Introduction to Tantra Sastra - Aghori

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INTRODUCTION TO TANTRA ŚĀSTRA
yajña are fruitless. No one now goes through the brahmacārya
āśrama, or adopts after the fiftieth year that
called vānaprastha. Those whom the Veda does not
control cannot expect the fruit of Vaidik observances.
On the contrary, men have taken to drink, associate
with the low, and are fallen; as are also those men who
associate with them. There can therefore be no pure
paśu. Under these circumstances the duties prescribed
by the Vedas which are appropriate for the paśu being
incapable of performance, Śiva for the liberation of men
of the Kali Age has proclaimed the Āgama. Now, there
is no other way.” The explanation thus given, therefore,
appears to amount to this. The pure type of paśu for
whom vedācāra was designed does not exist. For others
who though paśu are not purely so, the Tantra is the
governing Śastra. This however, does not mean that all
are now competent for vīrācāra.
It is to be noted, however, that the Prāṇ a-toṣinī 1
cites a passage purporting to come from the Mahānirvāṇ
a-Tantra, which is apparently in direct opposition
to the foregoing :
Divya-vira-mayo bhāvah kalau nāsti kadā-cana.
Kevalam paśu-bhāvena mantra-siddhirbhavenṛ ṇ am.
“In the Kali Age there is no divya or vīrabhāva. It
is only by the paśu-bhāva that men may obtain mantrasiddhi.”
This matter of the bhava prevalent in the Kaliyuga
has been the subject of considerable discussion and
difference of opinion, and is only touched upon here. 2
1 Pp. 570-571.
2 The subject is a difficult one, and I have given the above-mentioned
account with considerable diffidence as to complete accuracy.