These consist of two groups of texts, Vaikhanasa Samhitas and Pancharatra Samhitas, which together include more than 200 titles, though the official number is 108. Vaikhanasa Samhitas (collections of the Vaishnava school of Vaikhanasas, who were originally ascetics) seem to have been the original temple manuals for the Bhagavatas (devotees of Vishnu), which by the 11th or 12th century had become supplanted by the Pancharatra Samhitas (collections of the Vaishnava school of Pancharatra—“System of the Five Nights”). The philosophy of the latter is largely a matter of cosmogony, greatly inspired by both Sankhya and Yoga teachings. The Lakshmi Tantra declares that surrender to the goddess Lakshmi as well as to Vishnu is necessary for salvation. The emotional and spiritual surrender is marked with a ritual in which the devotee transfers the burden of his salvation to Lakshmi and Vishnu, is given a new name, and is branded with the marks of Vishnu on his upper arms.
Apart from their theology, in which for the first time the notion of shakti is introduced into Vaishnavism, the Vaishnava Samhitas are important because they give an exposition of Vaishnava temple and home rituals. The texts also maintain that the supreme god Krishna Vasudeva manifests himself in four coequal “divisions” (vyuhas), representing levels of creation. These gods emanate as supramundane patrons before the primary creation is started by their shakti. In the primary creation, Shakti manifests herself as a female creative force. Practically, stress is laid on a type of incarnation—“iconic incarnation”—in which the divine being is actually present in a stone or statue, which thus becomes an icon; therefore, the icon can be worshipped as God himself. Shakta Tantras
Shaktism in one form or another has been known since Bana (c. 650) wrote his Hundred Couplets to Chandi (Chandi-shataka) and Bhavabhuti his play Malati Madhava (early 8th century), about the adventures of the hero Madhava and his beloved Malati; both of these works refer to Tantric practices. There is no traditional authoritative list of Tantric texts, but many are extant.
Shaktism is an amalgam of Shaivism and mother goddess traditions. The Shaiva notion that Shiva’s shakti, not Shiva himself, is active is taken to the extreme—without Shakti, Shiva is a corpse, and Shakti is the creator as well as creation. Another important notion (partly derived from Yoga philosophy) is that throughout the body there are subtle canals that carry esoteric powers connected with the spinal cord, at the bottom of which the Goddess is coiled around the lingam as kundalini (“coil”); she can be made to rise through the body to the top, whereupon release from samsara takes place. Important among the Shakta Tantras are the Kularnava-tantra (“Ocean of Tantrism”), which gives details on the “left-handed” cult forms of ritual copulation (i.e., those that are not part of traditional Hindu practice); the Kulachudamani (“Crown Jewel of Tantrism”), which discusses ritual; and the Sharadatilaka (“Beauty Mark of the Goddess Sharada”) of Lakshmanadeshika (11th century), which focuses almost exclusively on magic. The goddess cults eventually centred around Durga, the consort of Shiva, in her fiercer aspect. Nature of Tantric tradition
Tantrism, which appears in both Buddhism and Hinduism, influenced many religious trends and movements from the 5th century ce, but some of it was meant for esoteric circles. Claiming to show in times of religious decadence a new way to the highest goal, Tantrism bases itself upon mystic speculations concerning divine creative energy (shakti). Tantrism is thought to be a method of conquering transcendent powers and realizing oneness with the highest principle by Yogic and ritual means—in part magical and orgiastic—which are also supposed to achieve other supranormal goals.
Tantrists take for granted that all factors in the macrocosm and the microcosm are closely connected. The adept (sadhaka) has to perform the relevant rites on his own body, transforming its normal, chaotic state into a “cosmos.” The macrocosm is conceived as a complex system of powers that by means of ritual-psychological techniques can be activated and organized within the individual body of the adept. Contrary to the ascetic emancipation methods of other groups, the Tantrists emphasize the activation and sublimation of the possibilities of their own body, without which salvation is believed to be beyond reach.
The Tantrists of the Vamchara (“the left-hand practice”) sought to intensify their own sense impressions by making enjoyment, or sensuality (bhoga), their principal concern: the adept pursued his spiritual objective through his natural functions and inclinations, which were sublimated and then gratified in rituals in order to disintegrate his normal personality. This implies that cultic life was largely interiorized and that the whole world was given a new and esoteric meaning.
The esoteric part of Tantric worship (puja) is complicated and in many respects different from the ceremonies that it has influenced. Tantric devotees interpret their texts by means of an ambiguous “twilight” language and distinguish between the texts’ “external” and their esoteric meaning. Tantrists describe states of consciousness with erotic terminology and describe physiological processes with cosmological terminology. They proceed from “external” to “internal” worship and adore the Goddess mentally, offering their hearts as her throne and their self-renunciation as “flowers.”
According to Tantrism, concentration is intended to evoke an internal image of the deity and to resuscitate the powers inherent in it so that the symbol changes into mental experience. This “symbolic ambiguity” is also much in evidence in the esoteric interpretation of ritual acts performed in connection with images, flowers, and other cult objects and is intended to bring about a transfiguration in the mind of the adept.
The mantras (sacred utterances, such as hum, hrim, and kleem) are believed to be indispensable means of entering into contact with the power they bear and of transcending mundane existence. Most potent are the monosyllabic, bija (“seed”) mantras, which constitute the main element of longer formulas and embody the essence of divine power as the eternal, indestructible prototypes from which anything phenomenal derives its existence. The cosmos itself owes its very structure and harmony to them. Also important is the introduction of spiritual qualities or divine power into the body (nyasa) by placing a finger on the relevant spot (accompanied by a mantra).
Tantrists who follow the “right-hand path” attach much value to the Yoga that developed under their influence and to bhakti and aspire to union with the Supreme by emotional-dynamic means. For them, Yoga is a self-abnegation in order to reach a state of ecstatic blissfulness in which the passive soul is lifted up by divine grace.
There is also a Tantric mantra-yoga (discipline through spells), which operates with formulas, and a hatha-yoga, (Sanskrit: “union of force”). Hatha-yoga incorporates normal Yogic practices such as abstinences; observances; bodily postures; breath control; withdrawal of the mind from external objects; concentration, contemplation, and identification with the aid of mudras" class="md-crosslink">mudras (i.e., ritual intertwining of fingers or gestures expressing the metaphysical aspect of the ceremonies or the transformation effected by the mantras); and muscular contractions. It also consists of internal purifications (e.g., washing out stomach and bowels), shaking the abdomen, and some forms of self-torture. The whole process is intended to “control the ‘gross body’ in order to free the ‘subtle body.’”