Today I will relate to you an episode of Tantric history – an episode which has almost been lost. I think you all know that Sadáshiva was the first Tantric Mahákaola on this planet. His mission was Kurvantu vishvaḿ Tántrikam – “To get the whole universe initiated into the Tantric cult”. To become a Tantric means to fight directly against the opposing forces and obstacles on the path of progress and to preach the lofty gospels of universal humanism. That human beings are the greatest of all living beings is to be proven in action, not in mere words or theoretical moral principles.

In that early phase of human civilization, there were more rifts and clashes among the different clans and tribes than there are today. It was therefore safer for human beings to live on hills. Later, with the development of civilization, they moved down to the plains and settled in woods and forests. But in those early days, they would sleep in hill-caves after blocking the entrances with big rocks. Fire had not yet been discovered, so they could not protect themselves by burning fires around their encampments in the caves and forests. Fire was discovered much later.

The hills on which people used to live were called gotras in Vedic Sanskrit. So if a person called Ráma lived on a certain hill, the hill was called “Rámagotra”. Similarly, the hill where Shyáma lived was known as “Shyámagotra”, and all the people who lived on it belonged to that gotra. This was the system followed in that early period of social development. Prior to that [patriarchal system], each hill was ruled by a gotramátá, or clan mother. The clan members would all obey her and would introduce themselves by her name; and likewise the hill itself would be named after that matriarch. These days this system has evolved into a dogmatic clan or caste system.

So each hill was named after its sage. If Maharśi Káshyapa [The Great Sage Káshyapa] was the leader of a hill clan, that clan was called Káshyapagotra. If Maharśi Bharadvája was the leader, it was called Bharadvájagotra. Thus, the early matriarchal system was followed by a patriarchal system of leadership.

Those people who lived on the same hill under a common patriarch lived just like brothers and sisters. However, they considered the members of other hill communities to be their deadly enemies. And since all on one hill were brothers and sisters, they could not marry among themselves. So what would they do in order to marry? One clan would defeat a neighbouring clan in battle, and they would forcibly drag the vanquished women, with hands bound, back to their own hill for a life of domestic servitude. The males of the defeated clan were utilized as slaves.

Even to this day, there is a custom whereby the mother asks her son on the eve of his marriage, “Where are you going?” He replies, “I’m going to bring you a maid-servant.” It comes from those days when the victorious clan would drag the defeated women back to its own hill. Not only that – to bind someone you need a rope or a chain ([now] called a gánt́chaŕá).⁽¹⁾ The women would be brought back in those days with chains on their wrists, otherwise they might run away. The iron bangle that a married woman wears today is a symbol of that early servitude. In those days women also fought in battle, and were often hit on the head and severely injured. A small vermilion mark then came to represent the blood streaming from their cracked heads. But today a woman must wear that vermilion mark if she is to be recognized as married. This is quite different from the original idea. Actually these are all just different dogmas.

In Ananda Marga I have said that those who wish to use vermilion as a decorative mark may do so. Some women like to wear plastic bangles, others like to wear iron ones. I am not going to object to the use of these ornaments. Similarly, if someone uses vermilion on the forehead I have nothing to say against it, because that, too, is a matter of decoration. Those who like to use vermilion may do so. I hope, however, that the original reason for the use of vermilion is clear.

So even today women bear the mark of servitude by wearing iron bangles on their wrists, thus giving the impression that they have been vanquished; they still use the vermilion which originally symbolized bloodshed; they still tie the gánt́chaŕá after marriage, which symbolizes their being forcibly carried away; and the bridegroom still often says to his mother on the eve of his departure for the marriage, “I’m going to bring you a maid-servant.” How absurd! No one is anyone’s servant. The system of slavery was abolished long ago. You should oppose these dogmatic beliefs. They are very objectionable. You should understand the history behind them, and then do the right thing.

There were three main ethnic groups in India in those days: Austric, Mongolian,⁽²⁾ and Negroid. In [East] India they all mingled into one. The dark-complexioned non-Aryan Austrics were the original people of India, and thus there is Austric blood in most of the present population of India. The Bengalees, being a mixture of these three groups, evolved in a particular way and developed a particular psychology. They have developed certain morphological characteristics from which one can easily deduce that they are Bengali. Their physical appearance and nature are a result of a special type of blood mixture. Those groups which have mixed blood are generally very intelligent, and the Bengali people are no exception. Besides being intelligent, they have other marked psychological traits which characterize them as Bengalees: they are sports fanatics, even those who do not play any sport themselves, and they are equally mad for open-air theatre and established theatre. These psychological traits result from the integration of the different racial groups.

In the days of Shiva, three ethnic groups intermingled. One was the Austric group, the black non-Aryan people; the second was the Mongolian group who came to India from the north, that is from Tibet and China; and the third was the fair-complexioned Aryan group which entered India from the west. The Aryans are further divided into three groups. The Aryans of the far north are Nordic. Their complexion is reddish-white, their hair is reddish and the irises of their eyes are brown, which is to say also reddish. The second group, the Alpine group, have bluish hair, bluish irises and a pinkish-white complexion. The third group, the Mediterranean group, have a milky-white complexion, black hair and blackish irises. The Aryans who settled in India came mostly from this Mediterranean group, and converged, as mentioned, with the Mongolians from the north [and with the Austrics].

There was a general disharmony among these three groups that had converged in India, expressed in numerous feuds and clashes among the various hill clans. In those days, a war party would ride fully armed to a rival hill to bring a woman back by force. Even today, in certain parts of India, the bridegroom and his party act this out as a marriage ritual by riding on horseback fully armed to the marriage ceremony and staging a mock battle. The leader of the group, that is the bridegroom, is called bara, which in Sanskrit means “best of the lot”, because on that day he is the most important man.

This predominantly racial conflict among the different hill clans was raging fiercely during the period of Lord Shiva. Shiva worked hard to cultivate a perfect friendship among the three warring groups. He knew that in the absence of such a friendship, the future of humanity was dark. Just as Krśńa wanted to unite all the people of the then India and create a Mahábhárata [Great India], similarly, Shiva wanted to unite the three warring groups. He thought that his lofty spiritual cult and ideology and his unique school of medicine would not be properly conveyed to future generations if the people continued their racial battles.

Those were also the days of polygamy. Shiva himself had three wives – Párvatii, an Aryan girl; Kálii, an Austrico-Dravidian girl; and Gauṋgá, a Mongolian girl. He hoped these marriages would restore the spirit of friendship among the three races. With the help of his three wives, he propagated the gospels of dharma and the practices of Tantra. It was a great advantage for Shiva that he was accepted as a god equally by the Aryans, the Mongolo-Tibetans and the Austrics. Much later, even the Buddhists and the Jains accepted him as their god, because Shiva wanted to bring about a blending of the human race. This is the same Shiva who was known among Buddhists as Bat́uka Bhaerava. From “Bat́uka” come words such as “Buŕo”, “Baŕuyá”, “Buŕa”, “Boŕá” [all applied to Shiva] and “Buŕoshiva”.

In many cities and towns of Bengal you will come across [the place name] Buŕoshivatalá. Buŕoshiva was the Shiva of the Buddhists. In Calcutta, the area around Buŕoshivatalá became known as Buŕo Bájár [bájár = “bazaar”, “market”]. Many people from Marwar settled there and it became a prosperous market, but it became wrongly pronounced “Baŕa Bájár” [“Big Market”]. In fact, originally it was not a big market. Of course, there are Baŕa Bájárs in many cities, but this Baŕa Bájár in Calcutta was not named because it was a “big market”; rather it was the market area surrounding the Buŕoshiva temple.

Later Shiva felt that there should be proper media to propagate the grand and lofty ideals He was teaching. Tomár patáká yáre dáo táre bahibáre dáo shakti [“Give strength to the person to whom you give the flag to carry”]. Otherwise who would be able to carry forth so much knowledge, wisdom, intellect, and such a deep spiritual cult? Incompetent people cannot be expected to carry the legacy of anything. If I teach something to an incompetent or undesirable person, it will bear no fruit, it will get wasted. A heron can never learn to speak like a mynah bird, no matter how much it is trained. The incompetent person is just like the heron. What did Shiva do about this?

Párvatii had a son called Bhaerava, and Kálii a daughter named Bhaeravii. Shiva first taught Bhaerava Tantra sádhaná, or kápálika sádhaná (the Tantric sádhaná which utilizes the human skull); and the táńd́ava dance. Since then all those people who have learned the Tantric practices have also been called Bhaerava, they all introduce themselves by the name Bhaerava. They lose their individual names such as Ráma, Shyáma, Tom or Dick, and automatically become a part of Shivagotra [the Family of Shiva].

Shiva proclaimed, “You are all mine. Whatever hill you live on you are still my own. I will think well of you. I will think about your collective welfare. I will work for your collective well-being. Come one and all to me safely and fearlessly and tell me your needs. I will help you. Átmagotraḿ parityajya Shivagotraḿ pravishatu [‘Leave your own gotra and enter Shivagotra’].”

Whoever is a spiritualist has left his or her own gotra and has entered the Shivagotra. In Ananda Marga also, separate gotras are not recognized. All belong to Shivagotra. I have only stated that at the time of marriage the bride and bridegroom should not have any direct relationship three generations above and three generations below.⁽³⁾ If this condition is not met, the marriage should not be solemnized.

Ananda Margis have no caste or gotra. I have said before also that the division of humanity into Káshyapagotra, Bharadvájagotra, etc., is nonsensical. This is just to mislead people. If we look back in [anthropology] we will see that the forefathers of the present-day humans were apes or ape-men. So if people are very particular about their gotras, I will say to their faces, “Boys and girls! You belong to the ape gotra.”

We have all descended from our common ancestors, the apes. The same is true in relation to the castes. [One might try to argue that] the forefathers of the Bráhmańas were the ape-Bráhmańas and the forefathers of the Kśatriyas were the ape-Kśatriyas; but that just isn’t so. As apes do not have any particular caste, the present-day caste differences are all hypocrisy and maliciousness. You should remove even the least vestige of these nonsensical notions. You must not give credence to such things.

So Shiva taught Bhaerava. Then He thought: “If I teach this only to my son; that is, if my son alone knows this secret spiritual cult, this great asset for humanity, and my daughter remains ignorant, then fifty per cent of the society will remain a burden for the other fifty per cent; that is, the women will remain a burden for the men, and the movement of the men also will be greatly impeded.” Even in those days, seven thousand years ago, Shiva thought in this way. “If I only give the strength and responsibility to carry the burden to my son, Bhaerava, that will not be good. I will also have to give some of the responsibility to my daughter, Bhaeravii.” And that is what He did. And since that day, any woman practising Tantra is known as Bhaeravii.

His other wife, Gauṋgá, had a son called Kárttikeya, but he was more of a dandy. Even though he wished to, he did not have the moral courage to practice Tantra. The practice of Tantra requires a little courage – it is not for cowards. (Some people say that Kárttikeya was known as Devasenápati and was a general of the gods [deva means “god” and senápati means “military general”], but the fact of the matter is different. Kárttikeya’s wife was called Devásená, and so he was Devásená’s pati [husband], or Devásenápati. You should remove this common misunderstanding. If people say that Kárttikeya was the general of the gods, they are wrong.) Gauṋgá was a little sad that the son of one of her co-wives and the daughter of her other co-wife were taught the practice of Tantra while her own son turned out bad. To console her and help her forget her sadness, Shiva gave her extra love and affection. This did not please his other wives, Párvatii and Kálii, who naturally complained to him about this. But actually, what he did was right. There is a rhyme about Shiva’s marriage to three girls:

T́ápur t́upur vrśt́i paŕe nadey elo bán
Shivt́hákurer biye habhe tin kanyá dán.

[Pitter-patter goes the rain, the river water whirls; Lord Shiva who lived long ago was married to three girls.]

Those three girls were Párvatii, Kálii and Gauṋgá. People used to complain that Shiva was “dancing with Gauṋgá on His head.” (Suppose you are doting on someone, people will say that you are “dancing with So-and-so on your head”.) In later days, people completely misinterpreted the facts and made statues of Shiva with Gauṋgá’s head placed on his head and water flowing from her mouth.⁽⁴⁾ These are all mythological interpretations. Could such a thing ever be possible? The poet Bharat Chandra Raygunakar wrote in his famous magnum opus:

Gauṋgá náme satii tár tarauṋga emani
Jiivanasvarúpa sei svámii shiromańi.

[Gauṋgá the blessed one is the jewel sitting on Shiva’s head with water flowing from her mouth.]

Here shiromańi means “a jewel placed on one’s head”. If you are doting on someone, people will say that you are “dancing with So-and-so on your head”.

Thus we see that even in those days Shiva did not accept any differentiation between males and females. He taught Tantra to both his son and his daughter.

Let me tell you a short story about Kálii. One night she thought, “What will happen if my little daughter meets with any danger when she goes out to practise Tantra? Let me go out and help her.” In Tantra, however, it is not permitted to intervene in anyone’s individual practices. Bhaeravii went out and practised her sádhaná according to the instructions she had received. Shiva was already absorbed in samádhi in the burial ground. Kálii thought, “Even if Shiva is able to see me from a distance on this dark new-moon night he won’t be able to tell who I actually am – he’ll think I’m Bhaeravii.” Now while walking in the darkness, Kálii accidentally stepped on Shiva’s chest. When she realized whom she was stepping on, she felt ashamed and stuck out her tongue [a sign of embarrassment or shame in India]. “Who are you?” asked Shiva. Kálii was dressed like Bhaeravii to misguide Shiva, but how could she introduce herself as Bhaeravii, their daughter, to her own husband? So Kálii said, “I’m Kaoverii.”⁽⁵⁾ (In southern India there is a river named Kaoverii. People mistakenly call it “Káverii”. The actual Sanskrit word is “Kaoverii”. The English spelling was at one time “Cauveri”.)

In any case, Kálii said that she was Kaoverii, a name she has also been called ever since. Those who do not know the story in the proper context say that Shiva was lying down and Kálii was standing on his chest with her tongue stuck out.⁽⁶⁾

From a study of history we learn that in those days there was no differentiation between men and women regarding spiritual practices or the spiritual code of conduct. To enable the entire society to develop what He propounded in social, economic, educational, medical, scientific and artistic fields, Shiva taught His daughter in the same way that He taught His son. Shiva was the original propounder of Tantra and the first Mahákaola. Those who oppose what Shiva did are to be treated as opportunists. If they wish to keep women subjugated, to curtail women’s natural rights, they are opposed to Shiva and the code of dharma. In fact, I should say that they are veritable demons, and such demons in human form cast a shadow on the glory of humanity.

Footnotes

(1) Gáńt́chaŕá is the word used for the knotting together of the bride’s sari and the groom’s scarf in a modern Hindu wedding ceremony. As the author will explain, it is a vestige and symbol of the “rope or chain”. –Eds.

(2) Since in ancient times Mongolia was an empire, and symbolized all of North and Northeast Asia, “Mongolian” here means the Oriental, or yellow, race. –Eds.

(3) As opposed to the custom that people should not marry within their own gotras at all. –Eds.

(4) A further part of the misinterpretation was that Shiva’s wife Gauṋgá was somehow the River Gauṋgá (Ganges). –Eds.

(5) Editors’ note: She wavered between saying her own name, “Kálii”, and the name of her daughter, “Bhaeravii”. The word became “Kaoverii”. –Eds.

(6) This is the popular representation of the goddess Kálii, who developed 5300 or 5400 years after the time of the actual Kálii the wife of Shiva. –Eds.