Introduction to Tantra Sastra - Aghori

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INTRODUCTION TO TANTRA ŚĀSTRA
in the evening or at night” (rātrau naiva yajeddeviṃ
saṃdhyāyāṃ va parānhake); for all such worship connotes
maithuna prohibited to the paśu. In lieu of it,
varying substitutes 1 are prescribed, such as either an
offering of flowers with the hands formed into the kaccapamudra,
or union with the worshipper’s own wife. In
the same way, in lieu of wine, the paśu should (if a
Brāhmaṇ a) take milk, (if a Kṣattriya) ghee, (if a Vaiśya)
honey, and (if a Śūdra) a liquor made from rice. Salt,
ginger, sesamum, wheat, māshkalai (beans), and garlic
are various substitutes for meat; and the white brinjal
vegetable, red radish, masur (a kind of gram), red sesamum,
and pāniphala (an aquatic plant), take the place
of fish. Paddy, rice, wheat, and gram generally are mudrā.
The vīra, or rather he who is qualified (adhikāri) for
vīrācāra—since the true vīra is its finished product—
commences sadhana with the rājasika pañatattva first
stated, which are employed for the destruction of the
sensual tendencies which they connote. For the worship
of Śakti the pañcatattvas are declared to be essential.
This Tantra declares that such worship withou their use
is but the practice of evil magic.
Upon this passage the commentator Jaganmohana
Tarkālaṃkāra observes as follows: Let us consider what
most contributes to the fall of a man, making him forget
duty, sink into sin, and die an early death. First among
these are wine and women, fish, meat and mudra, and
accessories. By these things men have lost their manhood.
Śiva then desires to employ these very poisons in
order to eradicate the poison in the human system.
1 See as to these and post, the Kulacūdāmani, and chap. i of Bhairavayāmala.