Introduction to Tantra Sastra - Aghori

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INTRODUCTION TO TANTRA ŚĀSTRA
All wrong is at base self-seeking, in ignorance or disregard
of the unity of the Self in all creatures. Virtue
(puṇ ya), therefore, as the contrary of sin, is that which
is the cause of happiness (sukhajanakaṃ puṇ yam). That
happiness is produced either in this or future births, or
leads to the enjoyment of heaven (Svarga). Virtue is
that which leads towards the unity whose substance is
Bliss (ānanda). This good karma produces pleasant
fruit, which, like all the results of karma, is transitory.
As Śruti says: “It is not by acts or the piṇ ḍ as offered by
one’s children or by wealth, but by renunciation that
men have attained liberation.” 1 It is only by escape
through knowledge, that the jīva becoming one with the
unchanging Absolute attains lasting rest. It is obvious
that for those who obtain such release neither vice nor
virtue, which are categories of phenomenal being, exist.
KARMA
Karma is action, its cause, and effect. There is no
uncaused action, nor action without effect. The past, the
present, and the future are linked together as one whole.
The icchā, jñāna, and kriyā śaktis manifest in the jīvātmā
living on the worldly plane as desire, knowledge,
and action. As the Bṛ hadāraṇ yaka Upaniṣad says:
“Man is verily formed of desire. As is his desire, so is
his thought. As is his thought, so is his action. As is his
action, so his attainment.” 2 These fashion the individual’s
karma. “He who desires goes by work to the
object on which his mind is set.” 3 “As he thinks, so he
1 Na karmaṇā, na prajayā, dhanena
Tyāgena eke amrtatvam ānaśuh. (Taittiriyopaniṣad).
2 Chapter IV, iv. 5.
3 Chapter IV, iv. 6.