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पंचम खण्ड / २८८
अर्चनार्चन
13. Dhyana-Meditation including concentration of the mind and contemplation.
But these aspects of the tantric sadhana are hardly different from the general spiritual practices of Hinduism. if these were the only practices included under tantric sadhana, then perhaps there would have been no justification for the tantra to have a separate existence as an independent discipline. But there are certain specialised practices which belong to tantra alone. Taniric sadhana is sometimes undertaken for attaining powers to harm others and ability for black magic. These are called black rites. There is another kind of sadhana called Nila and Shava sadhana wbich is performed in the cremation ground and a corpse is used in it. Then there is the practice of vamachara, which is a highly specialised technique of tantra. In fact this technique has been the most outstanding part of the tradition of tantra. Panchatattva : The much abused tantric sadhana
Out of the various schools of Tantra the Shaktas, i. e., the worshippers of shakti, have been condemned by other religious men throughout the history of tantra, because of the apparently licentious and libertine tendencies shown by many of them in the use of wine and woman as a part of worship and ritual. Vamachara or panchatativa-sadhana has been a peculiarity of the shakta school which has not been accepted in religion or any spiritual discipline outside the tantras.
Shakti means power. In tantra it has been worshipped in three forms. The Goddess Kali is one manifestation of shakti. Another manifestation is the dormant Goddess in man called Kundalini. Woman who takes part in sadhana with a sadhaka including prolonged sex is also called shakti. The shaktas who worshipped shakti and performed sadhana along with a shakti got an upper hand among the schools of tantra because of the libertinism advocated by them. Offering animal sacrifices to the Goddess, eating meat as a part of worship, drinking wine, and having uninhibited sex pleasure as a part of sadhana.......all these must naturally have been very attractive propositions for a large number of followers, so that in course of time the shakta school alone survived as a major cult of tantra, and people started identifying tantra with shakti worship and panchatattva only.
Panchatattva-sadhana is also called vamachara, virachara, kaulachara, guhyatattva, or latasadhana. Each of these names brings out some special feature of this form of worship. Panchatattva means five materials used in sadhana. They are also called the Panchamakaras or five 'm's, as the Sanskrit names of these five materials begin with the letter 'm'. They are1. Matsya, (fish) 2, Mansa (flesh) 3. Madya (wine) 4. Mudra (parched grain) and 5. Maithuna (copulation).
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