Chakrapuja Worship with the panchatattva generally takes place in an assembly called a chakra, which is composed of men (sadhaka) and women (shakti), or Bhairava and Bhairavi. The worshipper... Read more

Purashcharana This form of sadhana consists in the repetition (after certain preparations and under certain conditions) of a mantra a large number of times. The ritual deals with the time an... Read more

The Gayatri Mantra The Gayatri is the most sacred of all Vaidik mantras. In it the Veda lies embodied as in its seed. It runs: Ong bhur bhuvah svah: tat savitur varenyam bhargo devasya dhima... Read more

Mantra Shabda, or sound, which is of the Brahman, and as such the cause of the Brahmanda, is the manifestation of the Chit-shakti Itself. The Vishva-sara Tantra says that tha Para-brahman, a... Read more

Abhisheka Abhisheka is of eight kinds, and the forms of abhisheka which follow the first at later stages, mark greater and greater degrees of initiation. The first shaktabhisheka is given on... Read more

The Three Temperaments The Tantras speak of three temperaments, dispositions, characters (bhava), or classes of men – namely, the pashu-bhava (animal), vira-bhava (heroic), and divya-bhava (... Read more

The Human Body The human body is Brahma-para, the city of Brahman. Ishvara Himself enters into the universe as jiva. Wherefore the maha-vakya “That thou art” means that the ego (... Read more

The Worlds (Loka) This earth, which is the object of the physical senses and of the knowledge based thereon, is but one of fourteen worlds or regions placed “above” and “be... Read more

INTRODUCTION Mount Kailasa The scene of the revelation of this Tantra is laid in Himalaya, the “Abode of Snow,” a holy land weighted with the traditions of the Aryan race. Here i... Read more

By Sir John Woodroffe (Arthur Avalon) Introduction and Preface PREFACE THE Indian Tantras, which are numerous, constitute the Scripture (Shastra) of the Kaliyuga, and as such are the volumin... Read more