Yesterday I talked about the Puranic gods and goddesses. In this connection let me tell you one thing more. Various types of Puranic methods, such as nyása, práńáyáma, etc., have now become accepted in the Puranic mode of worship, but in fact these methods are of Tantric origin and not related to the Puranas. When doing práńáyáma one will have to concentrate one’s mind on a certain point. This is a Tantric method; when the mind is concentrated on a point it gets confined to a particular space. This method, confining the mind to a certain space, is called Yudhiśt́hira vidyá in yoga shástra. That is, this was invented by the first Páńd́ava brother, Yudhiśt́hira.

However, I will have to say something more about the Puranic system of worship. There are many Puranic worship practices which people are inclined to believe to be very old; many believe that they are as ancient as the Vedas. But that is not the fact of the matter. None of the Puranic systems of worship, or Puranic rituals, is older than 1200 or 1300 years. All those systems of worship are post-Buddhistic, or developed somewhat prior to the period of Buddhist Tantra [which came one thousand years after Buddha himself], or developed, at the earliest, contemporaneously with Buddha.

Numerous Buddhist gods and goddesses later became accepted as Puranic gods and goddesses – for example, the Buddhist goddess Shiitalá became converted into a Puranic goddess because of the fear of smallpox – and some of the Buddhist Tantric gods and goddesses also became converted into Puranic gods and goddesses. For instance, the Buddhist Tantric deity Tárá is now accepted as a Puranic deity; these days many Hindus accept Tárá Devii. You will find many persons with names such as Tárádás, Tárápada, etc. (Similarly, the Hindu Tantric goddess Kálii has been accepted in Buddhist Tantra.)

For these reasons I was saying that no Puranic ritual or mode of worship is older than 1200 or 1300 years. In the wake left by the collapse of Buddhism [in India], the Puranic religion or neo-Hindu religion emerged, and the Buddhist Tantric gods and goddesses became accommodated in the new religion.

A new religious movement called the Nátha Cult emerged during the period of transition from the Buddhist Era to the Puranic Era. Many gods and goddesses of the Nátha Cult can also be detected [in the Puranic religion], for instance Buŕo Shiva. In fact, most of the Puranic gods and goddesses receiving great reverence in our country are not older than five hundred or six hundred years. If any of them are 1200-1300 years old, that is indeed the maximum.

Some people believe that the worship of Durgá is something very old, but that is not true at all. This worship became popular during the Muslim period; that is, it is of quite recent origin. The system of Durgá worship was in existence at the time when Krttivása first composed the Bengali Rámáyańa. Since Durgá worship was a contemporary matter, Krttivása mentioned the goddess Durgá in his Rámáyańa. For instance, he mentioned that Rámacandra worshipped the goddess Durgá with 108 lotus flowers. But in the original Sanskrit Rámáyańa, Valmiiki’s Rámáyańa, these stories are absent. The worship of Durgá was popular during the time of Krttivása, and therefore he inserted the story into his Rámáyańa. But even in the Rámacaritmánas composed by Tulasii Dás, the story is conspicuously absent. Thus we can conclude that it was only created in the imagination of Krttivás. So the idea that the system of Durgá worship is quite old is entirely unfounded.⁽¹⁾

One of the characteristics of Tantra is this, that the different gods and goddesses originate from one idea or other. Those ideas were conceived in order to arouse and develop the finer sensibilities of the human mind. Thus a person conceived of a certain idea, and to make concrete that abstract idea, an image was invented. But such an idea, whether good or bad, is not an integral idea, it is a non-integral idea. If human beings try to give expression to one such idea out of many, that means that other ideas are excluded. Anyway, this is how there arose the various gods and goddesses, through a process of giving external form to abstract ideas.

In Sanskrit the term devatá is feminine. In this respect there is no fundamental difference between Buddhist and Hindu Tantra, although there is a difference in terminology. For instance, there are Buddhist Tantric goddesses called Máriici, Vajrabaráhii, Báráhii, Vajrayoginii, Vajratárá and Bhánatárá. And then there are Kálii and the Dashamahávidyás [ten goddesses known as the Ten Mahávidyás], all Hindu Tantric goddesses.

These various gods and goddesses represent one idea or other. For instance, Anucchúnyá Prakrti, the state of Prakrti at the stage prior to creation: that idea is represented by Kálii. But this is just a non-integral idea, not an integral one.

Meghavarńá vigatavasaná, Shavashivárúdhá shyámá trinayaná;
Narashirakhadgarvarábhayashobhaná,
Caturbhujá Kálii Kálikárúpinii.
Garvitádánavagarvakharvákrti khad́ga
Kharpará Niila Sarasvatii;
Sarvasaobhágyapradáyinii kartrii,
Namaste Tárárúpá tárińii,
Bálá ruńásamá-ujjvalá-ungabhá, Caturbhujá trinayaná;
Tribhuvanamanolobhá pásháḿkush-sharacápa-Dhárińii Shivá,
Śod́ashii rúpá Shiva bhávinii.
Hásyamukharitá nishákaravanditá,
Tribhuvana mauṋgala Bhuvaneshvarii máta;
Raktotpaladhará kot́ibhánuninditá,
Bhaeravii varábhaya dáyinii.
Vivarńa vidhavá malinámbaradhará Kákadhvajá Dhúmávatii 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.

With a particular idea in one’s mind, one experiences a particular state of existence in life, and accordingly one or another Mahávidyá has been thought of. For instance, Dhúmávatii is described as vivarńá [colourless], vidhavá [widowed], with sunken eyes and wizened face, wearing dirty, dishevelled clothing. Crows hover over her head; in her hand she is holding a broken winnow. The entire description gives an idea of an impoverished deity, shorn of all glory and opulence.⁽²⁾ When people are shorn of everything, the idea of Dhúmávatii symbolizes that idea. Tantra holds out one or another idea of that type. It is not proper to create images, ostensibly for religious worship, such as that. As ideas are very pleasing to the human mind, if we draw or paint a picture on any surface, it will give us aesthetic pleasure, but what is the benefit in worshipping such things? If you worship one idea, maybe you will have some control over that idea, but you will not have influence over other ideas. After all, one particular image is not Parama Puruśa, it is just one of His partial expressions. Take for instance the case of Kálii. She is described as meghavarńa, black. Why the black colour? Because it was conceived that there was no creation at that time. At the time when this world had not been created, there was no colour, and want of colour is black, so the idea of want of colour is represented by Kálii. It is not possible to think of any other colour, because there was no other colour.

Then again Kálii is conceived of as vigatavasaná, having no clothes. Why no clothes? Because, is it possible to cover an all-pervading entity with clothes? Can we conceive of clothing the Infinite Entity? What does logic say about this? If the Infinite Entity is covered with clothes, can it be called infinite? Here metaphorically all the directions are Her clothes. She is further described as shavashivárúd́há. When Consciousness has not been metamorphosed into the different successive stages of manifestation, Shiva [Consciousness] is just like a dead body, because at that stage Shiva cannot do anything, there is no expression of consciousness. Only Paramá Prakrti is the creative entity. She carries on Her eternal dance of creation. She is also conceived as three-eyed, because she is witnessing all the phenomena of the past, present and future.

In fact there is no such thing as Kálii, it is just an idea. In the deity’s hands are a human head and a sword; those hands are in varábhaya mudrá. She is wearing a garland around her neck, a garland dotted with forty-nine severed heads, each face representing one particular acoustic root, and one hand, as mentioned, is also holding a head. (I have already told you that in that Vedic period people did not know how to write. Script had not yet been invented.⁽³⁾) The fifty sounds from a to kśa were represented by the fifty faces. The first face, symbolizing the a sound, was the one held by the hand.

Yata shona karńaput́e sab-i máyer mantra bat́e.
Kálii paiṋcáshat varńamayii varńe varńe viráj kare.

[Whatever you hear with your ears are the mantras emanating from the Causal Matrix. Kálii is a combination of fifty letters; she is associated with all the letters.]

At the time when the universe had not been created, the sounds were already present, and all those sounds were merged in the dark void of Mahákálii [Supreme Operative Principle].

In the poem Kálii is described as Narashriḿghakhad́gavarábhayashobhaná. Here khad́ga [sword] is a symbol of the fight against evil and sin, and abhaya means “fearlessness”. When we confront the illusions of creation and destruction, the Supreme Entity tells us, “Don’t be nervous, don’t be afraid, there will again be creation.” And what is bara? “I will again create.” And in her hand there is a container of nectar. This is an excellent idea, but it is just an idea, it should not be worshipped. If people do so, they will be metamorphosed into that idea only; they can never attain the supreme goal.

All such Tantric ideations are very beautiful images of the different aspects of the Supreme Entity, and human beings start moulding clay statues depicting those ideas. So this Kálii, this Tárá, and all the Dashamahávidyás, are one or another mental ideation, born out of the human mind. The total expression of all these ideations is what is called the human psychic expression. If a follower of Tantra or Purana remains preoccupied with a particular idea, the total development of the mind will remain an impossibility. That’s why all these ideas of [this school of Tantra] should be rejected. The great mystic Rámprasád said,

Hrdipadma ut́hbe phut́e, maner ándhár yábe t́ut́e
Dharátale paŕbo lut́e, “Tárá” bale habo sárá.
Tyajiba sab bhedábhed, ghuce jábe maner khed,
Shatashata satya ved, “Tárá” ámár nirákárá.

[The lotus will bloom, the darkness of my mind will disappear, I shall roll on the earth⁽⁴⁾ with the holy name of Tárá on my lips. All sorts of distinction will be obliterated, all the afflictions of my mind will be totally removed; the scriptures are right when they declare that Tárá is formless.]

So if people concentrate their minds on a particular idea, their progress will remain a far cry away from total progress. So sádhakas must try to realize Parama Puruśa, and not any non-integral entity. There is no other way.⁽⁵⁾

Similarly, each of the [Puranic] gods and goddesses has a particular quality of its own. Yes, one may acquire some quality, but one will never attain Parama Puruśa. Hence the only object of meditation of human beings should be Parama Puruśa. One can never attain the Macrocosmic vastness if one meditates on a limited idea, a finite entity. The Tantric gods and goddesses, whether we are speaking of Hindu Tantra or of Buddhist Tantra, have equally limited powers. Moreover, as each of the gods and goddesses has its own vehicle, and it is unscientific to meditate on that vehicle, the Tantric gods and goddesses are not to be accepted as objects of meditation. And Tantra has also emphatically said,

Uttamo Brahmasadbhávo
Mahdyamá dhyána dhárańá;
Japastúti syádadhamá
Múrtipújá dhamádhamá.

[Ideation on Brahma is the best, dhyána and dhárańá are second best, repetitious incantation and eulogistic prayer are the worst, and idol worship is the worst of the worst.]

It is also stated in Tantra that if a person wants only to attain limited progress, one may practise on certain limited ideas. But those who are genuine seekers of Brahma will never agree to worship any finite idea. Those who want the Supreme Entity will have to ideate on Parama Puruśa alone. People may attain limited achievement in terms of occult power through the grace of the gods and goddesses, but they will remain far away from the attainment of the Supreme Entity.

Footnotes

(1) A portion omitted here. –Trans.

(2) The above poem goes on to describe, in similar fashion, the nine other Mahávidyás: Kálii, Tárá, Śod́ashii, Bhuvaneshvarii, Bhaeravii, Bagalámukhii, Mátaungii, Chinnamastá and Kamalá. –Trans.

(3) But the alphabet was known orally. –Trans.

(4) As the kuńd́alinii of an aspirant rises, the previously-unexpressed spiritual qualities of the higher glands become expressed. Sometimes the nervous system is affected in such a way as to make certain “occult feelings” or “occult symptoms” appear in the physical body; they are experienced by the aspirant as pleasurable. There are eight basic types (e.g., stambha, or immobility, and kampa, or trembling), and thirteen associated feelings, one of which is viluńt́hana rolling on the earth. –Trans.

(5) A portion omitted here. –Trans.