Philosophy and Religion / Tantratattva (Principles of Tantra)

Arthur Avalon

The Tantratattva (Principles of Tantra). Part II. Preface

Edited by Arthur Avalon (John Woodroffe).

THIS second part of Tantratattva, the translation of which is primarily the work of Sj. Jnanendralal Majumdar, is the last. In the Preface to the First Part, I spoke of the preparation of a third section, dealing with the philosophical bases of Tantra. I greatly, however, regret to announce the unexpected death of Pandit Shiva Chandra about the middle of this year. This particular project therefore unfortunately falls to the ground, and the work is limited to the dimensions in which it was first issued some twenty-two years ago. The philosophical aspect of the Tantra will, however, be found touched upon in the Introduction from the pen of Sj. Barada Kanta Majumdar which follows, and I have myself further set out my own views on this part of the subject in my forthcoming work " The Six Centres and the Kundalini Power."¹ The work here translated is, as already stated, that of an Indian mind unaffected by Western thought. On the other hand, a knowledge of the latter gives a special value to the Introduction which precedes it. Apart from its intrinsic merits, it has such value as being the record of the views of an English-educated Hindu, who finds in the conclusions of recent Western science a corroboration of his ancient Eastern beliefs. Its author is now an old man, to whom the Tantra has been the subject of study for many years. He yet modestly says (see post): " I have attempted to give the reader the result of a general survey of the philosophy upon which Tantrik Sadhana, or self-culture, is based. But in so recondite and unfamiliar a subject, when the correctness of every individual interpretation may be called in question, the reader is requested to go himself to the source, and there, with faith and devotion, and under the guidance of a Guru, drink of its waters."

So far as I have examined the matter, I find myself to be in general agreement with his statements as to what constitutes the teaching of the Tantra on the matters dealt with. This agreement does not, however, necessarily extend to every statement or to all matters of detail. Some of these are open to discussion, as he admits. I should, for instance, myself dispense with the " magnetic current " to which the Introduction refers with reference to the worship of images, and would deal with the matter as one of purely transformed consciousness in the worshipper himself.

Some things also are from the limited character of the Introduction unsaid.

As the reader will see for himself, Sj. B. K. Majumdar treats his subject from a religious standpoint. There are, in fact, two lines of work in the Tantra - namely, religion and magic. It is with the former that the author of this book and of the Introduction which follows deals. There are to be found described in the Tantra practices which have nothing to do with religion in its proper sense, and are indeed opposed to it. Such are deemed " obstacles " by all those who are desirous of liberation. Thus what is called Nayika Sadhana, or the invocation of female spirits, is alleged in the Tantric works to have the effect there described. But nevertheless the same Scriptures assert that these and other practices exist " for delusion ". So the Saktananda Tarangini says: " Avidya binds the Sadhana with Karma, and destroys knowledge. Therefore it is that Vidya should be worshipped, but Avidya never." But why, it may be then asked, are such practices to be found in the Tantra at all, if it be admitted that they destroy and delude? This is a characteristically modern question. A complete answer to it would, however, on account of its length, be out of place. It is sufficient here to say that the Tantras are an encyclopaedia of all the sciences on all the planes, though the worker on the higher path is also taught not to venture below. A statement in a work on " Toxicology " that such and such substances will, if compounded, produce a deadly poison is a description of a simple fact, and not an invitation to compass thereby the death of a neighbour who stands in our way. A correct recipe may have been given, but he who so employs it is likely to incur the extreme punishment. In the same way there are spiritual executions. I raise the question to distinguish that aspect of the Tantra of which the author of the Introduction and myself speak from practices with which we are not here concerned.

The Introduction also limits itself to a short review of the contents of the Tantra in the sense above described. Notwithstanding the present fashion in English-educated India, Sj. B. K. Majumdar has not essayed historical speculation. Whilst every form of knowledge has its use, the Indian mind rightly apprizes as of the highest value the world of ideas, deeming the question of their " historical " origins and development to be, as it in fact is, of much inferior importance. To the Western, and in particular the English Sanskritist the position, is in general reversed. For, from the point of view he not uncommonly adopts; Indian civilization has little, if any, intrinsic value of its own; the bulk of its content - religious, philosophical, scientific, and artistic - being demodé where it was not in its inception altogether absurd. In such a case, the only issue of importance is the question: When, where, and whence did these various " errors " and " absurdities " arise, and how were they developed and propagated? Yet they are not altogether niggardly of compensation even to such an inquirer, for material which is itself without value may yet be so put together as to make very good history. I do not myself share these views, since I find that many Indian concepts conform to the results of the most recent scientific and psychological research and metaphysical speculation, not to speak of other matters which demand, and in fact obtain, a different kind of verification. The historical aspect of the question is not, however, to be neglected, and I therefore avail myself of this opportunity of adding some observations to those I have already made in the first volume, and which have been suggested to me by criticisms received since its publication.

When it is asked what is the doctrine of the Sastra of which this work treats, it is necessary to clearly understand what is meant by " the Tantra ". It is sometimes held that " the Tantra " is something altogether different from and wholly unconnected with ordinary prevalent " Hinduism," to use a convenient, though in itself vague, term. According to this view, the doctrines and practice of " the Tantra " are really foreign to ordinary Indian thought. Another and less extreme view agrees with the last mentioned in so far as it holds that there is in " the Tantra " a nucleus of doctrine and practice which is specially " Tantrik " in the sense that it is different from general Indian doctrine and practice and the particular teachings and practices of all others of its various sects. It is then suggested that around this nucleus has accumulated a body of doctrine and practice which the Tantra shares in common with other Sastras. In this view the supposed " original Tantra " has borrowed doctrine and practice both from general Hinduism and its particular division of worshippers, and has incorporated them into a composite system which is then called " Tantrik ".

The result, on this view, is that the Tantra is an amalgam consisting of a hypothetical nucleus, foreign in its character to Hinduism proper, enveloped by a number of other doctrines and practices borrowed by it from the latter. Those who hold by this theory of an original nucleus have not yet told us what it precisely is, or when it arose, nor whence it came, nor, indeed, where we may look for it. This theory may or may not be correct, but before we can be called upon to accept it, it must be established by evidence. Until then our hesitation to do so seems warranted by the fact that doctrines and practices which have been alleged to be specifically " Tantrik " have their counterparts in the Vaidik acara (way or practice). Thus the use of flesh, and wine,² which are supposed to be peculiar to one form of the Tantrik ritual, was common in the Vaidik age. The Mahabharata, Harivamsa, Kaliki, Markandeya, and Kurma Puranas also refer to the consumption of wine, meat, and flesh. As regards " the fifth," even if we exclude Upanisads and other Sastras which are alleged by some to be of sectarian authority only, we find a ritual use of that Tattva, though doubtless in different form, in the Mahavrata of the Aitareya Aranyaka and in the Vamadevyam Vrata of the Sama Veda. In this connection reference may be made to the Brahmavaivarta Purana. Magic, again, with which the Tantra has been particularly charged, forms a large part of the Atharva Veda.

Then, as to the worship of Sakti or Devi, reference is made to Her in the Veda, such as the Sarasvatisukta, in the Yajur Veda the Laksmi Sukta, and in the tenth Mandala of the Rg Veda the Devi Sukta;³ and we have in the Upanisads⁴ the story of Uma appearing in a blaze of light to Indra and the other Devas, to prove to them that it was not by their Sakti that they lived and moved, but that all which was done was so done by virtue of that Mahasakti. Touching this subject, nothing more is taught by the Tantra, though one portion of it has doubtless greatly elaborated, both on its theoretical and practical side, the magnificent doctrine of Sakti, or the Power or Energy of the Brahman whereby the Universe originates. Though this notion of Sakti is of great importance in the Tantra, it is by no means the peculiar appanage of that Scripture, but is, like other concepts, shared by it with other Indian Sastras, commencing, as above mentioned, with the Mulasastra - that is, the Vedas and Upanisads. It is, however, of special importance in Tantra, because one of its schools has developed, presented, and emphasized the doctrine, and has moulded its scheme of sadhana and worship in such a way as to be the practical expression of its form of theoretical exposition. Thus, on the one hand, we have in what are called for convenience the Saka Tantras, a philosophical doctrine of Sakti fully developed on the one side (Jnanakanda), and devotion to and worship of the World-Mother on the other (Upasanakanda). As the notion of Sakti is accepted by other classes of Indian Worshippers,⁵ the promulgation of this cult has historically done much to weld together the different Indian sects through the recognition of a bond of common unity which the acceptance of the doctrine of Sakti implies. To this the Saktisangama Tantra⁶ refers when it says: " For the purpose of creation various religions have been promulgated, such as those of the Saktas (worshippers of Sakti), Saivas (worshippers of Siva), Vaisnavas (worshippers of Visnu), Ganapatyas (worshippers of Ganesa), Sauras (sun worshippers), and Buddhists, and many others. These sects often blame one another, and yet a harmony may be found. Explanation has been given of these doctrines in order to bring about this unity. In order to attain this all should worship the Devi Kalika, the Saviour (Tarini). I have promulgated the Sakta cult in order to demonstrate the unity of the fourteen branches of knowledge.⁷ The Goddess Bhavatarini is the Deity presiding over the four Vedas, and the Goddess Kalika is the Deity presiding over the Atharva Veda. Though different sects find fault with one another, a harmony may be established between the seemingly contrary doctrines. In order to bring about this desired harmony all sects should worship Kalika, the Saviour of the world. Rites, according to the Atharva Veda, cannot be performed without Kali or Tara.⁸ She is called Kalika in Kerala (Malabar), Tripura in Kashmir, and Tara in Gauda (Bengal). She is the Kalottara or chief Divinity of Kalottarayana.⁹

" It appears," says the author of the work last cited, " that from the above passages of the Saktisangama Tantra the Sakta or Tantrika cult was promulgated in order to effect harmony among the various jarring sects. The result was that all the sects began to worship the female Energies of their own respective Deities.¹⁰ Some accepted a few Saktis, others accepted many.

" This is perhaps the reason," he adds, " of the great fellow-feeling between the Hindu and the Buddhist Saktas, as well as of the rites of the one being found in the Tantras of the other, and vice versa, for, according to Dr. Kern,¹¹ the development of Tantrism is a feature that Buddhism and Hinduism in their later phases have in common."

So far I' referred only to what are called the Sakta Tantras, or those Tantras which predominantly¹² deal with the worship of Sakti or Devi, the great Mother of the Universe. Thus, in the Saiva Tantras, or rather in the Saiva (as distinct from Sakta) worship, governed by the Agama, the use of wine and animal-food is forbidden¹³ - on the other hand, matters which appear in the Sakta Tantras occur elsewhere. The particular Yoga called Satcakrabheda, or matters dealt with by it, are to be found referred to in some of the Upanisads and Puranas, and in the works on Hathayoga, such as Sivasamhita, Gherandasamhita, and Hathayogapradipika. It has indeed been suggested that the Tantriks borrowed this Yoga from " Nathism ". There are some who think that they have given both fact and explanation when they have invented a name. But what proof is there that the Hathayogis were not Tantriks, or that the latter did not also include as part of its doctrine Hathayoga. And if the two were different from one another, which borrowed from the other and what is the proof of it? The matter is of subordinate interest. It is more important to know whether this Tantrik Yoga is confined to and is the invention of the Tantrik and Hathayogi, or whether it has its roots in common Indian tradition. The Tantra is called the Mantrasastra, but Mantras are not confined to the Tantra. It deals with the theory of sound (Sabda), but so did the Mimamsakas. It mentions the twenty-five Tattvas, but these are drawn from the Samkhya. There are Tantrik works which are Vedantik in their general trend and aim. If there be one subject which appears to distinguish the Tantras it is portions of its ritual, such as the Yantras, Mudras, Bijas, Bhutasuddhi, and so forth. Indeed, it is more by these than anything else that the " Tantrik " character of a work is established, and yet we find portions of this ritual in the Puranas. Further there appear to have been varieties of traditions or schools in the Sastras which are gathered together under the collective name of Agama, which after the Upanisadic age regulated the temple and domestic rituals. Which (or is it all of these) constituted the alleged Tantrik "nucleus"? There are thus the Tantras of the three Krantas.¹⁴ There are also what are called the Five Amnaya,¹⁵ not to mention the Saiva, Sakta, and Vaisnava divisions of Tantrik worshippers. Though the fact is not generally known certain Tantras are alleged to have authority in different ages and places. Thus certain existent Tantras, such as the Kalivilasa, are alleged not to be in force in the present Kalpa, but to represent a prior tradition.¹⁶ So this Kalivilasa and other Tantras are said to have been operative in Asva Kranta in the Kalakalpa. Of such the Mahavisvasara Tantra says that Tantras which belong to other Kalpas exist for the delusion of unbelievers (Pasandas). The burden of proof is on those who put forward a theory or hypothesis in these matters. Present historical knowledge is not enough to answer the various questions here raised. I prefer myself to proceed as far as possible upon the sure ground of fact and not upon historical surmises, for which there is at present at least no sufficient evidence, and which are not infrequently prompted by a dislike of the Sastra, and therefore by a desire to disassociate it altogether from the common current of Indian tradition. In any case doctrine and practice are of greater importance than the question of historical origins. But those who are interested in this form of research should first study and endeavour to understand the living Tantra with the aid of those who profess it, and then accumulate the fact upon which alone any historical hypothesis of value can rest.

Whatever theories may be advanced as to the existence and origin of some elements in the Tantra peculiar to itself, there is no doubt that as it now stands it embodies a large number of others which are to be found in other Sastras, both religious and philosophical, though some of these are expressed by this Scripture according to its own peculiar terminology and form of exposition. But if we deal with the facts as they are known to exist now and have existed for unknown centuries past, we find that the Tantra embodies and is interwoven with the general fabric of " Hinduism," of which it is an integral and closely associated part. Professor de la Vallee Poussin was then, it seems to me, right when, in answer to one of his English critics, he said of the Tantras: " Je constate qu'ils sont inherents a toutes les former religieuses de l'Inde."¹⁷

In a similar manner a critic of a previous work of mine¹⁸ incompetently complained that in a general account I there gave of some portions of Tantrik doctrine I had dealt with beliefs and practices to be found in other Sastras and systems of philosophy, a procedure which he charged was calculated to mislead others into the belief that they formed part of Tantrik teaching. A want of knowledge was here displayed. Why, he queried, had I dealt with the Samkhya, thereby " creating for the thousand and first time the false impression that the Tantra was concerned with it." This criticism, which is a display of ignorance, might equally well be directed against the work here translated, which not only cites the Tantra, but also the Puranas, Darsanas, Smrti, and Vedas.

The answer is the simple one that I dealt with some of the notions of the Samkhya because they are expressly incorporated in the Tantras and Tantrik works with which I was conversant. I may refer my reader by way of example to the first chapter of the celebrated Prapancasara Tantra,¹⁹ and to the well-known and authoritative treatise, Sarada Tilaka. From what source other than the Samkhya did the former derive its notions of Purusa, Prakrti, Buddhi, Ahankara, and the other Tattvas, the Gunas, and so forth? And of a passage in the second, the great Tantrik Commentator Raghava Bhatta expressly says: " Here the Samkhya doctrine is exposed." From what source again but the Vedanta does the Tantra derive those doctrines which reconcile the Samkhyan dualism in the unity of the Brahman? The Tantra, in fact, could not claim to be an authoritative Indian Sastra if it did not recognize commonly accepted Indian doctrines.

According to orthodox teaching, all Sastras, just as truth itself, constitute a unity. Otherwise the Tantra would be a mere sectarian Scripture out of all relation with common Indian beliefs, and essentially foreign to them. But a Scripture which is not in essential agreement with other Sastras is itself no Sastra at all. The Sastra, therefore, generally accepts and incorporates such common beliefs, though it may present them in its own peculiar way and terminology, and though it seeks practically to realize them by its own peculiar methods. It is in fact the latter which is the chief characteristic of this Sastra. The sphere of Indian religion has three departments, respectively known as Karmakanda (or formal ritual in its Vaidik sense), Upasana Kanda (or psychological worship), and Jnana Kanda (or esoteric knowledge). It is the second which is the peculiar subject of Tantra. Thus, again, it is said that ritual in its widest sense, as including both Karma and Upasana, is threefold - that is, Vaidik, Tantrik, and Mixed (Misra), or Pauranik. But each of these, according to Indian teaching, has in common certain philosophic and religious doctrinal bases. When I speak of " the Tantra," I refer to what passes under that name to-day²⁰ so far as it is known to me, and not some hypothetical doctrine of past time of which at present we know with certainty nothing. In a review, however, of the first volume of this work an Indian writer, in the Prabuddha Bharata²¹ made the following remarks on what he believes to be the origin of the Tantra. His speculations, whether correct or not, are of such interest that I quote them in full. He writes:

"Hitherto all theories about the origin and the importance of the Tantras have been more or less prejudiced by a wrong bias against Tantrikism which some of its own later sinister developments were calculated to create. This bias has made almost every such theory read either like a condemnation or an apology. All investigation being thus disqualified, the true history of Tantrikism has not yet been written; and we find cultured people mostly inclined either to the view that Tintrikism originally branched off from the Buddhistic Mahayana or Vajrayana as a cult of some corrupted and self-deluded monastics or to the view that it was the inevitable dowry which some barbarous non-Aryan races brought along with them into the fold of Hinduism. According to both these views, however, the form which this Tantrikism - either a Buddhistic development or a barbarous importation - has subsequently assumed in the literature of Hinduism is its improved edition as issuing from the crucibles of Vedic or Vedantic transformation. But this theory of the curious co-mingling of the Vedas and Vedanta with Buddhistic corruption or with non-Aryan barbarity is perfectly inadequate to explain the all-pervading influence which the Tantras exert on our present-day religious life. Here it is not any hesitating compromise that we have got before us to explain, but a bold organic synthesis, a legitimate restatement of the Vedic culture for the solution of new problems and new difficulties which signalized the dawn of a new age.

"In tracing the evolution of Hinduism, modern historians take a blind leap from Vedic ritualism direct to Buddhism, as if to conclude that all those newly formed communities with which India had been swarming all over since the close of the fateful era of the Kuruksetra war, and to which was denied the right of Vedic sacrifices, the monopoly of the higher threefold castes of pure orthodox descent, were going on all the time without any religious ministrations. These Aryanized communities, we must remember, were actually swamping the Vedic orthodoxy, which was already gradually dwindling down to a helpless minority in all its scattered centres of influence, and was just awaiting the final blow to be dealt by the rise of Buddhism. Thus the growth of these new communities and their occupation of the whole land constituted a mighty event that had been silently taking place in India on the outskirts of the daily shrinking orthodoxy of Vedic ritualism, long before Buddhism appeared on the field, and this momentous event our modem historians fail to take due notice of, either, it may be, because of a curious blindness of self-complacency or because of the dazzle which the sudden triumph of Buddhism and the overwhelming mass of historical evidences left by it create before their eyes. The traditional Kali Yuga dates from the rise of these communities, and the Vedic religious culture of the preceding Yuga underwent a wonderful transformation along with the wonderful attempt it made to Aryanize these rising communities.

"History, as hitherto understood and read, speaks of the Brahmins of the pre-Buddhistic age - their growing alienation from the Jnana-kanda or the Upanisadic wisdom, their impotency to save the orthodox Vedic communities from the encroachments of the non-Vedic hordes and races, their ever-deepening religious formalism and social exclusiveness. But this history is silent on the marvellous feats which the Upanisadic sects of anchorites were silently performing on the outskirts of the strictly Vedic community, with the object of Aryanizing the new India that was rising over the ashes of the Kuruksetra conflagration. This new India was not strictly Vedic, like the India of the bygone ages, for it could not claim the religious ministrations of the orthodox Vedic Brahmins, and could not therefore perform Yajnas like the latter. The question, therefore, is as to how this new India became gradually Aryanized, for Aryanization is essentially a spiritual process, consisting in absorbing new communities of men into the fold of the Vedic religion. The Vedic ritualism that prevailed in those days was powerless, we have seen, to do anything for these new communities springing up all over the country. Therefore we are obliged to turn to the only other factor in Vedic religion besides the Karma-kanda for an explanation of those changes which the Vedic religion wrought in the rising communities in order to Aryanize them. The Upanisads represent the Jnana-kanda of the Vedic religion, and if we study all of them, we find that not only the earliest ritualism of Yajnas was philosophized upon in the earlier Upanisads, but the foundation for a new, and no less elaborate, ritualism was fully laid in many of the later Upanisads. For example, we study in these Upanisads how the philosophy of Panca­upasana (fivefold worship - viz., the worship of Siva, Devi, Sun, Ganesa, and Visnu) was developed out of the mystery of the Pranava (‘ Om ‘). This philosophy cannot be dismissed as a post-Buddhistic interpolation, seeing that some features of the same philosophy can be clearly traced even in the Brahmanas - e.g., the discourse about the conception of Siva.

“ Here, therefore, in some of the later Upanisads we find recorded the attempts of the pre-Buddhistic recluses of the forest to elaborate a post-Vedic ritualism out of the doctrine of the Pranava and the Vedic theory of Yogic practices. Here in these Upanisads we find how the Bija-mantras and the Satcakra of the Tantras were being originally developed, for on the Pranava or Udgitha had been founded a special learning and a school of philosophy from the very earliest ages, and some of the 'spinal' centres of Yogic meditation had been dwelt upon in the earliest Upanisads and corresponding Brahmanas. The Upakaranas of Tantrik worship - namely, such material adjuncts as grass, leaves, water and so on - were most apparently adopted from Vedic worship along with their appropriate incantations. So even from the Brahmanas and the Upanisads stands out in clear relief a system of spiritual discipline - which we would unhesitatingly classify as Tantrik - having as its core the Panca­upasana, and around it a fair round of rituals and rites consisting of Bija-mantras and Vedic incantations, proper meditative processes and proper manipulation of sacred adjuncts of worship adopted from the Vedic rites. This may be regarded as the earliest configuration which Tantrikism had on the eve of those silent but mighty social upheavals through which the Aryanization of vast and increasing multitudes of new races proceeded in pre-Buddhistic India, and which had their culmination in the eventful centuries of the Buddhistic coup de grace.

"Now, this pre-Buddhistic Tantrikism, perhaps then recognized as the Vedic Panca-upasana, could not have contributed at all to the creation of a new India, had it remained confined completely within the limits of monastic sects. But, like Jainism, this Panca-upasana went forth all over the country to bring ultra-Vedic communities under its spiritual ministrations. Even if we inquire carefully into the social conditions obtaining in the strictly Vedic ages, we find that there was always an extended wing of the Aryanized society where the purely Vedic Karmakanda could not be promulgated, but where the moulding influence of Vedic ideals worked through the development of suitable spiritual activities. It is always to the Jnanakanda and the monastic votaries thereof that the Vedic religion owed its wonderful expansiveness and its progressive self-adaptability, and every religious development within the Vedic fold, but outside the ritualism of Homa sacrifices, is traceable to the spiritual wisdom of the all-renouncing forest recluses. This ‘ forest ' wisdom was most forcibly brought into requisition when, after the Kuruksetra, a new age was dawning with the onrush and upheaval of non-Aryan and semi-Aryan races all over India - an echo of which may be found in that story of the Mahabharata, where Arjuna fails to use his Gandiva to save his protégés from the robbery of the non-Aryan hordes.

"The greatest problem of the pre-Buddhistic ages was the Aryanization of the new India that rose and surged furiously from every side against the fast-dwindling centres of the old Vedic orthodoxy struggling hard, but In vain, by social enactments to guard its perilous insulation. But for those religious movements, such as those of the Bhagavatas, Saktas, Sauras, Saivas, Ganapatyas, and Jains, that tackled this problem of Aryanization most successfully, all that that Vedic orthodoxy stood for in the real sense would have gradually perished without trace. These movements, specially the five cults of Vedic worship, took up many of the non-Aryan races, and cast their life in the mould of the Vedic spiritual ideal, minimizing in this way the gulf that existed between them and the Vedic orthodoxy, and thereby rendering possible their gradual amalgamation. And where this task remained unfulfilled owing to the mould proving too narrow still to fit into the sort of life which some non-Aryan races or communities lived, there it remained for Buddhism to solve the problem of Aryanization in due time. But, still, we must remember that by the time Buddhism made its appearance, the pre-Buddhistic phase of Tantrik worship had already established itself in India so widely and so firmly that, instead of dislodging it by its impetuous onset - all the force of which, by the by, was mainly spent on the tottering orthodoxy of Vedic ritualism - Buddhism was itself swallowed up within three or four centuries by this Tantric worship, and then wonderfully transformed and ejected on the arena as the Mahayana.

"The latest configuration of Tantrikism dates from this, its wonderful absorption and assimilation of Buddhism, and from this important fact it derives some important features of its later development. The prophecy of Gautama Buddha on the eve of investing his aunt with Abhisampada or Sannyasa was fulfilled too literally when the proximity and free intercourse between the two orders of monks and nuns created in Buddhist history that odious problem of their religious life which they had to solve by introducing some mysterious rites, the philosophy of which, however, can be traced in the Vedas. No wonder if the current of such developments grew deeper and dirtier in time; only it is alleviating that there were cross-currents of constant correction flowing from Vedantic sources. Neither is it possible to deny that the Buddhistic phase of Tantrikism absorbed into the fold of Hinduism non-Aryan conceptions and rites of worship fat more promiscuously than its pre-Buddhistic phase; but history proves that the digestive and secretive processes, as it were, have ever since been working, tardily sometimes, but successfully always, and the Tantras, as the marvellous restatement of the Vedas and the Vedanta, have at last appeared in the boldest relief through that miraculous embodiment of the synthetic spirituality of the whole race which we have to recognize to-day by the name of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa."

The writer adds that a " vindication of the Tantras redounds directly to the benefit of Hinduism as a whole," for, in his opinion, “ Tantrikism in its real sense is nothing but the Vedic religion struggling with wonderful success to reassert itself amidst all those new problems of religious life and discipline which later historical events and developments thrust upon it."

Of equal interest with the above is the following extract from another review by the well-known Bengali litterateur Sj. Panchkori Bandyopadhyaya in the Calcutta journal Sahitya.²² This article, from which I omit passages personal to myself or touching the book there criticized, deals with the history of the Tantra in quite recent times in Bengal. Sj. Panchkori Bandyopadhyaya writes:

"At one time the Mahanirvana Tantra had some popularity in Bengal. It was printed and published under the editorship of Pandit Ananda-candra Vedantavagisa, and issued from the Adi-Brahma-Samaj Press. Raja Ram Mohan Roy himself was a follower of the Tantras, married after the Saiva form, and used to practise the Tantrik worship. His spiritual preceptor, Svami Hariharananda, was well known to be a saint who had attained to perfection (siddha-purusa). He endeavoured to establish the Mahanirvana Tantra as the Scripture of the Brahma­Samaj. The formula and the forms of the Brahma Church are borrowed from the initiation into Brahman worship (Brahma-diksa) in this Tantra. The later Brahmos, somewhat losing themselves in their spirit of imitation of Christian rituals, were led to abandon the path shown to them by Raja Ram Mohan; but yet even now many among them recite the Hymn to the Brahman which occurs in the Mahanirvana Tantra. In the first era of the excessive dissemination of English culture and training, Bengal resounded with opprobrious criticisms of the Tantras. No one among the educated in Bengal could praise them. Even those who called themselves Hindus were unable outwardly to support the Tantrik doctrines. But even then there were very great Tantrik Sadhakas and men learned in the Tantras, with whose help the principles of the Tantras might have been explained to the public. But the educated Bengali of the age was bewitched by the Christian culture, and no one cared to inquire what did or did not exist in their paternal heritage; the more especially that any who attempted to study the Tantras ran the risk of exposing themselves to contumely from the educated community. Maharaja Sir Jatindra Mohan Tagore, of sacred name, alone published two or three works, with the help of the venerable Pandit Jaganmohan Tarkalankara. The Hara­tattva-didhiti associated with the name of his father is even now acknowledged to be a marvellously glorious production of the genius of the Pandits of Bengal. The venerable (vrddha) Pandit Jaganmohan also published a commentary on the Mahanirvana Tantra. Even at that epoch such study of the Tantras was confined to a certain section of the educated in Bengal. Maharaja Sir Jatindra Mohan alone endeavoured to understand and appreciate men like Bama Khepa (mad Bama), the Naked Father (Nyamta Baba) of Kadda and Svami Sadananda. The educated community of Bengal had only neglect and contempt for Sadhakas like Bishe Pagla (the mad Bishe), and Binu, the Candala woman. Bengal is even now governed by the Tantra; even now the Hindus of Bengal receive Tantrik initiation. But the glory and the honour which the Tantra had and received in the time of Maharajas Krsna Candra and Sivacandra no longer exist. This is the reason why the Tantrik Sadhakas of Bengal are not so well known at present....

"The special virtue of the Tantra lies in its mode of Sadhana. It is neither mere worship (Upasana) nor prayer. It is not lamenting or contrition or repentance before the Deity. It is the Sadhana which is the union of Purusa and Prakrti; the Sadhana which joins the male principle and the mother element within the body, and strives to make the attributed attributeless. That which is in me and that for which I am (this consciousness is ever present in me) is spread like butter in milk, throughout the created world of moving and unmoving things, through the gross and the subtle, the conscious and unconscious-through all. It is the object of Tantrik Sadhana to merge that self-principle (Svarat) into the Universal (Virat). This Sadhana is to be performed through the awakening of the forces within the body. A man is Siddha in this Sadhana when he is able to awaken Kundalini and pierce the six Cakras. This is not mere ‘philosophy'- a mere attempt to ponder upon husks of words - but something which is to be done in a thoroughly practical manner. The Tantras say: ‘Begin practising under the guidance of a good Guru; if you do not obtain favourable results immediately, you can freely give it up.' No other religion dares to give so bold a challenge. We believe that the Sadhana of the Moslems, and the ‘ esoteric religion ' or secret Sadhana (and rituals) of the Christians of the Roman Catholic and Greek. Churches, is based on this groundwork of the Tantras.

"Wherever there is Sadhana we believe that there is the system of the Tantra. While treating of the Tantras some time back in the Sahitya, I hinted at this conclusion, and I cannot say that the author Arthur Avalon has not noticed it too. For he has expressed his surprise at the similarity which exists between the Roman Catholic and the Tantrik mode of Sadhana. The Tantra has made the Yoga system of Patanjali easily practicable, and has combined with it the tantrik rituals and the ceremonial observances (Karmakanda); that is the reason why the Tantrik system of Sadhana has been adopted by all the religious sects of India. If this theory of the antiquarians - that the Tantra was brought into India from Chaldea or Sakadvipa - be correct, then it may also be inferred that the Tantra passed from Chaldea to Europe. The Tantra is to be found in all the strata of Buddhism; the Tantrik Sadhana is manifest in Confucianism; and Sintoism is but another name of the Tantrik cult. Many historians acknowledge that the worship of Sakti, or Tantrik Sadhana, which was prevalent in Egypt from ancient times, spread into Phaenicia and Greece. Consequently we may suppose that the influence of the Tantras was felt in primitive Christianity.

"The Tantra contains nothing like idolatry, or ‘ worship of the doll,' which we, taking the cue from the Christian missionaries, nowadays call it.... The Tantra repeatedly says that one is to adore the Deity by becoming a Deity (Devata) himself. The Ista-devata is the very self of Atman, and not separate from It; He is the receptacle of all, yet He is not contained in anything, for He is the great witness, the eternal Purusa. The true Tantrik worship is the worship in and by the mind. The less subtle form of Tantrik worship is that of the Yantra. Form is born of the Yantra. The form is made manifest by Japa, and awakened by Mantra Sakti. Tens of millions of beautiful forms of the Mother bloom forth in the heavens of the heart of the Siddha purusa. Devotees or aspirants of lower order of competency (nimna-adhikari), under the directions of the Guru, adore the great Maya by making manifest (to themselves) one of Her various forms which can be only seen by Dhyana (meditation). That is not mere worship of the idol; if it were so, the image would not be thrown into the water; no one in that case Would be so irreverent as to sink the earthen image of the Goddess in the water. The Primordial Sakti is to be awakened by Bhava, by Dhyana, by Japa, and by the piercing of the six Cakras. She is all-will. No one can say When and how She shows Herself, and to what Sadhaka. We only know that She is, and there are Her names and forms. Wonderfully transcending is Her form - far beyond the reach of word or thought. This has made the Bengali Bhakta (devotee) sing this plaintive song:

‘Hard indeed is it to approach the sea of forms, and to bathe in it.
Ah me! this my coming is perhaps in vain.'

"The Tantra deals with another special subject - Mantra Sakti. . . . The Tantras say that the soul in the body is the very self of the letters - of the Dhvani (sound). The Mother, the embodiment of the fifty letters (Varna), is present in the various letters in the different Cakras. Like the melody which issues when the chords of a lute are struck, the Mother who moves in the six Cakras, and who is the very self of the letters, awakens with a burst of harmony when the chords of the letters (Varnas) are struck in their order. Then Siddhi becomes as easy of attainment to the Sadhaka as the keeping of an Amalaka fruit in one's hand when She is roused. That is why the great Sadhaka Ramaprasida awakened the Mother by the invocation – ‘ Arise. O Mother ‘ (Jagrhi, janani). That is the reason why the Bhakta sang:

‘How long wilt thou sleep in the Muladhara, O Mother Kula­kundalini ? '

"The Bodhana (awakening) ceremony in the Durga Puja is nothing but the awakening of the Sakti of the Mother, the mere rousing of the consciousness of the Kundalini. This awakening is performed by Mantra Sakti. The Mantra is nothing but the harmonious sound of the lute of the body. When the symphony is perfect, She who embodies the Worlds (Jaganmayi) rouses Herself. When She is awake, it does not take long before the union of Siva and Sakti takes place. Do Japa once; do Japa according to rule, looking up to the Guru, and the effects of Japa of which we hear in the Tantra will prove to be true at every step. Then you will understand that the Tantra is not mere trickery, or a false weaving out of words. What is wanted is the good Guru-Mantra capable of granting Siddhi, and application (Sadhana). . . .

"The Tantra accepts the doctrine of rebirth. It does not, however, acknowledge it as a mere matter of argument or reasoning, but like a geographical map, it makes clear the unending chain of existences of the Sadhaka. The Tantra has two divisions - the Dharma of Society (Samaja), and that Dharma of Spiritual Culture (Sadhana). According to the regulation of Samaja-Dharma, it acknowledges birth and caste. But in Sadhana Dharma there is no caste distinction, no Brahmana or Sudra, no man or woman; distinctions between high and low follow success in Sadhana and Siddhi. We only find the question of fitness or worthiness (Adhikara-tattva) in the Tantra. This fitness (Adhikara) is discovered with reference to the Samskaras (tendencies) of past existences; that is why the Candala Purnananda is a Brahmana, and Krpasiddha the Sadhaka is equal to Sarvananda; that is why Ramaprasada of the Vaidya caste is fit to be honoured even by Brahmanas. The Tantra is to be studied with the aid of the teachings of the Guru, for its language is technical, and its exposition impossible with a mere grammatical knowledge of roots and inflections. The Tantra is only a system of Sakti-Sadhana. There are rules in it whereby we may draw Sakti from all created things. There is nothing to be accepted or rejected in it. Whatever is helpful for Sadhana is acceptable. This Sadhana is decided according to the fitness of the particular person (Adhikari-anusare). He must follow that for which he is fit or worthy. Sakti pervades all, and embraces all beings and all things - the inanimate and the moving, beasts and birds, men and women. The unfolding of the powers (Sakti) enclosed within the body of the animal (Jiva) as well as the man is brought about only with the help of the tendencies within the body. The mode of Sadhana is ascertained with regard to these tendencies. The very meaning of Sadhana is unfolding, rousing up or awakening of power (Sakti). Thus the Sakta obtains power from all actions in the world. The Sadhana of the Tantra is not to be measured by the little measuring-yard of the well-being or ill-being of your community or mine.

" ‘Let you understand, and I understand, O my mind!
Whether anyone else understands it or not. '

"The Tantra has no notion of some separate far-seeing God. It preaches no such doctrine in it as that God the Creator rules the Universe from heaven. In the eye of the Tantra the body of the Sadhaka is the Universe, the autokratos (Atma-sakti) within the body is the desired (Ista), and the ‘ to be sought for ‘ (Sadhya) Deity (Devata) of the Sadhana. The unfolding of this self-power is to be brought about by self-realization (Atma-darsana), which is to be achieved through Sadhana. Whoever realizes his self attains to liberation (Mukti). . . The principles of the Tantra must be lectured on to the Bengali afresh. If the Mahanirvana Tantra as now translated is spread abroad, if the Bengali is once more desirous to hear, that attempt might well be undertaken.

"Our land of Bengal used to be ruled by Tantrik works such as the Saradatilaka, Saktiandatarangini, Pranatosini, Tantrasara, etc. Then the Mahanirvana Tantra did not have so great an influence. It seems to us that considering the form into which, as a result of English education and culture, the mind and intellect of the Bengali has been shaped, the Mahanirvana is a proper Tantra for the time. Raja Ram Mohan Roy endeavoured to encourage regard for the Mahanirvana Tantra because he understood this. If the English translation of the Mahanirvana Tantra is well received by the thoughtful public in Bengal, the study of the original Sanskrit work may gradually come into vogue. This much hope we may entertain. In fact, the English-educated Bengali community is without religion (Dharma) or action (Karma), and is devoid of the sense of nationality (Dharma), and caste. The Mahanirvana Tantra alone is fit for the country and the race at the present time.... An auspicious opportunity for the English-knowing public to understand the Tantra has arrived. It is a counsel of the Tantra itself that if you desire to renounce anything, renounce it only after a thorough acquaintance with it; if you desire to embrace anything new, accept it only after a searching inquiry. The Tantra embodies the old religion (Dharma) of Bengal. Even if it is to be cast away for good, that ought only to be done after it has been fully known.... Will not the Bengali receive with welcome such a full offering (Arghya) made from a foreign land? "

Whether (as the writer of this article and of the Introduction which follows contend) the doctrines and ritual of orthodox Hinduism are suitable for the India of to-day is a matter for its people to decide. I have cited this highly interesting appeal to stand on ancient ways because, to use the language of a friend of mine, and student of the Buddhist Tantra, it is “ pleine de détails intéressants et révèle d'une facon très claire l’état d’esprit des Bengalis - je crois que l’on pourrait méme dire des Hindous en général - et leur opinion intime touchant le Tantrisme."

Even if this statement be held to go too far, it has certainly a very wide application, and it is for this very reason that, in a study of the Indian religions, the Tantra is of such importance.

Konarak, December 31, 1914
Arthur Avalon

Footnotes

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