From the study of history, it is known that the Rgveda was composed outside India, mainly in Central Asia and Russia. The Yajurveda was written mostly outside India; only a portion was written in India. And the Atharvaveda was composed in Afghanistan and India. Those three Vedas – Rk, Yaju and Atharva – long afterwards, say about 3500 years ago – were edited and divided into different branches by Maharśi Krśńadvaepáyana Vyása. The oldest compositions were named Rgveda, the intermediate portions were called Yajurveda, and the remaining portions were named Atharvaveda. The last-named Veda was named after the great sage, Atharva, the first author of this Veda. And by compiling the musical compositions of the three Vedas, yet another Veda - the Sámaveda, the fourth Veda – was created. Sáma in Sanskrit means “musical composition”. The Sámaveda itself is not a Veda.

Sadáshiva was born at a time when the age of the Rgveda was coming to an end and the Yajurvedic Age was about to begin. The people had not yet invented script. In the days of Shiva, the serious disadvantage was that, although the people were acquainted with the science of phonetics, that is, the intonations of the letters, they did not know how to write the letters. The Bráhmii and Kharośt́hi scripts were invented some time after Shiva. Thus we can generally say that the Vedas and Tantra exercised their mutual influence over each other, through the invention of script, only at the time of the Atharvaveda.

The external form that was given to Tantra by Shiva in His time underwent a slight transformation in subsequent periods. You may raise the question – well, when the goal is the same, when the path is also the same, then why this transformation? The only cause was: there was no written book in those days. All the compositions – both Vedas and Tantras – were handed down orally from one generation to another. As a result, there arose a difference of opinion among the teachers themselves – one teacher or muni [seer] would say one thing, and another muni would say something else.

Now although letters were invented during the age of the Atharvaveda, the Vedas could not be written down due to one obstacle – a peculiar superstition (better to call it a dogma) that the Vedas should not be written down. Maharśi Atharva’s followers – Aungirá, Aungirasa, Satyaváha, Vae-darbhi, etc., tried for the first time to get the Vedas written down in letters, but they were not courageous enough to do so because it was forbidden. (The very name of Vaedarbhi suggests that he was a resident of Vidarbha, and in India, particularly in the Vidarbha area, the Atharvaveda was partly written. Hence it is not proper to assume that the entire Veda was written outside India.) The Vedas were called shruti [ear] because they had to be mastered only by hearing: letters had not yet been invented. But once the script was invented, what could be the reason for not writing down the Vedas? The problem was the superstition, and the scholars did not dare to defy the superstition.

Now the Post-Shiva Tantra that gradually crystallized through the transformation of the original Shiva Tantra had two branches - the Gaod́iiya School and the Káshmiirii School. In East India, that is, Bengal, where the Gaod́iiya School of Tantra was popular, the Vedas had little influence. But in Kashmir, where the Káshmiira branch of Tantra was more dominant, there was the influence of both Tantra and the Vedas. During those days of ascendancy of the Káshmiira branch of Post-Shiva Tantra, the Káshmiira scholars first wrote the Vedas in contemporary Sáradá script; that is, the Vedas were written first in Sáradá script. Later came the age of Buddhism and Jainism; of course Post-Shiva Tantra was running parallel to them. Script had already been invented. The books on Jainism were mostly written in Prákrta, in a Bráhmii script which was a bit transformed; while the books on Buddhism were written in Mágadhii Prákrta, that is, in Páli, in the Bráhmii script of that time. But the Post-Shiva Tantra was written in Sanskrit; of course in Bráhmii script. So this all proves that the invention of scripts removed a great obstacle on the way. At this time there was a mutual exchange of ideas among Jain Tantra, Buddhist Tantra and Post-Shiva Tantra.

When some ideas or schools of thought exist side-by-side for a long period in a certain country, there is bound to be some sort of mutual exchange, and the result of this type of exchange cannot but be beneficial. It is often found that the result is either good or, at the worst, neither good nor bad. For instance, the Puranic concept of the deity Náráyańa and the Islamic concept of Piirabhakti combined together to give rise to a new concept of Satyapiira in Bengal. Its effect was not bad.

Similarly, those three schools of Tantra – the Jain, the Buddhist, and the Shivottara [Post-Shiva] – began to come to an understanding. All three schools broadly accepted the division of Tantra into sixty-four main branches, considering its various expressions. The only difference that persisted was the external one of differences in terminology: each school retained certain specific terms of its own. But they all generally accepted that human life had sixty-four types of expression, and hence there were sixty-four branches of Tantra. In their internal essence, they were not very far from one another; only certain terms - something external – were used differently by different Tantras. For instance, the Múlá Prajiṋá Shakti [Fundamental Cognitive Principle] was called Jinaratna or Jinaraana in Jain Tantra –

Bhańai Káhńu jina raan bi kaesá
Káleṋ bob samvohia jaesá.

– whereas in Shiva Tantra, rather in Post-Shiva Tantra, the word Shiva was used, and Buddhist Tantra used the various epithets of Buddha. Thus the sixty-four Tantras were running parallel.

For each of these sixty-four Tantras, one particular yoginii-tattva was accepted as the presiding deity (a particular controlling deity of a particular branch of Tantra was called a yoginii). All three Tantras accepted this arrangement. And all three, in order to maintain their popularity, used the name of Shiva – they declared that each Tantric deity was the wife of Shiva. Those of you who have gone to Jabbalpur might have noticed the sixty-four small temples on a hill there dedicated to these sixty-four yoginiis. They are all sixty-four Jain Tantric deities. Similarly, in Buddhist Tantra, particularly in Vajrayánii Buddhist Tantra, sixty-four deities were accepted. Shivottara Tantra followed the same practice.

Interestingly, you will notice how at this stage a silent synthesis was taking place among the different schools. Some of the Jain deities were recognized by Buddhist Tantra (for instance, the Jain deity Báráhii, with a swine’s face, was transformed into Vajrabáráhii in Vajrayánii Buddhist Tantra). Shivottara Tantra gave similar recognition to deities of other Tantras. Conversely, some of the deities of Shivottara Tantra were recognized and accepted by Jain and Buddhist Tantra.

All this proves that the synthesis of these three systems of Tantra charted a new path. This was all made possible by the invention of script. As long as script was unknown or unused, they maintained their distinct separateness; but with the popular use of script, they began to come closer to each other. For example, Ambiká is an accepted deity of Jain Tantra. But then she also became recognized by Shivottara Tantra – she was supposed to be a wife of Shiva. (But as you know, these deities cannot be the wives of Sadáshiva, who is seven thousand years old, whereas these deities are all of comparatively recent origin – about two thousand years old – arising after the invention of script.) This Ambiká Devii has been accepted in a different manner in Paoráńik Sháktácára [the Puranic Shákta Cult], as the goddess Lakśmii, but actually she is a Jain deity.

In Ráŕh,⁽¹⁾ there is a town named Kalna where there is still a temple dedicated to the goddess Ambiká. Once there was a tremendous influence of Jainism in Ráŕh. The town was named Ambiká-Kalna, after the goddess, and is now called Enbo-Kalna.

Another instance: the Buddhist goddess Tárá was accepted in Shivottara Tantra, and still later, in Paoráńik Sháktácára. And her changed form was accepted in Paoráńik Sháktácára as the goddess Sarasvatii. The goddess Kálii of Shivottara Tantra was accepted in Buddhist Tantra.

Thus there came an age of synthesis. And following this synthesis, these deities were accepted as gods and goddesses in Paoráńik Shaevácára [the Puranic Shiva Cult] and Paoráńik Sháktácára in somewhat changed form. This form underwent slightly more transformation during the middle of the Pathan Age, whose influence still lingers in a minor form.

Now in the process of synthesis among Jain, Buddhist and Shivottara Tantra, there evolved a new concept, the concept of Dashamahávidyá [Ten Mahávidyás], centring around those deities who had general influence in all three systems of Tantra. The idea of Dashamahávidyá arose out of ten Tantric deities, some from Jain Tantra, some from Buddhist Tantra and some from Shivottara Tantra. These deities, in slightly changed form, were accepted in Paoráńik Sháktácára, Vaeśńavácára, Shaevácára and Gáńa-patyácára [the Puranic Shákta Cult, the Viśńu Cult, the Shiva Cult and the Gańapati Cult]. While analysing the history of Dashamahávidyá, it is interesting to see how the concept of each deity evolved – how an idea dawned upon the human mind and gradually expanded in the path of synthesis until finally its basic defects demolished its own fundaments.

These Ten Mahávidyás are Kálii, Tárá, Śod́ashii, Bhuvaneshvarii, Bhaeravii, Chinnamastá, Dhúmávatii, Bagalámukhi, Mátaungii and Kamalá. These deities are present in all three Tantras. Sometimes their biija mantras [acoustic roots] are the same, sometimes different. For your proper understanding, let me give you a brief idea about these ten deities.

Meghavarńá vigatavasaná,
Shavashivárúd́há shyámá trinayaná;
Narashirakhad́garvarábhayashobhaná,
Caturbhujá Kálii Kálikárúpinii.
Garvitádánavagarvakharvákrti khad́ga
Kharpará Niila Sarasvatii;
Sarvasaobhágyapradáyinii kartrii,
Namaste Tárárúpá tárińii,
Bálá ruńásamá-ujjvalá-ungabhá,
Caturbhujá trinayaná;
Tribhuvanamanolobha pásháḿkush-sharacápa-
Dhárińii Shivá, Śod́ashii rúpá Shiva bhávinii.
Hásyamukharitá nishákaravanditá,
Tribhuvana mauṋgala bhuvaneshvarii máta;
Raktotpaladhará kot́ibhánuninditá,
Bhaeravii varábhaya dáyinii.
Vivarńa vidhavá malinámbaradhará
Kákadhvajá Dhúmavatii shúrpakará;
Bagalámukhii piitavarańá piitámbará
Mudgara ari jihvá dhárińii.
Nijashirachinditá rudhirapánaratá
Digvásá ratiratá jano parisaḿsthitá;
Chinnamastá mátá d́akiniisamanvitá
Prabalapátakiikula ghátinii.
Manimayásane shyámakalevará,
Mátaungiirúpadhará sudháḿshu shekhará;
Káiṋcanakántisudiiptá manohará
Kamalá harahrdivásinii.

The first of these deities is Káliká. She is one of the controlling deities of Shivottara Tantra, but simultaneously she was accepted in Buddhist Vajrayána. I have said a number of times that Shiva was the most influential personality. Therefore an attempt was made to establish some kind of relationship with Him: it was announced that Káliká was Shiva’s spouse. But one should remember that Shiva was born five thousand years before the age of Káliká; so how could Káliká be His wife? Secondly, Káliká – this controlling deity – is depicted as having four hands. No human structure can have four hands. So Káliká Shakti – Kálii – this deity – is not Shiva’s wife. She is a Tantric deity belonging to subsequent ages.

The second deity is Tárá. Tárá is one of the Tantric deities of Vajrayána Tantra. I have said previously that the Tárá that was worshipped in India was known as Ugratárá, while the deity that was worshipped in China was called Bhrámarii Tárá – “black as a bumblebee” – and the one who was worshipped in Tibet (Kiḿpuruśavarśa, as it was known previously) was blue-coloured. So this Tárá was later than Buddha, and later yet than Shiva; hence Tárá cannot be accepted as the wife of Shiva either.

There is not even any similarity in name. Shiva did have one wife whose name was Kálii, so she has at least the similarity in name with Kálii, the deity of Post-Shiva Tantra. But this was not the case with Tárá. Tárá is purely a deity of the Buddhist Vajrayána Tantra. But she is accepted as a deity in Post-Shiva Tantra and the Puranic Shákta Cult.

Even today, you will come across boys with names such as Tárápada, Táráprasáda, etc., and girls with such names as Tárádevii. This is the history behind these names.

Tárá has no relation to Shiva. People wrongly believe that she is the wife of Shiva. I shall say something more about Tárá later, when I discuss Sarasvatii.

Then comes Śod́ashii, the third deity. In this connection, let us say something about biija mantra [acoustic roots]. At the time of Shiva, there was no use of biija mantra in Shiva Tantra. The people loved Shiva so intimately that they did not think it necessary to worship Him with a particular biija mantra. In subsequent periods the use of biija mantra became an accepted practice. In Buddhist Tantra, the acoustic root of Kálii was raḿ: this was also the acoustic root of energy. This biija mantra signifies the application of energy in action. But in Post-Shiva Tantra the biija mantra for the same purpose was changed into riiḿ. (Ra, the acoustic root of energy, plus ii suffix, indicating feminine gender, equals riiḿ.) This denotes that energy is a female entity. And in still later days, when this deity Kálii was accepted in the Puranic Shákta Cult (the present custom of the worship of the goddess Kálii is derived from the Puranic Shákta Cult), the biija mantra (riiḿ) was further changed into klrḿ: Klrḿ Káli-káyae namah.

Generally in the Post-Buddha days, during the period of the Puranic Shákta Cult, all the Buddhist, Jain and Post-Shiva Tantric deities were declared to be the wives of Shiva, otherwise the society would not recognize and worship them. But they have different biija mantras. In the Puranic Age, the commonly accepted practice was that the controlling deities derived from Post-Shiva Tantra were designated as “Dakśińá Shakti”, and those derived from Vajráyána Buddhism were designated as “Vámá Shakti”.

For instance, Káliká: she was known as “Vámá Kálii” when worshipped in Buddhist Tantra. When an image was made of her, she would be painted jet-black; her left leg would be placed forward, her right leg behind; and there would be red patches on her left leg. This deity, Vámá Kálii, was not worshipped inside houses or in villages; she was worshipped in the cremation grounds outside the villages. These days, these deities are called by various names: for instance, Vámá Kálii, Shmashána Kálii, Rakśá Kálii and Rat́antii Kálii. These are all deities of the Buddhist Tantra Cult, subsequently declared to be “Vámá Shakti”; and the goddesses of Post-Shiva Tantra who are now accepted in the Puranic Cult are called “Dakśińá Shakti”.

But the images of Dakśińá Shakti are painted black or blue, or light green, and the right leg is placed in front. They are worshipped mainly at home, or inside the villages. The idea is: we may accept the deities of Buddhist Tantra, but not as family deities or village deities. Some sort of distance must be maintained. But in the case of the Dakśińá Shaktis, there is no such distance.

Though both types of deity, dakśińá and vámá, were declared to be the wives of Shiva, historically speaking, they had no relationship with Shiva, because all these deities originated at least five thousand years later than Shiva. Not only that, no human structure can have four hands. They have been selected out of the sixty-four schools of Tantra. Basically, they are not human structures.

An old Bengali poem says,

Ek so padumá caośatti pákhuŕi
Te madheye nácanti d́omnii bápuŕi.

This is very old Bengali. It means, “There is one lotus flower having sixty-four petals, and in the centre of the petals is dancing Naerátma Devii.” In Buddhist Tantra, Prakrti [the Supreme Operative Principle], who is active in all the manifestations and emanations of this universe, is called Naerátma Devii.

Let us come to Śod́ashii of these ten Mahávidyás. Śod́ashii is also called “Shivá” – that is, “the wife of Shiva, one whose object of meditation is Shiva”. Śod́ashii, who was originally a deity of Buddhist Vajrayána Tantra, was accepted subsequently in Post-Shiva Tantra with a new name, Rájarájeshvarii. Later, in the Puranic Shákta Cult, this deity Rájarájeshvarii was accepted and worshipped, though she was not very popular among the masses. More recently, towards the end of the Mughal period and the beginning of the British period, Krśńa Candra, the king of Nadia, introduced the worship of Rájarájeshvarii, in a slightly changed form and with a new name – Jagaddhátrii. Thus Jagaddhátrii is essentially a Buddhist Tantric deity transformed from Śod́ashii.

You should note carefully that the worship of Jagaddhátrii was especially popular in Krishnanagar. It is comparatively recent in origin, as it started in the early part of British history. Just as Śod́ashii in Buddhist Tantra was conceived to be the wife of Shiva, Rájarájeshvarii and Jagaddhátrii were also declared to be Shiva’s wives. But how can they be the wives of Shiva, who lived seven thousand years ago?

It may be a bit irrelevant to mention here, but the fact is that the worship of Jagaddhátrii is carried out in both Krishnanagar and Chandannagar with great pomp and pageantry. An inhabitant of Chandannagar – possibly his name was Gauṋgá Govinda Bandyopádhyáya – was the Dewan, the Prime Minister, of Nadia. Following the example of Krishnanagar he introduced the worship of Jagaddhátrii in Chandannagar also. In art, grandeur, pomp and pageantry, Chandannagar lags behind Krishnanagar. But Chandannagar can claim supremacy in one special area: there the Jagaddhátrii idols are of gigantic size.

Anyway, these deities, which originated in the days of medieval Jain Tantra, Buddhist Tantra and Post-Shiva Tantra, were not the wives of Shiva. Some had four hands, some had eight hands, etc., so they were not representations of human beings.

Footnotes

(1) Editors’ note: The territory, mostly in Bengal, from the west bank of the Bhagirathi River to the Parasnath Hills.