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by Justice Shiva Nath Katju
 Tantra
Shastra is one of the
most misunderstood subjects not only in India but throughout the world. In
popular thought and imagination a Tantrik is a person who dabbles in strange,
awful and mysterious rites involving visits to cremation grounds and use of wine
and women. He is feared also because he is credited with powers of inflicting
harm as also of bringing relief and good fortune. The so-called Tantriks run a
flourishing business catering to the needs of politicians, men in trade and
industries and in other walks of life. Very often most of such Tantriks, after
acquiring some powers by elementary Tantrik practices, use them for petty
monetary gains. For a time they show good results but they are side - tracked
from the path of spiritual advancement and have to content themselves by giving
magic shows and demonstrations of cheap miracles. As a matter of fact, an
earnest Tantrik practitioner avoids being caught in the mesh of sidhis and keeps
his eyes fixed on his spiritual objective very often preferring anonymity.
Tantra Shastra is part of the
Dharma Shastra of the Hindus and has its roots in the Vedas. Western scholars in
their anxiety to put the age of Hindu Civilization later to the Greek
Civilization have attempted to put the age of Rig Veda to 2000 B.C. and this too
seemingly has been done reluctantly and out of generosity. The tragedy is that
Indian scholars who take their inspirations from their western teachers and
masters have toed the Western line of thought. If Rig Veda goes back only to
2000 B. C. then the period of Shri Ramachandra and of Mahabharta have all to be
squeezed in between 2000 B. C. and the birth of Gautam Buddha. A more glaring
instance of the western myth is the Aryan invasion of India. Every text book of
history starts with that myth which has no basis. It is assumed as a geometrical
maxim that Aryans were not Indians and they entered into India from some country
other than India. The question then arises as to where did they come from. Then
the hunt begins and we are confronted with different theories about the original
home of the Aryans and here the wise and pompous scholars are not agreed at all.
We have the Central Asian, Caucasian & Lithunian theories, regarding the
original home of the Aryans. Even such a profound scholar like the late Lokmanya
Bal Gangadhar Tilak was so overwhelmed by the weight of western opinion that he
too propounded his Arctic theory on the basis of the long drawn twilights
indicated by some Rig Vedic Richas on 'Ushas' and said that the Arctic Region
was the original homeland of the Aryans. It has to be categorically stated that
the Indian tradition as also the Vedic literature clearly supports the view that
the homeland of the Aryans was Sapta Sindhava viz. the land covered by the River
Sindhu Indus and its tributaries.
It is now admitted that in some
remote past the land south of the present Punjab and Haryana and the north of
the Vindhyas was covered by sea. The Rajputana desert has the Sambhar lake which
has salty water indicative of its marine past. It is now well recognised that
the Himalayan mountain ranges are, from a geological angle, of comparatively
recent origin and marine fossils have been found in its rock stratas. History is
silent as to when did that happen. Sahara and Gobi deserts were in times past
cradles of human civilisation and as a result of intensive grazing the soil
became barren and ultimately turned into deserts wiping off the old civilisation
of which no traces are left. Again, due to geological changes land between
Europe and Africa which connected the two continents got submerged under water
when the Atlantic ocean broke through the strait of Gibraltar. We know nothing
of these dead and past ancient civilisations.
The Red Indians of North America
use Swastika as a symbol. The surprising fact is that they also pronounce it as
Swastika as we do. It is said that the American Red Indians are descendants of
Asian Tribes who entered America through the Behring strait in some remote past.
History is silent as to when that happened. Our known recorded history hardly
covers three to four thousand years.
We go further three thousand
years back for our sketchy information about Ancient Egypt. The Egyptian
pyramids still remain a mystery. Results of archaeological excavations in Sumer
Akkad and Mohenjodaro have thrown some light, though dim, on the history of
those regions. Beyond 4000 and 5000 B. C. is the era of darkness which is sought
to be penetrated by the valiant efforts of anthropologists, archaeologists gists,
and we hear of such phases in human history as stone age and copper age. It is
now said that human beings first appeared on our planet five million years back.
How they, evolved is still a controversial subject. Some say that we evolved
from a type of sea fish which had a verbetra like ours. Another widely believed
theory is that apes were our ancestors. McGlashan, one of the renowned
psychologists of the world, in his recently publish book, "The savage and
beautiful country", which deals with the working of human mind, has
suggested that just as we are now sending human beings in outer space similarly
by a reverse process the human species, on our planet came from some planet of
our galaxy. Madame Blavatsky, the founder of theosophical movement has
propounded the same view.
In short we are so dazzled by
the scientific and technological advancement made during the last three or four
centuries that we faithfully believe that ours is the most progressive era of
our world history and the human beings who inhabited our planet six or seven
thousand years back were savages and primitive men. Our self-conceit makes us
unable to realise that we are totally ignorant about the past beyond the
aforesaid limits. McGlashan says:
"A time will come once more
when the whirling machinery will grind to a halt, the harsh music cease and the
roundabout riders step down stiffly from their apocalyptic beasts. Looking round
for his friends of the inner world, everyman will, see them, too, in troops of
gray shadows, slipping silently away. One by one the lights of the fair ground
will go out, and every man will be left at last, as at the shadowed close of so
many earlier civilisations, to find his own way home, by himself, in the
dark".
So civilisations have grown and
blossomed and then faded away on our planet. We hear now of continental drifts;
shifting of land masses breaking old continents and forming new ones. No one
knows the history of the people who lived on land that has now been submerged
under seas. Time has devoured them all. In this respect the Hindus are unique.
Their memories, thoughts and traditions go back to the dawn of creation itself
and the time when man first appeared on this planet. The Rishis heard the Vedas
with the appearance of human beings on our Earth. Today the Hindus are not those
people whose history may be sought to be built up on inferences drawn from
ancient ruins and relics of the past. With all the ups and downs that the Hindus
have faced in the then history they have gone on marching in tune with KALA, the
devourer of all, still chanting the primeval songs that were passed on by the
Rishis from generation to generation. The Hindu does not begin from any
popularly known starting point of era such as B. C., A.D., Vikram or Shaka. He
calculates his day from the beginning of creation itself viz. the start of
Brahma's day. The universe which we call Srishti begins and lasts till the close
of a Brahma's day and there is Pralaya at night. The creation restarts from the
dawn of the next Brahma's day. After hundred such days of Brahma there is the
Great Dissolution - Mahapralaya. After its end srishti starts again and so the
cycle goes on and on.
<verses>
"Those yogis know the
essence of time who are aware of the fact that Brahma's day extends to a
thousand Mahayugas and similar is the extent of one night of Brahma's day."
- Geeta VIII-17
The four Yugas viz. Satyayuga,Treta, Dwapar and Kaliyuga make one
Mahayuga. This concept is not any
hidden or secret doctrine. On the other hand, every Hindu who performs the daily
Sandhya recites the following Sankalpa at the start of his worship:
<verses>
"Today, the first half of
the second Prahar of Brahma's Day in Vaivaswat Manvantar and Shvetvarah Kalpa in
the land of Aryas in the holy Bharat-Khand of Jambudweep and the first charan of
Kaliyuga, in so and so Samvatsar, Month, Paksha, Tithe, Day, I of such and such
Gotra and name............"
One day of Brahma is equal
to a Kalpa and 14 Manwantars make one Kalpa.
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Kali
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1 x 432000 human years
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Dwapar
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2 x 432000 human years
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Treta
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3 x 432000 human years
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Satya
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4 x 432000 human years
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Total
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43.2 lakhs of years
= one Mahayuga
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One day of Brahma or 1 Kalpa, is
100 x 43.2 = 432 crores of human years.
One Manwantar is equal to
432000000/14 human years = 30.858 crores.
We are at present in the seventh
Manwantar Vaivaswat after the elapse of 27 Mahayugas and in the beginning of
28th Kaliyuga of the presently running Brahma's Day. The current Kali year is
5081.
Manus change in every Manwantar
and they have particular names. The manu of the presently running manwantar is
Vaivaswat and the manwantar is named after him. Since one Kalpa is one day of
Brahma's life there are thirty Kalpas in every month of his life which have
separate names.
The late Shrimad Upendra Mohan,
the great scholar, sage and savant of Bengal has said in his remarkable book
"Reason, science and shastras":
"The same Yugas, the same
Manus, the same Kalpas, the same Brahma constantly return through time eternal,
therefore the calculation of the creation, of its age, its life and its
destruction is constant in correct to the minutest fracton of the time, unlike
stupid modern science which does not know what it talks and flounders on from
statement to statement through a quagmire of ridiculous falsehoods. Now which is
right? The changeless shastras or the ever changing science............"
The Hindus know according to the
calculation of the shastras that the present age of the earth is 198 crores of
years. This calculation is changeless and unchangeable - it is God's spoken word
and therefore the truth which is
<verses>
[ That which remains the same at
all times - the past, the present and the future, that which is permanent and
unchangeable under all conditions, that which is eternal is a called truth. It
admits no ebb nor flow ]
In the sombre and awe -
inspiring dance of time the origin and flow of Tantra Shastra and Shiva Shakti
upasana has to be seen. It must be, stated at the outset that "Tantricism
in Kashmir" is not any separate system which is distinct from the general
frame-work of Shakta Agams. On the contrary, it is a part of it. Kashmiri
savants and sages however made important and lasting contributions in
interpreting the Agam Shastra and more so in expounding the world famous Shaiva
Darshan (Shaiva Philosophy). According to our Shastras the Vedas are revealed to
the Rishis in every Satya Yugas and they are gradually withdrawn in the
succeeding yugas and very little of them is left in Kaliyuga. There are 21
branches of Rigveda, 109 of Yajurveda, 50 of Atharva veda and 1000 of Sam veda.
Only 2 of the 1000 branches of Sam Veda are now extant in this world and the
rest have been withdrawn. Rig Veda, Atharva Veda and Yajur Veda have similarly
been depleted. It is not possible for men of Kaliyuga either to perform the
long-drawn vedic yagnas or derive benefit from it. So Mahadeva in His infinite
mercy revealed the Tantras for the men and women of our age. But the principles
of Tantrik worship, particularly Shakti worship, were known to a section of
spiritual practitioners even in the Yugas preceding Kaliyuga and they ran
parallel to the vedic sadhana system. Tantric rites are 'kriyAtmak' and have to
be practised. Having their roots in the Vedic system they are comparatively
short and easier to perform than the Vedic Yugnas and they are highly potent and
give quick results and raise man to godhood. Even in Satayuga, Treta and Dwapar
the Tantric practitioners were frowned upon by those who followed the orthodox
form of Vedic rituals. These differences gave rise to the cool relations between
Dakhsa Prajapati and Mahadeva. At that time the daughter of Daksha was the
Divine consort of Mahadeva. Shrimad Bhagwat (3rd Skandh, 4th. Adhyaya) refers to
the strained relations between Mahadeva and Daksha Prajapati. Their relations
had been so embittered that when Daksha Prajapati decided to perform a big Yagna
he did not invite either Mahadeva or the latter's consort. The episode is
described in enchanting language in Puranas and by poets.
Mahadeva and Sati, as she was
called in view of what happened later, were sitting on Mount Kailasa, when Sati
observed the Devas going with their retinues in Akash (sky). She enquired from
Shiva as to what was happening. Mahadeva said the Devas were going to her
father's house to join the yagna there. She was pained to hear of the yagna of
which she had not been informed. She asked as to why Mahadeva was not
participating in the yagna. Mahadeva said that her father was annoyed with him
and they had not been invited. She insisted on going to her father's house
inspite of the fact that she had not been asked to come by her own father.
Mahadeva tried to persuade her not to go saying that even a daughter should not
go to her father's house when she had not been so asked. Sati persisted and when
Lord Mahadeva was not inclined to accede to her wish to go uninvited to her
father's house She projected Her dazzling form as Mahamaya in all directions, 4
in four directions on surface, 4 upwards in four directions, one above and ane
below, ten in all Her aspects of Kali, Bagla, Chinnamasta, Bhuvaneshwari,
Matangi, Kamala Dhumavati, Tripursundari, Tara and Bhairavi. They are the Ten
Mahavidyas and the Tantrik worship of Shiva-Shakti in its upper reaches revolves
on them or any of their other aspects. In fact they are the different entrance
gates around the base of the mountain on which a Tantrik practioner starts on
his climb to the summit where the Mahavidyas all merge into one and he worships
at the alter of the Creatrix of all who keeps on creating, preserving and
dissolving the Universe. She has three forms viz. Para Rupa which no one knows,
Mantra Rupa which is Her subtle form, and lastly, Her physical which are
described in Her strotras in Tantra Shastras and Puranas.
She is very graphically
described in "Durga Saptashati" by Rishi Medhas. Commonly called the
"Chandi Path" its recitation is believed to be very effective and the
Hindus all over India and also, in other countries recite it individually as
also collectively. All its Mantras are Siddha Mantras. It is the story of
Emperor Surath and Samadhi Vaishya which cuts the barriers of Time and Space.
Both of them were in distress and seek the refuge of Medhas Rishi. It describes
Surath as:
<verses>
In swaroch manvantar (the second
Manvantar in the cycle) born in Chaitra vansh was Emperor Surath who ruled on
Earth. Having been defeated by his enemies he entered a dense forest and came to
the ashram of Medhasa Rishi. While the Emperor was in the Rishi's ashram Samadhi
Vaishya, who was a prosperous merchant but was in adverse circumstances, also
came in the Ashram. They related to each other their tales of woe and misfortune
and eventually met the Rishi and put questions to the Rishi and asked the cause
of their acute mental distress. The Rishi spoke of Devi Bhagwati who is the
cause of all;
<verses>
She, the Mahamaya, forcibly puts
the minds of even the wise into hazen. She creates the Jagat and when she is
pleased. She grants liberation to men.
"Astonished, Emperor Surath
asked who is that Devi whom you call Mahamaya How did she come into Being, what
is Her sphere of working, what is Her form and character. I want to hear all
about Her.
The Rishi replied:
<verses>
"Even though She is ever
present, personifies in Herself the entire Jagat, is the cause of all, She
manifests Herself in different forms and now that you have come to me - so
listen".
The Rishi spoke of the
appearance at the time of 'Deluge' when Brahma sitting on a lotus, which had its
roots in the navel of Vishnu who was asleep, saw himself being furiously
attacked by Asura Madhu and Kaitabha. He prayed to the Devi to save him. The
famous ode of Brahma begins thus:
<verses>
He prayed the Devi to free Vishu
from Her mesh of sleep. The Devi thereupon released Vishnu from sleep and the
latter fought against the two Asuras and killed them. Here the Devi did not
fight Herself but acted through Vishnu.
The second chapter of the
Saptashati refers to the powerful Asuras led by Mahishasura who had subdued the
Devas and had himself became Indra. The Devas led by Brahama approached Shiva
and Vishnu for protection. Plight of the Devas greatly infuriated Shiva and
Vishnu and their anger caused effulgence to burst out from their faces and
similarly the Teja of the Devas also appeared and the entire effulgence uniting
produced the form of a Dazzling Lady whose radiance spread to the three lokas (triloki)
<verses>
The Devi fought several Asuras
of the legions of Mahishasura and killed them. Finally Mahishasura came in
person to fight the Devi and after initial encounters assumed the form of
Mahisha and attacked the Devi. The Devi became furious and refreshed Herself by
superfine drink-wine:
<verses>
and said -
<verses>
"Shout, shout, boastfully
you fool ! till I take madhu (wine).
Superfine drink and wine has,
relevance to the use of wine by Tantrik practitioners on special occasions.
After a grim fight with Mahishasura the latter was slain by the Devi;
<verses>
"The Devi by Her great
sword cut off the head of Mahishasura. Delighted to see Her victorious, the
Devas prayed to Her as Sura Devi
<verses>
The hymn in praise of the Devi
by the Devas is soul stirring. It pleased the Devi who was in the form of Bhadra
Kali, and She granted the Devas prayer to came to their help whenever they were
in trouble.
The last Act in the Drama starts
with another deadly combat between the Devas and the Asuras when two miohty
Asuras - Shumbha and Nishumbha overpowered Indra as also Surya, Chandra, Yama
and Varuna. They again prayed to the Devi to save them. This is another famous
hymn in Durga Saptashate. While the Devas were praying to Her she passed by in
the form of maiden-Parvati-and asked the Devas as to whom they were praying. As
soon as she put that question there emerged Shiva from Her own body and said
that the Devas are praying to Us;
<verses>
Having come out of the body of
the Devi She is known and venerated in the universe as Kaushiki;
<verses>
As a result of Kaushiki's
separation from Her body the complexion of Parvati underwent a change and became
dark and stayed in the Himalyas and became known as Kali;
<verses>
Apart from the fact that Durga
Saptashati occupies a very important place in Tantrik worship I have referred to
it at some length because the aforesaid change in the complexion of Parvati and
Her being called Kali appears to have a direct bearing on Kashmir Tantricism and
the form of our Ragnya Bhawani. A notice board in the courtyard of Kheer Bhawani
Kund in Tulmula says, so far as I recollect, that the Devi was Worshipped by
Ravana in Lanka and was brought from there and installed in Tulmula after the
defeat ef Ravana by Shri Ram Chandraji. In the shrine in the Kheer Bhawani Kund
Devi Ragnya Bhagwati is sitting on the left of Her Bhairava, Bhuteshwara, and
Her complexion is dark. Kali is Krishna-Varna and has dark complexion. But as
mentioned in the dhyan of Ragnya Bhawani Her complexion is very fair, like fresh
snow;
<verses>
Has the change, as seen in Her
image in the Tulmula Shrine and the description in Her dhyan, any bearing on the
aforesaid narrative in the Saptashati which transformed the Parvati into dark
complexioned Kali ? I met the famous sage and scholar, Swami Lakshman joo
Maharaj in the summer of 1979 when I was in Kashmir. I pointedly referred to the
aforesaid description of Ragnya's complexion in Her Dhyan and Her complexion in
Her image in the Kheer Bhawani Shrine and asked him whether Ragnya Bhawani is
Kali and if I remember rightly he said it is so. The point is interesting and
requires clarification. It is generally believed that Ragnya Bhawani is Tripura
Sundari. But if She is Kali also then She combines in Herself the aspects of two
Mahav dyas.
I resume the narrative of the
Devi's encounter with Shumbha and Nishumbha which again has an important bearing
on the form of our Sharika Devi.
Parvati of dazzling beauty was
seen by Chand and Mund and they reported to their Master Shumbha that a maiden
of unrivalled beauty was residing in the Himalyas and she was fit, to be his
queen and he should have her;
<verses>
Shumbha thereupon sent a
messenger to Parvati who spoke to her about the prowess of his master and asked
her on his behalf either to marry Shumbha or his brother Nishumbha. Parvati said
that she was aware that Shumbho and Nishumbha were masters of the three regions
- Trilok but while in a fitful mood. She had taken a view that she will marry
only that person who breaks her pride in combat and proves that he is more
powerful than herself;
<verses>
The messanger was astounded to
hear the Devi's reply. How could a maiden like her think of defeating the
powerful Shumbha and his legions in fight. He conveyed the Devi's reply to his
master. Shumbha was enraged on hearing the Devi's reply and asked his general
Dhumralochan to go to the Devi with his legion and bring her to him by force.
When he attacked the Devi the latter burnt him by her powerful hissing;
<verses>
Her lion destroyed the asuras
who had come with Dhumralochan. Then Shumbha sent the two demons Chanda and
Munda to fight with her and bring her back to him by force. The two demons were
well armed and had a big force with them. Seeing the force arrayed against her
the Devi was enraged and Kali emerged from her forehead,
<verses>
Kali fought furiously and killed
Chanda and Munda and what remained of their troops ran away. The Shumbha decided
to go himself with Nishumbha with his legions and fight the Devi who had Kali by
her side. Seeing the huge force of Shumbha the Devas could not remain aloof but
this time the Shaktis of Brahma, Shiva, Kartikeya, Vishnu, and Indra emerging
out of them joined Parvati and Kali in the fight against Shumbha. The fight
raged furiously and the Devis decimated the forces of Shumbha. The fight against
Shumbha's general Raktabeeja was deadly. Whenever blood flowed from his body,
thousands of other Demons appeared. Parvati asked Kali to open her mouth wide
and drink the blood flowing from Raktabeeja's body. Kali was addressed by
Parvati as Chamunda and acting accordingly she drank the blood flowing out of
Raktabeeja's body until he was slain dead by Parvati. Nishumbha resumed fighting
and he was also killed. After the death of his brother and his generals, Shumbha
himself confronted the Devi and said:
<verses>
"O Durga ! do not boast of
your strength because fighting with the support of Devi Shaktis has swollen your
pride."
The Devi replied:
<verses>
Thou wicked person ! who else
besides me is there in this Universe (Jagat) ? I am one; see all these aspects
of Mine re-enter in Me. On saying this all the Deva - Shaktis including Brahmani
merged into Her and Ambika stood alone;
<verses>
The fight between the Devi and
Shumbha was bitter and lasted for long and ultimately Shumbha was slain by the
Devi. The Devas prayer to her is another stirring hymn in her praise. As
mentioned earlier every Shloka in Durga Saptashati is clothed in highly esoteric
language and describes the constant struggle which goes on in the astral plane
between the forces of virtue and evil which the Shastras refer to as the fight
between the Devas and Asuras - Devasurasangrama. It is reflected in our world as
also in mankind inhabiting it.
The tnteresting question arises,
particularly with reference to Shakti worship in Kashmir, whether the Devi
referred to above who annihilated Shumbha and Nishumbha and their legions is
represented in any of her aspects still existing in Kashmir and worshipped by
the Kashmiris. Can it be our Sharika Bhawani !
The Deva - Shaktis, which came
by her side when Shumbha himself came with his forces to fight her, were:
<verses>
Brahmani, Maheshwari, Kaumari, Vaishnavi,
Varahi, Narsingh, and Indrani emerging out of the Devas came by her
side. The remarkable coincidence is that in the Yantra Puja of Sharika Bhagwati
all the aforesaid Devis are worshipped as Matrikas;
<verses>
The names of some of the
aforesaid matrikas appear in the Avaran Puja of the Yantras of Ragnya, Jwala and
Bala also but not in such remarkable sequence as mentioned above.
Another remarkable coincidence
appears from the following lines the Sharika Stotra in
<verses>
As mentioned above Dhumralochan,
the general of Shumbba was reduced to ashes by the hissing of the Devi:
<verses>
In Sharika Bhagwati's dhyan she
is shown as sitting on lion and in blood red garments with her Bhairava Vamadeva
by her said
<verses>
In another dhyan of Sharika
Bhawani she is shown as having eighteen arms. Do they symbolise the aspects of
Kali with 10 arms and Lakshmi and Saraswati having 4 arms each, of uniting in
Her. Is She the Durga of Durga Saptashati who fought against Shumbha and
Nishumbha? The question has to be answered by the Savants of Kashmir.
The principal Kula Devis of the
Kashmiri Brahmins are Ragnya, Sharika, Jwala, and Bala Tripur Sundari. The
Shrines of both Sharika and Jwala do not contain any Murtis but are rocks (Shilas)
and are not man made. They go back to hoary past. Thus it can be inferred that
the Devi was worshipped in her aspects of Ragnya, Sharika and Jwala and others
since time immemorial and before the epic war of Mahabharata and the dawn of
Kaliyuga.
The worship of the Devi existed
in the Vedic Times and prior to Kaliyuga as would appear from, the vedic Devi
Sukta and any number of references in Puranas and Itihas apart from what is said
in the Durga Saptashati and it so existed in Kashmir as in other parts of the
country. Thus the Devi was generally worshipped as the creatrix of the universe
from the very dawn of human civilisation side by side with the vedic rites which
were performed by the people. The hidden Sadhana of the Devi was also known to
some elite practitiones before the advent of the Kali era.
The Mababharata was fought
towards the close of Dwapar Yuga. In the conversation between Yudhistera and
Sanjaya before the start of the war the time mentioned was the prevailing Dwapar
Yuga. (Bhisma Parva, Chap. X)
Calculating from the present
Kaliyuga year 5081, Kaliyuga began in 3101 B.C. which is a crucial and turning
point in human history on our planet.
"It is said that Kaliyuga
could not begin as long as Lord Shri Krishna was touching this Earth with His
holy feet and it was only after He left this mundane world that Kaliyuga
commenced. [ Kaliyuga Raja. Vrittantam, Bhagwat III Chap. III ]
According to the tradition, It
has and Puranic literature of the Hindus the Mahabharata War took place in about
3136 B. C. viz about 36 years before the commencement of Kaliyuga.
The Mahabharat is full of
references to Shiva and Devi. When the rival forces were arrayed on the
battlefield and before the Start of fighting Lord Krishna asked Arjuna to pray
to Durga for victory
<verses>
and then Arjuna prayed to Dnrga
in a soul-stirring hymns the opening of which is
<verses>
In this hymn the Devi is
addressed in all names which occur in the Durga Saptashate and in the Puranas.
Similarly there are any number
of references to Shiva and Several Odes and hymns in which He is addressed in
hundreds of names along with His Divine consort- the Devi in Her various
aspects. Veda Vyas himself describes tho glory and attributes of Shiva. He is
also described as Pashupate and His worship in the form of Shivalinga is
mentioned by Ved Vyas. Similarly in the Sauptik Parva of Mahabharata there is
the Stuti of Shankara by Ashwatthama (Chap.7) and the description of the Mahima
of Shiva-Parvati and Shankara (Chap. 17). There is also the Sahsranama of Shiva
in Chap. 284. The Anushasana Parva of Mahabharata again describes the Mahima of
Shiva. The Meghavahan Parva is again full of the description of Shiva and His
Stotra (Chapters 14 to 18.)
It is clear that during the time
of Shri Krishna the worship of Shiva and Devi was, well known and was performed
by the Hindus all over the country including Kashmir. Vitasta is mentioned as
one of the Rivers of Bharat Khanda and Kashmir as one of its regions in the
Bhishma Parva of Mahabharata (Chap. 9). Bhishma Pitamaha while lying on his bed
of arrows after the close of the Mahabharata War told Yudhishthira about the
then existing forms of Dharma in Bharat Khanda. He described them thus:
<verses>
[ e.g. Sankhya, Yoga Panchratra,
Veda and Pashupat ]
The destruction and loss of life
in the Mahabharata War was collosal. The weapons used were more lethal than what
may appear from the use of bows and arrows. There is specific mention of several
weapons such as Brahmastra and others which were highly destructive and very
likely some kind of arrows with unclear heads were used. A large number of
tribes from behind the frontiers of United India took part in the fighting.
Drona Parva of Mahabharata specifically mentions the "Shaved headed"
Kamboj soldiers, the Yavanas, Shak, Shabar, Kirat and Barbar tribes who took
abroad part in the fighting (Ch. 19.) The influx of people from abroad caused a
great social confusion in the country. And then also began the Kali era. The
vedic rites became difficult and beyond the capacity of men. There is another
incident on the record. Janmejaya orgauised a great yagna for avenging the
killing of his father Parikshit, the grandson of Arjuna, by Takshak Nag. The
yagna started and snakes from all regions were drawn and started falling in the
burning sacrificial pits. Then a Rishi, the protector of the Nagas appeared and
stopped the rites. The interruption infuriated Agni Deva and he gave a curse to
the Brahmins saying that hence onwards the Vedic Mantras would be ineffective to
them like a poisonless snake. Then began the age of the Tantras.
The Mahanirvana Tantra is one of
the Agamas which are ranked with the shrutis. Agamas are in the form of a
dialogue between Shiva and Parvati. The latter questions and Shiva replies. In
Nigamas Shiva questions and Parvati answers. In other Tantras such as Damaras
and Yamalas only Shiva speaks, there being no conversaton between Him and
Parvati. There are several Upa-Tantras and commentary on the Mul Tantras by
Rishis and savants.
The Mahanirvana Tantra has a
dramatic opening, Parviti says
<verses>
The Devi said : "At present
Kaliyuga holds sway and causes the destruction of Dharma and prompts people to
commit wicked deeds, immoral and false acts. Now influence of Vedas has gone,
Smrites have also been drowned in forgetfulness and the names of various Puranas
which are full of history and point to various paths will not remain known and
consequently the people will turn against virtuous acts. The people of Kali will
become rudderless, vain, full of Sin, voluptuous, greedy, cruel without feelings
of pity and will become haughty and accustomed to using unkind words. The people
of Kaliyuga will keep company of low persons, will try to acquire the wealth of
others, speak ill of others, act viscously and will become wicked. In trying to
forcefully get another's wife these people will have no fear of sin. These
persons will always remain poor, dirty and diseased. The Brahmins will not
perform the daily Sandhya and will act like Shudras. Prompted by greed they will
try to earn their living by performing forbidden acts and commit sins. They will
be liars wicked persons vain, have evil tendancies and sell their daughters and
will be opposed to tapas and vrat. They will flout the rubes with regard to
eating and drinking and will always denounce the Shastras and virtuous men. 0 !
Lord of jagat, who among these people will read stotras and understand yantras
and under the Kaliyuga perform Purashacharans. Men of Kaliyuga will be of very
evil tendencies and will be sinful persons. How will they be reduced?"
Sadashiva replied:- "Devi, you are blessed, merciful and kind and you are
the well wisher of people of Kaliyuga. Whatever you have said about me is
true". Then Sadashiva revealed the forms of worship which leads to
liberation from bondage.
Tantra shastra has a wide
connotation and it covers the Panchadeva upasana which came into vogue after the
Mahabharata war with the start of Kaliyuga. The Pancha-devas are Ganesh, Vishnu,
Surya. Shiva and Devi and there are separate sets of Agamas for each of them.
Thus there are Ganpatya, Vaishnava, Saura, Shaiva and Shakta Agamas. In popular
parlance Tantriks are supposed to be those who are worshippers of Shakti (Devi).
Shakti is never worshipped alone. Every aspect of Shakti has Her Bhairava and
both are worshipped together. Every Mahavidya has Her corresponding Bhairava.
The same is the case With the Kul-devis of Kashmiri Brahmins. Ragnya's Bhairava
is Bhuteshwar, Sharika's Bhairava is Vemdeva, Jwala's Bhairava is Mahadeva and
Bala Tripura Sundari's Bhairava is Karneshwar. Similarly Shaiva's cannot ignore
the consort of Shiva- the Devi and Shaiva and Shakta Upasana cannot be
separated.
There are two broad forms of
Shakta worship viz the Sbri Kul and Kali Kul. Kularnava Tantra is the
authoritative Agam for Shri Kul and the Mahanirvana Tantra for Kali Kul. The
Sammohan Tantra (Chap. VI) mentions 64 Tantras, 327 Upatantras, and several
yamalas, Damaras, Samhitas and other scriptures of the Shaktas and 32 Tantras,
125 Upatantras and Yamalas, Damaras and other scriptures of Shaivas. The number
of known Tantras is much less than the number mentioned and they have been
either withdrawan or lost.
The question is raised as to the
value and worth of the teachings of Agamas. It is answered by Sir John Woodroffe
in the following words:
"In the first place there
must be a healthy physical and moral life. To know a thing in its ultimate sense
is to be that thing. To know Brahman, is according to Advaita, to be
Brahman........... But to attain and keep this state as well as progress therein
certain specific means, practices, rituals or disciplines are necessary. The
result annot be got by mere philosophical talk about Brahman. Religion is
practical activity. Just as the body requires exercise, training and gymnastic,
so does the mind. The means employed are called sadhana. Sadhana is that which
leads to Siddhi. Sadhana is development of Shakti. Man is a vast magazine of
both latent and expressed power. The object of Sadhana is to develop man's
Shakti, whether for temporal or spiritual purposes. But where is Sadhana to be
found. Seeing that the Vaidika Achara has fallen into practical desuetude we can
find nowhere but in the Agamas and in the Puranas which are replete with Tantrik
rituals."
The sway of Tantra Shastra after
the Mahabharata war extended beyond the frontiers of India and included Iran,
Afghanistan, Tibet, Burma and nearly south eastern Asian countries and Tantrik
literature divided them into three zones viz Vishnukranta, Ratha Kanta and Ashwa
Kranta. The North eastern zone camo under Vishnu Krant, North western zone under
Ratha Kranta and Southern zone under Ashwa Kranta. The dividing point of the
aforesaid division was the eastern end of the Vindhvas. The three Krarnas
(schools) of Tantrik Sadhana prevailed in each of the aforesaid zones viz
Kashmir Krama in Rath Krant; Bang or Gaur Krama in Vishnu Krant and Kerala Krama
in Ashwa Krant. The Shakti-Sangam Tantra speaks of the aforesaid three schools:
<verses>
Eighteen regions of North East
beginning from Nepal and going upto Orissa come under the sway of Gaur school;
Nineteen regions from Aryavarta upto the seas come under Kerala Krama and the
Kashmir Krama. Kashmir occupied remaining eighteen come under a prominent place
in the field of Tantrik worship during the past Mahabharata period. Its scholars
and savants were treated as authorities for the Kashmir Krama in the regions
North-West of the Vindhyas. As in the parts of India there were votaries of
Vishnu, Ganesh an Surya, so were they in Kashmir also but Shiva Shakti worship
had a place of its own in Kashmir.
It was in Kashmir that the Adi -
Shankaracharya realized the full impact of Shakti. There is controversy with
regard to the age of Adi Shankaracharya. According to one view he was born in
740 A.D. while according to the Kanchi Math history the year of his birth is
said to be 509 B.C. The present Shankaracharya of Kanchi Math, Jagatguru Shrimad
Chandra Shekhar Sarswati Maharaj, the greatest savant of present day India, is
sixty eighth in line of spiritual descent from the Adi Shankaracharya. The
Kanchi records give the chronological table in the of all the Shankaracharyas of
Kanchi Math together with names and dates of assumption of office by them. In
spiritual descent, on an average there are usually three holders of the office
in a century. Very often a holder of office takes a boy disciple in the later
period of his life and the successor if he does not meet a premature death may
continue in the seat of his office for a long span of years. Among the
Shankaracharyas of Kanchi Math as many as 11 Shankaracharyas including the
present one have held their office for more than 60 years. Out of them the
second Shankaracharya presided over the Math for 70 years, the fourth for 96
years, the sixth for 81 years, the eighth for 83 years and the fifty - third for
81 years. The present Shankaracharya has been holding his office for 68 years.
The Adi Shankaracharya dividing
the country into four zones founded four Maths; Jyotir Math at Joshimath near
Almora district of U. P. ; Govardhan at Puri (Orissa), Sharda at Dwarka (Saurashtra)
and Shringeri in south. After installing his disciples in each of these Maths,
who were also called Shankaracharyas, the Adi Shankaracharya retired to Kanchi
where also be had a Math, the fifth, and another disciple of the Adi
Shankaracharya became the Shankaracharya of the Kanchi Math. The Kanchi
parampara also finds support from the history of the Gaudapadacharya Math or
Kaivalya Math now called the Kavale Math of Saraswat Brahmins. It was founded by
Swami Vivarnananda at the same time when the Adi Shankaracharya founded his
Maths. Sri Gaudapadacharya's disciple was Shri Govindacharya. The latter had two
disciples the Adi Shankaracharya and Swami Vivarnananda. The headquarter of the
Kavale Math is near the city of Goa and the present head of the Math Shrimad
Sacchidananda Sarasawati Maharaj is seventy-sixth in line of descent from Swami
Vivarnananda. There is no reason to doubt the authenticity of Kanchi records
which give the date of Shri Shankar's (Adi Shankaracharyas) birth as 2593th year
of Kaliyuga era which corresponds to 509 B. C. The aforesaid date of Shri
Shankar's birth is also supported by some Jain compositions and the "Brihat
Shankara Vijaya" by Shri Chitsukhacharya who was also a disciple of the Adi
Shankaracharya. It would appeal that the Maths founded by the Adi Shankaracharya
and the Kavale Math are the oldest monastic institutions in India. All the
aforesaid Shri Shankara Maths have Shri Yantras installed therein and the
worship of Shri Yantras is performed according to Tantrik rites as prescribed by
the Parashuram Kalpa Sutra.
Kashmir was the centre of
Tantrik as also of Sanskrit learning when the Adi Shankaracharya visited
Kashmir. Perhaps the Sanskrit University in Kashmir in those days was located
near the shrine of Shardaji near the banks of Krishna Ganga-now in Pakistan
occupied Kashmir. The Saraswat Brahmins who left their homeland more than two
thousand years back and settled in Saurashtra, Maharashtra, Gujrat, Karnataka
and Kerala, have a tradition that their homeland was Kashmir. They hold Sharda
Devi in great veneration. I visited the Sharda Devi shrine alongwith my late
grand father-in-law, Dr. Balkrishna Kaul in the summer of 1935. My late wife
Girija and members of Dr. Kaul's family were in the party. The shrine is located
on a hill top like the shrine of Jwalaji. The steps leading to the top of the
hill appeared to be twisted as if they had been battered by an earthquake. The
question as to when did the University township cease to exist requires
investigation. It was in the Shrine itself that I first met the late Pandit
Shridhar joo Dhar who had become my guide and philosopher in the closing years
of his life. He was the greatest living Shakta Sadhak of his days and his death
last year was a great loss to the Tantrik World.
Swami Vivarnananda, founder of
the Kavale Math was a Saraswat and very likely a Kashmiri Brahmin. Even in Adi
Shankaracharya's times the sway of Kashmir School had extended to far south. The
famous temple of Kanya Kumari is a gift of Kashmir Krama to the country. The
rites performed in the temple are in accordance with the Kashmir Krama.
Hindusim, as it emerged after
the carnage of the Mahabharata war, has the fullest impress of Tantras on it. In
the words of Shri Aurobindo modern Hinduism is ninety percent Tantrik. It
influenced Jainism and Buddhism also and there are Jain and Buddhist Tantras.
Gautam Buddha denounced the Vedas and also the Tantriks. There are any number of
Buddhist Jataks in which the Tantrik Brahmins are badly criticised. It appears
that by that time some degenerate Tantrik Cults had come up and so-called
Tantrik widely practised black magic and indulged in drinking, womanising and
senseless animal killing. That led to a reaction in society and genuine Tantrik
Sadheks retired in their shells. What happened then is happening even now. We
hear of miracle performing Tantriks whose services are openly offered to those
who pay handsomely. One also heals of weird rites performed by Tantriks or
persons belonging to so-called Tantrik cults where sex plays a part and all
sorts of immoral acts are performed. Such cults are not peculiar to India. They
are also to be found to a larger extent, in Europe, America and other countries
of the world. There are groups and societies in Europe and America which worship
Satan calling him by his old name Lucifer and in their rites every accepted norm
of decent behaviour is flouted. The truth of Shastrik way has to be judged by
what it lays down and not by what is twisted or degenerate aspects show. Sir
John Woodroffe says:
"I refer to the well known
division of worshippers into Dakshinachara and Vamachara. The secret sadhana of
some of the latter (which I may say here is not usually understood) has acquired
such notoriety that to most the term "the Tantra" connotes this
particular worship and its abuses and nothing more. I may here also observe that
it is a mistake to suppose that aberrations in doctrine and practice are
peculiar to India. The west has produced many a doctrine, and practice of an
antinomian character. Some of the most extreme are to be found there. Moreover,
though this does not seem to be recognised, it is never-the-less the fact that
these Kauli rites are philosophically based on monistic doctrine. Now, it is
this Kaula doctrine and practice, limited probably, as being a secret doctrine,
at all time to comparatively few, which has come to be known as " the
Tantra Nothing is more incorrect.............
Here I shortly deal with the
significance of the Tantra Shastra which is of course also misunderstood, being
generally spoken of as a jumble of "black magic," and "erotic
mysticism," cemented together by a ritual which is "meaningless
mummery". A large number of persons who talk in this strain have never had
a Tantra in their hands, and such orientalists, as have read some portions of
these scriptures, have not generally understood them, otherwise they would not
have found them meaningless. They may be bad or they may be good, but they have
a meaning. Men are not such fools as to believe for ages what is meaningless.
The use of this term implies that their contents had no meaning to them. Very
likely; for to define as they do, Mantra as "mystical words", Mudra as
"mystical gesture" and yantra as "mystical diagrams", does
not imply knowledge. These erroneous notions as to the nature of Agama are of
course due to the mistaken identification of the whole body of the scripture
with one section of it. (Viz. Vamachara doctrine and practice). Further this
last is only known through the abuses to which its dangerous practices, as
carried out by inferior persons have given rise. It is stated in the Shastra
itself in which they are prescribed that the path is full of difficulty and
peril and he who fails upon it goes to hell. That there are those who have so
failed, and others who have been guilty of evil magic, is well known."
The Sadhana of Shiva - Shakti in
Tantra Shastra is graded. Initially it has two forms viz general and special.
The general form is open to all. People read from scriptures, recite stotras, go
to shrines and ship the deity according to Panchopachar rites or shodashopachar
rites. In Kashmir the people recite the stotras of Ragnya, Sharika, Jwala, Bala,
Shiva, Ganesh, Vishnu, etc. and offer worship at their shrines. They perform the
rites peculiar to the Kashmiri Brahmans, such as Herat during Shivaratri, Pan
for Lakshmi and worship Vatuk Bhairava on Khecher Mavas day besides performing
the rites and rituals which are common among the Hindus. All these come within
the category of general worship. Only after initiation in the mantra of any
Devata or Devi the form of worship becomes different and acquires a special
character. The aforesaid grades are described as follows in Kul Pradeep:
<verses>
They are Vedachar,
Vaishnavachar, Shaivachar Dakshinachar, Vamachar, Siddhantachar, and Kaulachar
in order of their graded superiority, Kaulachar being superior to all. There is
nothing above Kaulachar. It is most secret and subtle and this only is the
Sakshat Param tatwa which travelling from ear to ear remains always".
The aforesaid first four are
paths of Pravrithi and the rest from Vamachar onwards lead to Nivritti. In the
first four the practitioner is in Pashubhava and from Vamachar and onwards he
assumes the Veerabhava. In Vamachar worship the five makars are used viz meat,
wine, fish, fried cereal and communion between man and woman. It is the use of
the five makars by the shakta sadhaks which has been subjected to criticism
since long as has been mentioned by Sir John Woodraffe. The shakta practioners
have never shown any anxiety to meet ignorant criticism because they were always
anxious to keep their highly powerful mode of worship a close secret. The
veerabhava is not meant for all. It is Raj Vidya, princely knowledge Guhya
Vidya, secret knowledge which is meant only for the elite, the select few. It is
full of dangers and pitfalls and even Yogins cannot easily be admitted into its
secrets.
Only that person is admitted in
Veerachar who has sufficient self-discipline and control over his body and
senses and who would not be tempted to misuse his powers. Such misuse leads to
the cultivation of Siddhis and black magic and hinders spiritual progress. The
person who is qualified to handle this highly potent sadhana should be free from
avarice and blind to the wealth of others, impotent for women other than his
wife, dumb in talking ill of others, and should have mastery over his senses.
Only such a person can safely handle the stages of Sadhna from Vamachar to
Kaulachar.
There is nothing obnoxious in
meat, fish and fried cereal. The Kashmiri Brahmins freely use meat and fish in
'Herat Puja', on the occasion of 'Khechir Mawas' and these are used during the
Navaratras by those whose Kul Devis are Sharika and Jwala and in Shradhapuja for
a departed person. Most of Kashmiri Brahmins are non-vegetarians and meat and
fish form part of their diet. Wine taken in measured dose is tonic and medicine
but its misuse is disastrous. There are strict injunctions of the shastra that
wine should be taken only in the course of sadhana and in a restricted manner.
The practice of shakta sadhana in its upper reaches awakens the dormant centres
of energy in the body and raises ferment in it. During such phases the use of
wine, meat, and fish becomes necessary to suitain the body lest it should break.
Further, the Tantrik practioner uses the very things which rouse sense and
passion in order to subdue them. Poison is used to eliminate the poison itself.
The Kularnava Tantra says:
<verses>
As for the last M, it symbolises
the cosmic process of creation. It is the adaptation of the sansl~ar of the
Hindus - the Garbhadana Sanskar. The Mahanirvana Tantra makes the emphatic
assertion that in the "fifth tatwa" the participant should only be a
Swakiya, the lawfully wedded wife and no one else;
<verses>
0 Consort of Shiva ! in this
strong Kaliyuga which has an enervating effect, for the remaining fifth tatwa
viz 'maithun', only the lawfully wedded wife should be made the participant as
she alone is free from all blemishes. [ Mahanirvana Tantra Chap. VI- 14 ]
The Veerachar Sadhana and the
subsequent stages leading to Kaulachar can only be safely performed by a
householder. In such worship it is necessary for the practitioner to have a
female partner as his shakti and the wife is the safest shakti. Solo efforts in
shakti worship are always fraught with risks and dangers. Wife as shakti acts as
a shock absorber and safety valve and provides a shield against adverse currents
which often come in his way besides helping him in his sadhana. But Shakti
worship with another woman who is not the wife - a parkiya -is Fraucht with
great dangers which may unhinge the practioner's mind or may even prove fatal.
It may be frankly stated that the worship involving sex union with wife is
always in privacy of the two and any suggestion that such acts are indulged in
groups is patently absurd and needs no comment.
Lastly, the sadhak arrives in
the Divya Bhava where he no longer needs the use of meat, wine etc. and the
crutches of makars are discarded. Non-vegetarian diet is no longer necessary.
Sex union with his shakti assumes the shape of cosmic union that takes place
when the Kundalini rising from her seat in the base of the spine, the four
petalled Muladhar Chakra, goes up piercing the upper Chakras viz Swadhishthan
Manipur, Anahat, Visshudba, and Agya and meets her Lord in the uppermost
thousand-petalled chakra, the Sahsrar. The union of the two symbolises the
setting into motion the creative process in the universe. The practitioner, and
such exalted sadhaks are few, reaches the top of the Everest in his spiritual
climb and becomes a Kaul, an Aghoreshwara. He has burnt all his Karmic bonds,
there is no death or rebirth for him, neither Mangal or Amangal, nor pain or
pleasure. While he is in his mortal body he is a Shiva and when he leaves his
body he remains on the astral plane as long as he likes having become a sun of a
solar system of his own. He carries on his wishes from the astral plane through
the medium of other persons. The shastra is full of praise for Kaulas. The line
of such Kaulas has continued unbroken in Kashmir since times immemorial and they
along with the few advanced Sadhaks have been directing the Kashmir Krama while
the people in general carried on their general Kulapuja.
The Kashmiri Brahmans who are
the only remnant left of the Hindus of Kashmir, the rest having been converted
to Islam, have shown an amazing tenacity in sticking to their Vedic and Tantrik
heritage. Their shakha is Kath and their veda is Krishna Yajurveda. Their grihya
sutra which controls their rituals is Laughakshi, which certainly goes back
prior to the Mahabharata era. I doubt if there is any other section of the Hindu
community in India which has kept up its Vedic and Tantrik heritage in all its
purity unaffected by the tidal waves of Jainism, Buddhism and the later equally
strong Vaishnava movements led by Rarnanujacharya, Ramanand, Madhavacharya,
Vallabhacharya and Nimbarkacharya. Some individuals might have been influenced
by the teaching of the aforesaid Acharyas but the community as a whole firmly
stuck to its old moorings.
Buddhism made a great impact in
Kashmir during and after the period of Emperor Ashok but he last ditchers among
the community stuck to their guns and remained steadfast.
For nearly 300 years beginning
from the IX century A. D. till the commencement of XI century A.D. Kashmir
remained under the spell of the brilliant sages and savants who propounded the
Kashmir Shaivism and Trika Shastra. Their unbroken chain beginning from Shri
Kantha and followed by Vasugupta, Kallata, Somananda, Utpalacharya, Lakshmana,
Abhinavagupta, Khsemraja and Yogaraja raised Kashmir Shaivism to sublime
heights. After the Adi Shankaracharya, no other sage or savant occupies such a
dazzling place of honour among the Hindus than Mahamaheshwara Abhinavagupta.
Sir John Woodroffe says:
"Unsurpassed for its
profound analysis is the account of the thirty - six Tattwas or stages of cosmic
Evolution (accepted by both Shaivas and Shaktas) given by the Northern Shaiva
School of the Agama.........."
"In fact Shakta literature
is in parts unintelligible to one unacquainted with some features of what is
called the Shaiva Darshan."
The Trika Shastra also lays down
the practical forms of Sadhana. While the culminating points in Shakta Sadhana
and the Trika Sadhana are the same but the starting points are different. For a
Shakta Kashmiri Brahmin his form of Sadhana is well chalked out in the
Prescribed forms of worship of Ragnya, Sharika, Jwala etc. but the Sadhana
mentioned in the Malinivijayottara Tantra (which lays down the Trika Sadhana) is
different though there are common points. I have considered the aspects of
Shaiva Darshana and Trika Shastra as also the forms of Shiva-Shakti worship at
some length in my Review of the Biography of Bhagwan Gopi Nath ji of Kashmir and
in a letter which I wrote to Swami Lakshman ji Maharaj, the famous Shaiva
philosopher of Kashmir, which have been published in the form of a booklet.
I have tried to avoid repetition
of what I have said in my "Review" and in my letter to Swamiji. But
the teachings of Shaiva Darshan and Trika have raised a conflict among the
Kashmiris whether, particularly in their special Sadhana, they should follow
their old traditional path or giving up their Ragnya, Sharika and jwala, should
follow the path as prescribed by Trika Shastra. Swami Lakshman ji Maharaj has
yet to answer this question.
The advent of Islam in Kashmir
wiped off the Hindus leaving only 11 families, some say 9. It is a tribute to
their amazing tenacity that the few who remained blossomed again. They had
occasional periods of respite particularly in the reign of Zainul-Ab-din and in
phases after the Moghul conquest of Kashmir. Their plight worsened again during
the Pathan rule and then improved again during the Sikh and Dogra regimes. Now
again they are in low waters. Their economic condition is bad and they are
facing unemployment. The younger generation, though highly educated has lost its
religious moorings and has become rudderless. Kashmir is no longer the famous
seat of Sanskrit learning as it was in former days. There is no Sanskrit
Department in the Kashmir University. Members of our priestly class who are our
traditional teachers and custodian of our religious and cultural heritage are
leaving their vocations and their children are taking to other professions. The
perennial source of ancient Kashmir-Krama seem to have dried up. This has caused
grave concern to shaktas all over India. The weakening of the Kashmir Krama is
creating a great imbalance in Shakta worship. Sometimes back the matter was
considered by the executive committee of the All-India Shakta sammelan and it
expressed its serious anxiety over the prevailing conditions in Kashmir, and I
as the president of the Sammelan was asked to go to Kashmir and assess the
situation. I have been to Kashmir several times during the last five years and
even though what I have seen has pained me but I have not lost hope. Things
could not be worse than what they were when we were only 9 or 11 families left.
Then we rose as if from ashes. I have not met initiates in our Kaul Sadhana
besides a very few. But there are quite a number of eminent Sanskrit scholars.
It is indeed a matter of regret that nearly 4000 Sanskrit manuscripts pertaining
or Shakta worship and Shaiva Darshan were lying uncatalogued in some almirahs of
the Research Department and Archives in Srinagar. I wrote about them to the
Government of Jammu & Kashmir as also to the Union Government. Now they have
been removed and handed over to the Kashmir University, which does not have a
Sanskrit department. I do not know how the Kashmir University proposes to deal
with them.
Tantricism and Kaulachar
in Kashmir, having a hoary past, has gone on, facing ups and downs and will
continue to go on. A letter which I received from late Pandit Shridhar Joo Dhar
is instructive and interesting. It runs thus AUM
S. D. Dhar
Retired Conservator of Forests.
My dear Shriman Shivaji,
Many thanks for your so
affectionate letter of 27th July. Your contact with such an elevated Shakta
Yogin as your Gurudev Maharaj could not be accidental. Apparently you have been
carrying the seed of your spiritual Sadhana from many past births and you seem
destined to be a torchbearer of our highly inspiring ancient Kaulachar. You are
now in the hands of Bhagwan Gopi Nath ji Maharaj who will raise you to the
highest pinnacle of self-realisation in due course. Our Kaulachar has received a
great set-back in Kashmir. There is however a redeeming feature. I have come
across some young aspirants who are collecting all available connected
literature and conducting research in its sadhana. Their efforts will not go in
vain and our spiritual resurgence is only a matter of time.
The "Trika" philosophy
has its own charm. I have not studied it critically but I feel that it appeals
more to the present day youth as it does not involve much of practical kriya
such as Yantra Puja and all its usual rites and is mainly based on
"Vimarsha". I am however confident that it will not eclipse our
"Kaulachar" which has so far survived the onslaughts of Buddhism,
Shaivism and Islam.
It is a well - established fact
that a tree grows best in its own habitat i.e. natural environment. So it is
with every human being. One's "Jati-dharma" is its natural environment
and so long as he remains within fold and limits he is sure to flourish well.
This is what our Avtars have stressed by example and precept. Our effort should
naturally be to uphold our jati-dharma on which one's Kul-dharma is essentially
based. It is very laudable that you are so determined to uphold our 'Kul-dharma'
and I pray that your efforts may succeed in the renaissance of your
"kaulachar". OM TAT SAT.
I am well. I trust this finds
you in the best of health along with your wife and others.
With all best wishes,
Yours Own
S. D. Dhar.
There are followers of
"Kashmir Krama" all over India and some of them are persons of high
standing in spiritual field. But the "kashmir Krama" has to be
directed by savants who spring from the soil of Kashmir which is the natural
habitat of the Directors of the "Kashmir Krama." Our Kula
Devis--Rajnya, Sharika, Jwala and Bala Tripurasundari will soon fill the void.
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