Comparative and Critical Study of Mantrashastra

Author(s): Mohanlal Bhagwandas Jhaveri, K V Abhayankar
Publisher: Sarabhai Manilal Nawab

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INTRODUCTION
The work here published is a Jain Tantra entitled "Sri Bhairava Padmàvatikalpa.” The subject treated therein is Mantrika worship of goddess Sri Padmavati, who is a deity attendant on Sri Parsvanatha the 23rd of the 24 Tirthankaras worshipped by the Jains.
This brings us to the subject of Mantra' or magic which is common to all early religions. We shall quote here what Sir John Woodroffe says on the subject of magic and magical symbolism in his work "Shakti and Shakta."
MAGIC AND MAGICAL SYMBOLISM "It has been practised, though condemned, in Christian Europe. ... It has been well observed that there are two significant facts about occultism namely its catholicity (it is to be found in all lands and ages) and its amazing power of recuperation after it has been supposed to have been disproved as mere superstition."
Magic was dismissed by practically all educated men as something too evidently foolish and nonsensical to deserve attention or inquiry. In recent years the position has been reversed in the West, and complaint is again made of the revival of witchcraft and occultism today. The reason of this is that modern scientific investigation has established the objectivity of leading phenomena of occultism. For instance, about a century or so ago it was still believed that a person could inflict physical injury on another by means other than physical. And this is what is to be found in that portion of the Tantra Shastras which deal with the Shatkarma. Witches confessed to having committed this crime and were punished therefor. At a later date, the witchcraft trials were held to be evidence of the superstition both of the accused and accusers. Yet psychology now allows the principle that Thought is itself a Force, and that by Thought alone, properly directed, without any known physical mears the thought of another, and hence his whole condition, can be affected. By physical means I mean direct physical means, for occultism may, and does avail, itself of physical means to stimulate and intensify the force and direction of thought. This is the meaning of the magic rituals which have been so much ridiculed. Why is black the colour of Marana Karma? Because that colour incites and maintains and emphasizes the will to kill. So Hypnotism (Vashikaranam) as an instance of the exercise of the Power of Thought makes use of gestures, rotatory instruments and so forth." "The Magician having a firm faith in his (or her) power (for faith in occultism as in religion is essential) surrounds himself with every incentive to concentrated, prolonged and (in malevolent magic), malevolent thought. A figure or other object such