Introduction to Tantra Sastra - Aghori
Introduction to Tantra Sastra - Aghori
Introduction to Tantra Sastra - Aghori
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WORSHIP 85<br />
far more powerful, and this for the reason that, in the<br />
first, the sādhaka’s sādhana-śakti works, in conjunction<br />
with mantra-śakti which has the revelation and force of<br />
fire, and than which nothing is more powerful. The<br />
special mantra which is received at initiation (dīkṣa) is<br />
the bīja or seed mantra, sown in the field of the sādhaka’s<br />
heart, and the Tāntrik saṃdhyā, nyāsa, pūjā and<br />
the like are the stem and branches upon which hymns of<br />
praise (stuti) and prayer and homage (vandana) are the<br />
leaves and flower, and the kavaca, consisting of mantra,<br />
the fruit.<br />
Mantras are solar (saura) and lunar (saumya), and<br />
are masculine, feminine, or neuter. The solar are masculine<br />
and lunar feminine. The masculine and neuter<br />
forms are called mantra. The feminine mantra is known<br />
as vidyā. The neuter mantra, such as the Paurānikmantra,<br />
ending with namah, are said <strong>to</strong> lack the force<br />
and vitality of the others. The masculine and feminine<br />
mantras end differently. Thus, Hūṃ, phaṭ , are masculine<br />
terminations, and thaṃ, svāhā, are feminine ones. 1<br />
The Nitya-<strong>Tantra</strong> gives various names <strong>to</strong> mantra,<br />
according <strong>to</strong> the number of their syllables, a one-syllabled<br />
mantra being called piṇ ḍ a, a three-syllabled one<br />
kartarī, a mantra with four <strong>to</strong> nine syllables bīja, with<br />
ten <strong>to</strong> twenty syllables mantra, and mantra, with more<br />
than twenty syllables malā. Commonly, however, the<br />
term bīja is applied <strong>to</strong> monosyllabic mantra. The Tāntrik<br />
mantras called bīja (seed) are so named because they<br />
are the seed of the fruit, which is siddhi, and because<br />
1 See Sāradā-tilaka (chap. ii); Nārada-pāñca-rātra (chap. vii), the Prayogasāra<br />
and Prāṇa-<strong>to</strong>ṣini, (p. 70). If it be asked why formless things of mind<br />
are given sex, the answer is for the sake of the requirements of the worshipper.