Comparative Study of Mantrashastra

Author(s): Mohanlal Bhagwandas Jhaveri
Publisher: Sarabhai Manilal Nawab

Page 72

TANTRIK SADHANA: AIM AND MEANS
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and the worship of Kāli must also therefore be a night performance. The principal male devatā of Tantras is Mahadeva who is admittedly a Vaidik God. Then again the serpent twining round devas or devīs is foreshadowed by Sarparājnī, the Serpent Queen, who is the same as Vāk. It will be interesting to the Jain readers here to compare the fact that Lord Pārs'vanātha has the king of serpents twining round his body and spreading his hood over him and Devi Padmăvati who is the Lord's attendant deity and the serpent-queen raising upon he hood the Lord in contemplation in the flood due to heavy rains, as also the fact that there are certain Mantras set forth in the present work relating to S'rīPadmavati for acquiring learning which means that her worship is as Vāk. The mysterious Kundalini is also supposed to confer knowledge ( Jnāna ) to the yogi worshipper. Kundalini is the serpentine force in the body which when roused passes through the six Chakras or the centres in the spinal cord and goes upto the lotus with a thousand petals namely Sahasrära and the highest bliss is obtained. Practically every Tantrik school has adopted this Kundali Yoga for realisation. There is thus identification of Sri Padmavati with Sarparājnī, Vāgdevi and Kundalini.
There is identification of Sri Padmāvati with various Tantrik Deities also. Sir John Woodroffe states at P. 93 'Shakti and Shakta': "It is said that the Hangsatära Mahavidya is the Sovereign Lady of Yoga whom Jainas call Padmavati, Shaktas Shakti, Bauddhas Tāră, China Sadhakas Mahogrā, and Kaulas Chakreshvari. Thc Kadis call her Kali, the Hadis Shrisundari and the Kādi-Hadis Hangsā.”
TANTRIK SADHANA *
AIM AND MEANS We have given a general indication of the nature and character of Tantras. We shall now describe only the most important features
* अन्यान्यशास्त्रेषु विनोदमात्रम् । न तेषु किश्चिद्भुवि द्दष्टमस्ति।
चिकित्सितज्योतिषतन्त्रवादाः । पदे पदे प्रत्ययमावहन्ति ।।