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the Lord of the vighnas, namely, Ganapati, and others by Dattatreya. Some tantra works are said to be written by the Natha siddhas like Matsyendranatha, Gorakshanatha, Minanatha, and others. Although the tantra writings are thus supposed to be divine in origin and they are in the form of a dialogue between the deity and some adept or disciple, they are not considered to be apaurusheya (without a known author) like the vedas.
Important Tantra works
The Tantra was, for many centuries, a very important part of Indian culture, and although it is not much in practice now, there was a time when tantrics were plentiful in all parts of India and the tantric rites were very extensively practised. The tantric literature in the Sanskrit language has been tremendous. Due to lack of use over the past century or so, many tantric works have now been lost completely. In the Nityashodashikarnava (I. 22.) it is said that there were millions of Tantra works. The Sammohana Tantra has mentioned five hundred different titles of Tantra works under various categories such as samhitas, yamalas, damaras, puranas and upa-puranas. Some of the important Tantra works available even now in printed or manuscript forms are : 1. Mabanirvanatantra, 2. Mundamalatantra, 3. Kubijakatantra, 4. Kularnavatantre, 5. Yoginitantra, 6. Kankalamalinitantra, 7. Brihannilatantra, 8. Varabitantra, 9. Gandharvatantra, 10. Hevajratantra, 11 Bhutadamara, 12. Kalivilasa, 13. Kamakeshara, 14. Prapanchasara, 15. Vishvasara, 16. Kalikulamrita, 17. Yoginihridaya, 18. Malinivijaya and, 19. Rudrayamala.
Among the more recent works on Tantra the Sharadatilaka, Mantramuktavali, Pranatoshini, Tantrasara, Shaktanandatarangini, Mantramahodadhi and Shritattvachintamani are well-known.
The tantra works were written somewhat in the form of an encyclopedia. They are a storehouse of Indian mysticism, occultism, and spiritualism. Sadhana or practice is the mainspring of the Tantra. Sadhana is what one actually does in practice and action, including purification of the body and mind, worship of gods and goddesses in the form of images and idols, offering flowers, fruits, cooked food, water for washing and drinking, perfume, incense, light, cloth, seat and so on to the deity, identification of the body and its parts with the deity, chanting of mantras, concentrating the mind, and so on. All these items of worship have been described in great details in the Tantra literature. Sadhana can not stand without a theoretical and philosophical foudation, and so, that foundation also finds an important place in the Tantra. It includes topics like how the universe came into existence, how it is sustained, what will happen to it in the end, what is the goal of human life, how to lead a pious life, what virtues one must cultivate, what vices one
आसमस्थ तम आत्मस्थ मन na 37 ad. आश्वस्त जना
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