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Tantra : Ecstasy Through Rituals
Dr. Kalidas S. Joshi
Tantra is a subject which has recently hit new marks of popularity especially among those of the new generation who are interested in finding out rather unfamiliar and novel solutions to the human problems of our times. These problems arise mainly out of a need for a healthy adjustment between the human individual and the fast-changing world around him. This need has grown very acutely during the past two or three decades, giving rise to a revival of interest in ancient disciplines like Indian music, vegetarianism, herbal cures, meditation, and so on. Tantra appears to be the most recent addition to this list.
It is rather strange that this revival of interest in Tantra has come about at such a time when for the past one century or so this ancient discipline had gone almost totally out of practice, and it has been a very rare phenomenon to come across real tantrics who could actually demonstrate and not merely speak about the various achievements claimed by the tradition of Tantra.
Tantra is a subject which has been grossly misunderstood by its critics and largely abused by its followers in spite of being very highly spoken of by its exponents and very ardently practised by a few of them. Tantra is a kind of philosophy baving its own explanation of the world and of the human individual, the various problems facing him, and their possible solutions. It describes in great details a very concrete system of practices directed towards the goal of self-knowledge (atmajnyana), which is a state which every school of philosophy of ancient India placed before its adherents as the most cherished ideal of human life.
To decide whether or not the Tantra is capable of offering us solutions to some of the problems peculiar to the present age of science, we mnst first understand clearly the tradition of Tantra, its contents, and how far it may be possible to apply its principles in the modern setting, Meaning of the word “Tantra"
The Sanskrit word "Tantra" is derived from the root 'lana', meaniog 'to spread'. “Tra", the last letter in the word Tantra, means 'to save'. Thus Tantra means the scripture which saves us by spreading or expanding our knowledge. The word Tantra may also be derived from 'tatri' or 'tantri' which means 'to explain'. It seems that it was common in ancient Sanskri:
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