fundamental
fundamental canons employ
ed for explaining and expoundin expounding g a system
system of thought.8 This
interpre
interpretatio
tation n appear
appears s to have
have gained
gained ground, and 'tantra 'tantra'' came
specifica
specificallylly to mean ean a well-organi
well-organiz zed body of thought, with its its
own logic
logic andand rationale.
rationale. It was even even looked upon as tantamount
to 'autho
'authority'
rity' or 'traditio
'tradition'.
n'. But the word word was was s till used
used rat
rather
her
sparingly withwith refer
referenc
ence e to the orthodo
orthodox x systems. Kullukabh
ullukabhatta's
atta's
(aroun
(around d A.
A.D.D. 12
1200) di dis
stinction
tinction between
between Vedic Vedic tradition
tradition and
and Tan-
trik traditio
tradition9 n9 was the prevailing view view in the mediaev ediaevalal ages.
ages. In
many works,
works, the term 'nigama'
'nigama' standstands forfor the
the Veda and 'agama' 'agama'
for th
the Tantra.
Tantra. That the the ritua
ritualis
listic import
import lingered
lingered on even even when
Tan
Tantra came to signif signifyy a 'di disci
scipl
plin
ine'
e' is brbrough
oughtt out
out by
by th
the refe
rences
rences in som some Pur anas and in
Pu ranas in the Bhagavata that that speak of threethree
kinds of worship, Vedic, Tantrik antrik andand mixed.10
It can safely be assum assumed that that at firs
firstt tthe
he differences
differences between
the Vedic
Vedic tradition
tradition and
and th the Tantrik tradition
tradition were
were almos
almostt irrecon
cilable
cilable.. Each
Each camp looked looked upon the the other
other as antagonis
antagonistic,
tic,
perv
perverse
erse and and purpo
purposeles
seless.s. If the Puranas proclaimed that the
Tan
Tantras were prepared only only in ord order to confoun ound the wicke cked
(dushtanam mohanarthaya), the the Tantras
Tantras like Kularnava claimed
that
that a Tantra
Tantra is like
like an
an honourable hous house-wife
e-wife (kulavadhu) while
the Veda
Veda with its accessories
accessories like Puranas and Sastras, is like like a
common harlot (samanya-ganika). The orthodox view, projected
mainly by Kumarila (early sixth century),
century), holds that Tantra Tantra was
meant for
for the degenerate,
degenerate, the the uneducated, the the fall
fallen,
en, or the
the infirm,
infirm,
and that
that its rituals were fraught
fraught with dangdangererss of all sor
sortts. But the the
Tant
Tantrik enthusia siast
sts
s held, and hold even now, that the Ve Vedas,
being antiq
antiquate
uated,
d, cannot
cannot lead
lead to muchuch goo
good.
d.1 11There
There was obvio
obvious us
ly a struggle
truggle for
for ascendance,
ascendance, and each tra trad
ditio
ition geared
geared itsel
itselff up
to meet the needsneeds of both
both the
the folk
folk and
and the
the elite.
elite. And
A nd in thethe pro
cess,
cess, inevitably,
inevitably, each
each modelled
odelled itse
its elf after the
the other,
other, assim
assimilated
ilated
the
the attractive
attractive particul
particulars
ars of the other, and and attem
attempted
pted to secure
secure
the autho
uthority
rity and
and support
support of of the
the other. The Tan Tantrik
trik adherents
adherents
sought
sought to show
show tha
thatt the
the tantra
tantra had
had Vedic
Vedic foundation, Vedic sanc
tion and Vedic authority.
authority. The Vedic puritans took took over many any of
the hand-gestures (mudras), spells (mantras) and and magic designs
designs
(mandalas) that that the Tantriks
antriks employ
employed ed,, together
together with their
KARTAVI RYA-YANTRA for recovering lost property
methods of expos
exposition. The
The new attitude is made ade clear
clear by Apa-
rark
rarka's
a's counsel in his gloss
gloss on Yajnavalkya-Samhita that the
Tan
Tantras sh
shoould not be condemned outoutrrig
ight
ht,, alt
althoug
ough they ar
are not
entirely valid or uniformly authoritative.
THE T ANTRIK TRADITION 19
Th
The rec
recon
onc cilia
iliattion
ion between th the two div iver
erggent tradi aditions
ons was
partly effec
ffected-
ted- by the ort orthod
hodox ox authorities affiliffilia
ating
ting the Tantra
Tantra
to the 'Saubhagyakanda' of Atharvaveda, and the Tantrik writers
relying heavily on on Vedic texts like like Taittiriya-aranyaka and describ
ing
ing their scriptures
scriptures as as continuatio
continuation n of
of the
the Upanishadic
Upanishadic trad tradition
itio n.13
Th
The Ve Vedic rit
ritu
uals
als adopted numerous Tantr Tantrik details and and th the Tan
Tantra
abandon
abandoned ed its cruder cultic ultic ideolog
ideology y in favour of the austere austere
aspirations of the Upanishads.
Th
The trtransf
ansfor orm mation ion of the Ve Vedic hy hymnal Gayatri into into a feminine
divi
divininity
ty is an illuillus stration
tration ttoo the
the point.
point. In the
the Veda,
Veda, the the celebrated
celebrated
solar hymn (kno (known wn as Gayatri) occurs at several several places (e. (e. g.
RgVeda 3,62,
3,62, 10; Yajur-Veda 3,35; 22 22,9;
,9; 30
30,2;
,2; 36,3) and and is so
called
called becau
because se “ the the hym
hymn saves the the one that
that recites it" (gayan-
tam-tr
tam-tray ayata it i) . Th
ata iti) The hymn
hymn is actual
actuallyly known as gayatra, and one one
who has has mastered
mastered it it is gayatrin (or gayatri). It is a masculine asculine
noun
noun (co(commparable
parable to dehi, “on “ onee who has has a body
body", ", or dhani, one
who has wea wealth” ) and is used as such in the Vedic context context (as,(as,
for instance, in RgVeda, 1.10.1, "gaya nti tva tva gayatrino").
gay atrino"). GayatriGayatri
is also a Vedic metre etre (wi
(withth 24 units
units)) which
which is frequen
frequently tly employed
employed,,
although the nomenclature 'gayatri4 is confined to th the abov
above e
mentioned hymn. The hym hymn is is addressed
addressed to the Sun Sun (Savita, and
hence it is also called Savitri "savituriyam"). Manu Manu (early centu centu
ries
ries A.
A .D.), for
for examexample,ple, refers
refers toto this hym
hymn only as as 'Savitri'. There
is no early assassociation with any feminine deity deity at all. But the the
Atharva-Ve
Atharva-Veda da (19.71.
(19.71.1) 1) hadhad described
described this hymn as “ the the mother
of the Veda" (veda-mata), in the sense of being the source and and
support. This heralded the course by which the simple solar prayer
developed
developed into a styliz tylized,
ed, iconic goddess
goddess with a defin definiteite Tantrik
framewor
framework. k. And there there cam
came into being specific pecific gayatris tor seve
ral gods
gods and
and goddess
goddesses, es, whic
which the the Vedic
edic worship
worshippers pers as as well
well as
the Tantr
Tantrik
ik adherent
adherents s freely
freely used.
used. There were were also charac
characteris
teristica
tical
l
ly Tantrik gayatri (like (like “ Om Adyayai vidmahe, Tripurayai Tripurayai dhimahi,
dhimahi,
tan
tan no Kali pracoda
pracodayat" yat" and
and “ Om Mahadevyai
Mahadevyai ca ca vidmahe,
vidmahe, Vishnu- ishnu-
patnai, ca dhimahi, tan no Lakshmih akshmih pracoda
pracodayat")yat") whic
which h were
incorpor
incorporat ated
ed in standard Vedic Vedic wors
worship.
hip. The
The Vedic gayatri was
even
even employed in witc witch hcraft
raft and
and sorcery
sorcery under generalgeneral Tantrik
antrik
directions (cf Vishnudharmottara, 1.165.55-63, for abhicara purpo
ses, 'viparitam prayojayet").
Although the two thus met met,, each
each in its essent
essentialsials continued to to
be uncomprom
uncompromis ising.
ing. This
This is how,
how, in isola
isolated
ted area
areas, s, the
the origina
originall and
and
rigid Tantrik and Vedic prejudices persist even to this day.
Th
The crcredi
edit for bringi nging toget ogeth her Ved
Vedic wisd isdomom and Tant Tantrik
tradition
tradition should
should go to the the great Sam Samkara
kara (late s ixth
ixth century). His
name is honoured
honoured not not only in the the Vedantic
Vedantic trad
traditio
ition but
but in the
the
Tant
Tantrik tr tradit
adition
ion as wel well.l. Besidsides the well- ell-kknow
nown commentaries
on the
the triple
triple source of Vedantic wisdo wis dom m (Upanishads,
(Upanishads, Brahm Brahma-
Sutras,
utras, and and the the G ita),
ita), he is said to have have written
written the the celebrated
celebrated
Tant
Tantrik work orks, Prapancasara and Saundarya-lahari, and also also others
like Cintamani-stava (acco (according
rding to Bhaskararay
Bhaskararaya, a, and
and lis listed in
Burnell's Catalogue of Tanjore MSS), Lalita-trisati-bhasya (which
is suppos
supposed ed to havehave been
been prepar
prepared ed in Kas
Kashmhmir) andand Tara-pajhatika
(dealing
(dealing with the the worship
worship of Tara Tara, thethe great Tantrik Savioress). avioress).
As in the the tradition
traditional al Vedantic
Vedantic line of teache teachers, rs, in the Tantrik
antrik line
also, he he was preceded
preceded by sages (like (like Vasishth
Vasishtha, a, S akti, Suka uka andand
Vyasa) and by historic his toricalal personages, (lik (like
e Gaudapa
Gaudapada da andand
Govinda). However,
However, in the Tan Tantrik
trik traditio
tradition n Govinda
ovinda does oes not
imm
immediately foll folloow Gaudapada:
Gaudapada: there there are are four or five five other
other
teachers that intervene. Gaudapa Gaudapada da and Govinda ovinda are are described
here
ere as great Tan T antrik
trik adep
adeptts. Besides the well well--kno
known Karika on
the Mandukya Upanishad, Gaudapada Gaudapada is said to be the the author
author of
two Tantrikantrik works, Sakti-Sutras (acc (accordi
ordingng to Bhaskarara
Bhaskararaya ya))
and Subhagodaya-stuti (on which the the great Tantrik writer writer
Lakshm
akshmidhara
idhara has comm commented). He is reputed to have have beenbeen partial
partial
to S ri-V
ri-Vidya school of Tantra Tantra.. Govinda, about whom whom we know
very
very little
little in the Vedantic tradi traditio
tionn and
and whos
whose e Vedantic works works
have
have not survived at all all (if indeed
indeed h he
e wrote
wrote any), was a great
name in the Tantrik tradition. A very well-known work Jayadratha
-yamala is ascribed
ascribed to his his authors
authorship. hip. Recovered
ecovered from Nepal, this
work
work suggests
suggests the the impact
impact of Trans-Hirans-Him malayan cults cults on the the purely
Indian Tantrik tradition. tradition. Tara was probably introduced introduced into the
mainland of India from the Him Himalayan regions.
regions. And the ascrip
tion of a man manua uall of Tara-worship
ara-worship to Govinda's Govinda's successor,
successor, the
great Samkara, kara, is not altoge altogetherther fantas
fantastic.
tic. We know that the the
great temple
temple at Kanchi anchi (in (in Southouth India) with with which
which Samkar amkara's a's
association
association was both continuous and and intimate, was dedicat dedicated ed
origin
rigina ally
lly to Tara.
Tara. There were were severa
severall Tara
Tara shrines in the country
at one time,
time, and and Sam
Samkara's
kara's name is connec connected ted wiwith most ost of them
them..
Samkara
kara inherited
inherited fromfrom Gaudapada
Gaudapada his interest interest in S ri-Vidya,
ri-Vidya, and and
popularized the worship worship of the Mother-G Mother-Goddess
oddess in the form of
the mystic diagram Sri-Cakra. Unlike Unlike in the the Vedantic trad traditio
ition,
n,
Govinda becom becomes in the the Tantrik
antrik traditio
traditionn an effective
effective teache
teacherr of
Samkara's.
Samkara'
amkara's s immedi
immediate ate disdiscicipl
ple,
e, Padmadmapad
apada, a, figures
figures in both
the
the traditions
traditions.. In the the Tantrik
Tantrik traditio
tradition,n, he is credited with with a
commentary on his master's Prapanca-sara, entitled Sambandha-
dipika. There were were other disci disciple
ples s of
of Samka
Samkara ra like Bodh
Bodha, a, Girvana,
Girvana,
Ananda,
nanda, Visnu-s
isnu-sarmarma, a, Laksmana-desika
aksmana-desika (the (the author of Sara'da-
tilaka, a standard
standard T antrik antrik work),
work), M alli allika
karjurjuna
na of the Vindhya
Vindhyas, s,
Tri
Trivikr
ikrama of J agan agann nath
ath-Pu
-P uri, Srid
Sridhara of Ben Bengal and and Ka Kap pardin of
Bañar
Bañaras,as, who helped helped spread
spread the the Tantrikantrik te teachings
achings in diffe differe
rent
nt
part
partss of
of the country. The establis establishm hmentent of
of the fourfour or five amnayas
(cultic
(cultic centers)
centers) in the differendifferentt corne
corners rs of India, which is as ascrib
crib
ed to Samka
Samkara ra,, is not
not wiwiththoout an interest.
interest. TheThese se are
are all ass
associated
ociated
with S akti-pithas (Tantrik (Tantrik Centers)
enters) and and rituals conductedconducted here ere
have
have an an unmis
unmistakable
takable Tan T antrik
trik background. In fact, fact, the very concept
concept
of amnaya is a Tantrik antrik one; one; Sri-Vidyarnava-tantra for instance,
speaks of five amnayas, urddhv urddhva a (upland),
(upland), purva purva (easter
(eastern),n), pas-
pas-
cima
cima (western),
(western), uttarauttara (northern) and dakshina dakshina (southern).
(southern).
Samkara'
kara's s interest
interest in Tantra antra was not accidental. The practical practical
significance
ignificance of the the doctrine of Advaita-vedanta
dvaita-vedanta that he espoused espoused
and
and expounded can can never
never be understood
understood or apprecia appreciated ted unless
unless we
take
take into account Samkar Samkara's a's Tantrikantrik leanings.
leanings. Advaita was not
meant
eant to be a mere ere intellec
intellectual
tual disci dis cipl
pline
ine;; it was not only only an
approach
approach to Real eality
ity (a darsana) but a mean means s to reach it (an
upasana). When When the Upanisha
Upanishads ds distinguished
distinguished tw two kinds of know know
ledge
ledge,, the higher (para) and the the lowerlower (apara) they they included all
Vedic lore in the latter.14 The pos position was identical wi with
th the
Tan
Ta ntrik out
outloo
ook k; and th the dist
distin
inct
ction
ion between transce scendental and
transa
transactional
ctional levels of Real R eality
ity which
which the the Mahayana
Mahayana Buddhists
(princi
(principal
pally
ly the
the Madhyamikas
Madhyamikas after after Nagarju
Nagarjuna) na) as as wel
welll as Gauda-
Gauda-
pada andand Samkara kara accepted can be traced traced to a Tantrik ntrik source.
Both the the 'levels'
'levels' are are in fact fact field-
field-force
forces s or pow powers, the latterlatter
binding
binding,, and the the former
former freeing, the ind indivi
ividua
dual. l. They are are thethe
equivalents of the unconditionunconditioned ed BrahmBrahman and and the condi condition
tioned
ed in
Vedai ta, of the moksa and dharma in Mimam Mimams sa. It was Sam amkara
kara's 's
view that Advaita-upasana pertains pertains to the former former whil while e tthe
he Sri-
Cakra-puja to the latter. The involvement of Sri-Cakra in all the
pontificates and and shrines with with which
which Sam Samkara ara was connected
connected (like
the Sarad
arada a shrine of S ringeri,
ringeri, the Kam Kamakshi
akshi shrin hri ne of Kanchi
Kanchi and and
the Mukambika
Mukambika shrine of of Kollur)
ollur) was the natural natural outcome
outcome of the the
recognition that Tantra is the translation of theory into practice.
It would
would appear
appear that that Gaudap
Gaudapad ada a piepared
piepared the the way for for Samkara kara..
It is signific
ignificanantt that Samkara kara singles out, from am amonongg sever
severalal
preoe
preoecessors
cessors thatthat he cites
cites,, Gaudapa
Gaudapada da for a unique descri des criptio
ption;
n;
‘knower of tradition' (sampradaya-vit) ,15A rd his rega regardrd for trad
tradi i
tion is exp expressed
ressed by th the follo
followinwing g remark of his: “ Although
acquaint
acquainted ed wi with
th all script
scriptures,
ures, if one one is ignorant of traditio tradition n he
should
should be disreg
disregar arde
ded d as a foo fool.“l.“ 16 What then is the tradition, tradition,
lhat,
lhat, according to to him,
him, Gaudapad
Gaudapada a knt w? Not Not th the Vedic traditio
tradition,n,
for he severely
severely critici
criticizzes thethe Mimam
Mimamsakas sakas who sole solelyly rely on Vedicedic
wisdom
wisdom:: r or the Vedantic trad traditio
ition that strictly
trictly foll
fo llo
ows the Vedic
text
texts, for he criticiz
criticizeses also his pre prede decessors
cessors (som(some of whom were were
22 T a n t r a Ma n t r a y a n t r a
Advaitins
dvaitins)) like
like Brahmadat
Brahmadatta, ta, Bhartrpra
hartrprapanca
panca and Bhartrhari, who
answered thisthis descri
description
ption.. Gaudapad
audapada, a, however,
however, was remarkab remarkable le
in many ways.ways. He distinguis
distinguished hed between
between trans transactional
actional and trans trans
cenden
cendenttal levels of Reality,eality, class
clas sified wisdomwisdom into absolute absolute and and
relative, suggest
suggested the the illus
illusory
ory nature
nature of the the phenom
phenomenal enal worldworld
(maya), and postulated
postulated the the theory of o f transform
transformationation (vi varía).
aría).
His position doubtless smacked of Mahayana Buddhism, and there
are well-founded
well-founded indications in tthe he Karika that he favoured the
Madhyamika
Madhyamika view. view. But he insis insistedted on the relevanc
relevance e of scriptural
criptural
authority;
authority; and
and undertook
undertook to interpret
interpret an Upanishadic
Upanishadic text. What
he sought
ought to showshow was that that thethe views that had emerg emerged ed from the the
Tant
Tantrik ququarters (viz. the Mah Mahayana Bu Bud ddhism)
sm) were also the
views
views ofof the
the Vedic sages.
sages. Gaudapada
Gaudapada recognizedrecognized the the continua
continuation tion
of ‘traditio
tradition'n' from Upanishad
Upanishads s to Buddhism,
Buddhism, and also recogn recognised ised
that
that the Upanishads
panishads had already already incorporated
incorporated the Tantrik antrik ideas.
ideas.
Thi
This perhaps wa was ththe trtradit
aditioion n that
that Sam Samkara wa was referring to to.
Gaudapada
Gaudapada and Samkara kara thus reestabli
reestablis shed thethe synthesis
ynthesis of the the
old
old Vedic traditio
tradition n and the T antrik antrik traditio
tradition.n. It ha
has bee
been n held
held that
the Tantrik ideology
ideology is clearly
clearly reflected
reflected in the Taittiriya-aranyaka,
a text that the
the Tantrik writers
writers of Vedic persuasion persuasion frequefrequentlyntly rely
upon.17 The very firs firstt section
section thereof
thereof is devoted to to a ritual connec
ted with thethe sage
sage Aruna-Ketaka.
runa-Ketaka. There is an Upanishad, which
probably grew out of this section, Arunopanis Aru nopanisad, ad, which projects
the greatness of the goddess Aruna (also mentioned in Vamakes-
vara-tantra). Arunas were were in fact fact a group of sages sages (lik
(likee Ket
Ketusus and
Vatara
Vatarasanas)
sanas) whose origin origin was mythi mythica call
lly
y traced
traced to the the carcass
carcass
of P rajapat
rajapati.i. The other
other groups
groups (like (like the Vratyas,
Vratyas, Vaikhan
Vaikhanasas, asas,
Valakhilyas
alakhilyas and and Sram
Sramanas)
anas) were were likewis
likewise e participan
participants ts of both
traditions
traditions,, and
and their origi
origin n was tracedtraced to the the diffe
differe
rent
nt limbs
limbs of
the
the same P rajapati. It is interesting interesting in this connectionconnection to note note
that Sam
Samkara
kara desribes Gaudapa
Gaudapada da as as a foll
folloower
wer of P rajapa
rajapati,1ti,18 who
perhap
perhaps s symboli
ymbolize zed d the
the synthes
ynthesis is that
that Gaudapada
Gaudapada and and Samkara kara
sought to re-establish.
The
The new sy syn
nthesissis was not wit without its ju just
stif
ific
icat
atioion.
n. Bot Both
traditio
traditions
ns had encourag
encouraged ed mystical
mystical tendencies
tendencies in differedifferentnt periods,
periods,
and
and were gradual
gradually ly moving
oving away from popular popular hold. The move
ment that Gaudapada and Samkara amkara spearheaded
pearheaded was in fact fact a
reaction agains
againstt the excessive
excessive mys mysticis
ticismm of the Mim Mimamsa
amsakas kas on
the one hand
hand andand of the Mahayana
Mahayana Buddhis Buddhists on the other, around
the early centuries of the Christian era. The new movement
appealed
appealed to reason reason and supported quietism. quietism. Iconic worship worship
(pratikopasana) had had already
already come to stay: the adherents adherents of both
tradi
tradili
lio
ons had
had favoured
favoured it, and and therefore
therefore rituals
rituals of diverse
diverse types types
had sprung
sprung up. up. Quiet contemplation
contemplation which which was alike alike the ess essent ential
ial
feature
feature of the the two traditraditio tions
ns was receding
receding to the the background.
background. The
Brahmasutra (4.1 (4.1,3-,3-12),
12), however
however,, suggest
suggested ed 'aham-grahopasana'
'aham-grahopasana'
(introverted
(introverted absorpt absorption) ion) as an alternativealternative technique
technique to iconic
worship; and and this had had sc scriptural
riptural sanction
sanction as well well as support from
Tant
Tantrik id ideology. Sam Samkara's Adv Advaitaita as
as anan upasana was a natural natural
development of this suggestion.
The
The Tan
Tantra is a coll collececttive express ssiion: it comprises ses numerous
tribal an and regional
regional cults,
cults, admitting
admitting of severa severall systems of clas classi
fication
fications s. But But it is interesting
interesting tha thatt all of them them have certain
common working principles such as the the indis
indispens
pensabi ability
lity of
of a guru,
the necessit
necessity of in initia
itiatio
tion n (diksha), secretiveness
secretiveness of ritual perfor perfor
mances,
ances, andand employment of symbolis symbolism m. In a sense,
sense, Tantra
Tantra is most
adequately
adequately desc described
ribed as 's 'symbolic wisdom,
wisdom, dire directly
ctly comm
communicated
through a teacher' (sanketavidya guruvaktragamya). Its symbolis symbolism m
presen
resentts a real di diffi
fficcul
ultyty for students
tudents of this lore, lore, especially of
Wester
Western n extraction.
extraction. We do not know precisely when this dis discipl
cipline
ine
allowed
allowed itselfitself to be be writte
written n down. But we hav have e a mass of Tan T antrik
trik
manuals, digests, handbooks, instruction-sheets and picture-books
right from the the fourth
fourth or fifth fifth century onwards til till comparatively
comparatively
recent
recent times
times,, most ost of them in Sans S anskrit
krit (som
(sometimetimes es in corrupt
corrupt
S anskrit
anskrit).). The 'Tant'Tantra ra written
written down' is obviously obviously parado paradoxic xical,
al,
for
for it is by defin definitio
ition n what
what is got got orally
orally from the teach eacherer,, and
and
there
there is a severe
severe injuinjunc nctiotionn ththat books are are never
never to be substitutes
ubstitutes
for tea
teach
cherers.
s. It is susurpris
rprisinging thathatt not only
only theotheoretica
reticall explanations
explanations,,
even instructions
ins tructions for actual actual practice
practice (lik
(likee Sadhanamala, Sadhana-
samuccaya and Sadhana-vidhi) exis exist in hund hundred reds. s. Prob
P robably
ably,,
scholars could not resis resistt the temptatio
temptation n to write;
write; and when they they
were
ere motivated by compass compassion ion for fellow-fellow-crecreatures
atures (as (as thethe
Mahayan
Mahayana a and Vajraya
Vajrayana na Tantriks
T antriks ostens
ostensibl ibly
y were) they had had an
additional incentive. But B ut they were were aware of the the Tantrikantrik prejudice
against publicity,
publicity, for the the Tantra
Tantra is essentially
essentially a confide confidentialntial affair,
strictly
trictly private
private to the practitio practitione nerr and his master. aster. In order order to
recon
reconcilecile their urge
urge to write write with the the injunctions against writing, writing,
they
they found an an expedient
expedient method in employi employing ng 'symboli
'symbolic c speech'.
speech'.
The
They wrote ote no no doub
oubt in in a language whi whichch all cou could read but but few
underst
understand and.. This language,
language, or rather rather the the style of writing writing.. is
technically known as sandhabhasha' (or Sandhya-bhasha which
is,how
is, howeve
ever, r, erroneous):
erroneous): 'intentio 'intentiona nall language' (Vidhusek (Vidhusekhar hara a
Bhattachar
Bhattacharya), ya), enigmatic
enigmatic language' (Burnout), (Burnout), 'mystery-langua
'mystery-language' ge'
(Kern), ' lang
langua uage
ge intentione
inte ntione/' /' (Eiiade),
(E iiade), or 'hidden
'hidden sayings'
sayings' (Max-
Mueller).1
ueller).19 It is obvious
obvious that that the Tantrik tracts racts were ere origin
original ally
ly
meant
eant onlynly for private use, and for care carefullfully
y limited
limited circula
circulation;
tion;
the rituali
ritualis stic presentation
presentation of a copy would would invariably be accom accom
panied
panied by oral clc rificatiorifications ns andand essent
essential
ial explanations. For others, others,
naturally,
naturally, the
the writi
writin
ng mad
made
e little
little sense; and when taken
taken literal
literally,
ly,
it woul
would
d either
either conf
confoun
ound
d them
them,, or lead them astray.
astray.
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MANTRODDHARA-YANTRA for extracting

1 the necessary Mantra
The
The strstrangeness of th the lan
language us used in TanTantra was also du due
to the
the fac
fact that
that characteris
characteristic tic expressi
expressions
ons were takentaken over whenwhen
foreign cults were
were incorporat
incorporated. ed. The sixth century
century work Jayadra-
thayamala, recove
recovered
red from Nepal, Nepal, contains some some mono
mono-s-sylla
yllabic
bic
words (ekakshara -samu/lapa) described described asas thos
thosee used byby yoginis,
yoginis,
and they are identified as the Trans-Himalayan dialects, 'Paisacha'
and 'Bho
'B hota'
ta' (presum
(presumably
ably Tibetan).
ibetan). The yoginis
yoginis appear
appear to have ave
been
een mainly of non-Indian
non-Indian extraction.
extraction. TheThe Tantras
Tantras of extra-I
extra-Indian
ndian
origin
origin like the Maha-Cina-Tantra ane,l th the Ni/a-Sarasvati-Tantra
mention thatthat the
the yogin
yoginisis employed
employed the secretsecret language (sandha-
bhasa).
It is not
not only
only the
the languag
language e of the
the Tantrik
antrik texts
texts that
that is symbolic.
ymbolic.
Tan
Tantra is in in fa
fact com
comm mitt
itted toto a sysymmbolism.
sm. in a more ess sseential
particular. The
The source of this commitmcommitment ent is not
not far to seek
seek. One
One
of the
the basic propositions
propos itions of of Tant
Tantrara is the
the primacy
primacy of thethe individual
as the
the product
product and source of energy. energy. The individua
individual,l, in this
this view,
is a miniature
iniature univers
universe; macrocosm is not only only contained
contained withi
within n
the
the microcosm
microcosm,, butbut has a certain essent essential
ial parallelis
parallelismm with
with it. The
forces that
that operate
operate in thethe worl
wo rldd are
are all dormant within
within the
the per
person
son
functioni
functioning,
ng, however at a diffe differe
rent
nt plane. But when they are
organized adequately and harmonize harmonized d effective
effectively,
ly, man would
become the receptacle of some some extra-
extra-ordi
ordina
nary
ry power.
power. The more ore
practica
practicall and mundane
undane form forms s of Tantra speak of mastery over
elements
elements and and magica
magicall att
attaainments
inments (siddhis), but the more spiri piritua
tuall
form
forms insist
insis t on 'great liberation
liberation even
even while
while alive'
alive' (jivanmukti) as
the prop
proper
er goal. The 'immortal
'immortality'
ity' of the body,
body, which
which was the the
Tao
Taoist and alalchemical preocc
eoccuupati
ation all ove
over the world
orld,, was
was al
also
SARVAJANA MOHANA-YANTRA
for skill in magic
an objec
objective
tive in many Tantrik cults ults in India.
India. Besides
Besides magic, sorcery
sorcery
and witch
witchc craft
raft Indian
Indian enthusias
enthusiasts ts also
also evolved
evolved exercises
exercises for
tranqui
tranquility
lity and li liberation.
beration. What is relevant for our discussion discussion
here is the series of techni techniques
ques they developed whic which were meant
to harmoniz
harmonize e and
and channeliz
channelize e the pspsychic
ychic energy
energy;; and this goes by
the
the nam
name of 'sadhana
'sadhana'— '—aa sort of ‘int
‘ internal
ernal spiritual alchemy'
alchemy'..
Th
The pupurpose of Sad Sadhana is to to tr
transf sfoorm the individ iduual and to
harness
harness the energy that that is locked up up in the bodybody and thatthat normal
normal
ly conditions
conditions him to rathe ratherr narrow and and unsat
unsatisfactory
isfactory conditions
conditions
of existence, so that that he begins to to functi
functionon moreore effectively,
effectively, moreore
meaningful
meaningfully ly and more ore zealously.
ealously. Naturall
Naturally,y, therefore, Sadha adhana
na
involves
involves a set of exercises,
exercises, physical (like (like breath-co
breath-contrntrol
ol and effec
tive bodil
bodily y postures
postures) and mental ental (like
(like contemplation,
contemplation, concentra
concentra
tion and
and visua
vis uali
liz
zation)
ation).. S ometim
ometimes extremextreme e forms
forms of asceticism
asceticism
or curious
curious sexual
sexual practices
practices areare also includeincluded,d, rarely though
though .
Rejection of convention
convention,, withdra
withdrawa wall from
from normalcy,
normalcy, perfor
performmance
of some
some gruesome
gruesome and dis disgusting
gus ting rites,
rites, and
and appar
apparently
ently perve
perverse
rse
sexual
sexual indulgenc
indulgence e are
are nono doubt
doubt glaring
glaring features in many a Tantric antric
cult;
ult; but
but it mus
mustt be remem
remembered
bered tha
that they are are neither
neither regarded as
natur
naturalal nor as s tric
trictly necessary
necessary for for Tantric
antric achievement. ent. Eve
Even
bodily
bodily postures are are confine
confined d to a few
few elementar
elementary y types
types,, although
although
26 TANTRA MANTRA YANTR a
hand-gestures and finger-manipulations (mudras) loom loom large.

Th
The main emphasis, sis, however, is on mental exercises. Breath
control
control is made
ade secondary to, and
and the
the mean
meanss of, thought
thought contro
control.
l.
And thought
thought control
control is the
the gateway to gain mas
masttery over psychic
energ
energy.
y. Sadh
adhana,
ana, whatever
whatever the variety of affili
ffilia
ation,
tion, is the proce
proce
dure
dure by means
eans of which
which the four
four basic aspects ofof the indiv
individ
idua
ual,
l,
V K
THE MUDRAS symbolising

five vital functions (Pancaprana)
namely
namely the vita vitall current,
current, mind, conscio
conscioususnes
ness s aryd energy,
energy, are
are
mobilized and harmonized.2°
All practices
practices are are directed towards
towards colle
collectin
cting
g and
and organising
psychic enetgy.
enetgy. An early early and commcommon device that that the Tantra
antra
employs
employs is the the ‘mandala', the the detail
detail of Indian P sychology
sychology that
stimula
timulatedted Carl J ung's
ung's interest enormously.
enormously. Mandala
Mandala has has been
been
various
variously ly trans
translated
lated by experts
experts as 'cosm 'cosmogram',
ogram', 'cosm
'cosmogenic
model',
odel', ‘map of the the soul', 'cosm
'cosmic plan', 'symbol
'symbol of Kosmos',
Kosmos',
and
and 'layou
'layoutt of thethe psyche.' BasBasical
ically
ly it is a visible
visible geometrical
geometrical
design, frequently a circle (cakra), denot denoting the entirety of
existence; the forces are are symbolica
ymbolicallylly projected
projected on it and and arrang
arrang
ed according
according to an operation
operational
al them
theme. It is a topolo
topologic
gical
al concept,
involvi
involvingng the the recons
reconstrtruction
uction ofof subjective spac space.
e. Repreepresen
sentted
externall
externally, y, it symboli
ymbolis ses the
the layout
layout of thethe entire
entire earth; thethe central
central
point
point signifying
ignifying the mountain Meru, Meru, round
round which all the conti
conti
nents
nents, subcontinents
ubcontinents,, realmrealms
s and
and states
states ofof existence areare arrang
arranged
ed
stylis
tylistica
tically.
lly. But the world
world has meaning
eaning only
only as related
related to man
YANTRA-RAJA used in several rituals
and
and man is the
the chief
chief concern of the Tantra.
Tantra. Each
Each indivi
individua
duall there-
fore absorbs the
the world
world into
into himsel
himself,
f, or conversely gets gets hims
himself
absorb
absorbed
ed into the
the world
world.. The relating
relating proce
processss that
that goes
goes on in
ever
everyy one
one of us normall
normally y does
does not
not 'center'
'center' the
the world
world properly in
the individual, nor doesdoes it 'center' thethe individu
individualal in the world
correctly.
correctly. The Tantra
Tantra recognises
recognises that all our misery
isery is due
due to this
improper
improper centerin
centering,
g, and
and sets out
out to teach
teach the effective
effective procedure
procedure
for correct center
centering.
ing.
If the cosm
cosmos is extended in one dimensio dimension n of space (mahakasa,
physical
physical space), the indivi individua
duall psych
syche is extended
extended in another
dimension (cittakasa, subjective space) space).. The growing dis distinctio
tinctionn
between
between the two two dimens
dimensionsions is the the source
source of subject-osubject-objec
bjectt
duali
duality,ty, whic
which is fundamental
fundamental to normal normal experience.
experience. The course course
of life is busil bus ily
y concerned with with the the alm
almos ostt imposs
impossible
ible task of
balancing the two dimens dimensionsions or lines of stress,stress, unaw unawareare of the the
fac
fact that the the two
two can
can really
really be unifie
unified d only in the the third dimensi
dimension on
of space (cidakasa, the space space of pure consciousnes
consciousness) s).. The Mandala
device seeks
seeks to center the the dimens
dimensionsions neatly;
neatly; it it is therefore
corre
correctly
ctly described
described as 'a centering
centering techniq
technique ue'.'. The human body
is itsel
itselff a mandala, the psych psyche e being the dimens dimensionl ionlesess
s poin
pointt at
the very centre (bindu). Eve Even as a point
point describes
describes a circl circlee in its
its
spread
spread,, the the psych
psyche e unfolds
unfolds itsel
itselff into a mandala. This inner space space
is projected on to the symbolic outer space (the material mandala
as a design,
design, a diagram,
diagram, or a model) odel),, by a creativecreative process of
visuali
visualiz zation. TheThe hand-gestur
hand-gestures es and
and finger-m
finger-manipulations
anipulations (mudra)
representing the bodily processes (kaya). the utterance utterance of mystic
formulae (mantra) repres representing
enting verbal
verbal behaviour
behaviour (vak). and symbo
lic diagrams (yantra) representing mental functions (citta) are
aids in this process
process ofof projection.
projection. The Tantra antra mak makes es exte
extensive
nsive use
of the imagery of seed (bija), sprout rout evocation and and tree.
tree. The
external mandala is the soil, mantra the water. mudra the sun
shine and yantra the manur manure. e. The guardi
guardingng of the external mandala
by protective spellsspells and devices is also also attende
attended d to.
to. In thethe words
of Tucci: “A mandala delineatesdelineates a consecrated
consecrated place and protects
it from invasion
invasion by dis disinteg
integratin
rating g forc
force es...i
...itt is much more ore than
than
just
just a consec secrated area that must be kept pu pure for ri ritual and
liturg
liturgicicaal ends.
ends. It is above
above all,
all, a map of of the cosmos.cosmos. It is the the
whole universe
universe in its essential
essential plan, in in its process
process of emanat
emanation ion
THE PSYCHIC STRUCTURE 29
and
and of reab
reabssorption.
rption."2
"21 The Tantra
antra design is always enclosed in a
protective
protective circ
circle
le or square serving
serving both as
as a contou
contourr and as a cover
of defen
defence.
ce. It is important
important that thethe practitio
practitione
nerr should get into
it and
and thereby becom
become invin
invinci
cibl
ble
e, adamantine,
adamantine, andand firm
firm (vajra).
GANAPATI-YANTRA, a mandala used

in the worship of Ganapati
For achieving this entrance into the mandala, one has has necess
necessarily
to leav
leave the normal
normal wo world of dis distractio
tractions ns andand fragmentations
fragmentations
behind, and and pass into an altogether
altogether diffediffere rent
nt world of symbols
and visualizations. Mandala's description description as as 'the mansion of gods
and
and goddesses'
goddesses' is symbolic of higher life, life, conceptual an and proje
project-
ct-
ed. The
The prac
practitione
titionerr creates this sym symbol bolicic world
world as as an emanation
emanation
from his own depths depths an and as an expansion
expansion of his his own conscconscious
ious--
ness; after the the ritual or contemplation is is over,
over, he withdra
withdraws ws this
this
symbolic spher
sphere e into
into himse
himself.lf. The
The lattlatterer process
process is technica
technically lly
styled 'reabsorptio
'reabs orption';n'; it is res
resumumpt
ption
ion of the norm normal and and every
everyday
day
coordinates of of being,
being, knowing and doing. doing.
We mentioned
mentioned that that the
the body itsel
itselff is a mandala, and and that this
was a basic premise of the tantra. tantra. There is a notio notion, n, held almos
almostt
universally
universally in India, that that an individua
individuall has has three
three bodies: a 'phys 'physi- i-
cal' body (sthulasarira), the the 'men
'mental'
tal' body (subt(s ubtle,
le, sukshma-sarira
and the 'causal' body (karana-s(kara na-sarira ).22 The physic
arira).2 physical al body
body is madeade
of the
the five elemental
elemental forces
forces, and and is sustained by food. food. The mentmental al
body, on on the other
other hand,
hand, is cons
constituted
tituted by by the vital
vital currents, the the
organs
organs of sensations and and actions,
actions, mind and consciousness. This
is no doubt founded
founded on phys physical structures but its essent essential
ial nature
nature
is psychological. T Thehe third body
body viz., the the causal,
causal, is not relevant
relevant to
our discuss
discussion here.
ere. The phys physical and mental ental bodies, although
dis
distinct
tinct both by consconstitutio
titutionn and in functio
function, n, areare related
related to each
each
other intimate
intimatelyly and
and the
the points
points of contact
contact are
are described
described as 'psychic
centers' (cakras) and pictured as lotuses (padmas). Lotus is a
flowe
flowerr that has caught Indian imagin
imagination
ation not only
only by its beaut
beauty
y
and
and delicacy but by its large
large multipli
multiplic
city of pet
petals, vita
vitali
lity
ty and
and
purity. The element
element of sumptuous
sumptuous fecundi
fecundity
ty is not
not excluded from
the concept.
SHADGUNYA-YANTRA, employed in
the worship of Vishnu
Attempts,
ttempts, often fantas
fantastic,
tic, have
have been
been madeade to ide identify
ntify these
hese
cent
centers with
with anatom
anatomical
ical regions
regions an and physiologica
physiologicall functions
known to thethe modern
modern mind.
mind. But it it is importan
importantt to note
note that
that these
do not belong
belong to the physic
physical al body
body as such,such, nor
nor to the the mental
ental
structure
tructure as such.
such. ItIt is true
true that they are are located (in (in the Tantric
texts) along the brahmadanda or merudanda, by which we usually
underst
understand
and the spinal column. But the des description
cription of the column
column
as encasing
encasing a sub subtle
tle channel (known(known as sushumna) extending
from the 'spinal base to the craniumcranium is obvious
obviouslyly abs
abstract.
tract. Further,
urther,
each center
center (also
(also termed
termed plexus or vortex) is looked upon as a
network of very subtle,
ubtle, altogether
altogether invisible
invisible arteries
arteries (nadis). The
hum
human body is said to cons consis istt of seven
seven hundred millio
million n of these
hese
arteries,
arteries, som
some gross and and others subtle, along along which
which the vital
currents
currents flo
flow continu
continual ally
ly in order to keep the the body alive and and
active. The principal of thes these e arteries
arteries is the
the sushumna (also called
avadhutika), just mentioned, Inside the merudanda (roughly (roughly cor-
responding
responding to thethe spinal column)
column) is a fine but hollo hollow w canal, ex-
tending
tending from the regio
region n of the penispenis to the
the head
head,, called 'diamon
'diamond'd'
(vajra or vajrini). Inside

Inside this is anot another
her aitery, exceedingly
exceedingly fine
like the thread
thread of a spide s pider's
r's web, or as thin thin as the thousandth
thousandth
part
part of the
the hair; thisthis is called
called 'the marvellous
arvellous'' (citrini). And this
latter in its turn encloses
encloses the artery known known as brahmanadi, the
essent
essential
ial but highly abstract life-current.
life-current.
The
The cacakras are composed sed of netw etwork
orks of arteries, arranged
along the sushumna. The Tantrik texts of the Hatha-yoga persua persua
sion
sion enumerate as as many
many as thi thirty
rty of
of such centers,
centers, ranging
ranging from thethe
big toe of thethe foo
fo ot to the
the top of the head.2head.23 Each
Each of these has a
characteris
characteristic tic colour,
colour, a num number
ber of petals
petals (when
(when pictured
pictured asas a
lotus)
lotus),, an elemental
elemental asso association,
ciation, a particula
particularr sense-
sense-organ,
organ, an
an
orga
organ n of action, a variety
variety of o f the vital
vital current
current (prana), a seed-
syllable
yllable,, a symbol,
ymbol, a male deitydeity and his consort,
consort, anand a represen
represen
tative animal.
Of these centers sev sevenen are
are regarded as especi especiall
ally
y important,
six inside
inside the body body andand one outsideoutside it. The last last one,
one, nam
named
sahasrara (after the picture picture of an inverted, thous thousand-
and-petall
petalled
ed
lotus,
lotus, and
and known to Buddhis Buddhists ts as ushnisa-kamala, the the crown-
lotus), is imagined
imagined to be located four finger- finger-brea
breadths
dths above
above the
the
crown of the the head
ead. Although
lthough outside
outside the phys physical body, it is a
part of the exis existenti
tential
al structure,
tructure, but at its topmost topmost level. HereHere
is suppo
supposed
sed to be be the source
source of the the 'liq
'liqu
uid of immortality',
immortality', the
the
The higher reaches of Kundalini

(The Thousand-petalled Lotus)
liquid
liquid that drips on the the cranium continuous
continuously, ly, thus
thus making one one
alive
alive and active.
active. It is clearly
clearly a mys mystical center. The other six form
a group, 'the six-centers' (satcakra), arranged in an order along along
the sushumna. The lowest lowest in location is st styled
yled 'the
'the root-basis
root-basis''
(muladhara), pictured
pictured as a triangutriangula larr space,
space, red red in colour,
colour, withwithin
in
a square
square of yello
yellow,w, right
right in the the middle of the body: body: it is called
'the earth mandala'. Its physical physical locatio
location n is said to be in in the
the sacral
sacral
plexus or perineum
perineum(? (?),
), or between
between the base base of the genital genital organ
organ
e:nd anus.
anus. It is the lowerlower limi
limitt of the sushumna canal. canal. Here, Here, two
other arteries, celebrated in Tantrik exercises, meet.
In Tantrik lore, the central sushumna is flanked on on its leftleft with
with
ida and on its right with píngala, two subt s ubtlele psychic
psychic arteries
arteries both
both
arising
arising from the the root-
root-babas sic'
ic' center and and running
running parallel an and
close to the sushumna until they cross, cross, and and the right-le
right-left ft position
position
is reve
reversed
rsed.. The
The two arteries
arteries signi ignify
fy oppos
opposite ite poles; an and they are
described
described as as male-
male-femfemale
ale component
components s withi
within n each
each individua
individual. l.
Ida (also called /a/ana) is the famous famous Indianndian river Ganga, Ganga, pingala
the equall
equallyy famous
famous river Yamuna; amuna; and sushumna is the hidden
stream Sarasvati.
arasvati. The three three together con cons stitute the sacred sacred
triple-stream (triveni) commingli commingling ng at the the 'ro 'root-
ot-ba
bas sic'
ic' center.
center.
Rudrayamala (6.49) speaks of ida as the moon, pingala as the
sun, and sushumna as the fire fire.. The
The image
imagery ry of sun and moon has
been
een a pers
persistent
istent one one in Tantrik
Tantrik literature; the the Nath
Natha-S a-Siddha
iddha
Tant
Tantriks ev even wear large ear-ri -rings sy symmbolisin sing sun and moon.
Moon stands
stands forfor Siva,
Siva, the static tatic but enduring element element both both in thethe
universe
universe and in man; an; it is the repos repository of nectar (amrta); its
normal loca
location
tion is said to be the highes highest center (sahasrara); its
white
white colour
colour signifi
signifieses the male aspect aspect (pandura-bindu-cakra).
Sun,
un, on the other hand hand,, is the dynamic
dynamic but ever-changi
ever-changing ng element
element
both in the universe
universe and and in man; it stands for for Sakti, the female female
aspect, and is representedrepresented as 'reddis 'reddish ovum' (lohitabindu-
maharajas); it is located
located in the 'root-ba 'root-bas sic'
ic' center
center (muladhara).
"In the muladhara is Sakti S akti and in sahasrara Siva” (muladhare
vasate saktih sahasrare sadasivah). Further, urther, the ida and pingala
arteries
arteries are described as possessingpossessing the follo followiwingng contrary characcharac
terist
teristics
ics: day,
day, night;
night; exhalation-
exhalation-inhalinhalation;
ation; food (upabhogya) —
consumer (bhoktr); vowel vowel (a//)(a//) —consonant
consonant (kali); semen-ova;
creation—des
creation— destru truction,
ction, pran
prana— a—ap apan
ana;a; samsara— sara— nirvana.
nirvana. The
opposing
opposing charac
characteris
teristics
tics are
are all summ summarised in the moon-sun oon-sun
imagery
imagery:: the
the moon has has a cool
coolinging effect
effect on the system while while the
sun dries up the system; ystem; one buil builds
ds up the body and the other
breaks it down. In mystical parlance, one determines the individual
involvement
involvement in the phenomenal vortex, whil while e the otherother burnsburns up
this bond and releases the individual.
MULADHARA-CHAKRA
SVADHISHTHANA-CHAKRA
MANIPURA-CHAKRA
ANAHATA-CHAKRA
VISHUDDHA-CHAKRA
AJNA-CHAKRA
But it woul
would d be an error to to look upon man as a helples helpless victim
victim
of twotwo contending forces. As a matter atter of fact, the two two are are
complem
complementar entary y and make ake for for a 'bi 'biunity'
ty' (Dr.
(Dr. Ananda K.
Coomaraswam
araswamy' y'ss expression),
expression), a male-fem ale-femaleale config
configuratio
uration n which
is essent
essential ial both for creation
creation and and relea
release.
se. In the ordinaryordinary ind indivi
ivi
dual,
dual, in the state state of normalcy,
normalcy, unity unity is not not recognised
recognised or con
sciously achieved; and hence the pain of life. The union of ida and
pingala at the the lowes
lowestt centre
centre (where most ost of us mostly ostly function)
function)
is described
described as the darkest darkest phasephase of the the moon
moon (amavasya).
Comm
ommingling with with the
the hidden
hidden Sarasvati
arasvati (viz.,
(viz., the
the susumna), the
triple-streams are here 'freed' (muktatriveni), that that is to say, say, they
flow
flo w separate
eparately. ly. But when when the the individ
individual
ual takes
takes up the the Tantrik
care
career er,, or practises
practises Yoga,Yoga, thethe openings of of ida and pingala at the
'root-b
'root-bas asicic'' center
center areare blocked,
blocked, and the currents are are forced to
move along the centra centrall sushumna. The three three streams are now now
comm
commingled into a unitary unitary flow
flow (yukta-triveni), which reache reaches s its
culmina
culmination tion in the the center between
between the eye-brows. This is described
as the
the brigh
brightes testt phase
phase of the the moon (purnima). In som some texts,texts,
however,
however, the the express
expressionsions mukta and yukta with referen reference ce to the
triple-flow (triveni) are are used in a sense exactly exactly oppos
opposite to the
one
one mentmentionedioned above.above. The The 'root-b
'root-ba asic'
ic' center is described
described as
'joined' or 'yoked' (yukta) as regard regards s the three streams,
streams, whilewhile the
center between
between the eye-brows eye-brows is described described as 'freed'freed'' (mukta).
The
The presu sup ppositsition here is that hat the confluence of the three
strream
st eams is respon responsible
sible for in indiv
divid
idua
uali
lity,
ty, while
while the cessatcessationion of
that
that confluence,
confluence, achieved by sadhanat would would release
release the
the individual
individual
from conditioned phenomenal existence.
The
The ce center loc located ab above th the 'root oot-b
-basi
asis'
s' is known own as 'self self
supporting' (svadhisthana), and is pictured as a colourles colourless s
crescent
crescent,, representing the water element element,, identifie
identified d with
'pros
'prostatic plexus'(?plexus'(?), ), or located in the the nav
navel region. If the the
'root-ba
'root-bas sic'
ic' center
center is is the source
source of all desires, desires, the 'se 'self
support
upporting'ing' centre
centre provides
provides all the excite xc itememen nt;the two togethertogether
are
are responsible for for the instinc
ins tincts
ts of sex and and survival. The psycho
logical traits origin originatin
ating g at this level level (the
(the vrttis) are given given as: as:
affection,
affection, sus suspicion,
picion, contempt,
contempt, infatuation and and cruelty. The third
center, 'jewel-filled' (manipura), is is said to be located in the
lumbar or 'epi 'epigas
gastric
tric plexus'(?
plexus '(?); ); it is more ore usual, however, to take take
it as a 'navel center' (nabhipadma). Red in colour, it signifies ignifies fire.
The
The psypsyc chological trait aits ass ssoociated wit with thi his
s center br bring out the
'burni
'burning ng'' character: shame, shame, jea jealo lous
usy,y, fear,
fear, remorse and and dis disgust.
gust.
Curiously, this center is spoken of as responsible also for sleep
and thirst. The 'unstruck' (anahata) centre, situated in the heart
and
and known as 'cardiac 'cardiac plexu
plexus s'(?),
'(? ), is imagined
imagined as a hexagon hexagon with
two interlac
interlacing ing triangles
triangles,, grey-blue in colour. The The Buddhist
Buddhist texts,
exts,
however, locate locate this cent center er at the
the throat,
throat, and give its form as
semi-circ
emi-circula ularr and
and its colour
colour as as gre
green en.. Assssociated
ociated with the the element
element
air, it provides
provides the the individu
individual al a subjective
s ubjective frame frame of refe refere
rence
nce,, viz.,
viz.,
an ego. Am Among the psychological traits origi originanating
ting hereere are
are hope
hope,,
woriy
woriy,, effort, the feelings of 'I' 'I ' andand 'mine',
'mine', arrogarroganance,
ce, egoity,
covet
covetuou uousness,
sness, double-dealing,
double-dealing, indecision,indecision, regret,regret, and and dis
discrim
crimina
ina
tion. The perfectly 'pure' (visuddha) center, golden in colo colourur and
and
circular
circular in shapeshape (wh (whiteite disc in Buddhis Buddhistt texts),
texts), is located
located in
modern accounts
accounts at the 'laryngeal 'laryngeal plexus'(?
plexus'(?), ), or at thethe junction
junction of
the spinal colum column n andand medulla oblong oblongataata behind the the throat
throat
(located
(located at the the crown
crown of the the headead by Buddhist
Buddhist authors)
authors).. Governing
overning
the
the organs
organs of express
expression ion and articula
articulation tion,, this center is associated
associated
with the follo followin
wing g ment ental traits
traits:: faith, joyousnjoyousness ess,, guiltfeeling,
guiltfeeling,
restraint,
restraint, respecrespectability,
tability, friendlines
friendliness s, sorrow
sorrow,, agitation,
agitation, enthus
enthus
iasm and detachment.
The
The six sixth ce center is st styyled 'alralround und underst stan
and din
ing
g' (ajna); the
Buddhist
uddhist texts describedescribe it as the the 'thi'third
rd eye
eye of wisdom',
wisdom', the the center
of formles
formless s contemplation.
contemplation. Situat S ituated ed between
between the eye-browseye-brows (or a
little
little above), formed by two white white petals petals representing
representing sun and and
moon, this center governs efforts at concentration as well as
states
tates of trance.
trance. Some ome Tantrik antrik textstexts call this center the highest highest
house' (paramakula) and 'the breaking up of the triple-confluence'
(mukta-triveni).
Although
lthough these six centers are the ones widel widely y known and and
freque
frequently ntly enumerated
enumerated in the Tantrik manu manuals,als, som
sometim
etimeses another
center is mentioned, 'the center of mind' (manascakra). Located
just
just ab above 'the center of underst erstan and ding', thi hiss is sa
said toto be
be th
the
secret center
center respons
responsibl ible
e for
for all
all perceptual process processes es and
and dream
dream
states. Above this center is 'the moon center' (soma-cakra),
also infreq
infrequeuently
ntly mentioned. Said to be situated in the middle of of
the cerebrum
cerebrum, the the psychologic
psychological al traits
traits associated
associated with this cente centerr
are
are all morally
orally pos positive and cons constructive:
tructive: softness,
oftness, courage,
courage, per
severance, humour, humility, concentration, poise, industriousness,
emotional
emotional stab s tabil ility
ity and
and generosity
generosity.. This is the highest highest cente
centerr
within
ithin thethe psychophysical
psychophysical s system
ystem, immediimmediatelyately below the the one
one that
is outside
outside the the system
system, viz., sahasrara (des (describe
cribed d as 'the
'the house
house
without a support', niralambapuri ) .24
>eirp<m£ P o w e r
M ystic
ystic Fire
It should be remremembered
embered that the conce concept pt of cakras is essen
tially
tially esoter
esoteric.
ic. And, therefore,
therefore, attem attemptspts at discoveri
discovering ng the the
physiologica
physiologicall correlates are bound bound to be both far-fetched far-fetched and and
misleading. The cakras are more properly differe differentnt fields
fields of
psychological reality, and and their 'petals
'petals'' symbolis
symbolise e the dimens
dimensions ions
thereof.
hereof. ReadRead, for instance
instance,, the the foll
fo lloowing
wing description
description of the four
higher cakras, and and their mystical signific ignificanc
ance e becom
becomes at once
apparent: "The manipura is a lotus lotus of 64 petals petals turned
turned upwards,
upwards,
their colours being yelloyellow, w, andand the the seed-syllable
seed-syllable being Ah A h ; the
anahata is a lotus of eight eight petals,
petals, blue black in colou colour,r, turned
turned
downwards, the the seed-syllable
eed-syllable being being Hum; visuddha has has 16 petals
petals
of red
red colour
colour turned
turned upwards,
upwards, with with the the seed-syllable
eed-syllable Om; and the
sahasrara h has
as 32 petals
petals allall white
white in colourcolour andand turned
turned downwards,
downwards,
the
the seed-syllable
seed-syllable being Ham." This Tantrik account is slightly
different from the Y oga account (which, (which, for instance,
instance, givesgives the
num
number of petals of the six s ix cakras as 4, 6, 10 10,, 112,
2, 16 and 2
respectively
respectively,, accomodat
accomodating ing thethe fiftyfifty letters
letters of the Sanskrit Sanskrit
alphabet,
alphabet, and and gives thetheirir seed-syllables
seed-syllables as lam, lam, vam,
vam, ram, yam, yam,
ham and om). The
ham The descript
description ion isis directly
directly derived
derived from visualiz
visualiza a
tions,
tions, and
and not from imaginative reflection. The cakra ideology is
thus
thus a product of mystical contem contemplation,
plation, which
which taps
taps the the funda
funda
mental
ental energy dynam
dynamics ics at work
work withwithin in our basic
basic cons
constituti
titutioon.
n.2 2*
More signific
ignifican
antly,
tly, the cakra
cakra ideology
ideology would be meaning eaninglessless
witho
withou ut reference
reference to the
the more
more fundamental, if also more more mysterio
mysterious us,,
concept of kundaHni. The psychophysi psychophysical cal space {mandata), which
we call
call an indivi
individua
dual,l, is actually
actually a fiel field
d forfor energy to operat operate. e.
We have
have seen above how how the cakras represent several several levels of
this energy dynamics. ics. But the source source of of energy is hidden hidden and and
inarticulate, and and the full full potentia
potentiall normally not realized. realized.
The
The vast st sto
orehouse of energy in its normal and primal st staate is
pict
pictured as a serpent, asleep asleep wi with its tail tail tucked in its mouth, outh,
making three
three coils
coils and
and a half, and and lying lying right
right at the entr entrance
ance of
the sushumna, blocking
blocking it. Because
Because of its charac characteris
teristic
tic form,
form, the the
hidden energy-store is called 'kundaHni', meaning meaning 'coi 'coile
led',
d', like an
ear-ring.
ear-ring. This form is abandoned abandoned only when the energy energy wakes up
and
and becombecomes active—
active— a case with with nonenone but but tthehe great yoginsyogins.
Norm
Normal ally,
ly, it
it is profou
profoundl ndlyy asleep all through our lives, and and we areare
not even
even vaguely aware aware of of its existence. Tantra antra and
and Yoga
Y oga prescrib
prescribe e
procedures to arouse it.
Thi
This st sto
orehouse of energy is lin ink ked withwith the 'root oot-b
-basi
asic'
c'
center of our cons constituttitutio
ion.
n. S ituated,
ituated, according
according to one one account
account,,
two
two finger-breadth
finger-breadths s abov
above e the anu anus and and two two finger-breadths
below the genital organ, organ, the the 'root-b
'root-bas asisis'' is visualiz
visualized ed as a lotus,
lotus,
and in the middle of the the lotus
lotus is a triangula
triangularr space,
space, figura
figurativel
tivelyy
called
called womb or vulva (yoni ), attached attached to the lower lower end end of thethe
sushumna canal, canal, already described. Inside this this tria
triangula
ngularr spspac
acee
towards the bottom is perch percheded 'the self- elf-born
born emblem
emblem''
(svayambhuHnga), shining shining like molten
molten gold and and facing
facing downward.
downward.
Above this 'emblem' is the the kundatini, "fin "fine as a fibre of the the
tender lotus stalk, talk, ge gently blocki
blockingng thethe mouth outh of the the susumna
door". Although sluggish and asleep, it (or she, because the usual
supposition is that kundatini is a goddess goddess)) gleams
gleams like a chain of
bright
bright lights
lights on a dark dark night.
night. As long as as this energy-stor
energy-store e is
asleep,
asleep, one is outward oriented oriented (bahir-mukha ); the subject-object
dual
duality ity persis
persists;
ts; the
the body is heat heateded and
and cooled
cooled alternatel
alternately y so that
it is gradua
graduallllyy worn
worn out; out; and
and man is phenom phenomenally enally bound. But as
soon as it is arousearoused d ( jag
. aran
arana a or utthapana). it becomes becomes tense
and s tifftiff like
like a rod rod and and begins to ascend ascend the the susumna tract.
On its upward journey,journey, it passes passes through the the six centres,
centres, strikin
striking g
against
against the the downward facing facing petals,
petals, and and turning them them up.
up. This
denot
denotes the total transform ransformation ation of the individ individua ual's
l's orientations
and
and attitudes
attitudes.. Ac Acco cording
rding to some some textstexts,, kundatini pierces the
lotuses and and burns them up. up. It is in this sense that that kundatini is
called 'the mystic fire'.
Of interest
interest in the the accounts
accounts concerning the the action of the the
aroused kundatini is tthe he view
view that
that each center gets animated animated and and
illumined
illumined as the the 'serpent
'serpent power'power' passesasses through it. Besides th the
mystic import of the the energy-store
energy-store that that the the kundatini actually is,
it is considered
considered to be the the place of orig originin for the the vital
vital currents
currents
that sussusttain life (vayu), for for the seed seed of life life that ramifies
ramifies into
phenomenal involvement (bindu ), and and for the sound that that unifies
unifies
and differentiates (nada). These These thrthree,
ee, responsible
responsible for indi individ
viduauali
lity
ty
and
and survival,
survival, animation
animation and articu articulalation
tion,, function
function in a passive assive
and constrained manner when the kundatini is sluggis luggish. But they
become
become active active and free free on kundatini's arousal arousal.. It means eans a reorga
reorga
nization
niz ation of one's energiesenergies an and orientations,
orientations , a restruct
restructuring
uring and
and a
revitalization.
The
There ar are cer
certtain
ain signsigns (wh(which
ich ar
are by no means all of them
SERPENT POWER AND MYSTIC FIRE 37
pleasant)
pleasant) that suggestsuggest that kundalini has been awakened: bodily
heat
heat increases,
increases, sweating occurs occurs copiou
copious sly; there
there areare all over the the
body, sharp
sharp sensations like like scorpio
corpion- n-bite,
bite, and so on. But the the
urge
urge to continu
continue e the
the exercise is so imperative
imperative that afterafter thi
this
s stage
stage
one
one does notnot us usuall
ually
y give up up. As oneone perseveres,
perseveres, however, these these
signs give way to more more abstr
abstract
act and less dis distracting
tracting signs.
signs. It is
interes
interesting that these hese ar are at firsfirs t ess
essentially vigorous
vigorous auditory
auditory
halluc
hallucinatio
inationsns (the express
expression ion hashas been
been used
used guarded
guardedly),
ly), like
sounds madmade e by the
the sea at a dis distance,
tance, peals of thunder,
thunder, and and the
the
roar
roar of the waterfalls
waterfalls.. Then the sounds sounds become
become softerofter and more
pleasant
pleasant:: jing
jingliling
ng and
and tinkli
tinklingng of ornaments
ornaments worn on the the body,
body,
the sof
softt strains
trains from a hand-drum
hand-drum,, the the muffled
muffled sound from a hand
bell, the
the musical notes from from a lute or tlute. Finally, the the sound
becom
becomes exceedingly
exceedingly subtle,ubtle, like the humm humming of a bee. bee. A t this
this
stage,
stage, it is reported
reported that
that one feels
feels dizzy,
dizzy, and salivation
alivation becom
becomes
copious; the
the heart-beat gets gets fainter,
fainter, but steadier;
teadier; bodily sensa
tions
tions are
are benumbed,
benumbed, and and immediateediate surroundi
urroundingsngs seem to fade
away.
away. Later,
ater, one begins to hear ear dis
distinctly
tinctly the
the exceedingly
exceedingly subtle
sound that
that is interna
internal,
l, and whicwhich emanates
anates from
from the veryvery essence
of the
the individual.
individual. This is 'the 'the voice of inner silence',
silence', unstr
unstruck,
uck, and
and
ASCENT OF KUNDALINI
making three knots
inarticu
inarticula late.
te. Simultaneo
imultaneous uslyly in some cases, cases, but but as frequently
reported
reported subsequently,
subsequently, one one begins to 'see things things': ': dots of bright
light,
light, flames
flames of fire, fire, orb of brilliancebrilliance,, gleaming
gleaming lines of diver diversese
colours,
colours, and and geometric
geometric patterns
patterns of great variety variety and and light. Higher
stages
stages are said said to to be characterize
characterized d by 'sig'sights
hts'' of stars,
stars, bright
bright andand
whirl
whirlin ingg circles,
circles, d dense
ense fogfog and
and smok smoke, e, mirage,
irage, tiny dots dots ofof dazzling
dazzling
hue
hue between the eye- eye-brows
brows or on the forehead, a steady ligh lightt from
an oil-
oil-lalamp
mp which
which no wind distu disturbs,
rbs, and great illum illumination withinwithin..
It is recognised
recognised that such sign signs s (nimittas) are are subjectubject to laws of
individual differences. They depe depend nd considerably,
considerably, not only on the the
particula
particularr techniques
techniques employed employed for the awakening awakening of kundalini,
but
but on the practiti practition oner'
er'ss temperam
temperament, ent, talent,
talent, early exper experience
iences s
and situational involvements, including the master's instructions.
Besides the the six centers, in the upward journe journey y of kundalini,
three 'knots' (granthi) are also also said
said to be pierced through: through: the
basal knot (at the muladhara center) center) called "Brahma's
"Brahma's knot“ knot“,, the
the
middle knot (at the anahata center) center) called ''V ''Visishnu
hnu's 's knot”
knot”,, an and
the top knot knot (at the ajna cent center) called
called ''Siva
''S iva's 's kno
knot” t”.. Thes
These e
are
are respec
respectively
tively areaareas s of stresstress concerni
concerning ng emerg
emergence, ence, poise
poise and
and
diss
dis solutio
olution n tha
that areare neces
necessarily
sarily involved in phenom phenomenal enal existence.
existence.
A fter
fter piercing
piercing through the the six cent centers, comm commingli ingling
ng with
with thethe
moon's orb that the the thous
thousandand petals
petals of the the highest
highes t lotus cons constiti
tute,
tute, cause
causes s 'nectar'
'nectar' to ooze out.26 After reaching its destination, destination,
which
which marks arks the
the culculmina
mination
tion of the Sadhana adhana,, the kundalini returns
home
home (i. (i.e. . muladhara) by the same path. path. Duringuring its ascent, ascent, the
individual
individual is reported to experien experience ce illuminatio
illumination, n, and
and during its
descent (or return return)) it is said to suffuse the the individual
individual with with
profound tranqu tranquil illi
lity
ty described
described as ambr ambrosial
osial delight.2
delight.27 The lowest
center
center is the the hom
home of energy energy (Sakti), while the highest center is
the residence of consciousness (Siva). Phenom Phenomenal life life keep
keeps s
them
them apart,
apart, and hence stresses of of all sorts comecome to the lot of man. an.
Sadha
adhana na can
can bring them together, and and the union of of the
the two elimielimi
nat
nates all stress and and secures
secures the deli deligh
ghtt of undiffere
undifferentiated
ntiated exis
exis
tence. This This achievem
achievement ent is styled 'paravrtti' (total transformation),
where
where not only the the normnormal stres tress s-producin
-producing g conditions
conditions disapp disappearear
but even the ordina ordinary ry coordinates
coordinates are are transmuted.
transmuted. It is a case case of
regeneration
regeneration of the the ind indivi
ividu
dual al,, revital
revitalizizatio
ation n in one one sense
sense and and
reintegration in another.
Basic to the the Tantrik ideology ideology is the the conce
conception ption of life as a
configuration of vital currents (prana). Sun's energy is said to
produce
produce and and preserv
preserve e in all livin
living g beings the condi condition tions s necessar
ecessary y
for
for life
life whil
while e at thethe sam same time
time burnin
burning g them up. In man, the the solar
energy
energy divides itself itself into ten aspects (or currents); currents); five major
(prana,
(pra na, apana, samana,, vyana and udana), and f ive minor (naga,
apana, samana
SERPENT POWER AND MYSTIC FIRE 39
kurm a, krakara, devadatta and dhananjaya). They support the

kurma,
body,
body, and and cau
cause all action.
action. The express
expression ion 'prana'
'prana' signifie
ignifies s ideas
ideas
of primacy (pra) and and subtle force (ana). Prana rana is thethe home
home of
spirit (jiva), called picturesquely 'the swan' (hamsa, ham signify
ing outward
outward flo flow, and sa inward flow), the mythical bird that
cons
constantly
tantly moves oves out of the the celestial
celestial lake lake Manasa on the Him Hima
layan heights and back to it. Prana moves along along the seven
hundr
hundred ed million
million arteries or nerve nerve channels (nadis) that compose
the
the body, although its chie chieff centers
centers are are the the heart (hrt), navel
(nabhi), nose-nose-tip,tip, and
and the
the great
great toes.
toes. As the the prana moves along
the
the arteries,
arteries, consciousness
consciousness is occasioned
occasioned as a by-prod by-product, uct, as an
epiphenomenon. The movement of prana normally is irregular,
spasmodic,
spasmodic, jerky and and str
strained.
ained. This
T his is b beca
ecauseuse of our stimulatiotimulations ns,,
urge
urges,s, excitement
excitement and and activity.
tivity. Therefore,
herefore, norm normal consciousness
consciousness
is narrow,
narrow, stres tressful
sful and
and shallow. Most Mos t of the the Tantrik techniques
techniques
emphasiz
phasize e that
that it is not conscious
consciousness ness that should be sought to
be corrected,
corrected, but but the basic vital
vital currents
currents that that should
should be handledhandled in
order that consciousness spontaneous pontaneously ly gets expanded,expanded, relax relaxeded
and
and d deep
eep.. And it is thus that 'contro 'controll of breath' breath' (pranayama)
figures prominently in all such techniques.
India has developed
developed an elaborate
elaborate theory of the breathing pro
cess. Breath
Breath alternates during the course of the day between between the the
left
left nostril
nostril (connect
(connected ed with ida, repres
representing
enting moon, and and in effeeffectct
cooling)
cooling) and the the right
right nostril
nostril (connected
(connected with with píngala, represent
ing sun,
sun, and
and in effect
effect warming).
warming). Norm Normall ally,
y, breat
breath h passes
passes through
the
the arteries
arteries 960 times times an hour.hour. From rom midnig
midnight ht to noon, it flows flows
copious
copiously ly along the the nerve
nerves,
s, and
and from noon noon to midnigh midnightt along along the
blood vessels
vessels.. Precisely
Precisely at midnight
midnight and and noon, it is equal equal in both
systems. A t sunrise it ascends ascends through the the nerves
nerves along with the the
course
course of the the sun, an and towards sunset
sunset it descends
descends into into the blood
vessels. During our normal normal respiration,
respiration, inhal inhalatio
ationn is an an active
proce
process ss and
and exhala
exhalationtion a passive
passive one. one. Thoughts arise and and cease
cease
in accord
accordanceance with
with the the respiratory
respiratory rate. rate. In an an ordinary
ordinary individ
individualual,,
thoughts are muffled, clouded, sluggis s luggish, h, excited, inadequately
articulated; they pass pass with
with inordinate speed speed,, or jos jostle confusedly
becau
ecausese his breathing habits are are improper.
improper. Weather, Weather, heal health th,, die
diet,
diseases,
diseases, rest,rest, anxiety,
anxiety, guil
guilt-
t-fe
feeeling
lings s and
and cares cares hav have an impact
impact
not only on the the rate of of respira
respirationtion but on the the amount
amount of air
inhaled and exhaled.exhaled. If breath
breath does not alterna alternatete between
between the
nostrils
nostrils but continue
continues s in one nostril
nos tril beyond
beyond the normal period of
an hour and fifty minutes, it is symptom ymptomatic atic of impairment
impairment of
health duedue to either
either exc excess
ess of heat or of cold. cold. If the breathbreath moves oves
in and
and out through a single nostril nos tril for as long as 24 hours, the
derange
derangem ment of humours is serious; if the the cond
conditio
ition n prevails
prevails for
two or three
three days,
days, the illnesillness s is serious enough.
The
The sc sciience of pranayama recognises the ne need
ed to change
change quickquick
ly the flo
flow of breath,
breath, to regulate
regulate the flow flow of the vital current currents s
in the arteries,
arteries, to sus suspenpend d the breath
breath inhale
inhaled,d, or to keep keep out the the
exhaled breath for a defi defini nite
te period. The These se are
are in effec
ffect techniques
techniques
to gain masteryastery over thoughts
thoughts.. The time time required for a thought thought
to emerg
emerge e into
into awaren
awareness ess is said to be 6/25 6/25 of o f a second;
second; but when
inhaled breath
breath is rest restrained, the the time
time taken for fo r the thought
thought to
flas
flash out in awaren awareness ess wouldwould be 12/25 12/25 of a second; when the the
retention is of a longer duration, duration, the the though
thoughtt would
would requirrequire e as
long asas one
one to one and and a halfhalf hours.
hours. That hat is to say, say, the tho thougught
ht is
'fixe
'fixedd' or held out (dharana). The thought-a hought-arousarousall is totally
suspended if one can restrain the breath inside inside hishis body for 13 13!!
minutes with witho out a flurry.
flurry. This goes by the nam name of 'samadhi'
(one-pointedness
(one-pointedness,, or settling the mind). mind). The Tantrik text texts s suggest
several devices for 'thoughtlessness' (un-mani or 'no-mind exer
cises'), like the Sambhavi-mudra where where the mind is absorbed absorbed as as
a result of gazing
gazing intentl
intently y on
on the
the nose-
nose-tip tip or
or at object-les
object-less s space
space,,
also
also regul
regulati ating
ng the breath
breath in the arteries
arteries at the sam same time.
time.
During 24 hours, the the number of respiratio respirations ns is calcula
calculated ted by
the Yogacudamani-Upanisad to be 21,600 21,600 (15 respirations
respirations for a
minute and 90 900 0 for
for an hour). These are are dis distribute
tributed d among
among the
seven centers (the seventh being the manascakra) as follows: follows:
muladhara, 600 respirations
respirations takin taking g a total
total of 40 minutes; svadhis-
thana, manipura and anahata, each 600 in in 6 hours and 40 minutes;
visuddha, ajna and manas, each 1000 in one hour, six minutes and and
40 seconds. The breath breath that that is is exhaled is believedbelieved to be accom accom
panied by the the mys
mystictic utteranc
utterance e of 'ham
'ham' from the very core core of of one's
being, andand inhalin
inhaling g of the the breath
breath by the the syllabl
syllable e 'sa'. When When ex ex
hala
halation-
tion-inha
inhala lation
tion order
order is follofollowed
wed,, it is ter term
med the 'ascent'ascent'' and
and
the
the mystic utt utterance
erance is "ham- "ham-s sa" (also
(also the word word forfor thethe mythical
ythical
swan that lives in the the Him
Himalayan heights)heights).. When, however, however, the the
inhalation-
inhalation-exha exhalation
lation order is follo followed
wed,, it is the 'descent' and and
the
the mystic utter utterance
ance woul would d be "s o ' ham"('l m"('l am he', he', a Vedantic
Vedantic
maha-vak.ya). The prana is looked looked upon as the the mystic fire fire that
leaves
leaves the the system wi with 'ham' and and enters
enters it with 'sa'; 'sa'; thethe spirit
pirit
(jiva) is imagined
imagined to be performing passively passively but ceaselessly
ceaselessly the the
ritual of
of muttering
muttering 'ham-sa'.
'ham-sa'. which which is the the nature
nature of the the goddess
goddess of
life ('hamsa-japa' in paropasana).*s The sound of this this mystic
mutte
muttering
ring is generated at the the muladhara and and is artic
articul
ula ated at the the
anahata, which
which in fac fact is the the prime support of the the spirit.
pirit. The pur
pose of the the practices includedincluded in the the Sadhaadhan na of this category
category is to
make
ake this mutter
mutterin ingg conscio
conscious us and delibe
deliberate,
rate, so that the the sound
rises above the anahata and carries the kundalini along with it.
SAHASRARA-CHAKRA
SVASTIKA-MANDALA. illustrating the

arrangement of the universe
universe and the
vital currents within the individual.
Th
The TaTantra is ob obviouslously y not
not att
attract
active to to th
the mu multitude, be because
it involves attitudes
attitudes which which are are diffe
differe
rent
nt from,
from, ‘ and and sometim
sometimes es
contrary to, thosethose whic which are normall normally y held, and and becau
because se itit requires
requires
extraordinary effort. And the Tantra's externals and the superficia-
lities
lities are like
likely
ly toto induce
induce in one one an an aversion for for thethe discip
disciplinlinee as a
whole. The Tantra antra itsel
itselff recognises this this,, and therefore,
therefore, mak makes es the
the
Tant
Tantrik pr practices as litt little known own to ot others
ers as po poss ssiible. TheThe se secrets
are revealed
revealed to none but the the reall
reallyy serious
erious and and the the fulfully ready.
ready.
Thu
Thus, 'initiat
initiation'
ion' (diksha or abhisheka) is made ade an indispens
indispensabl able e
prerequisite
prerequisite for the practices practices.. The Tantrik antrik in initia
itiatio
tion n is not to be
confus
confused with with mere 'instructio'ins truction' n' (upadesa). It is is trans
transm missission of
certain effective
effective doctrines by trans transforming
forming the the recipie
recipient nt entirely.
entirely.
The
The process involves elaborate and careful preparation where
texts and manu manuals als occupy
occupy a secondary role, the primary primary task task being
the
the ritua
ritualis
listic involvem
involvement ent with
with thethe teacher. It has already been been
mentioned
entioned that that the importance
importance given to to the teacher in the Tantra antra
is very
very great
great.. Says ays a text: "There "There can be no no salvation witho without ut
initia
in itiation
tion,, and
and there
there can can be be no
no initia
initiatio
tionn witho
without a teacher";2
teacher";29 "For "F or
one
one witho
withou ut initi
initia ation
tion therethere is is no
no progre
progress ss,, nor
nor success;
success; therefore
one must by all all mean
means s get initia
initiated
ted by a teachteacher". er".3 30 The
The expres-
expres-
sion 'diksha' ('in ('initiatio
itia tion n') is a compou
compound nd of two two idea ideas,s, "to gi give
ve""
or "to endow"
endow" divine divine qualities
qualities (di), and "to destroy" or "to
remove" (ksha) the the sins sins and and obs obstruct
tructio
ionsns,, thereby freeing freeing the the
indiv
individ idua
uall from phenomenal
phenomenal fetters fetters..31 .
.....
One may reasonably
reasonably expect expect that that the teacher (Guru) (Guru) will
observe
observe and and studytudy the the novice's
novice's defects
defects and distractiodis tractions ns,, talent
talent
and temtemperament
perament and and then then decide
decide on the the particular
particular ini initia
tiatio
tionn that
is likely
likely to profit
profit him. him. For For,, initia
initiation
tion places
places not only only a profound
profound
but direct respon
res pons sibility
ibility on the teacher eacher with
with regard
regard to his pupil's
success
success in his career. It I t is a personal transm
transmiss ission of unseenunseen but
enormous
enormous power from from the the teacher to the pupif* as effe effec ctively
tively as
possible
possible and and as confi confide dentia
ntialllly
y as feasible.
feasible. The TantraTantra emphasises phasises
trad
traditio
ition based
based on su such
ch personal com communication,
unication, and frown frowns s on
picking
picking up practices from books books and and hearsay
hearsay.. It insis insists ts that
that oneone
who gets initia initiated
ted must guard guard the the details thereof
thereof zealously,
zealously, for
mentioning
entioning them them in in publi
public c would
would lead him to unpleasant unpleasant states tates of
existence
existence.3 .32
Initia
nitiatio
tion n meanseans for the the individua
individuall a total transformtransformation. ation. His
whole
whole being is now uprooted uprooted from normal moorings, oorings, and and keyed
keyed
to a di diffe
fferen
rentt structure-
tructure-function.
function. Formally, ormally, during in initia
itiatio
tionn the
indiv
individ idua
uall is given a new name, and the ritual ritual sequ
sequenc ences es suggest
suggest
a rebirth. The initiate initiated d is no longer longer the biolo biologicgicalal son of his
human
human parents, the member of o f a profes
profession,
ion, or the member ember of a
caste. He He has rituaritualis listica
tically
lly given up all former former associat
associations, ions, and and
is thus dead for for all practical intents. intents. He is ready ready to grow- grow-up up in a
new
new setting. Initia nitiatiotion n is of two types, types, or or operate
operates s at
at two levels: levels:
(1) initia
initiatio
tion n forfor life, which which makes akes thethe initia
initiatedted an altogether
altogether
different
different individual
individual,, functioning
functioning with with entirely new coordin coordinat ates,
es,
becom
becoming dead dead to his old modes modes of behaviour, old associates associates and and
old situat
situations
ions;; and and (2) initia initiatio
tionn for a particular
particular ritual, which which is
temporary.
temporary. The latt latterer is frequen
frequently tly known as 'entrance 'entrance into the the
circle' (cakra) . A citation from from Mahanirvana-tantra wi will make the
pos
position
ition clear: ''W ''Whe hen n one enters into into the
the Bhairavi-Cakr
Bhairavi-Cakra, a, names
and castes are are lost,
lost, conventional
conventional inhi inhibi
bitio
tions
ns do not apply. apply. One One is
exactly like the other. other. But, on com cominging outout ofof the circle, circle, eacheach
assum
assumes his nam name and and caste
caste again, and and each attends
attends to his job job
as anan ordinary
ordinary work- work-a- a-da
day y man”
man” .33 It may be mentioned mentioned in passing passing
that the 'cakra' cult in some parts of India degenerated into
orgias
orgiastic clubs, with with obscene
obscene and and outlandish
outlandish rites.rites. And this was
direc
directlytly responsible
responsible for the the disreput
disrepute e which
which Tantra
Tantra fell into.
Initiation
nitiations s diff
differer also
also according to to whether
whether the the rituals are are
external
external or are merely mental. mental. The The Tantra
antra is clas class sified
ified into
into
Kulacara and Sam S amayacar
ayacara. a. The former former is engaged
engaged with extern external al
rites and and rituals whil while e thethe latt
latterer is character
characteriz ized
ed by internal internal
worship conduct
conducted ed in onesones own ‘heart-loheart-lotus',
tus', witho
without ut necess
necessarilyarily
having to recite recite the sacred formula formulae, e, or to make ake offerings
offerings to fire, fire,
or to engage in any worship wors hip detail
detail whatever.34
whatever.34S Samayaca
ayacara ra is an
interes
interesting contemplative
contemplative technique where where visual
visualiz izations
ations are are all
important. In fact, fact, the Vaj rayan rayana a sadhana, the Buddhi B uddhis st Mahayana
Mahayana
thought-p
thought-prac ractice
tice complex,
complex, developed out of this this technique.
technique. And
in this
this kindkind of abstractabstract wors worship,hip, instruction
ins tructions s, explanations
explanations and and
guidance
guidance from an adept become become indispens
indispensable able and all important important..
It is, therefore, that Samay amayacara
acara is said to be be learnt dire directlctlyy from
the teach
eacherer.3.355 The novice novice here here retires
retires after
after ins instructio
truction n by the
teach
teacher er to a solitary
olitary place
place andand practises
practises contem
contempla plation
tion alone.
alone. The
ADEP TS AND ATTITUDES 43
other kind of Tantra

antra is always
always comm
community-
unity-ori
oriented.
ented. P ractice
ractice is
done
done in groups,
groups, and
and there
there are
are well
well--defin
defined
ed rituals available for
observation and imitation.
In the
the Tantra,
Tantra, two kinds kinds of 'sacrific
'sacrifices
es'' are
are recognised:
recognised: one one
external {bahiryaga), and the other internal (antaryag (antaryaga) a) . It is
acknowledged
acknowledged that that the latt latter
er (performed
(performed in Samayacara)ayacara) is the the
superior one.
one. One
One indulges
indulges in external
external acts
acts of worship
worship only only until ntil
wisdom dawns.
dawns.3 36 While
While ext external wors
worship
hip is not
not condemned
condemned,, it is
dubbed
dubbed as decidedl
decidedly y inferi
inferioor. However,
However, the need need and usefulness
usefulness
of such
such wors
worship
hip for
for certain types of of men areare also
also suggested.
suggested. Th Three
ree
types
types of Tantrik
Tantrik dis dispos
positions
itions areare mentioned:
mentioned: animal or carnal
disposition (pasu-bhava). valiant valiant or dynamic
dynamic dis dispos
position
ition (vira-
bhava) and and divine or or tranq
tranquiluil dis
disposition
position (divya-bhava). Under
sixteen years,
ears, the
the aspirant
aspirant is generally ignorant
ignorant and and incapable of
understanding
understanding aright the subtleties of energy-arou energy-arousal. sal. If,
however,
however, he is religio
religioususly
ly incli
inclined
ned he spends
spends his time time studying
script
sc riptures,
ures, wors
worship hippin
ping g deities,
deities, andand perform
performinging thethe prescribed
prescribed
rituals
rituals (albe
(albeit
it mechanically). He lead leads a dis discip
cipline
linedd life,
life, witho
without ut
however
however goinggoing to ex excesses but being earne earnestst about spiri spiritual
tual
advance
advancem ment.
ent. Notwithstand
twithstandin ing
g this,
this, his mind
mind is still underdevelop
underdevelop
ed, anand his feelings
feelings an and dis
dispopossitions
itions stil
stilll imm
immature. This phase phase of
religious life tied
tied toto ins
instincts
tincts and
and urges
urges is known as 'animal 'animal dis dis
positio
pos ition'.
n'. It is no doubt low, but has the capa capabil
bility
ity of passpassing
ing on
to higher
higher stages.
stages. WhenWhen the the individ
individual
ual grows older and and becom
becomes
mature
ature as a result
result of study, experience
experience or contac
contactt with the right right
teacher,
teacher, he begins
begins to understand
understand the subtle subtleties
ties,, and becomes
steadfast
teadfast in thethe practice of virtue. His actions actions reveal
reveal courage
courage and and
conviction.
conviction. Nothing
Nothing can frighten frighten him or tempt tempt him off the path path
he has chosen.
chosen. He perseveres, endures and pushes pushes on, agains againstt allall
odds.
odds. HeHe is described
described as having the the 'vali
'valiaant or dynamic
dynamic dispos
disposii
tion
tio n', also term
ermed 'great dispos
disposition
ition'' (mahabhava). He has con
quered his anger, greed,
greed, passpassion,
ion, envy and and wo worry;
rry; and
and he hashas
neither inhibitions nor reservations, neither fears nor anxiety
while
while he engages
engages hims
himself even
even in the rather
rather gruesom
gruesome experiments
experiments
like the savasadhana (experiments
(experiments wi with a corpse
corpse in a crem
crematorium
atorium).
Th
The nenext st
stage is that of 'd 'divi
ivine disp
isposit
osition
ion'. Here the pract actitioner
oner
is almost like a god, having abandoned quali qualities
ties of good and
and bad,
bad,
pleasure and
and pain, right
right and
and wrong,
wrong, and and being perfectly
perfectly tranquil
and pure
pure at heart;
heart; hehe is not driven by ins instincts,
tincts, nor is he prey
prey to
temptatio
temptationsns.. He has
has freed himself
himself from phenomenal
phenomenal cons constrai
traints.
nts.
relating to revival of the dead
Vamakesvara-tantra defines 'disposition' (bhava) as a mental

process,
process, a quali
quality
ty of the mind,
mind, capable
capable of being hand handled
led only
only at
the
the psychological level.3
level.37 The abov
above e clas
classification
ification of disposition
disposition
into
into three types
types is wi with regard
regard to the mental energy that is
brought to bear (saktipradhanyat). And there there is a supposition
upposition that
the physical cons
constitutio
titution
n is also of three
hree ty
types: superior, middling
and inferior.
inferior. The superior
superior is characterised
characterised by the dominance
dominance of
the sattvik element
element (wisdom),
(wis dom), thethe middling of rajasik element
(énergetic¡action), an and the
the inferior of tamasic element (le (lethargy-
thargy-
ignorance
ignorance-i -infatuation)
nfatuation).. TheThe variety of Tantrik Tantrik practice
practice that
that
suits
uits and
and benefits
benefits each type of o f individua
individuall must be determ
determined
ined
by the master,
master, becbecau
ause
se successful
successful practice
practice presuppose
presupposes s tempera
tempera
mental
ental facil
facility.
ity. One
One of thethe texts suggests
suggests 'daksina'
'daksina' path
path for the
the
ADEP
ADEP I S AND ATTITUDES 45
inferior,
inferior, 'vama'
'vama' pathpath for the the middli
middling ng and
and 'uttara'
'uttara' for the the
super
superiorior.3
.38 Likewise,
ikewise, for the inferior ('animal
('animal dis
dispos
position')
ition') Vedic
Vedic
rituals, wors
worshi hipp of gods like
like Siva and Vi Vis
shnu are
are recommended;
ended;
for the middling
iddling ('valia
('valiant
nt dis
dispo
possition')
ition') the 'si
'siddha'
ddha' and 'vam 'vama'a'
rituals, and for the superior ('divine disposition') only 'kaula'
lituals. The classification of personality into three types is
elaborated
elaborated in some some of the Tantrik
antrik manuals,
anuals, and it is linked withwith
the concept of 'seven-fold
'seven-fold conduc
conduct' t' (saptacara).3
).39 A fter
fter det
detaili
ailing
ng
the seven pathspaths, a text
text sums
sums u up
p: "Ma
"M any are the pathspaths mentioned
by those
those who are are adepts
adepts in practi
practice
ce and experts in scriptur
criptural
al lore;
lore;
but one mus ustt foll
fo llo
ow the
the path
path suggest
uggested to him by his teacher
and
and no othe ther".
r".40
Th
The mo
more intinterest
esting vi
view,
ew, however, is the arrangement of of th
the
three
hree 'dispos
'dispositio
itions
ns'' ment
mentioned
ioned above
above in a sequent
sequentialial order.
order. The
'animal
'animal dis
dispos
position'
ition' is said to be be the primary
primary stage, universal
universal in its
scope: "al
"a ll the
the animals
animals,, as ground for human beings on earth to
be founded upo upon".4n".41 And it is considered
considered a necessary
necessary stage; and and
every one, however evolved, mus mustt start only here.ere. When wisdomwisdom
begin
beginss to shine,
shine, the 'vali 'valia
ant disdispos
position'
ition' will
will set in; and and then
then
'gradually' (kramena) one becom becomes 'divine'
'divine' in his dis disposition.
position. The
three
three dis
dispos
positio
itions
ns are
are accommodated
accommodated to the major ajor stages
stages of life-
chil
childhoo
dhood,d, adulthoo
adulthood d and old age. age. And iin n some
some texts
texts, the
the
consecrations (abhisheka) are made the turnin turningg points
points of
of the
the three
three
dispos
dis positions.
itions. The normal householder, being initiated initiated into some
mantras, starts with with the
the 'animal' stage.
stage. He lives lives according to
conventional
conventional norm norms, fulfi
fulfill
llin
ingg all ritual
ritualis
istic
tic expectat
expectations.
ions. Then
Then
when he obtains
obtains the saktabhiseka (cons (consecration
ecration as a Tantrik
practitione
practitioner),
r), he continues to live at hom home but is indif indiffer
feren
entt tto
o
normal
normal cares
cares and
and worries of domes domestic
tic life
life as well
well asas social
participation.
participation. He is called a 'householder-reclus
'householder-recluse' e' (grhavadhuta).
When in this conditio
condition n he advadvance
ancess and
and gets
gets 'the full consecration'
consecration'
(purnabhisheka) the the 'vali
'valiaant' stage start
starts.
s. He now stay stays away
from home and comm commences visitinvisiting
g cemeteries
cemeteries for for pyre-practice
pyre-practice
cita-sadhana), crematorium-practice (smasana-sadhana), esoteric
circle-practices (cakra-sadhana), practicespractices with
with women
women consort
consorts s
(yogini-sadhana), and indulges
indulges in thethe five 'm'
'm' s (wine,
(wine, fish,
fish, flesh,
gestures and
and copul
copulatio
ation)
n).. The last mentione
mentioned d practice
practice is esoteric:
the articles
articles mentioned
entioned are are in fac
fact symboli
ymbolicc and
and refer to accomplis
accomplish h
ments in the ps psychic
ychic centr
centres.
es. Uns nscrupulous
crupulous masters and and
uncultured student
tudents,s, together with the forces of ignora ignorance
nce anand
temptatio
temptation, have helped to bring bring infamy on this practice.
practice. The
practitioner
practitioner at this stage
stage also practices
practices the
the 'six
'six actions'
actions ' of sorcery
and witch-craft: pacification (santi), possession (vasikarana),
hold-up (stambhana), rousing
rousing enmity (vidveshana), driving-away
VASIKARA-YANTRA, for eliminating opposition

and securing affection
(uccatana) and killing (marana). After the the 'vali

'valia
ant' stage,
stage, the
practitioner bec
becom
omes eligi
eligible
ble to 'the great-empir
great-empire e consecrat
consecration'
ion'
(mahasamrajyadiksha). But this meanseans givin
givingg up all world
worldly
ly
involvement andand devoting
devoting oneself
oneself entirely
entirely to the
the yogi
yogic
c attainm
attainment
ent
of Brahm
Brahman. He is nownow on the lastlast lap
lap of
of his pilgrim
pilgrimage. His
dispo
dis pos sition
ition is naturall
naturally
y 'divi
'divin
ne'; he is now above above the humhuman
frailties
frailties and beyond
beyond the
the agitations that plague the the comm
common folk or
the early aspirant.
The
The Tant
Tantra is primprimararilily
y a prpract
actical
ical didiscip
scipli
line
ne and its its phil
philosop
osophyhy
was never crystallis
crystallised.ed. The
T he need
need was nevernever s trongl
trongly y fel
fe lt and
and much
much
of the instr
ins truc
ucttion was oral oral and
and situation
ituational.
al. S ome
ome of the T antr antrikik
texts, like Saradati/aka, do deal with philosophical matters, but
these accounts are are neither
neither systematic nor cons consisistent.
tent. It is hard,
hard,
therefore, to define an and describe
describe whatwha t may be called called the T antrik
antrik
philos
philosophy
ophy.. The working presuppositpresuppos itions
ions of the S aiva, aiva, Vaisnav
Vaisnava,a,
S akta
akta and
and the
the so-call
so-calleded Buddhist
uddhis t Tantras
antras appear
appear differen
different; t; and
and the
the
functiona
functionall role of the concepts concepts in each Tantra T antra seems
seems to vary. vary.
The
The com
common ide idea, howev
owever er,, is that
hat of 'energy
energy'' (sakti), which is a
sort of Tantrik counterpart of the Vedantic maya and the Samkhyan
prakrti.42 The
The Tant
T antrrik tradi
tradittion being
eing theist
heistic,
ic, they point to the
supreme
supreme and and absolute
absolute but qualifie qualified
d Lord (saguna-paramesvara),
whom some Tantrik texts describe as 'glorious with being,
sentience and bliss' (saccidanandavibhava). In Him is inseparably inseparably
merged
erged the inf infin
inite
ite and transc endental energy (sakti) as His
transcendental
aspect (kala), which which is beyond the phenomenal context. But the the
Lord by His free will il l sets
sets energy
energy into motion, and and brings forth
forth
creat
creation— as oil is pre pressed
ssed from the oil-seeds
oil-seeds.4 .43 C reation
reation is merel
merely y
the manifestation of energy, and the texts illustrate the process by
drawing
drawing a parallel to to the
the arousal (or rather revival) revival) of remembr
remembran an
ce in a person who wh o wakes up from deep deep sleep. His memory emory which
which
had merged
erged in him,him, los
lost as it were,
were, reappear
reappears s as soon as wakefu wakefull
awaren
awarenessess is estestablished.
ablished. There is conjuredconjured 'a visionvision of void
void'' as a
result
result of which emer emerg ges the undifferen
undifferenttiated and and diffuse
diffus e light-
light-
sound nucleus (para-nada), 'filling the void'. This void-essence
focuss
focusses es its
its elf
elf and
and crystallizes
crystallize s into the 'transc 'transcendental
endental drop'
(para-bindu), which is a sort of materialization of the Lord's
'action-energy' (kriya-sakti). This This 'drop'
drop',, bein ingg crea
creattive,
ive, str
struct
uctures
itself into two categories: 'the 'the phenomenal drop' drop' (apara-b/ndu),
highl
highligh
ighting
ting the aspect of self- self-awareness
awareness in the the Lord
Lord (the (the Siva
category) and and 'the'the seed'
seed' (bija) of all creation, emphasizi emphasizing ng the the
energy aspect of the Lord (the sakti category). This splitt plitting
ing is
accompanied
accompanied by a secondary secondary light-light-s sound
ound complex
complex (apara-nada),
which
which is described as 'the great sound' or 'the sound-abso ound-absolute' lute'
(mahanada or sabdabrahma). In fac fact, this light-s
light-sound
ound complex
complex is
what
what holds the the two categories
categories together
together and and thus symbolizes
symbolizes their
union.
The
The thoug ought-tr -transf
ansfe erence from macrocosmic level to the
microcos
icrocosm mic led the Tantra to find find in man the counterpartcounterpart of of this
this
'great sound' in 'the coiled coiled serpent' (kundalini). It is the causal
energy in man (sakti), represent represented ed by a triang
triangle le consis
consistingting of the the
three categories
categories mentioned above above as as its sides: 'the'the drop' (bindu),
'the seed' (bija), and 'the sound' sound' (nada), all all emerging
emerging from the
materialized 'transcendental drop' (para-bindu). Even ven as as the
entire creation iss issues
ues from the the 's
'sound-
ound-absabsolu
olute',
te', man's an's being and and
behaviour
behaviour arise arise out of the 'coiled 'coiled serpent-power'.
serpent-power'. It is 'coiled' 'coiled' in
the sense
sense of being inactive inactive normall
normally; y; it rests
rests in itself,
itself, perfectly
perfectly
self-c
self-contained,
ontained, turned on on itself
itself and
and devoid of all outwar outward d orien
orienta ta
tion. The secondary 'light-sound complex' (apara-nada) or 'the
great sound',
ound', located in between between the the eyebrows, is imagined imagined to
enter
enter thethe central
central psychic canal, sushumna, and flow down to the
'basal center' (muladhara) and rest res t there in the form of kundalini.
Th
The pu purpose of Tan Tantrik sad sadhana is to rouse this slu slumbering
giant,
giant, who when roused roused wouldwould return
return to thethe psychic center center bet
ween the eyebrows
eyebrows ascending along along the the sushumna canal. Kunda
lini in its
its ininitia
itiall wakefuln
wakefulness ess is described
described as ' visarg visarga' a' ('sending
forth')
forth') 'discha
'dis charge',rge', 'depart
'departure';
ure'; the
the latt
latter
er is also the the mark of hard ard
aspiratio
aspiration n after the modifie odifierr in thethe S anskrit
anskrit alphabet
alphabet.. It is reprerepre
sented (as in the alphabet alphabet) by two dots one placed on top of the
other.
other. The dot on the the top is identified with fire' fire' (agni) while the
one
one below with with 'moo 'moon' n' (soma). We hav have seen above above that that this
symbolizes
symbolizes male-female ale-female configura
configurattion ion (or biunity).
biunity). The aspirat aspirate e
mark has no doubt doubt two component
components s, but it is not indic indicative
ative of
dual
duality.
ity. It It points
points out rather rather to the the fact that these two are are the
necessary
necessary structural elements elements involved
involved in a unity; unity; each
each divorced
from thethe other woul would d be meaningless
eaningless.. In th the Tantrik texts texts, this
stage
stage of in initia
itiall but incipi
incipien
entt activity
activity on the part of the aw awaken
akened ed
energy is styled 'awareness-instant' (cit-kala), whic which booms booms and and
buzzes,
buzzes, and develops into a pleasurable prospect of activity activity
(technic
(technically ally describe
described d as 'bliss
'blis s', ananda). Carrying the the sound-
sound-
imagery further, kundalini is said to comprise comprise of of all audible
(akshara) and and visible (varna) sound sound;; and the first firs t flush of aware
aware
ness is the in initia
itiall sound-form
sound-form 'a', from from whic
which h in due due course the
THE IDEOLOGICAL BASIS 49
entire alphabet proceeds. proceeds. This 'awareness 'awareness-sound' -sound' as it arises arises in
the
the 'root-b
'root-bas asicic'' center is term termed ed the the 'trans'transcendental
cendental speech'
(para-vak), characterized by mer mere e intenti
intention on or wil willl (kama).
which is unspeci
unspecified fied but
but fundamental. It is not a desire for some
thing or a will to do anything; anything; but the glimmer glimmer of voli volition
tion which
lies at thethe back of all life. life. In fact, we read read in tthe he Tantrik
Tantrik accounts
accounts
that life
life proceeds
proceeds only only from this this intentio
intention n or will. Life (prana)
is the phenomenal
phenomenal coun counterp terpa art and and an em emergent of the trans trans
cendent
cendental al 'awarenes
'awareness s-ins
-instant'.
tant'. If the the former
former is is symboliz
ymbolized ed by
'a', the firs
firstt lett
letterer of the
the alphabet, the the latter as the the final
final effec
effectt is
symbolized by 'ha, the last last lettletter;er; it is also also pictured
pictured as a swan
(hamsa). 'A 'Aha
ha'' thus
thus repre
representsents s the
the tota
totali lity
ty of origi
origin n and effect, of
the transcendental and and the the phenomenal,
phenomenal, of awareness awareness and acti
vity; 'parama-
'parama-ham hamsa' sa' is a word that denotes denotes 'the whole man' man' in
whom the elem elementsents are perfectly
perfectly integrated.
Th
The Saiv
Saivite Tan Tantra loo looks upon 'a' as Siva Siva (pure aw awareness or or
illumination, prakasa), the absolute being; being; and 'ha' is sakti (the
energy aspect thereof, or the the inherent
inherent expre express ssive
ive activiactivity.
ty.
vimarsa), thethe phenom
phenomenal enal emergen
emergence.4 ce.44 The two two are parallele
paralleled d by
Brahman and and Maya in Advaita dvaita Vedanta.Vedanta. The coming coming together
together of
the
the two categories
categories (the (the union being symboliz ymbolized ed by the the terminal
terminal
'm')
'm') is signified
ignified by the Sanskrit anskrit expression 'a-ham' 'a-ham' ('I' 'I ' or ego),
which
which also comprehends prehends in its itselelff the
the entire alphabet
alphabet.. The mass of
this union is technically
technically term ermed 'mithun 'mithuna- a-pinpindada'' (the
(the pair-body,
pair-body,
or two-in-
wo-in-oneone), ), or 'S 'Siva-S
iva-S akti' (awar (awaren eness-en
ess-ener erggy).45
).45 When When
'awareness
'awareness'' and 'ac 'activity
tivity'' thus thus unite in the the act of 'visarg 'visarga' a' the
the
unity is spoken of as as 'kama-kal
'kama-kala' a' (aspect
(aspects s of desire).
desire). 'Awareness
'Awareness
(prakasa), when implicit in 'activity' (vimarsa}, is represented represented
by a white
white coloure
coloured d 'drop
'drop', ', symbolic
ymbolic of semen or male energy; energy;
'ac
'activity
tivity'' as
as impli
implic cit in 'awareness'
'awareness' is symbolized symbolized by a red red coloured
'drop', also called 'sound' 'sound' (nada), deno denoting ting female
female energy.
energy. The
two drops
drops really are are two aspects
aspects of the 'transc 'transcendent
endental al drop' but
in its phenom
phenomenal enal phase (calle (called d Kama, the the aspects
aspects o f whic which h are
the two coloured 'drops'). 'drops'). 'Awareness
'Awarenes s' is likened to to fire, and and
activity'
tivity' to the the butter which which melts in its heat heat. And intera interactiction
on,
between the two is described as 'bliss' (ananda or hardhakala).
The't
T he'trransc sce endental drop' op' is is ththe kundalini in its its original condi
tion, altogether uninvolved in indivi individua duationtion an and unrelated altoge altoge
ther
ther to the the phenom
phenomenal evocations. evocations. In In this cond conditi itio
on it is called
'maham
'mahamaya'.aya'. But when when 'awa 'aware renenes ss-activi
activity'ty' arises in it, the the
pristine
pristine statetate of quiet
quiet is dis disturb
turbed ed and it becom becomes individuaindividuated, ted,
and
and bound to phenomenal
phenomenal cond condit ition
ions.4®
s.4®T This is the the 'coil
'coileded serpent
serpent--
power'
power' that the Tant Tantra ra seeks to handle. handle. In In the norm normal individual
individual,,
however,
however, the the free power
power of activi activity ty lies hidden or is in a dis disssolved
state within 'awareness' (antar/ina-vimarsa). This condition is

what is described as 'coiled'; kundalini is said aid to be asleep here. here.
And in su such
ch a condi
condition tion,, 'awareness'
'awareness' is importan
importantt and and inert
inert (Siva
is here
here figu
figure
redd as sava, a corpse). When owing to the Tantrik
practices 'the power' stirs up, then '1-ness' (ahamta) or egoity egoity is
instit
ins tituted.
uted. InIn this context,
context, egoity
egoity means eans merely 'self-awareness
'self-awareness', ',
the individuated power discovering its own identity identity.. As against it, it,
there is projeprojectiction
on of of the same power power onto onto the phenomenal
canvas;
canvas; and cons consequently
equently there appea appears rs the external world world of
things
things and and events
events. The source of this externaliz externalization
ation is spoken
spoken of
as 'non-egoity' (anaham). When 'self-awareness' interacts with
the projected
projected phenomenal world world,, we have have the relating
relating proce
process ss,,
'thisness' (idamta).
The
The Nat
Natha tr tradit
aditio ionn ta
takes the same st sta
and but elaborates on
individu
individual al development
development.. The abstract abstract worldworld as projected by the the
awareness-energy complex out of an initial stir (spanda) of inspi
ration (sphurti) is described described as as the
the 'transc
'transcendental
endental str structure'
ucture'
(para-pinda), a materializ aterialization
ation that
that is cosm
cosmic in its import.import. But as
individuated with the the nucleu
nucleus s of egoity',
egoity', it becom
becomes transactransactional,
tional,
and
and it is term termed ed 'individu
'individual al structure'
tructure' (vyashti-pinda). In each
individua
individual, l, however, the the transcendent
transcendental al structure is reflected.
reflected. The
entire universe
universe is containecontained d withi
within n one'
one'ss body.4
body.48 The aware awareness-
ness-
energy complex occurs in the the individua
individuall as spiri piritt and body: the the
spirit is Siva and the body is Sakti. The dicho dichotomy
tomy in our thought
and
and action
action is unnatural
unnatural and and therefore stressful.tressful. The goal of the
Natha
Natha practitioner
practitioner is to realize realize in one's own being the the identity
identity of
Siva and and S akti, to to integrate
integrate the two apparently divergent divergent dimen dimen
sions,
ions, andand to perceive
perceive the entire universe as the express expressionion of
S iva-S
iva-Sakti. The Natha Natha practice suggests a procedu procedure re which is both
natural (sahaja) and and effective
effective for for transm
transmuting the body into the the
spiri
irit49, thereby achievin
achieving g enduring
enduring and and unbroken
unbroken inner iden identity.
tity.
Thi
This pr procedure is ca called 'ha'harrmoniz
oniziing'
ng' (samarasa) the immanent,
the transce
transcendent
ndent and and the universal
universal into into one
one reality.
reality. Our ordinary
ordinary
consciousness is fragmented,
fragmented, torn into states and and condition
conditions s and
processes,
processes, and and therefore
therefore our ide identity is involved in a crisis. crisis. The
'splitting' causes pain because of its unnaturalness, and ego-
involvement
involvement in each each detail frustrates
frustrates the basic self-awaren self-awareness ess
(ahamta) .The Y ogi, like like a Taoist,
aoist, recomm
recommends a perfec perfectly tly natural
natural
and therefore relaxed and easy life; life; the mind
mind should become 'sky 'sky
like' (kha-sama), freed from all specific fixations.
Considering the the anxiety
anxiety displayed by by the
the Tantrik adherenadherents ts to
keep
eep their lore a well- well-guguard
arded
ed secret
secret,, it is surprising
urprising that we hav have
e
a very large num number ber of Tantrik
Tantrik works,
works, most of them them well well preserv
ed in public
public ins institutions
titutions (like
(like royal
royal libraries
libraries)) and not a few of
them
them given rather
rather wide publ publicicity.
ity. The extent of Tantrik literature literature
is vast,
vast, and the con content tent variou
various s, so various in fac fact that
that an adequat
adequate e
class
classific
ification
ation is almost impos imposs sible. Besides,
Besides, most of the Tantras antras
that we possess are are indefinite about their philosophical
philosophical positions,
sectarian
sectarian affil
affilia
iatio
tions ns and
and authorship.
authorship. Not Not a fewfew of of them
them are are ramb
ramb
ling in their accounts
accounts and and grandiose in their claims claims. And And many of
them
them are are obvio
obvious usly ly late com
compositio
positions
ns,, the dates extendingextending from
the 1Oth Oth to the 18th 18th century.
century. Themes
Themes overlap, ideas are are repeate
repeated d
and verses
verses are
are reproduced
reproduced in the the Tantrik
antrik works so so much that that it is
difficult to determine borrowals.
The
There are, however, some cri criteria
eria for
for clas
classisiffying ththe Tant
Tantrik
texts
texts that
that appear
appear to be be rather
rather old. One of them them is based based on the
'amnaya'
'amnaya' concept: (1) works works of eastern
eastern 'amnaya'
'amnaya' (predomine
(predominently ntly
belonging to the mantra path); (2) works of the western 'amnaya'
(karma path); (3) (3) works
works of the the northern 'amnaya'
'amnaya' (jnana path);
(4) works of the the southern 'amnaya' 'amnaya' (bhakti path); and and (5) (5) works
of the
the central 'am 'amnaya' (comprehens
(comprehensive ive or mixed).
mixed). Anothernother is
based
based on the the 'guna'
'guna' idea: (a) the the texts em emphasiz
phasizing ing sattvik nature
(the Tantra proper);
proper); (2) (2) those
those whic
which h are
are rajasik in nature (e.g.,
the yamalas); and (3) those which are tamasik (e.g., the damaras).
S till another relies on on geographical
geographical area areas s of prevalen
prevalence: ce: Gaud
Gauda
(Bengal and neighbourho
neighbourhood) od),, Kashmira (and the fronti frontie er area
areas
s
like the Swat
Swat valley,
valley, called in tthe he old texts Uddiyana) and Kerala
(Sout
(S outh h India). It I t app
appears
ears that
that this was a wide widely ly accept
accepted ed classi
classi
fication
fication ofof traditions
traditions (sampradaya). There There is a clas classificatio
ification n base
basedd
on whetwhether
her the texts texts foll
follow
ow Vedic
Vedic religio
religion n (veda-marga),
Buddhism
uddhism, or J ainis
ainism m. There are some Tantrik antrik texts
texts that advocat
advocate e
secrecy (vamacara), others that do do not mind
mind publ
publicicity
ity (daksina-
cara), and
and stil
stilll others
others that
that arare 'mixed' (misra), i.e., following
vamacara in secrsecretet and
and daksinacara in public.
Althoug
lthough h the
the Tantra is is mostly
mostly an approach to Sakti akti and
and there
fore properly
properly described
described as Sakta, akta, there
there are
are Tantrik
antrik texts
texts purport
purport
ing
ing to extol
extol Siva
Siva or VisVisnu
nu.. Acc
Accordi
ordingl
ngly,
y, they are
are designat
designated ed Saiva
aiva
or Vaisnava Tantras. The Saiva Tantra antra includes
includes pure Saiv Saiva,a,
Pasupat
asupata, Kalagamana
Kalagamana and Kapalika. apalika. The Tan Tantrik
trik works of the the
Saiva
aiva persu
persuasion
asion are traditio
traditiona
nalllly
y twenty-
twenty-e eig
ight
ht in num numberber while
thos
those e of the Vaisnav
Vaisnava a are 108.
108. The former former (also
(also called
called Saiva-
aiva-
agama) are are again grouped into into two categories:
categories: Saiva proper (10
works like Kamikaga
Kamikagam ma, Karanagam
Karanagama, a, Suprab
Suprabhedagam
hedagama and Ajita- jita-
gama),
gama), and Raudr audra a (18 works like Vijayagama,ijayagama, Nihsvasagama,
Nihsvasagama,
Kiranagama,
iranagama, Svayambhuvagam
vayambhuvagama a and
and Rauravagam
auravagama). a). The Vaishnav
Vaishnava a
works areare princi
principapall
lly
y grouped under
under Vaikhanas
Vaikhanasa(lia(like
ke the
the Sam
S amhit
hitas
as
of Marici, Bhrgu,
Bhrgu, AtriA tri and
and Kasyap
Kasyapa), a), Pancar
ancarat
atra
ra (like J ayakhya-
ayakhya-
samhita,
samhita, P ushkara-samhit
ushkara-samhita a an
and S atvata-
atvata-sasammhita), andand Tantra-sara
antra-sara
(follo
(followe
wed d by Madhva devot devotees).
ees).
Th
The Sak
Saktas arare eieither Ka
Kaulas or Sam Samayacarins, whi while the difdiffe-
'L
V*»*3*CT
SOME MUDRAS USED IN WORSHIP

SOURCE MATERIAL 53
rences betwee
between n them
them are numerous and rather vague, we may
roughly describe the the former
former as given to external
external rituals whil
while e the
the
latter as preferring 'internal worship' (antaryaga). The Kaulas
are
are worshippers of Kali,5 ali,50 and
and maintain secrecy
secrecy in their
their rituals.5
rituals .51
And their
their rituals areare said to include drinking drinking wine,
wine, eating meat
and
and fish, hand-ges
hand-gestu tures
res and and sexual
sexual indulgence
indulgence (the five 'm's 'm's).
But they also insis
ins istt that
that the Kaula path is not not for one who lacks
control
control over his impulse
impulses s and senses.5
senses.52 2 There areare several
several Kaula
sects
sects like 'purvakula' (who (who take the five 'm's 'm's only symbolic
ymbolically),
ally),
'Utt
'Uttarak
arakula
ula',
', 'Kapalika
'Kapalika', ', and
and 'Digambara'
'Digambara' (all of whom seem seem to
resort
resort to outlandis
outlandish h rituals).
rituals). They
They all identify
identify themselves
hemselves
with
with Bhairava
Bhairava and wors worshi hip
p in a nude state the Goddess oddess.5.53 The
Kaulas are said said to assumassume numerous
numerous garbs: they are Saktas (or
Kaulas) within
within,, but Saivas in appear appearan ance,
ce, and
and pass
pass for Vaisnavas
Vaisnavas
in assemblies.54 The Samayaca amayacarinsrins,, on the other
other hand, are more
restrained in their
their ideas and and practices;
practices; they are are given toto symbol
ymbolic ic
Sricakra
ricakra worship
worship and and their
their philosphy
philosphy is based
ased on the 'centers' in
the body.
body. They hav have e a fivefive--fold
fold canon namednamed after the Vedic
sages,
sages, Vasi
Vasishtha,
shtha, Sana
Sanaka ka,, Suk
S uka,
a, Sanandana
S anandana and Sanatkum
anatkumara.
KALI YANTRA. used in the Worship

of the Mother Goddess
Most
ost of the
the Tantrik
antrik id
idea
eas
s got cryst
crystalliz
allized at the hands
hands of the
the
Siddhas
iddhas and the Nathas,
Nathas, who lived
lived during thethe early centuries
centuries
of the Christian
hristian era.
era. The
The Apabhramsa
Apabhramsa dohas and the Caryagitis
of the Siddhas
iddhas and
and the S anskrit
anskrit works of the NathasNathas (especially
(especially
Gorakshanatha)
Gorakshanatha) areare important
important sources of Tantrik
antrik ideas. Under the
impact
impact of the
the S iddhas
iddhas and
and the Nathas,
Nathas, a rich Tantrik
antrik literature
literature
sprang
prang up during
during the medieval ages. ages. Kashmir
ashmir Saivism aivism and and South
Indian Saiva aiva S iddhanta have have very interesting
interesting works bearing on
Tan
Tantra. KashKashm mir Saiv
Saivism is well well represen sented by Som Somananda's
Sivadrshti, Abhinavagupta's Tantraloka and Tantrasara, and Kshe-
maraja's Pratyabhijnahrdaya and Spandasandoha. Saiva Siddhanta
treatises
treatises are are all in Tamil. amil. Important
mportant amongamong them them areare Manikka-
Manikka-
vacakar's Tiruvacakam, Meykandadevar's Sivajnanabodam. Saka-
lagamapandita's Sivajnanasiddhiyar, and and the
the writings
writings of TiruTirujnana-
jnana-
samban
ambandar.
dar. Appar and Sund S undarar
arar mad
made e important
important con contributio
tributionsns
towards crystallizing Tamil Saivism.
The
The TaTantra drew
drew bot bothh J ain
ainism and Bud Buddhism wit withi
hin
n its fold
fold in
the early centuries of the Christian hristian era. ra. In both these religions,
religions,
worship
worship of gods and godde goddesses
sses in the formform of Yakshas and Yakshis
and adoration of teachers teachers (like
(like tirthankara
tirthankaras s, dhyanibuddhas and and
bodhisatt
bodhisattvas vas)) becam
ecame important involvements
involvements. In In J ainism
ainism, each ach
of the twenty-fo
twenty-four ur Tirthankaras
irthankaras (the (the ford-making J inas) inas) camcame to
possess his own characteristic Yaksha and Yakshini. Most ost of the these
se
spirits
pirits and
and didivin
vinitie
itiess were
ere directly
directly borrowed from from the folk folk cults
cults
(like
(like Garuda,
Garuda, KuberKubera,a, Gomedha,
omedha, Kim Kimnara,
nara, BrahmBrahma, Vara-N
Vara-Nandi,andi,
Gomukh
Gomukha a and Tumburu);
umburu); some some of them them were already well well--kno
known
in Tantrik
antrik circles (like Kalika, VajrasrnkhalaVajrasrnkhala,, Bhrkuti, hrkuti, Gauri,
Gauri,
J valam
alamal alin
inii and Mah Mahamanasi) si). It is small wond onder that what
appealed
appealed to popular fancy was the the cult
cult of these
these Tantrik divinities
divinities,,
and therefore numerous
numerous J ain ain Tan
Tantrik
trik manu
manuals als came to be be compos
ed by celebrated
celebrated J aina saints. Bhairava-PBhairava-P admavat
admavati-ka/pa,
i-ka/pa, J vala- la-
malini-k
mali ni-kalpa
alpa,, Rshi-mandala-mantra-kalpa,
Rshi-mandala-mantra-kalpa, Jagatsudari-prayoga-
ma!a, Sri-chintamani-kalpa-sara and Vidhi-prapa are good illust
rations
rations of wha whatt may may be called
called J aina Tantra. Tantra. The The Buddhist
development
development in the the Tantrik
antrik framework forms forms the subject matt matterer
of another volume
volume by me, and thereforetherefore littl
little
e about
about it needs
needs to be
said here.
A large
large proport
proportionion of extant Tantrik works is s till in manusc anusc
ripts.
ripts. Of those
those that have have been printed
printed,, many
many belong
belong to the Kaula Kaula
and Samaya aya persuasions
persuasions.. Kubjik
Ku bjika-ta
a-tantr
ntra,
a, Saura-samh
Saura-samhita, ita, Kirana-
Kirana-
tantra, Jayakhya-samhita,
Jayakhya-sam hita, Paramesvari-tantra,
Paramesvari-tantra, Kularna Kularnava,va, Maha-
nirvana-tantra, Bhavacudamani, Mundamala-tantra, Prayogasara,
Kamikagama, Jayasimha-kalpadruma, Jnanasankalini-tantra,
Vamakesvara-tantra, Srikrama-tantra, Tantraraja-tantra, Kaulava-
linirmaya, Saktisangama-tantra, Rudrayamala, Sarada-tilaka,
Parananda-sutra, Parasuramakalpa-sutra, Kaula-rahasya, Matanga-
paramesvari-tantra (with with Ram
Ramakant
akantha's
ha's comm
comm.), Bhairava-damara,
and Kakacandesvara-mata are some of of the better known texts. texts.
Most
os t of them
them areare s till in their
their S anskrit original. J ohn Woodroffe
(Arthu
(A rthurr Avalon)
valon) has donedone much not only nly to trans
translate
late some Tantrik
SOURCE MATERIAL 55
works
works, but
but to expound
expound the the concepts involved in them. them. Chinta-
hara
haran n Chakravarti,
hakravarti, Haraprasad
Haraprasad S astri, astri, Bhavt
Bhavtos oshh Bhatt
Bhattacha
acharya,
rya,
M.P.
M.P. P andit,
andit, Kapali
Kapali S astr
astri,
i, Prabodh
rabodha a Chandra
handra Bagchi, M. Eliade, liade,
G. Tucci, P.H. P ott, Gopinath Kaviraj aviraj and
and Hazariprasad
Hazariprasad Dvivedi
Dvivedi
are some
some of the scholars
cholars whos
whose e writi
writin
ngs have
have illumine
illumined d many a
dark niche in the Tantrikantrik mansion.
Of the
the num
numerous
erous Tantrik
antrik works that are are still in manuscript
anuscript
stage and are incl included
uded in catalogues
catalogues,, a large number deal deal with
rituals
rituals connected
connected with with particular
particular deities (like Kurukulla-pata/a,
Ekajata-sadhana, Kumari-tantra, Gauri-yamala, Tara-nigama,
Tarini-nirnaya, Bhairavi-yamala, Matangi-tantra, Varahi-tantra,
Lakshmi-kularnava, Bhuta-damara and Ma/lari-mahatmya); and
some
some areare general
general works
works (like
(like Tantra-dipika, Tantradarsa, Tantrika-
darpana, Prayoga-sara, Brhat-tantra-sara, Saktagama-sarvasva,
Mantra-tantra-prakasa, and Nigama-kalpadruma). Some contai containn
the view-points
view-points of particular
particular sag sages oror schools (like Pippalada-
mata,
mata, Pinga/a-mata,
Pinga/a-m ata, Kaulesakoti-pra
Kaulesa koti-prabheda,bheda, Goraksha-mahartha-
Goraksha-mahartha-
manjari, Dattatreya-samhita, Pheru-tantra, Vaisampayana-samhita.
Soma-sambhu-siddhanta, Gaudapada-Sakti-sutra and Vidyananda-
nibhandha). Some deal deal with magical rites (lik (like
e Abhicara-kavaca,
Abhicara-kavaca,
Yoni-tantra, Shat-karma-dipika and Sautramani-tantra), and som some
are
are simple
imple worship
worship manuals
manuals (like (like Lingarcana, Puja-sara,
Puja-sara, Krshnar-
cana-candrika, Kadi-mata, Kali-kalpa, Sri-cakra-krama and Syama-
saparya-krama). Som Some areare in the the nature
nature of lexicons and gloss glossaries
(like Matrka-kosa, Sanketa-paddhati, Matrkarnave, Mudra-
nighantu, Gudhartha-dipika, and Keraliya-yantra-sastra, Som Some,
describe
describe regional
regional cults
cults (like Kamarupa-dipika, Kamakhya-tantra
Cina-tantra, Jayadratha-yamala, Munda-m Mun da-mala-ta ntra, and Bala-
ala-tantra,
vilasa). Maha-cina-tantra, Rudra-yamala, Tara-tantra, Svatantra-
tantra Nila-sarasvati-tantra indicate
indicate Tibetan and and Chinese
hinese influence
on some
some of the Indian
Indian cults.
cults. There are are Tantras
Tantras (like
(like Maha-nirvana,
Sakti-samgama, Munda-mala, Shatkarma and Maha-cinacara) that
recomm
recommend aggress
aggressive and eroti erotic c mearures,
earures, and there there are those
(like Kularnava, Parananda and Sri-krama) that ins insist
ist on auste
rity. There
There is an intere
interessting work on mys ystic
tic diagrams
diagrams by Damo-
dara, Yantra-cintamani, which which claims
claims to be a summ
summary of Atharva-
Atharva-
Veda.
Veda. Of Of minor,
minor, but popular
popular short works must be be mentioned
Saundarya-Lahari, ascri ascribed
bed to the great great Samkara and commented
upon
upon by Lolla-Lolla-Lakshm
akshmidhara
idhara (abo (about
ut 1500),
1500), Bhavanopanishad
deemed as an Upanishapanishad d andand com commented
ented upon by Bhaskara-haskara-raya
raya
(1733), Devi-pancastavi, and Nityashodasikarnava which belongs belongs
to Vamakesvara-tantra, Lalitasahasra-nama (with (with Bhaskara-ray
Bhaskara-raya'sa's
gloss) and Varivasya-rahasya.
MUKTI-MANDALA used in rituals for achieving liberation
The
The Ta
Tantra liter
iterat
atu
ure is thus not onlyonly vast but vavaried. It no
not
only reflects
reflects the
the diversity
divers ity of outlooks
outlooks an
and attitude
attitudes
s, but explains
the multipl
multiplic
icity
ity of cults
cults that prev
prevail
ail in our country.
country. It holds the
the
key to understa
understand nd aright
aright the peculi
peculiarly
arly incongruous but eminent
eminentlyly
effective pattern that is called Hinduism.
Twof
Twofol oldd is th
the ori
orient
entatio
ationn of consc sciiousn
sneess: ououtward ard, toward ards
the
the world
world;; and inward, towards towards one's one's own self. The former former
involves transactio
transaction n with
with obje
objectscts and events in space space and and time,
time,
and
and is punctuated
punctuated with experiences.
experiences.
P ercept
erception,
ion, sensation
sensation,, recollection, antici anticipatio
pation,n, imagination
imagination
are illus
illusttrations of o f the world-
world-orie oriented
nted consciousness
consciousness.. The self- self-
oriented
oriented consciousnes
consciousness s is not so apparent, althoug although h it is moreore
continuo
continuous us : it does
does not cease cease even even in sleep. Normally,
Normally, it it occurs
occurs
as a passive background for the worldworld-ori
orien
ented
ted consciousness.
consciousness.
Th
The eg ego-f
o-feeling in our att attitud
itudeses and actions, the subje subject ctiivity
ity in
the
the behavioural
behavioural modes, odes, the
the deep
deep anguish in frustratingfrustrating situatio
situations ns
and
and the pleasurable
pleasurable emotions in satisfyin atis fyingg situations
ituations,, all suggest
a groun
groundwo dwork rk of self
self and
and its awareness.
awareness.
The
The outoutwardard ori
orient
entatio
ationn is governed by by fact
acts ofof th
the outer wor world
to a large extent by the pass passiveive sense-receptions
ense-receptions occasioned
occasioned by
the presence
presence of, and contac contactt with, ith, the
these
se facts.
facts. The inward inward con con
sciousness is normally
normally but a continu continuatio
ationn or extens
extension ion of this
outward consciousness
consciousness : the the sense-im
ense-impress
pressions
ions engender
engender concep
tions
tions andand feel
feelin
ings
gs as numerous
numerous as the the facts,
facts, and moremore so because
because
of the
the mind's ability ility to constr
constructuct andand create.
create.
Th
The fact
acts are the out outer bu bund, and ideas (inc (inclu
luddin
ingg sen
sensat
sations
and
and feelings)
feelings) thethe inner
inner bund of phenom phenomenon enon of conciousness
conciousness in
the
the individual.
individual. It does does not go go beyond
beyond the the facts in the outward
direction
direction and and the
the Ideas
Ideas in the
the inward
inward direction
direction.. Consciousness is
characterised
characterised by this framework;
framework; what what we call call normal,
normal, natural or
spontaneous
spontaneous consciousness
consciousness moves oves between
between the the facts in the world world
and
and ideas in the head head.. The factsfacts areare introje
introjected
cted and and the ideas
ideas
are
are projected, and this trans transac action
tion is the the essent
essentialial process of
experience.
Indian religions
religions,, principa
principallylly Yogaoga andand Tantra
Tantra,, ,, recognise
recognise that
this transactio
transactional
nal consci
consciousnes
ousnesss is but a level, and that
that there are
other levels both beyond
beyond the facts in the outward directiondirection an
and
beyond
beyond thethe ideas
ideas in the
the inward
inward direc
direction.
tion. Establishment
stablishment of mind's
control
control over matt
matter,
er, divin
divinatio
ation
n of occurren
occurrencece in the
the future,
future, mater
materia
ia
liz
lizations
ations and such phenomena
phenomena figure largellargely
y in the treatment
treatment of
consciousness-levels beyond the facts of the world.
MANIBHADRA-YANTRA for curing insanity
However, Yoga oga and

and Tantra
Tantra are
are not directly
directly concerne
concerned d with
with this
aspect of the problem,
problem, although both both in India and outside
outside they
they ar
are
commonl
commonly y mistaken
istaken for magic and and everything that that is associate
associated d
with it. A Y ogi or a Tantrik
antrik adept is comm commonly, though
though errone
errone
ously,
ously, recognis
recognised ed by the superhuman powers that he possess possesses,
es,
or claim
claimss to possess
possess.. Yoga
Y oga and
and Tantra ar are primarily
primarily concerned with with
the inward slant
slant:: a Y ogi is constant
cons tantly ly preoccupied
preoccupied with with levels
levels of
of
conscious
consciousnessness deeper
deeper than ideas and feeli feelings
ngs.. His
His is anan adventure
adventure
into
into the interi
interio
or; his achievem
achievements
ents are are all internal, hidden from
the comm
common gaze; and, for for the same
same reason, hard to understand understand
or appreciate.
But luckil
luckily
y for the
the Y ogi or the
the Tantrik it usuallyusually happ
happenenss that
the depths are matched by the heights; heights; his achievements
achievements of inner inner
levels
levels of concious
conciousnes
nesss are
are balanced by an invo involun
luntary
tary mastery
mastery
over material
material phenomena. The shoot hoot of a plan
plantt rises as high in
the air as the roots go down down in the the soil.
When the Upanishad speak speaks s of "the
"the many inner mansio ansionsns"" or
the Buddh
Buddha a of “ the worlds
worlds with
w ithinin man”,
an”, the referefere
renc
ncee is to the
deepe
deeperr and hidden levels of consciconsciousness
ousness.. The need to recogniserecognise
ANO
ANOTHER
THER ANGLE 59
these
hese levels
levels was felt felt in the wake of of the
the recognition
recognition that tha t the
transa
transactional
ctional level
level is unsatisfac
unsatisfactory tory,, unstable and far from being
final. This level level of consciousness,
consciousness, being being world-bound,
world-bound, is rath rather
er
passive.
Th
The factacts of the wor world ld stim
stimu ulat
late, and the in indi
div
vid
idua
ual'l's
s response
is guided by the sense- ense-im impress
pressiqns
iqns anand the mind.
mind. The indi indivi
vidu
dual
al
has
has little
little control
control over the sense- ense-funct
function
ion or over the the mind, and and
much less less over
over the facts outsideoutside him.him. His action is non-deli
non-deliberate,
berate,
involuntary and almost inescapable. The Indian word for this
world-bound consciousness is samsara. This word emph emphasis asises
es the
the
transitional
transitional and and tran
trans sitory character
character of the phenom phenomena involving
involving
the
the individua
individual: l: consciousness
consciousness goes round and and round the the self-s
self-sam
ame e
fads and and neve
neverr gets beyond them them;; it gets stuck at the level of
ideas and and feeli
feelings
ngs,, and never never goes deeper than that. that. Boredom,
Boredom,
misery,
isery, frustration, anxiety,
anxiety, tension
tension and and stress markmark the
the individua
individuall
who is thus thus bound
bound inext
inextricricabl
ablyy to the facts over over which
which he has no
control.
The
The Ind Indian bo books de desc scrribe th
the stat
statee of mi
mind of a man who who hahas
been
een obliged to ride a tiger tiger all the the time.
time. He dare dare not
not get get off its
back
back,, lest
lest it should pounce
pounce on him him.. Anxious and and tense, frightene
frightened d
and
and restless
restless,, h he
e should ride the tiger tiger witho
thout a break!
break! The The worl
world-
d-
bound
bound consci
consciou ousness
sness works under under a similar necessit
necessity. The purp purpose
ose
of all religious exer exercises,
cises, Hindu, Buddhist
Buddhist and and J ain, is to enab enablele
the
the individual
individual escap escape this necessitnecessity, y, to free
free the consciousness
from the the bondage
bondage with with facts,
facts, and help it to get into into deeper and
therefore
herefore freer
freer levels.
levels. This rel relea
ease
se from the world's
world's imposition
imposition is
called Moksha. It does not mean ean that on obtai obtainin
ningg this release
the
the individ
individual ual merely
erely cea
ceases to e xis t;n t;n o r does
does it mean ean that he
stops trans
transacting
acting with facts. Yoga, Tantra antra andand Zen insisins istt that
that a
relea
eleased
sed individual would would participate
participate in the the world
world with with good
BALA-YANTRA for accomplishment of learning and art

TANTRA MANTRA
MANTRA Y ANTRA
ANTRA
cheer,
cheer, greater strength and and indeed with with a better better perspective.
perspective.
The
The Vedanta and Tan Tantra call this st stat
ate e of free part articip
cipati
ation
jivan
jiv anm uk ti (relea
m ukti (releasese while
while s tilltill alive);
alive); thethe old Buddhist book books s call
it saupadisesa-nibbana (extinction while being existent).
Unfortunatel
nfortunately, y, excess
excessive ive theoris
theorising has has robbed
robbed thes these e expres
sions of their
their true
true psychodynamic
psychodynamic import. import. These words are are often
held
held out out as equival
equivalent ent of salvatiosalvation, n, or of residence in some
heavenly abode after death, divorce divorced d from the the phenom
phenomenal enal world
world
altogether.
altogether. This is a wrong interpretation interpretation.. Yoga oga and Tantra Tantra have ave
s trictly
tric tly no use for for after-life
after-life;; they are are for this life and and in this world.
The
The Bu Buddha de descscrribed hi his doct octrine as as 'r'relev
elevanantt to
to the pr presen
sent life'
life'
(sanditthiko), not not removed in time (akaliko), viz. here and and now.
The
The 'r 'release'
se' is me meaningful only in ac actual experience, an and only
only in
relation to consciousness.
Th
The ururge to to geget rereleased
sed fr from tensio sion an and opoppress ssiion mamay arise
from one's ina inabili
bility
ty to cope with the the demands ands of existence, or
from one's dissatisfaction, intellectual or emotional, with the
exist
existing state
state of affairs. The incre increased
ased popularity
popularity of the psyche psyche
deli
delic c drugs like Marihuanaarihuana among youngsters is to be traced traced to
this felt
felt dis
discontent.
content. Marihuana, being euphoric, is is said to rele release
ase
the
the confines of consciousness and and bring on a pleasant, pleasant, friendly,
friendly,
genero
generous, us, convivial
convivial and tole tolerant
rant attitude,
attitude, free from inhibitions inhibitions..
Groups
roups of Indian Indian ascetics hav have e experimented
experimented with severa severall
preparations from cannabis, like Bhang, Bhang, Ramrasa, rasa, Charas, haras, Ganja
and Hashish for the purpose 0f widening the field of consciousness
and
and reducing the the seve
severity
rity of the the bondage
bondage with fact facts. It is reportreporteded
that under
under the the influence of these drugs, drugs, inhib inhibitioitionsns disappear
disappear,,
.confli
onfliccts cease,
cease, pleasurable sensat sensationsions increase
increase and and the subject
becom
becomes more frie friendly
ndly and and less critic ritica al. More im important than
ithese symptom
symptoms s is thethe inclinclin inati
ation
on to withdra
withdraw w from preoccupa
preoccupa
tion
tion with facts; this detachment detachment faci facili litates
tates introversion
introversion and and a
concer
concern n to deepe
deepen n the
the levels of consciousness.
consciousness. S tudies conducted conducted
on Marihua
Marihuana, na, LSD, Mes Mescaline
caline and and other drugs drugs reveal
reveal a similar
effect.
No one,
one, however,
however, wouldwould seriousseriously ly consider
consider th the employm
employment ent of
these
these drugs
drugs to bring about las lasting
ting alteratio
alteration n in the levels of of
consciousnes
consciousness, s, to elim eliminate
inate once and and for all the the limitatio
limitations ns and
and
irritation
irritations s attattending
ending on the transact ransactional consciousness.
consciousness. The The
effects
effects of drugs are by no means eans las lasting, and and an iincre ncreasease in
dosage
osage is likely
likely to result in anxiety, guilt- guilt-feefeelin
ling,
g, dejection and and
restless
restlessness.
ness. The drugs drugs are are physical agents operating operating only at the the
level of transactional
transactional consciousnes
consciousness, s, and are are in reality
reality confined
confined to
subjective
ubjective facts and and their exp experience
eriences. s. It is truetrue that they they provide
us with
with peeping
peeping holes to observe deeper deeper levels of consciousness consciousness
ANOTHE
ANOTHER
R ANGLE 61
and
and have
have a direcdirectt acquaintance
acquaintance with with them;
them; but they they do not extend extend
the trans
transactional
actional consciousnes
consciousness s nor breakbreak through
hrough its confines- confines -
So long as the drug is active, active, it may may even
even be that that the opac opacityity of
the walls
wa lls that hold the norm normal trans
transactiona
actionall consciousnes
consciousness s may
considera
cons iderably bly be lightened.
lightened. One might mig ht feel as if he is in a glass
cage,
cage, hishis view
vie w unobsunobstructe
tructed. d. But
B ut he is in in a cage all the same, he
cannot reach outside.
Consciousness itself does not get transformed under the impact
of the psychedelic drugs, it is the ego-involvement, or ''the identi
ficat
fica tion with
wi th the ideas” ideas” (Pat (P atanjali,
anjali, I.4), that tha t under
undergoes goes chan changege..
This
This is not a posit positiveive gain in,, inasm
nasmu uch as the ego ego is aft after all
all a
small
small part of the ps psychic
ychic existence, much like the visib vis ible
le top of
the iceberg. T ransformat rans formation ion doesoes not occur occur in the the foundation
foundations s:
the therapy offered for the misery of existence is little little more than
symptomatic.
This
This is the reason son why Yog Y ogaa an
and Tant
Tantra reject eject drugs as rel reliabl
iable e
instrument
instruments s for altering the the levels
levels of consciousness.
consciousness. T hey seek seek to
effect
effect the change at a deeper deeper level, and work with the very
springs o f one'sone's own being. They do not not believe in short-c hort-cutsuts or
snappy
snappy cures;
cures; but but insisins ist, t, on the other hand, hand, on “ persis pers istent
tent
effort towards steadiness" eadines s" and and “ systemat
systematic ic rejection
rejection of involve
ment with facts fac ts“ “ (P atanjali,
atanjali, 1-13, 15). Buddhism agre agreeses that it
is a long-drawn
long- drawn and and difficuliffic ultt course
course involving dilige dili gent
nt effort
that lead
leads to enlightenment.
enlightenment. The final ins instruction of the Buddha Buddha
w a s : “ Achie
Achiev ve witho
without ut slack
slackeneniningg yourour effort”
effort” ( a p p a m a d e n a
s a m p a d e t h a ) . Zen,
Zen, which
whic h believes
believes in sudden
sudden illuminaillumination, tion, never
never
theless recognises the need for preparatory discipline (Zazen).
It is, therefore, not drugs but discipline that the Indian religions
hoid out out as the aid for for altering the levels of consciousness, consciousness, so
that the individual
individua l no no longer “ becom becomes" es" and is bound up in the
transactional
ransactional I evel. evel. The goal of Indian Indian religious
religio us practices is to
escape
escape this becoming becoming (bhav (bh ava a), to tear
tear up the bonds bonds and and to to reach
a stage
stage from where "th "there is no no return” . When the Buddha Buddha clai claim
m
ed that
ha t it was for for him the final birth ( an a n t i m a j a t i ) , that
tha t there was
no more becom becoming for him, and that that he had “ cooled cooled down do wn comp
letely" , ( s i t i b h u t o ) , he meant that tha t he had had succ s ucces ess sfully freed
hjms
hjmself.,
elf., from the consciousnes
consciousness s that is bound to facts fac ts and
and idea
ideas.s.
He was no.,longer
no.,longer oblige bliged d toto operate at the trans transactional
actional level; he
had acquired
acquired the fac facility
ility to go down at wil w illl to other levels levels of
consciousness
consciousness.. He could could truly say: “ T hat is not no t mine of which
they speak; they are are not I of of which they te ll. "55
Th
The Buddh
Buddha' a'ss descrip
descripttion ion of consci
consciou ousnesness ss that
that is not not boun
bound d to
to
facts
facts an and idea
ideas s is
is revealing:
revealing: “ Thus consciousness
consciousness,, being witho without ut
standing place, is without increase and without individuality;
and is liberated.
liberated. Then it is stable stable ana happy, not agita agitated
ted andand
so attains
attains complet
complete e peace
eace in itse its elf.
lf."56 Before his times, imes, the
Upanishad had had described this state state in a similarimilar vein: “ The knots knots
of thethe heart are are snapped, all doubts that that agitate
agitate are are cutcut asunder,
asunder,
all obligations
obligations disappear
disappear when one one beholds
beholds the beyond. beyond."5 "57 Yoga,
oga,
Tan
Tantra and Bu Bud ddhist disci isciplinline alike seek to bring about this
experience into into existence, no not as an occasional
occasional occurence,
occurence, but but as
a stable continuum.
The
The preparatory disci isciplpliine su sug ggest steed by Yog Yoga and Tan Tantra
takes
takes thethe form of withdrawal withdrawals s, rejections and restr restraints.
aints. The
purpos
purpose e is to dis disabuse
abuse the sense-organs
sense-organs and mind from their their
habitual preoccupation with facts and ideas, ideas, and therebythereby brea break k
the apparent
apparent s olidi lidityty of the transac transacttional consciousne
consciousness ss.. An
Upanishad
Upanishad say says: "I t was the self-existent self-existent conscio consciousn usness
ess that
pierced
pierced the the sense-open
sense-opening ings,s, and
and therefore
herefore it it looks out not within. within.
But some bold man, an, desirous
desirous of o f stabi
stability,
lity, looked
looked withiwithin n and
discovered the se self.
lf."58 The initial
initial dis
discip
cipline
line thus
thus seek
seeks to plug plug the
openings that that make ake consciousness
consciousness outward-orie
outward-oriented. nted. It is the the
nature
nature of consciousness
consciousness to flo flow (it is likened to a str stream
eam), ), and
and
when it is stopped in its its onward course course in the the direc
directiontion of
of objects
and actsacts in the the world
world,, it turns
turns naturally
naturally to the the ideas.
ideas. This is a
necessary condition, a foothold (padaniya) for exploring other
and deeper levels of consciousness.
Zen tries to achieve the same result result by shocki shocking, ng, by “ an
abrupt breakthrough.”
breakthrough.” The mind mind is suddenly thrown out out of
shape unawares,
unawares, and in its struggle to regain its balance balance a mo
mentous
entous transformatio
transformation n comes
comes to pass: other levels within thin andand
other fields beyondbeyond flash flash out vividly.
vividly. Before
Before this can can occur,
occur, how
ever,
ever, an an unre
unremitt mittining g cultiv
cultiva ation
tion of inwardness
inwardness is indispensable.
indispensable.
The
The di dist
stininct
ctio
ionn between "the su sud dden"
en" (Rinzai) and the
“ gradual"
gradual" (Soto)
(S oto) disciplines
disciplines is not an absolute absolute one. one. The " ent
rance” is made ade ''a ''a t one stroke
troke", ", but the journejourney y is a long one, one, a
gradual one. one. The prepara preparation tion for journey
journey in Zen is not not very
ery diffe
diffe
rent in essence from that in Y oga, Tant Tantra ra or in old Buddhism Buddhism.
Zen also teache eaches: s: “T“ Throw away the body to find the the spipirit.”
rit.” But
this does not mean ean rejection
rejection of the the world
world or extremextreme e asceticism
asceticism,,
for
for Zen
Zen encoura
encourages ges active participarticipapation
tion withwith the the world.
world. What is
meant here ere is prick
prickinging the bubble of tr trans
ansactiona
actionall consciousness.
Dhyana (Pali Jhana, Chinese Ch'an, J apanese apanese Zen) Zen) is the the
technique adopted by all Indian reli religio
gionsns for transtransforming
forming norm normal
conscious
consciousness ness into into an extraordin
extraordinary ary oneone.. TheThe Sans
Sanskrit
krit word mean eans
meditation, mindfulness
indfulness, trance,trance, contemplation
contemplation,, deep eep intros
introspec
pec
tion,
tion, concentr
concentration.ation. It is ess essentially
entially an exertion to focu focus s attention
on an inward objec object. t. Operationally, it signifie signifies s consciou
consciousnesssness
ANO
ANOTHER
THER ANGLE 63
turning
turning on itself. itself. An Upanishad
Upanishad explainsexplains that that the purppurposeose is “ to
makeake thethe one
one form manifold
manifold in their own so souls
uls."59 What
What is appreappre
hended
hended merely as object- object-awarene
awarenes ss is now broken up into into its
constit
cons tituentuent factors including
including recipient
recipient awaren
awareness ess adverting to to the
object, attention,
attention, image image-fo -formrmation
ation and
and retention.
retention. Transactional
consciousness is analysed analysed into its inward aspect and and outward
aspects;
aspects; and . the inward aspect is subjec subjected ted to the further further
constructive analysis.
The
The time-h -ho onoured technique of get getting use used d to ththis inner wor work k
is to focus attentio
attention n on the breathing
breathing process
process.. Breath is internal
so far as the the physical cons constitution
titution is concerned
concerned,, but it is external external
to consciousne
consciousness ss.. Yoga
Yoga classclassifies it it under
under bodibodily ly phenom
phenomena, and and
advises
advises watchingwatching it and and regulating
regulating it before further further inner work
is attem
attempted.
pted. The Buddhis uddhist meditation
meditation known as anapana-
s ati (mindfulness
(mindfulness in breathing-in and and breathing-out) sugge suggests
sts
careful, analytic and and un-invo
un-involve lvedd observation
observation of the the phenom
phenomenon
without, however consciously attempting to regulate it.
The
The re reason for th this importance attached to breathin ingg is that
it is the only only bridge between the outer worl world d and the the inner
consciou
consciousness: sness: besides
besides mind by its very nature nature closely
closely follo
follows
ws it.
it.
Ernst
Ernst Wood wrote: "There "There is a certain calmness calmness of mind which which
reflects
reflects itself
itself in ratrather
her slow
slow and and measured
easured brea breathing.
thing.” ”
Eve
Even the bar bare
e watch
watchin ingg of thethe breath in the Buddhi Buddhis st anapana-
anapana-
sati, meditation by 'counting', 'following', 'gate-watching',
and
and other other stages
stages described in detail by Buddhaghosa6 Buddhaghosa60 brings
about an involun involuntary tary control
control of all the the physi
physicalcal processess
processess
associated
associated with consciousness consciousness so that that further
further exploration of
levels beyond the trans transactiona
actionall lev levelel is facil
facilitated.
itated. The preliminary
exertion
exertion helps helps the
the development
development of 'pro 'proximity'
ximity' (upacara) which which in
its turn brings about 'abs 'absorptio
orption' n' (appana
(appana)) or or trance
trance..
The
The banish shmment of ex external st stim
imul
ulii makes co consc sciiousnsneess alalert
to inner process
processes; es; imag
images, es, conceptions
conceptions and symbols are are high
ligh
lightedted here
here.. By By persevering, thes these e inner proce
process sses
es are
are stripped of
their
their conventio
conventional nal meanings and and prope
properties
rties,, and
and become less
object
objective. This level level of consciousness
consciousness is called in Buddhist Buddhist booksbooks
upacara. Consciousness in this stage is expanded, being no longer
'hooked
'hooked'' to facts as in the the tran
trans sactiona
actionall level. ThereThere may be sen
sory awareness, as when one is watching the nostrils while
breathing,
breathing, or watching the contact of foot foot with the eart earth in the
cankama-meditation; but the objectivity of stimulations is elimina
ted and and sense-si
ense-signals
gnals are are turned
turned off. The glare glare of reality
reality is no
longer there.
Consciousness in this this s sta
tage,
ge, first
firs t J hana (trance), appear appears s as
as an
even
even flo flow independent
independent of objects. The meditation-m editation-manualsanuals com com
pare
are it with “ the the spreading of wings when when th the bird is about
about to
fly
fl y” anand “ the
the turning round round of bees on top of the the lotus flo flower“.r“ .
The
There is a thril hrilll (sampahassana) emanating from tthe he awareness
awareness of of
this consciousness: pleasurable sensations (sukha), euphoria (piti)
and relaxation (upekkha) are are said to be be the atten
attendan
dantt feelings.
The
The phphysic
sical sensensat
sations and feelings which overw erwhelm this
state
tate are
are elimina
eliminated ted in the second Jhana. Here the experience is
entirely subjective and and psychological. The pleasurab pleasurable le sensation
sensations, s,
euphoria and relaxation
relaxation incr increase,
ease, but but thethe attainment
attainment of inward
calmness (sampasadana) characterises characterises this level level of consciousne
consciousness ss..
The
The pl pleasu
surrable sensensat
sations an and eu euphoria are only mild ldlly didist
stuurb
ing, and relaxation gains emphasis.
The
The thihirrd Jhana finds pleasure and euphoria altogether inoper
ative, although existentexistent.. Consciousness in this level level is entirely
entirely
relaxed and and perfe
perfectlctly
y calm (sukhavihari). The external stimuli,
sense-im
sense-impre press
ssions,
ions, ideas
ideas and their configurations
configurations do not dis disttract
ract
the
the consciousness
consciousness in this "tran "trance” , although the the subject
ubject is awakeawake
and alert. It is what may be called called “ the level level of minimal inimal cons
ciousness.“
It may be noted in passing passing that tha t the effect
effect of drugs,
drugs, although
although
similar in some
some details,
details , is altogether
altogether different.
different. For For instance
instance the
New Y ork Mayor's
Mayor's Comm ommittee ittee on Marihuana found that “ Mari
huan
huana a does
does not not change the basic basic pers
personaonality
lity structure
tructure of the the
individual.
individual. It lessen
lessens s in
inhib
hibitio
itionn and
and brings out what what is latent in
his thoughts and and emotions
emotions but but it does
does not evokeevoke respo
responsenses s which
would
would otherwise be totally totally alienalien to him.” S imilarity consis consistts in
the intense
intense subjective
subjective feelings
feelings of awareness,
awareness, euphoria (a rich,
livel
lively y internal experience)
experience) and wha what Walter
alter de la Mare described
as 'an extravagant sense of isol isolatio
ation'.
n'. But these
these ar are not transi
transient
ent
in the
the case of trance
trance states
tates descri
describedbed above;
above; nor do the other
sympt
ymptomoms s like sensory hyperesthesia,
hyperesthesia, dis distortion
tortion of time time and and
space sense,
sense, excitement,
excitement, loss loss of judgement, ecstasy and aggres aggres
sion comm
common to drugs occur in medi meditation
tation..
It is true
true that in early stages stages of trance
trance experien
experience ce hallucina
hallucina
tions occur,
occur, somewhat
omewhat as they do in the the case
case of LS LSD,D, Mescaline
Mescaline
and Ps Psilocybin;
ilocybin; it is alsoalso true
true thathatt in anapanasati and pranayama
the wave-
wave-like
like asaspect of the experience comes comes to pass as as iin
n several
several
hallucinogens but depersonalization
depersonalization or “ double double consciousnes
consciousness“ s“ ,
synesthesia, anxiety or paranoid reactions are not involved.
In fact, the sympt ymptom oms s that are as associated
sociated with w ith thethe tran
trances
ces
mentioned
entioned above are are looked
looked upon as hindrances to be overcom overcome e
and
and elimina
eliminatedted before one one gets
gets into
into the
the fourth
fourth level
level of absorption
absorption
(Jhana): this level is characterized
characterized by freedom freedom from both both physi
physi
cal
cal sensations
sensations and mental feelings feelings,, by the absen absence ce of pleasurable
pleasurable
TH
THE SAC
SACRED VASE (KALASA)
KALASA),, rerepre
senting fulness of Wisdom
Wisdom, Used also
in Tibet as one
one of the
the eight
eight glorio
glorious
us
emblems,Bum-Pa.
'f HE HUM
HUM MAND
MANDA ALA, used as a charm
and employed in initia
nitiatio
tion
n rites.
TH
THE MA
MANI-CH
I-CHA AKRA
KRA (with ththe formula
O M M A N / P A D M E H U M H R I H in
Tib
Tibetan) used as a charm.
ANOTHER
ANOTHER ANGLE 65
sensation
sensation as well well as dis distress
tressing
ing onesones (asukhamadukkham ),
unruffled equanimity.
Th
The lelevel is de desc
scrribed as
as 'ab
'absosollute purit
purity'
y' re
resu
sultltin
ing
g fr
from mind
ful indifference (upekkha-sati-parisuddhi). The subjec subjectt h has
as
neither
neither the thril thrilll of body andand mind
mind (piti), nor the joyous feeling
(sukh
(sukha) a) . Bot
Both are are looked upon
upon as disturbances. A thirs thirsty traveller
traveller
is thrille
thrilledd when
when he sights a lake lake and is joyous joyous when he drinks
water from it. it. But the experience
experience of satis satisfafactio
ctionn that occurs
occurs
thereaft
hereafter er is quiet
quiet andand undistinguis
undis tinguished.hed. Consciousness
onsciousness at tthis his
level
level has has the “ steadiness of flame of lamp lamp in the absence absence of
wind”.
The
The prpractice tha thatt le
leads to
to this level of consc sciiousnsneess is tec
techn
hnii
cally
cally known as samathabhavana (tranquill (tranquillity
ity meditation).
meditation). It is a
systematic
ystematic cultivaultivation
tion or development of of consciousness
consciousness through through
its sever
severalal levels so thatthat there
there is an increasing
increasing clarity
larity and
and intens
intensity
ity
of consci
consciousness;
ousness; the the purp
purpose
ose is to “ present a picture of actually actually
that is urged of any falsifications“ (nyanaponika thera). This
''bare awaren
awareness ess““ is said to result in “ clear comprehension“comprehension“,,
which is a tool for the final final liberation
liberation that Buddhism envisages envisages as
a being
being for itseits elf in this region of inwardn
inwardnessess.. This clear comprecompre
hension
hension is foll follow
oweed by an insinsight
ight into
into existe
existence
nce (vipassana). The
Yog
Yoga al also recognizes zes that "fromfrom mast ste
ery of mind-p -poi
oise
se comes
ins
in s titution"
titution" (P (Pat
atanjali,
anjali, 3, 5). This is is ess
essentially a Tantric Tantric
orientation.
In the
the practical dis disci
cipl
pline
ines
s of Tantrik persuasion the the mantrantras
as
(spells, chacharm
rms, sacr
sacreded words)
words) occupy
occupy an important
important position.
position. The
expr
expression
ession 'mantr
'mantra' a' is derived
derived from two S anskrit anskrit root
roots signifying
ignifying
'to reflec
reflect't' (man)
(man) and and 'to protect'
protect' (rati). The import
import is that that the
mantra is a sacred word word or formula that is capable capable of protecting
protecting
the
the person
person that thinks of it or utters utters it.
it. The very
very process
process of
thinki
thinkingng or uttering
uttering is said to generate generate a saving saving power:
it protects
protects the the person
person from existent
existent or possible
possible errors.
errors. calamities
calamities
and
and misadvent
isadventures.
ures. A whole
whole science has developed
developed in India con con
cerning the source, course, employment and utility of the mantras,
which
which n num
umber
ber about
about seven
seven crores. Known as Mantra-sastra, this
subjec
subjectt is elabora
elaboratelytely dealt
dealt with
with in severseveralal Kalpas,
Kalpas, Patalas,
atalas, Tan
tras
tras and manuals
manuals (lik (likee Mantramahodadhi).
One
One of the the celebrated Tantrik texts texts, Saradatilaka, contains
contains an
account of the origin rigin of the mantra. antra. It
It is based
based on thethe Kundalini
theory. The store-house of psychic psychic energy
energy in the individual is of
the
the nature
nature of absolut
absolute e sound (sabda-brahman). All All tthehe fifty
fifty
letters
letters of of the
the S anskrit
anskrit alphabet
alphabet,, a to ksha, representing the funda
mental
ental propensities
propensities of man, an, are contained
contained within
within it, indis
indistinc
tinctt
and unperceived, as objects objects in darkn
darkness
ess.. Whenever there is an
implus
implusion ion to articulate
articulate a sound, a glimmer glimmer of ligh lightt shines forth.
The
The awareness of this impulsi lsion and illum llumin
inat
atio
ion
n is sty styled asas
'spot' (bindu). P roceeding from the the Kundalini
undalini in the
the Muladhara
centre,
centre, it seeks
seeks to to enter
enter the
the arteries
arteries in order to obtain articula
articulation.
tion.
Before the entrance is gained, the sound ound is known as 'trans 'transce
cenn
dent' (para). ItsIts aspect
aspects areare indistinguis
indis tinguishab
hable,
le, and
and beyond
beyond ordi rdi
nary apprehension.
Once it it enters the arteries and begins to resound through through them
as far as the S vadhishthana centre, it is known as 'perceivi 'perceiving'ng'
(pasyanti). The mys mystic adepts
adepts can perceive
perceive it, although it is as
MANTRA 67
yet beyond
beyond hearing.
hearing. ItI t iis
s tthe
he 'visib
'vis ible
le sound'. WhenWhen iitt reareach
cheses the
the
throat
throat (or in another acco account unt the heart, the anahata anahata centre) it it is
called 'middlin
'middling'g' or intermedia
intermediate te (madhyama): it is here here both
light
light andand sound
sound;; thethe audible
audible aspect more prominent. When it
issues
issues out o f the throat
throat and gets formed formed in the mout mouth h it is pro
nounced or 'articulated' (vaikhari). All vocalized sound belongs
to this last
last category:
category: com comm mon speech as well well as the
the mantr
mantrasas..
All speech has its foundation in the Om sound. sound. As long as life
lasts in thethe body, as long as the the vita
vitall currents flo flow through the the
arteries,
arteries, thisthis primal
primal sound is generate generated d continu
continuous ously.
ly. Any
attempt
attempt to produce any sound sound ins instantaneous
tantaneously ly evokes
evokes the Om
sound at the the Anahata centre.centre. Comm ommon speech,
speech, however, forces
itse
itself out of this source and and operat
operates es purely at the the intellectual
intellectual
level.
level. The mantra,
antra, on the other other hand,
hand, rests in the Om sound and
works from that level.
The
The light
light aspspe
ect of the ini nittial sou
sound in the Mul Muladhara ce centre
is the seed from which which the perceptibl
perceptible e form of the deitydeity (devata)
emerg
emerges. es. Mantra is actual
actually ly a technique
technique by whic which h the
the image
image of
the deity is sought to be visuali2ed. ed. It is therefore
therefore that that the
the deity
deity
is described
described as the visib visible le mantra,
antra, and the mantra antra as the verbalverbal
deity. EachEach lett
letter
er of the alphabet (varna) has has a potency
potency to evoke
an aspect
aspect of the deity;deity; and the mantra, composed composed of such lett letters
ers
(or syllables), would
would organize
organize the individual potencies potencies into a
cumulative force. Some lett letters
ers (sylla
(syllable
bles
s or phonem
phonemes) es) are
are capable
of evoking the the entire deity, and and they are are calle
calledd 'seed-s
'seed-syllayllables
bles''
(bija-aksharas). The The mantraantra is in fac fact an ela
elabo
boratio
rationn of a seed-
seed-
MANTRODDARA-YANTRA for constructing the

appropriate mantra
syllable.
yllable. The purpose purpose of such elabora elaboration tion is to assis assistt in the
visuali
visualiz zation of the deity. deity. It is said that the the mantr antraa witho
without ut its
seed-syll
eed-syllableable wi will be incapable
incapable of bene benefitting
fitting eve even when repe repeat ated
ed
a lakh
lakh of times
times.. Such a mantra is condemned condemned as ‘devo devoid id of life
life--
force'.
Th
The repetepetiition of a mantra a hundred and eig eight times, or or
several
several thousand
thousand times times,, is meant to perfect perfect the facu faculty lty of con
centratio
centration n whereby
whereby the elem elementary
entary sound and the primal ligh lightt
fuse,
fuse, making for for reintegration
reintegration of the the psychophysi
psychophysical cal system. The
repetition
repetition of a mant mantra ra is known as 'j'japa apa'' (the S anskrit
anskrit word
signifyin
ignifying g both 'muttering'
'muttering' and 'thinki 'thin kin ng'). ThreeThree variet
varietiesies of
ja
japa are recognized zed: (1) 'utt uttered
ered'' (vacik
(vacika) a) , audible to others; others;
(2) 'muttered' (upamsu), audible to ones oneself only; only; and
and (3) ‘tho ‘though
ughtt
of' (manas
(manasa) a) , in entire silence,
silence, vis visuali
ualiz zing the deity deity of the the mant
mantra. ra.
We havehave it on the the antho
anthority
rity of Manu that the the 'uttered'
'uttered' japa japa is
ten tim times
es more efficaci efficacious
ous than the rituals, rituals, the 'muttere'muttered' d' a
hundre
hundred d times
times better than than thethe 'uttere
'uttered', and and tthehe ‘thoug
‘thought ht o f a
thousand times times superior
superior to to the
the 'muttere
'muttered'. d'.
A special process
process of repetirepetitio
tion n of a mantra, antra, known as 'puras- 'puras-
carana
carana'' .is resorted
resorted to at the commenc commencem ementent (purah, prior to) to)
of any ritual
ritual or practice. The purpose purpose is to bring before before us (in (in front
front
of us, purah) the clos closee relatio
relations
nshiphip between
between the mantra antra and and the
deity.
deity. The mant mantra ra has
has two
two kinds
kinds of powe powers: rs: its
its own fundam fundament entalal
and inalienab
inalienable le power,
power, and and thethe power to evoke the the form of the the
deity.
deity. The former is natural and the latter latter acquired. The above above
process
process is meant to secure the the unison
unison of the two powers. powers. With W itho out
this initia
initiall establis
establishm hment,
ent, thethe mantraantra will will be like a sick person person
who is unable to accom accomplish
plish anything.
It is insis
insisted ted that a mant mantra ra can pro profit fit only
only when impar impartted
ceremonial
ceremonially ly by a competent teacher (gur (guru) u).. Compet
ompetence ence here here
means
eans the achie achieved ved perfe
perfecti
ction
on in the employm employmen entt of a mantra antra
(mantra-siddhi), viz. the the abil
ability
ity to readily
readily evok evoke e and
and freely utiliz utilize e
the deity
deity from the mantra. antra. The ritual of initia initiatio
tionn into a mantra antra
involves invoking
invoking the the deity
deity by the teacher in a ceremonial ceremonial pot
fille
filledd with consecra
consecratted water water and five kinds of precious stone stones, s,
performance
performance of sacrifi sacrifice
ce in fron front of the pot pot, repetition
repetition of the
mantra
antra by by the teacher
teacher 800 timestimes withwith his right right hanhandd covering
covering the
mouth of the the pot,
pot, bathing of the the devot
devotee ee with the the water
water from
the pot, and fina finall lly
y whisperin
whispering g of the the mantra antra in the the devotee's
devotee's
ear by the the teacher.
The
The tritriad
ad (the te teacher, the mantra and the deity ity) are sai said to to
be indisp
indispens ensable
able in spiritual
piritual practice. The teacher symbolizes symbolizes the the
devotee's
devotee's soul, soul, the the mantra
antra his mind, and and the the deity
deity his his vi vital
tal
current. It is only only when the the three
three come come together that that succe
success ss isis
MANTRA 69
secured
secured.. It woul
would d be dis disadvantageous
advantageous to look look upon the teacher
as a mere human bein being,
g, the mantra as only nly an arran arrangement
gement of
syllables
yllables,, or the deity
deity asas jus
just an image
image in metal
metal or stone. It is the
attitude that determines
determines the success
success of an enterpr
enterpris ise.
e. “ All
All.s
.success
uccess
is rooted in tradition and faith."
Th
The mamantras ar are thus
hus spe
spells or chcharms desi
desig gned to to bring aboabout
a desired benefit ( viniyoga ). They are are devices to gather together together
the basic
basic psychophy
psychophysical
sical forces
forces both
both withinithin the individual and
outside him.him. The external
external form of the mantra antra consis
consists ts of
of letters
letters
and
and words;
words; sometim
sometimes es nonsens
nonsense- e-s
syllables
yllables may also also enter;
enter; occa
sionally,
sionally, mean
meaningingless
less words
words are
are introduced
introduced (as (as for instance,
instance, “c“ cili
c ili",
ili", “k
“ kulu kulu"
kulu" “ adea
adeadaudau").
"). Some mant antras contain
contain syllabl
syllables
es
which
which are apparently
apparently imposss
imposssible to to pronounce: instancesinstances are
hrsvphrom in the mantra for Hanum Hanuman, an, and
and kshrvblum in the
mantr
antraa for
fo r Matangi. More usually, however,
however, the nam name or descrip
descrip
tion of the deitydeity is introduced
introduced in the the dative case, case, along with an
expr
expression
ession indication
indication supplication
upplication (namah) or surrender (svaha),
Mantras
antras are grouped into three three varieties:
varieties : 'mal
'male',
e', when they
they
end
end with
with words
words such as hum, phat, vashat ; 'female', when they
end with vaushat and svaha : and and 'neute
'neuter',r', when
when they end with
namah. The 'mal 'male'
e' mantras
antras areare espec
especial ially
ly employe
employed d in magical
KURMA-CHAKRA for extracting mantras

rites,
rites, in in the worship
worship of ferocious di divin
vinitie
ities s including godd goddesses,
esses,
and
and in sorcery.
orcery. They are said said to be vigoro
vigorous us andand quick
quick in effect;
effect;
but
but their
their spiritua
pirituall value is minimal.inimal. The 'female' variety finds use use
in enterprise
enterprises s with concrete benefits as objectives. objectives. The The 'neuter'
mantras
antras hav have s spi
piritua
rituall progr
progress
ess as their
their goal. Mantras are are also
class
classified
ified on the the basis of the the number of syllables yllables they they cont
contain.
ain.
If th
there
ere is but but a single syllable,
syllable, it is called
called 'pinda-M
'pinda-Mantra'; if two two
'karta
'kartari';ri'; if the
the number rang ranges es from three
three to nine 'bij 'bija a'; and where
the
the number
number exceeds nine but is not more than twenty twenty 'man 'mantra'.
tra'. If
the number
number of syllabl syllableses is more
more than twenty,
twenty, the mant mantra ra becom
becomes
a 'mala-mantra'
'mala-mantra' (string-mantra)
(string-mantra)..
For achieving
achieving perfec perfection
tion in the mantra,
mantra, it is recommended ended
that the mantra mus mustt be repeated as as many lakhs of times times as there
are syllabl
yllables es in the mantra. And each each day one is advised advised to stick
to a speci pecifific
c but
but even number,
number, and and never for for any reason exceed exceed it it
or fall
fall short
short of it.
The
The employment of a rosar sary is recommended to keep the
count of repetit
repetitio ions
ns.. An elaborate system concerning concerning the nat nature,
ure,
material, consecration
consecration and use of the rosaries japa ja pa-m ala)) has
-mala
developed
developed as an access accessory to Mantra-sastra. The materia ateriall from
whic
which h the rosary
rosary is made depen dependsds upon the purposepurpose of the mantra. antra.
If the
the purpose
purpose is general
general good and and spiritua
pirituall welfare, lotus- lotus-seeds
seeds
rudraksha
rudraksha berries or tulas tulasi beads are employed.
employed. For success in an
enterpris
enterprise e the
the rosary made ade of seeds
seeds of kusa-
kusa-gragrassss,, coral
coral or sandal
sandal
wood
wood is used. If If the goal is great learning,
learning, crystcrystal and and pearls
pearls areare
used
used in the rosary; rosary; if perfectio
perfection n of
of dharm
dharma, conch-s
conch-shel helll or precious
stones;
ones; if attraction
attraction of affectio
affection,n, elephant
elephant tus tusks and and bonebones;s; andand
in magical
magical rites and sorcery sorcery the rosary is made from human skull, skull,
human bones or wood wood from a tree growi growing ng in a cemetery
cemetery..
The
The rosar sary must be properl erly consecsecrated before it can be
used effec effectivel
tively.
y. And
And every time the the rosary
rosary is used, used, it must must
priorly
priorly be be worshipped
worshipped with its own own mantra:
antra: aim drim akshamali-
kayainamah. The rosary must hav have 108 bead beads, s, and whil while e telli
telling
ng
them in the morn mornin ing
g tthe
he rosary
rosary mus ustt be placed
placed near the the navel, at
noon near near the heart.
heart. and in the eveningevening nearnear the nose. The te te ll
ing must
must be done by the right right hand
hand,, and only only the the middleiddle portion
portion
of the middle finger (or fore-finger) fore-finger) and and the top portion of the
thumb
thumb must hold the rosary; other parts parts of the hand mus ustt not
come into into contact
contact with the the rosary whil
while e it is in use. And while while
telli
telling
ng the bead, bead, the hands hands as well well as the rosary rosary should be
concealed in a loose loose pouch known as 'go 'go--mukhi',
mukhi', or by cloth. cloth.
When not not in use, the rosary rosary should
hould be secreted
secreted in a place of
wors
worshi hip;
p; it should
should never be be worn on the body or shown to people. people.
Oftentimes,
ftentimes, a mantra antra which
which is tto o be
be accom
accomplis plished
hed is inscribed
inscribed
MANTRA 71
on bhurja-l
bhurja -lea
eaff or on a metal (gold,
(gold, silver,
silver, or copper) sheet:
sheet: alter
nately,
nately, it is written
ritten on a paper paper with
w ith materials such as sandal
paste, incense or turmeric
turmeric powde
powderr and milk. In magic and sorcery,
blood
blood is used forfor writin
riting
g. It
I t is usual to enclose
enclose the mantra in an
appropriate diagram ( y a n t r a ) , e.g. a lotus with eight
eight or six or a
hundred petals (each petal petal contai
co ntaini
ning
ng a syllable
yllable of the mantra), a
triangle,
triangle, circle,
circle, or square
square with
with doorways on on its sides.
sides. This
T his diagram
is duly worship
worshippe pedd before the japa comm commences.
Simple YANTRA for installing the ritual vase (Ka/asa)

before worship
The
The total
otal number of possib possiblle mant
antras is place aced at sev
seven crore
ores.
Some
ome texts
texts give the number number more precisely
precis ely as 67,108
67,108,8,863.
63. Of
course, a large majo majorityrity of them areare either imposs impossible to use, or
are
are defective for one reason or another. another. There are are about
about 3,000
3,000
mantras
antras that have
have been talke talkedd about in in texts. They are grouped
grouped
in two major classes:
classes: benign
benign ( d a k s h i n a ) and malevolent (vama).
Th
The for
formmer,
er, more comm
commonly only use
used
d, invol
nvolv ve benev
benevololen
entt and pepeacece
ful divin
divinitie
ities
s and
and rituals
rituals of a paci
pacific
fic type; they preclude
preclude all injury,
violence an and ill-
il l-w
w ill.
il l. The usual
usual benefits sought
so ught areare prosperit
prospe rity,
y, long
life, health, worldly success, and spiritual progress.
The
The malev
alevol
olen
entt man
manttras, on the otherother hand hand,, are emp
employ
loyed in
black magic, sorcery and witchcraft. The activities under this
head
head areare s ix-fold
ix-fold : pacificat
pacifica tion o f s pirits
pirits which otherwise would
be harmful ( s a n t i ) , securi
securing
ng the affection o f one one desired
desired ( v a s i k a -
rana) restr
restrain
aining
ing one
one from an intended act ( s t a m b h a n a ) . removal
of an enemy from his vantage position ( u c c a t a n a ) , creating enmity
betwe
between en two powerful friends ( v i d v e s h a n a ) . and and destr
destruction
uction of
an enemy ( m a r a n e ) . Many are are the treatis
treatises es that
tha t deal
deal elaborately
elaborately
TANTRA MANTRA YANTRA
with the mantras

antras that are
are used in this context,context, the methods
methods of
employment and the gruesome rites that tha t mus ustt accom
accompany
pany them
them..
This is the dar
dark asp
aspect
ect of the M a n t r a - s a s t r a which
whic h gave
gave it the
bad name.
A few
fe w specim
specimens
ens of the comm
commonly
only used mant mantras
ras are
are given
in the following pages. The credulous and over-enthusiastic reader
needs to be cautione
autioned
d that
tha t no mantra
antra is said said to become
become useful
unless properl
properlyy comm
communic
unicated
ated by a competent
competent teacher, and and uunless
nless
repeated several thousand times over, with single-minded devotion.
A mantra
mantra taken
taken from a book will
will no
n ot only
nly be utterl utterly
y useless but
positively disturb !
SPECIMENS
SPECIMENS OF
OF M A N TRAS
1. M antra of Hanum
Hanuman for safety an
and elimina
elimination
tion of
o f evil forces.
forces.
Om namo bhagavate Anjaneyaya mahabalaya
mahabalaya svaha;
svaha ; Om aim
srim hram hrim
hri m hrum hrsphom hrsphem
hrsphem hrsphaum
hrsphaum hum
phat.
or Ham Hanumate namah.
2. Mantra of Krishna for success and prosperity :
Klim Krishnaya namah.
3. Mantra
antra of Durga
Durga for victory
vic tory over inimica
inimicall forces
forces :
Om hrim dum Durgayai namah.
4. Mantra
antra of S udarsan
udarsana
a (the
(the dis
discu
cuss-d
-deity
eity attending
attending on Vishnu)
for
for dest
destroying undesirable
undesirable influences
influences andand for
for procuring
all-round protection :
Om Sahasrara hum phat.
or Sudarsanaya vidmahe,
vid mahe, mahajvalaya dhima
dhi mahi,
hi, tan nas
nas
cakrah procadayat (gayatri).
5. M antra
antra of Kali
Kali for safety
afety and success (in gayatri
gaya tri metre):
Om hrim Adyayai
Adyay ai vidmahe, paramesvaryai
paramesvaryai dhimahi
dhima hi tan no
K ali
al i pracodaya
pracodayat.
t.
6. Mantra
antra of Vishnu
is hnu for healing a sick
sick person
person :
Om hrirn
hrir n hram r im ram Vishnusa
Vishnusaktaye
ktaye namah; Om namo
Vishnusakti om hara hara naya naya paca paca matha matha,
utsad
utsaday
ayaa dure
dure kuru
ku ru svaha:
svaha: himavantam gaccha jiv
ji v a -h sah
sah candra-mandalagato' si svaha.
7. Mantra
Mantra for attracting
attracting nect
nectar
ar (long life) :
Om amrite
amri te amr
a mrit
itav
avars
arshin
hinii amritam
amrita m sravay
sravaya
a sravaya
sravaya sam sam
sam
klim klim hrum hrum hram hram hrim hrim dravaya dravaya
svaha.
8. Mantra
antra for perfection
perfection in learning
learning :
Om cala
cala cala
cala c i/i c i/i culu culu kulu
ku lu kulu
kul u mulu
mu lu mulu hum
hum
hum hum hum phat phat phat phat Padmahaste svaha.
74 TAÑARA MANTRA YANTRA
9. Mantra of Ganapati toto overcome

overcome death and disdisas
aster
ter :
Om namo Ganap
Ganapataye
ataye mahavi
mahavira
ra m rity
ri tyu
u m hana hana
hana dhama
dhama matha matha; kalam
kal am samha
samhara
ra samhara;
samha ra; sarvagraham
sarvagrahamss
curnaya
curnaya curnay
cur naya;
a; nagan motaya motaya:
mot aya: Rudrarupa
Rudrarup a sarvato-
mukha hum phatph at svaha
svaha..
10.. Mantr
10 Mantra
a of Krishna (Santanagopala)
(S antanagopala) for progeny
progeny :
Om namo bhagavate jagatprasutaye namah.
11.. Mantra of Narasi
11 Narasim
mha for
for protec
protection
tion from dis
disas
astter :
Om hrim kshraum krom hum phat.
12.. Mantra of Garuda
12 Garuda for cure
cure of snake-bite
nake-bite :
Kshipa om svaha.
13.. Mantra
13 Mantra of Vatuka-bhairava for strength
trength in the
the mids
idstt of
trouble :
Om srim hrim
hr im k/im
k/ im kshrmyum
kshr myum Vatukaya
Vatukaya apadud
apaduddha
dharana
ranaya
ya
kuru kuru Vatukaya hrim.
14. Mantra of Daks
Dakshinam
hinamurt
urtii for
for wisdom
wisdom :
Om a ñamas Sivaya a Om.
15. Mantra of Hayagriva
Hayagriva for
for eloquence.
eloquence.
Hsum Hayasirase namah.
16.. Mantra of Varahi for preventing
16 preventing bad
bad dream
dreams :
Aim
A im hrim
hr im namo
namo varahi agho
aghore
re svap
svapne
ne tha tha tha tha svaha
svaha..
17.. Mantra of Camund
17 Camundii for extincti
extinctio
on of enem
enemies :
Om hrim
hr im phat Rakta-camundesvar
Rakta-cam undesvarii satrujivi
satr ujivitanas
tanasini
ini ehyehi
ehyehi
sigh ram ishtanakars
is htanakarshayakarshaya
hayakarshaya svaha
svaha..
18.. Mant
18 Mantra
ra of Lakshmi
Lakshmi for prosperi
prosperity
ty :
Om srim
sr im k/im
k/ im Maha/aks
Maha /akshmi
hmi ehyehi sarvasa
sarvasaubh
ubhagy
agyam
am me
dehi svaha.
svaha.
19. Mantr
Mantra
a of Dhanvantari as antido
antidote
te to all ailments :
Om namo bhagava
bhagavate
te Dhanvantara
Dhanv antaraye
ye amritaka/
amri taka/a
a sahastaya
sahastaya
sarvamaya vinasaya Vishnave svaha.
20. Mantra
Mantra for securing
securing clairau
clairaudition
dition :
Om hrim Karna-pisaci me karne kathaya hrum phat svaha.
REFERENCES
1. Rgveda 10.71.
10.71.9 9 " Ta ete
ete vacamabhipady
vacamabhipadya a papa
papayaya tiris
tiris tantram
tantram
tanvate." Sayana explains: "tantram krshilakshanam tanvate,
vistarayanti, kurvanti".
2. Atharva-veda
Atharva-veda 10.7.42 “ tantramtantram eke yuvati, etc".
3. Ashtadhayi, 5.2.70.
4. Apastamba Srauta-sutra, 1,51, 1,
Apastamba Srauta-sutra, 1, where
where 'tan'tantra'
tra' is defined
by the comcommentator as as angasam
angasamudayah'.
udayah'.
5. Sabar
Sabara on J aimini's Purva-Mimamsa-sutra 11 11.4.1
.4.1:: "Yat
"Y at
sakritkr
akritkrtam
tam bahunam
bahunam upakar
upakaroti,
oti, yatha brahmananam madhye adhye
krtah pradipah." Also Sankhayana-Srauta-sutra 1.16.6 com
mentary:
entary: 'Y at sakrt krtam
krtam bahunam
bahunam upakaroti
upakaroti tattat tantram ity
ucyate.'
6. Isvarakrshna's Samkhyakarika, 70 'tena ca ca bahudha krtam krtam
tantram'; Samkara on Brahma-sutra, 2, 2, 1.
7. Bhagavata, 1, 3, 8.
8. Arthasastra,
Arthasastra, Adhikarana 15 ‘ (Tan (T antrayuk
trayukti),
ti), cf; also Carak Caraka
(12, 36 'tantras
'tantrasya
ya yuktayah') and Susruta usruta (Utt(U ttara
ara--tantra,
65, 32).
9. Kullu
ulluka-
ka-bha
bhatttta
a (between
(between 1150 and 1300) on Manu 2, 1.
'Srut
'S rutis
is ca dvividha,
dvividha, vaidiki
vaidiki tantriki ca',
ca',
10. e.g. Agn
A gnii Pura na,, 372, 34 and Bhagavata, 11th Skandha:
Purana kandha:
'Vaidiki tantriki misra iti trividho makhah'.
11. e.g. Kakacandesvara-mata: 'vedanam ca vayorthena na sid- id-
dhistena jayate' (The Vedas Vedas being
being old cannot lead lead to atta ttain
in
ment).
12. Commentary
ommentary on Yajnavalkya-samhita, p. 19. 19.
13.. e.g. in Bhaskara-raya's
13 Bhaskara-raya's Setubandha, p. 5, cf cf Sukarnitisara,
4, 3,
3, 39: 'atharvanam
'atharvanam c'opavedas tantranpah sa evahi. evahi.''
14. Mundukopani
Mundu kopanishad shad,, 1, 4.
15. Brahma-sutra-bhashya 1, 4, 14; also 'vedantartha-sampra-
daya-vit', ¡bid. 2, 1, 1 ,9. Two other
others,s, viz.,
viz., S
Sununda
dararapa
pandndyya and
and
Dravidacary
Dravidacarya, a, are
are also described as .'knowers of T radi raditio
tion'
n'
(Gita-bhashya, 3.12 and Brhadaranyaka-bhashya, 2.1.20).
But their works have not survived.
16. Bhagavad-Gita-bhashya, 3, 2.
17. cf. R. Sarn
17. Sarna S astr
astri,
i, ¡nd. Anti., 1906, pp. 262.
18. Chandogya-bhashya, 2.23.1.
19..
19 Haraprasad S astri,astri, Lama Anagarika nagarika Govinda and and David
Snellgrove
nellgrove thought 'Sand 'S andhabhabhasha'
hasha' was corrupt
corrupt for
for 'sandhya-
'sandhya-
bhasha'
bhasha' (twil
twilig
ighht language). But Vidhu Vidhusekhara
sekhara Bhatta
Bhattachar
charya
ya
and
and P rabodh
rabodhachachandandra ra Bagchi
Bagchi hold that that 'san
'sandhdha'i
a'is
s correct
form from the gerund of 'dha', 'dha', prefixed by 'sam' 'sam' (sandhaya
bhasha, in the the sense of abhipretya, uddisya, 'aiming at', at',
'denoting', 'intending'.
20. cf. Kularnava-tantra : 'Mano 'Mano'nyatra
'nyatra Sivo'nyatra
Sivo'nyatra saktir anyatanyatrara
maratuh; na siddhyaiddhyati ti Vararohe
Vararohe Kalpakoti satair satair api'.
api'.
21..
21 cf. Guiseppe Tucci,Tucci, Theory and Practice of the Mandata
(Lon
(Londo
don,
n, Ridider
er,, 1960),
1960), A jit jit Mukerjee,
Mukerjee, Tantra Art (1968),
C.A. Muses The Esoteric Teachings o f Tibetan Tantra Tantra (Colo
rad
rado, Indiana Hills ills,, 1961),
1961), Herbert Guenther uenther,, Treasures on
the Tibetan
Tibetan MidM iddldlee Way (Berk (Berkeley,
eley, 1969), Ralph Metzer.
Maps of Consciousness (New York, 1971).
22. Yogavasishtha: 'J ivasyaivasya trini trini rupan
rupanii sthula-s
sthula-sukshm
ukshma-parani
a-parani
ca, sthulam pani-padamayam bhogartham, sukshman svasam-
kalpa-
kalpa-mayakaram
ayakaram . . ., param adyantara adyantarahi hitam
tam satyam
satyam cin- cin-
matram nirvikalpakam'.
23..
23 They are located
located at the big toe (padangushtha ), heel (parshni),
ankle (gutpha ), knee knee janu)
(jan u),, anus (guda), 'sacral plexus'
(mutadhara), perine
perineum um (yonisthana ), testes (mushka), genital
organ (medhra ), groin (vamksama), 'prostat 'prostate e plexus'
plexus'
(svadhishthana), bulb-nest (kundayoni), navel (nabhi), 'solar
plexus' (manipura), thumb (angushtha), elbow (aratni), arm-
pit (kaksha), heart (anahata), tip of the tongue ongue (/ (/ihvagra),
back
back of the thro
throa at (visuddha), soft soft palate (ghantika), uvular
palate (talu), tip of the nose (nasagra), midd middlele of theeye-
heeye-
brows (bhru-madhya ), just just above this area area (ajna), in bet bet
ween the above two (tatana), near the ajna (mind, manas)
about the
the miderania
mideraniall region (soma), and on top top the
the cranium
cranium
(sahasrara).
24. The
The Centers
enters areare pictured as lotuses each each with a specificpecific
number
number of petals,
petals, and on the petals are are mentioned
mentioned various
seed-syllables. From mutadhara to ajna, the number number of
petals are in order
order 4, 6, 10, 12, 16 and and 2 (altoge
(altogether
ther 50
corresponding
corresponding to the the lett
letters
ers of thethe alphabet).
alphabet). For details
details of
this psycholi
psycholinguis
nguisttic mysticis
mysticism m see
see Rudrayamata, patala 17,
verses
verses 50 ff. and P urnananda's
urnananda's Shatcakranirupana.
25. cf. J ohn Woodroffe:
Woodroffe: The Serpent Power (Madras, (Madras, 1953)
1953) and and
other
other works,
works , V.G. Rele, The Mysterious Kundatini (Bombay,
1927),
1927), M.P.
M.P. P andit Kundatini Yoga (Madras, (Madras, 19 1959
59),
), M.R.
M.R.
Datta, The Secret Serpent Power (Dacca, 1913), C. Chakra- hakra-
barty. Cultural History of Hindus (Calcutt (Calcutta,a, 1945),
1945), Age-Age-
REFERENCES 77
hananda Bharati, The Tantrik Tradition (1970), P hilip Raw- Raw-

son, The Art A rt o f the Tantr
Tantra.a.
26. Bhaskara-raya's Saubhagyabhaskara, Comm Comm. on Lalita-
sahasranama, verses verses 87-91.
87-91. “ sa hi muladharak muladharakhya-cakre
hya-cakre
sardhatr
sardhatrivalaya-
ivalaya-karena
karena supta upta sati
sati yogib
yogibhir hir utthapya
utthapya shatcak-
hatcak-
rani
rani Brahma-vis
rahma-vishnvadi
hnvadi--granthims ca bhedayanti Sahasra ahasrara ramm
nita sati tatkarnikarupa-candra-mandalad amrtam sravayati.“
Saradatilaka 25, 6 65
5 cont
contains
ains a beautbeautifuliful description
description of
Kundalini's passage to Sahasrara and and return
return to Muladhara.
27. Devibhagavata, 11, 11,1, 47 “ Prakasamrakasamana anam m pratham
prathame e prayane
prayane
pratiprayanepyamrtayamanam".
28. Yogacudamani-Upanishad: “S “ S hatsa
hatsatatanini divaratrau sahasrany
sahasrany--
eka-vim
eka-vims satih; etat
etat s sam
amkhyan
khyanvitvitam
am mantram antram jivojivo japati
japati
sarvada";
arvada"; cf. also ''H ''Haka
akarena
rena bahirya
bahiryati ti saka
sakarerena
na viset
viset puna
punah; h;
hams
hamsatmikam bhagavatim jivo jivo japa
japati ti sarvada“;
sarvada“ ; Hamsopani-
sad, “ S o' ham ham ham hamsapadenaiv
sapadenaiva a jivo
jivo japati
japati sarvada". The
japa here
here is described
described as 'ajapaja
'ajapajapa'.
pa'.
29. Kularnava-tantra, 14 14,, 93 “ vina dikshadiksham m na na mokshah
mokshah syat
taduktam sivasas
sivasasane;ane; sa ca syad vinacaryyam
vinacaryyam ity acaryyapa-
rampara”.
para” .
30. Ibid. 14, 97.
31. “ Divyabhavap
Divyabhavapradan radanac ac ca kshalanat
kshalanat kalm kalmasasya
asasya ca: diks diksheti
heti
kathit
kathita a sadbhir
sadbhir bhavabandha-
bhavabandha-vim vimoca
ocanat"
nat" (Ku/arnava); ct. also
Prapancasara, 5, 2.
32. Parasurama-kalpasutra, 1, 12 “ prakat prakatyan yan nirayah
nirayah". ". cf. also
Saktisangama-tantra, 36 36,, 24 f “S “ Suguptam
uguptam Kaulikacaram
aulikacaram
anugrhnanti
anugrhnanti devat devatah;
ah; vanchas
vanchasiddhim
iddhim prayacchanti
prayacchanti n nasayant
asayantii
praka
prakasane”
sane”..
33. “ Na nama-jati-vic
nama-jati-vicaro' aro' sti no'cchishta
no'cchishtadiv divivecan
ivecanam am;; . . . cak
cakrad
rad
vinihs
vinihsrtahrtah sarve sarve svavarnasram
svavarnasramo'ditan;o'ditan; lokayatraprasi
lokayatraprasidd- dd-
hyartham kuryuhkuryuh karma prthak prtha prthak" k" (Mahaniivana-tantra,
8, 180-197).
34. Lakshmidhara on Saundaryalahari, verse 10 “ Samayacaro ayacaro
nama antarapuj
antarapujara aratih,
tih, kulacaro nam nama bahyapuja
bahyapujaratirratir iti
rahasyam . . . . Samayinamamayinam mantrasya antrasya purascaranam
purascaranam nasti, nasti,
ja
japo nast stii, bahy
ahya-h -hom
omo o'pi nast
stii, bahyapujavidhayo na
santy
santyeva.eva. Hrtkamala
rtkamala eva sarvam yavad anus anushtheyam".
htheyam".
35. Ibid. “ Gurumukhavedyah
ukhavedyah sam samayacarah".
ayacarah".
36. Vamakesvara-tantra, 5 511 “ antaryagatm
antaryagatmijka ijka puja sarvapujottam
arvapujottama a
priye;
priye; bahih puja puja vidhatavya
vidhatavya yavaj jnanam na na jaya
jayate“
te“..
37. Ibid, “ bhavo
bhavo hi manaso dharmo dharmo mansaiva sadabhaya adabhayas set" cf
“ S akti-
akti-pradnanya
pradnanyatt beavan beavanam am trayanom sadhaka sadhakasya sya ca; ca;
divyavira-pasunam ca bhavatrayam udahrtam".
38..
38 ' ‘S
‘Sariram
ariram trividha
trividham m proktam attam attamadha
adham ma-m
a-mandhyem
andhyemam". am".
cf.
cf. also
also "Paran
"Paranande
ande mate ate trayo margah—
argah—dakshinah,
dakshinah, vamah,
uttara
uttaran n na daks dakshina
hinad d uttamam vamam vamam,, vamad vamad uttara uttaram m
uttam
uttamam am,, uttaran na na kvac
kvacit".
39.
39. The seven-fo
even-foldld conduct
conduct is necess necessitated
itated becau
because se hum
human
nature
nature is notnot uniform; Vedacara (Vedic rituals), Vaishnavacara
(Pauranik rituals), dakshinacara (the worshi wors hip p of the the Godd
Goddess
by employing Vedic hymns), vamacara (secret worship worship of the the
goddess
goddess withwith the
the five
five 'm's : madya, mamsa, mudra, udra, matsya
matsya
and maithuna), saivacara (Saivit (S aivite
e rituals
rituals following
following Vedic Vedic
tradition), siddhantacara (ec (ecsstatic
tatic rites in the the burning
grounds) and kau/acara (unfettered and and wisdom-dominated
wisdom-dominated
rituals).
rituals). The last, which
which is considered the the best
best,, is identified
with Y oga ("Yoga("Y ogamarga
margam m Kaulamargam
aulamargam ekacarakr ekacarakram amam am
prabho ! Y ogi bhutva kulam dhyatva sarvasiddhesvaro arvasiddhesvaro
bhavet").
40. Saivagama: "panth"pantha ano bahavah
bahavah proktah mantra-s mantra-sas astra-
tra-
manishi
manishibhibhih;
h; svaguror
svaguror mat matamam asrity
as rityaa subham karyam na
canyatha".
41. "Sarve
"S arve caca pasavas
asavas santianti talavad
talavad bhutale nrnam".nrnam".
42.
42. What foll
follo
ows is an account from Sarada-tilaka, 1, 7, 8.
43. Sivapurana (Vayaviya-samhita) "Sivecchaya para-saktih
Sivatattvaikatam
ivatattvaikatam gata;gata; tatah prasphuratyadau
prasphuratyadau tailam tailam tila tilad
iva".
44. cf. Tantra/oka. 3, 136-148.
45.
45. cf. S.N. Dasgup
Dasguptta "A Gener General al Introduction
Introduction to Tantras", antras",
Asutosh MookMo okerji
erji Silver
S ilver Jubile
J ubileee Volum
Volume III , pt. I,
e III, I, 1922.
46. cf. Sarvajnanottara-tantra, gloss: "Kundalini sabdavacyastu
bhujanga
bhujangakutila
kutilakarena
karena nadatm
nadatmana svakaryena
svakaryena pratipurusam
pratipurusam
bhedena
bhedenavas vasthito
thito nana tu svarupena
svarupena pratipurusham
pratipurusham avas avasthitah".
thitah".
47.
47. For details
details, see Gopinath Kaviraj : Aspects o f Indian I ndian ThouThough ght,
t,
University
niversity of Burdwa
Burdwan, n, 1966, Chapthapter on "Sakta "S akta P hilo hilo
sophy".
48. Siddahasiddhantasangraha, 3, 40 "akhandaparip "akhandaparipurna urnatmtma a
visvarupo mahesvarah; ghate ghate citprakasas tisthati
49. Siddhasiddhanta-paddhati "Sai "S aiva
va saktih yada ada sahajen
sahajena a
svatunmilinya
vatunmilinya nirutthanadasayam
nirutthanadas ayam varía varí ate tada sivah sa eva eva
bhavati".
50. Saktisangama-tantra, Kalikhanda, 3, 22: "Sri-Kalyapesaka
ye ca tat kulam parikirtitam". Kula is various variously interpret
interpreted ed
as Sakti (Kulam
(Kulam S aktir iti proktam
proktam), ), one's
one's own body (Kulam (Kulam
sariram mahaprayojanahetutaya
ahaprayojanahetutaya jneyam, yesham yesham te kulah" kulah"
Yoginihrdayadipika 2, 78), and and family lineage (sva-sva- (sva-sva-
vamsa paramparaprapto margah").
REFERENCES 79
51. Ibid, Tarakhand

arakhanda,a, 36, 25
25.. "Sugu
"S uguptam
ptam kaulikacaram anugrh-
anugrh-
nanti devatah".
52.
52. Rames
amesvara's
vara's comm. on Parasurama-kalpasutra h.153.
53. The purvakaulas draw a triangle and and worship
worship the poin
pointt in its
center,
center, or they worship
wors hip the S ricakra; the uttarakaulas on
the
the other
other hand,
hand, wors
worship
hip the actual vulva of a young maid;
others both. Laks
L akshm
hmidhara
idhara in his comm
comm. on Saundaryalahari,
verse
erse 41, adds
adds “ Much cancan be writte
writtenn on this;
this; but because
ecause
they are are so outlandis
outlandishh they are are notnot fit even to be be
remem
remembered”
bered”..
54. “ antah
antah Sakt
Saktah
ah bahih
bahih Saivah
Saivah sabhayam Vaishnava
Vaishnava matah,
atah,
nanave
nanavesadhar
sadharaa kaulah
kaulah vicara
vicaranti
nti mahitale”
mahitale”,, Kaulavalinirnaya,
10, 85.
55. Samyutta-Nikaya, Sagathavagga,
agathavagga, 4, 4, 19
19..
56. Ibid., Khanda
Khandavavagg
gga,
a, 1,
1,53.
53.
57. Mundaka-Upanishad, 2, 2, 8.
58. Katha-Upanishad, 1, 2, 1.
59. Ibid., 2, 2, 12
12..
60. Visuddhimagga, 8, 189-226.

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S.K. RAMACHANDRA RAO

The Sacred Vase (Kalasa)

The Hum Mandala

NARASIMHA-YANTRA, for dispelling

loom whereon the the threads

VISHAHARA-YANTRA for snake-bite

such as letters and and words

val texts like Tantraloka, SaradatHaka, Mrgendragama and 777-

ROGA-HARA-YANTRA for curing consumptive ailments

KARTAVI RYA-YANTRA for recovering lost property

MANTRODDHARA-YANTRA for extracting

hand-gestures and finger-manipulations (mudras) loom loom large.

THE MUDRAS symbolising

YANTRA-RAJA used in several rituals

GANAPATI-YANTRA, a mandala used

(vajra or vajrini). Inside

The higher reaches of Kundalini

kurm a, krakara, devadatta and dhananjaya). They support the

SVASTIKA-MANDALA. illustrating the

other kind of Tantra

relating to revival of the dead

Vamakesvara-tantra defines 'disposition' (bhava) as a mental

VASIKARA-YANTRA, for eliminating opposition

(uccatana) and killing (marana). After the the 'vali

state within 'awareness' (antar/ina-vimarsa). This condition is

SOME MUDRAS USED IN WORSHIP

KALI YANTRA. used in the Worship

MUKTI-MANDALA used in rituals for achieving liberation

MANIBHADRA-YANTRA for curing insanity

However, Yoga oga and

BALA-YANTRA for accomplishment of learning and art

MANTRODDARA-YANTRA for constructing the

KURMA-CHAKRA for extracting mantras

Simple YANTRA for installing the ritual vase (Ka/asa)

with the mantras

9. Mantra of Ganapati toto overcome

hananda Bharati, The Tantrik Tradition (1970), P hilip Raw- Raw-

51. Ibid, Tarakhand

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