Introduction to Tantra Sastra - Aghori

WORSHIP 119
Poison is the antidote for poison. This is the right treatment
for those who long for drink or lust for women.
The physician must, however, be an experienced one. If
there be a mistake as to the application, the patient is
likely to die. Śiva has said that the way of kulācāra is as
dificult as it is to walk on the edge of a sword or to hold
a wild tiger. There is a secret argument in favour of the
pañcatattva, and those tattvas so understood should be
followed by all. 1 None, however, but the initiate can
grasp this argument, and therefore Śiva has directed
that it should not be revealed before anybody and everybody.
An initiate, when he sees a woman, will worship
her as his own mother or goddess (Iṣṭ adevatā), and bow
before her. The Viṣṇ u-Purāṇ a says that by feeding your
desires you cannot satisfy them. It is like pouring ghee
on fire. Though this is true, an experienced spiritual
teacher (guru) will know how, by the application of this
poisonous medicine, to kill the poison of saṃsara. Śiva
has, however, prohibited the indiscriminate publication
of this. The meaning of this passage would therefore
appear to be this: The object of Tāntrika worship is
brahmasāyujya, or union with Brahman. If that is not
attained, nothing is attained. And, with men’s propensities
as they are, this can only be attained through the
special treatment prescribed by the Tantras. If this is
not followed, then the sensual propensities are not eradicated,
and the work for the desired end of Tantra is as
useless as magic which, worked by such a man, leads
only to the injury of others. The other secret argument
1 Mahānirvāṇa-Tantra, Chapter V, verses 23, 24. (See also Kailāsa-
Tantra, Pūrva Khanda, chap. xc), where reasons are given why the worship of
Devī is fruitless without the five elements; and where also they are identified
with the five prāṇas and the five mahāpretas.