Traverses on Less Trodden Path of Indian Philosophy and Religion

Author(s): Yajneshwar S Shastri
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad

Page 168

Tripura Tantra...
No doubt, method of worship abvocated by this Tantra in the priliminary stages involves the dualistic idea, i.e. worshipper and the worshipped. But this idea disappears in the end and spiritual experience gained through this worship, i.e, merging of the individual soui into the supreme energy or Brahman, supports the idea of oneness between the worshipper and the worshipped. After realisation of this unity, the aspiraut will ever be in the enjoyment of the bliss of Brahman. He becomes Jivanmukta here anp now, 108 Thereafter, he is not bound to perform either any Puja or Japa or dhyana. Every word, thought, act and movement of his will be a spontaneous offering to the highest deity. 109
We have seen that immorality is not the aim of the cult of Mother worship. The highest impersonal Brahman of the Upanisads is worshipped in its feminine form. This Tantra mentions in clear terms that only those who are well exercised in selfdiscipline are eligible to worship the highest Brahman in the form of Universal Mother. Sankara rightly pointed out that the worship of Universal Mother is impossible for those who have no control over the senses. 110 In Tantraraja Tantra we are told that worshipping this goddess, controlling the wild longings, one will fully know one's own true nature and conquer the proclivities wtih which one is born and thus become one with true, pure manifest and boundless becoming.111 This Tantra emphasises the worship of qualified Brahman in the form of Universal Mother which leads in effect to the merging of the individual soul (Jivatman) of the aspirant into the nondifferentiated Brahman. This Tantric path is an approach to Impersonal Brahman through saguna in essence. It points out the gate-way to approach the highest reality which is attainable only through spiritual devotion, mental purity, self control and the knowledge of one's own real nature, It aims at the gradual dissociation of the spirit from the shackles of matter and also from the limitations that are imposed on it by its association with the mind and the antaḥakarana. Matter exists in the form of five gross elements (earth, water, fire, air, and ether) which are formed out of the five Tanmatras (finer essence). Each element has its own peculiar quality (i.e. odour, taste, colour. touch and sound, respectively) and we have special sense organs (i.e. the nose, the tongue, the eyes, the skin and the ears) to perceive these qualities. Enjoyment of the worldly objects
108. Bhavanaparo jivanmukto bhavaji.-Bhavanopaniṣat, p. 477.
109, Saundaryalahari-27.
110. Saundaryalahari-96.
111. Tantrarāja Tantra-XXXVI, p. 109-110.
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