From the study of history, it is known that the Rgveda was composed outside India, mainly in Central Asia and Russia. The Yajurveda was written mostly outside India; only a portion was written in India. And the Atharvaveda was composed in Afghanistan and India. Those three Vedas – Rk, Yaju and Atharva – long afterwards, say about 3500 years ago – were edited and divided into different branches by M were named Rgveda, the intermediate portions were called Yajurveda, and the remaining portions were named Atharvaveda. The last-named Veda was named after the great sage, Atharva, the first author - – “ ”
hen the age of the Rgveda was coming to an end and the Yajurvedic Age was about to begin. The people had not yet invented script. In the days of Shiva, the serious disadvantage was that, although the people were acquainted with the science of phonetics, th that the Vedas and Tantra exercised their mutual influence over each other, through the invention of script, only at the time of the Atharvaveda.
The external form that was given to Tantra by Shiva in His time underwent a slight transformation in subsequent periods. You may raise the question – well, when the goal is the same, when the path is also the same, then why this transformation? The only cause was: there was no written book in those days. All the compositions – both Vedas and Tantras – were handed down orally from one generation to another. As a result, there arose a difference of opinion among the teachers themselves – one teacher or muni [seer] would say one thing, and another muni would say something else.
Now although letters were invented during the age of the Atharvaveda, the Vedas could not be written down due to – M ‟ – -darbhi, etc., tried for the first time to get the Vedas written down in letters, but they were not courageous enough to do so because it was forbidden. (The very name of Vaedarbhi suggests that he was a resident of Vidarbha, and in India, particularly in the Vidarbha area, the Atharvaveda was partly written. Hence it is not proper to assume that the entire Veda was written outside India.) The Vedas were called shruti [ear] because they had to be mastered only by hearing: letters had not yet been invented. But once the script was invented, what could be the reason for not writing down the Vedas? The problem was the superstition, and the scholars did not dare to defy the superstition.
- - influence of both Tantra and th
- Buddhism - M - great obstacle on the way. At this time there was a mutual exchange of ideas among Jain Tantra, Buddhist Tantra and Post-Shiva Tantra.
When some ideas or schools of thought exist side-by-side for a long period in a certain country, there is bound to be some sort of mutual exchange, and the result o Piirabhakti combined together to give rise to a new concept of Satyapiira in Bengal. Its effect was not bad.
Similarly, those three schools of Tantra – the Jain, the Buddhist, and the Shivottara [Post-Shiva] – began to come to an understanding. All three schools broadly accepted the division of Tantra into sixty-four main branches, considering its various expressions. The only difference that persisted was the external one of differences in terminology: each school retained certain specific terms of its own. But they all generally accepted that human life had sixty-four types of expression, and hence there were sixty-four branches of Tantra. In their internal essence, they were not very far from one another; only certain terms - something external – were used differently by different Tant M Principle] was called Jinaratna or Jinaraana in Jain Tantra –
– whereas in Shiva Tantra, rather in Post-Shiva Tantra, the word Shiva was used, and Buddhist Tantra used the various epithets of Buddha. Thus the sixty-four Tantras were running parallel. For each of these sixty-four Tantras, one particular yoginii-tattva was accepted as the presiding deity (a particular controlling deity of a particular branch of Tantra was called a yoginii). All three Tantras accepted this arrangement. And all three, in order to maintain their popularity, used the name of Shiva – they declared that each Tantric deity was the wife of Shiva. Those - - - tra, sixty-four deities were accepted. Shivottara Tantra followed the same practice.
Interestingly, you will notice how at this stage a silent synthesis was taking place among the different schools. Some of the Jain deities were recognized by Buddhist Tant ‟
Tantra). Shivottara Tantra gave similar recognition to deities of other Tantras. Conversely, some of the deities of Shivottara Tantra were recognized and accepted by Jain and Buddhist Tantra. All this proves that the synthesis of these three systems of Tantra charted a new path. This was all made possible by the invention of script. As long as script was unknown or unused, they mainta became recognized by Shivottara Tantra – she was supposed to be a wif these deities are all of comparatively recent origin – about two thousand years old – arising after the invention of script.) This Ambik (1) -Kalna, after the goddess, and is now called Enbo-Kalna.
Sarasvatii. The goddess
ra in somewhat changed form. This form underwent slightly more transformation during the middle of the Pathan Age, whose influence still lingers in a minor form.
Now in the process of synthesis among Jain, Buddhist and Shivottara Tantra, there evolved a ne M of ten Tantric deities, some from Jain Tantra, some from Buddhist - interesting to see how the concept of each deity evolved – how an idea dawned upon the human mind and gradually expanded in the path of synthesis until finally its basic defects demolished its own fundaments.
M M Sometimes their biija mantras [acoustic roots] are the same, sometimes different. For your proper understanding, let me give you a brief idea about these ten deities.
M
- - - - Dh H M M M simultaneously she was acce H ‟ rem H – – – – this deity – ‟ She is a Tantric deity belonging to subsequent ages.
– “ ” – - the wife of Shiva either.
-Sh -
ss Sarasvatii.
[acoustic roots]. At the time of Shiva, there was no use of biija mantra in Shiva Tantra. The people loved Shiva so intimately that they did H energy. This biija - - - Buddhist, Jain and Post-Shiva Tantric deities were declared to be the wives of Shiva, otherwise the society would not recogniz - “ ” “ ”
“ ” When an image was made of her, she would be painted jet-black; her left leg would be placed forward, her right leg behind; an grounds outside the villages. These days, these deities are called by various names: for instance, “ ” - Shiva Tantra who are now accepted in the Puranic Cult are call “ ”
placed in front. They are worshipped mainly at home, or inside the villages. The idea is: we may accept the deities of Buddhist Tant historically speaking, they had no relationship with Shiva, because all these deities originated at least five thousand years later than Shiva. Not only that, no human structure can have four hands. They have been selected out of the sixty-four schools of Tantra. Basically, they are not human structures.
“ - ” M “ ” – “ wife of Shiva, one whos ” - M M – Y Krishnanagar. It is compar ‟ ives of Shiva, who lived seven thousand years ago?
carried out in both Krishnanagar and Chandannagar with great pomp and pageantry. An inhabitant of Chandannag – – M Chandan
Anyway, these deities, which originated in the days of medieval Jain Tantra, Buddhist Tantra and Post-Shiva Tantra, were not the wives of Shiva. Some had four hands, some had eight hands, etc., so they were not representations of human beings.
30 May 1982, Calcutta
Footnotes
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