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पंचम खण्ड /२८२
Thus it may be said that although the tantric ideas have actually been extremely old, the tantric literature has developed over a long period extending upto quite recent times.
3rdada
Place of origin of the Tantra
Like many other questions pertaining to the ancient Aryans, such as, the origin of the Indian Aryans, the place of their original abode, the location of the mountain Meru, the time of the great poet Kalidasa, nothing is as yet conclusively established or known about the place where the Tantras might have originated. There are three different opinions held by scholars. Those who are brought up in a more traditional framework of mind have argued that the Tantra belonged to the whole of Aryavarta or Bharatavarsha, i.e., India of the ancient times since time immemorial, and that it was in vogue everywhere in India and governed all the religious and spiritual observances of the Indian people. According to another line of thinking the Tantra came to India from outside via the north-western frontier. Some scholars hold the view that Tantra did not originate in the western parts but rather in the north-eastern regions surrounding India. But the majority of thinkers seem to be more inclined to believe that the Tantra originated in Bengal and that from there it was spread to Nepal, Tibet and China after the invasion of that part of India by Islam. The destruction of the great Universities of Nalanda and Takshasbila in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries A. D. speeded up such a migration of Tantra.
It seems that Tantra came into prominence after Budhism established an upper hand over Brahmanism which was the official religion of the Vedas, around the beginning of the Christian era. It also seems likely that the Tantra originated among the culturally backward strata of society, which were more influenced by the inroads of Buddhism. The Tantra travelled northward and eastward outside India along with Budhistic religious ideas and practices. Following this, many Sanskrit treatises were translated into Chinese.
The opinion that the Tantra originated in Bengal is backed by the fact that most of the modern writings on Tantra have been in Bengali, and a vast majority of the followers of Tantra have been from the province of Bengal. This is especially true of the Shakta School of Tantra.
But wherever Tantra might have originated it did spread to the whole of India, and different deities gained prominence in different parts of the country. Thus Kali or Durga got settled in Bengal, Shiva in Kashmir, and Vishnu in the central and southern parts of India.
The Tantra is believed to be divine in origin. Thus many tantras are ascribed to Lord Shiva, and many others have Parvati, the consort of Shiva as the author. Similarly there are some tantras told by Lord Vishnu, some by
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