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Shri Mahavir Jain Aradhana Kendra
www.kobatirth.org
Acharya Shri Kailassagarsuri Gyanmandir
( xvi) them is quite scanty. Śākta deities like Gāyatri, Kubjikā and Candikā have only a limited local interest, being known and worshipped in particular localities. Among the other deities Šiva with his different aspects comes next as regards the quantity of literature dealt with in the volume. The literature on Visnu is poorly represented here while a comparatively small amount of literature appears to have ever been produced on the cults of Gaņeśa and Sürya (Sun), evidently owing to the small number of devotees worshipping them as tutelary deities.
Of the various tantric rites only the more important and popular ones are found to have been treated in independent works described here. The six black rites 1 and other magic rites for warding off evils and securing prosperity, of course, claim a large number of works, mainly small treatises and manuals. But few of them command respect and authority even among orthodox scholars of Tantras being generally spurious, anonymous and comparatively modern.
Though this is not the place to give an elaborate account of the various rituals of the Tantras with which the works under discussion are primarily concerned, it is necessary to give a rough and general idea of their characteristic features in order to enable the general reader to appreciate the nature of the contents of the works. A more detailed account of them is given in Arthur Avalon's Principles of Tantras (London, 1914, 1916, vols. I and II).
Dīksā or initiation which is the most essential preliminary of the Tantra form of worship invests one with the right to follow the injunctions of the Tantras. And every Hindu, irrespective of any caste or sex to which he or she belongs, may be and until very recently was initiated with proper ceremonies by the family preceptor or some of his superior near relatives into the worship of a particular deity. At the time of initiation one of the many mantras with which a deity is worshipped by different persons on different occasions is communicated to the worshipper who is to keep it concealed like the most valued treasure. The mantra and the deity, appropriate for the worshipper, are determined by family practices as well as personal peculiarities of the worshipper, who is to mutter the mantra and per
Magic rites for averting evil, subduing (a man or a woman), arresting any feeling or force, exciting enmity (between affectionate friends), overthrowing (an enemy) and causing destruction to somebody.
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