|
An important chapter in the spiritual history of India is the
development of a line of spiritual discipline called Tantra. These
Tantra Shastras are usually dated in the first millennium after
Christ. Traditionally it is the scripture of the common man, open
to all persons, without any restrictions of caste or scholarship.
Many students of Indian culture believe that it is appropriate to
call the religion of the modern Hindus as Tantric rather than
Puranic. Tantra in Sanskrit has many meanings. As Sri Kapali
Sastry points out, the relevant meaning of the word Tantra is "to
act.'' Thus ritual - ritual is an act - is a characteristic common
to all the Tantrik disciplines. The connection between the Veda
and Tantra will be discussed.
It is not uncommon to find in some books on the history of
India a statement that Tantra Shastra developed as a rebellion
against the Vedas since the latter was theoretically accessible
only to members of the two higher castes. The latter statement is
not even loosely true since the Chandogya Upanishad indicates that
the Vedas were taught to any student with sincere aspiration
regardless of caste. Even otherwise, Tantra Shastra holds the
Vedas in high regard and quotations from the Rig Veda are used in
Tantra Shastra to support its approach. While the Upanishads
represent an attempt at recovering the jnana or knowledge portions
of the Vedas, the Brahmanas represent an attempt at reinforcing
the ritual aspect of the Vedas, the Tantra Sastra represents an
attempt at preserving and expanding the esoteric or the occult
part of the Veda. A quotation from Sri Aurobindo is very
appropriate: "The mental images of the Vedic gods in the mantras
of Rig Veda (were replaced) by mental forms of the two great
deities, Vishnu and Shiva, and their Shaktis and by corresponding
physical images which are made the basis both for external worship
and for the Mantras of inward adoration and meditation, while the
psychic and spiritual experience which the inner sense of the
Vedic hymns expresses finally disappeared into the
psycho-spiritual experience of the Puranic and Tantrik religion
and yoga.".
First let us consider the gods in the Tantra and the gods in
the Vedas. There is almost a one-to-one correspondence between the
gods in the two scriptures, not only in the outward description of
their powers, but also in their spiritual import. In the Tantra,
as in the Vedas, we find the recognition of one Supreme Deity as
the highest along with the simultaneous adoration of a number of
other deities. The Tantric gods, like the Vedic gods, have a
twofold aspect: in their external aspects they are the powers of
physical nature like rain, wind, etc. But, in their more important
esoteric aspects, they represent psychological and psychic
movements. For example, Agni of the Veda continues in the Tantra
as Kumara, the child of the lord Shiva. In Veda, Agni is in the
forefront of gods, their guide and messenger. In the Tantra,
Kumara is the commander-in-chief of the gods and is looked up to
for his immense store of knowledge and wisdom by the seers of
later times. The role of Indra in the Veda is taken over in Tantra,
by Rudra who brooks no obstacle. The Sun, the highest God of the
Veda, is addressed in the Tantra as Vishnu, a name used in the
Veda itself. The role of the Aditi of the Veda is represented by
the Supreme Shakti, called as Uma, Gowri, etc. It is true that
there are new gods in the Tantra, but the prominent gods of the
Veda retain their supremacy under different names and forms.
The Tantra, like the Veda, places a high emphasis on the
Mantra. A mantra is not a mere letter or collection of letters
with some meaning "it is the sound-body of a Power charged with
the intense vibrations of the spiritual personality of the creator
or seer of the Mantra. When a mantra is uttered under proper
conditions, it is not the feeble voice of the reciter that goes
forth to evoke the response of the gods to whom it is addressed,
but the flame of tapasya (askesis) and realization that is lying
coiled up in the body of that utterance. The Tantra, following the
Veda, has formulated some seed-letters, Bijakshara, which the
seeker uses as the Mantra. These Bijaksharas have been endowed
with a perennial store of power by the Tantrik seers and it needs
only the living touch of the Guru to set them awake in the
disciple.”
Sri Kapali Sastry illustrates the connection between the Veda
and Tantra by considering a particular Tantra called as "Prapancha
sara tantra.'' It is made up of three verses, addressed to Durga,
Shiva and Vishnu. All the three hymns are found in the Rig Veda.
The first verse is from the 99th Sukta of the first book of Rig
Veda and is addressed to Agni. The second verse is the 12th Rik of
the 59th Sukta in the seventh book of the Rig Veda addressed to
Rudra, the Trayambaka, father of the three worlds. In the Tantra
it is addressed to the deity Rudra as Mrityunjaya, the conqueror
of Death. The third verse of the Tantra is the famous Gayatri hymn
in the 62nd Sukta of the third mandala of the Rig Veda. In the
Veda it is addressed to Savitr, the effulgent one, and in the
Tantra it is "addressed to Vishnu", the image of all knowledge and
power.
It is interesting to note that the group of the three verses,
also called as Shatakshara Glayatri, is recited even today in the
daily ritual for purifying the conch and the water. The symbolism
is obvious: the primeval sound comes from its source, symbolized
by the conch, naturally of its own accord when the impurities in
the instrument are removed by invoking the Gods or the
psychological power. |
