Kashmir Tantrism - 2 (Mahanirvana Tantra )

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Kashmir Tantrism

by Justice Shiva Nath Katju

The Mahanirvana Tantra is one of the Agamas which are ranked with the shrutis. Agamas are in the form of a dialogue between Shiva and Parvati. The latter questions and Shiva replies. In Nigamas Shiva questions and Parvati answers. In other Tantras such as Damaras and Yamalas only Shiva speaks, there being no conversaton between Him and Parvati. There are several Upa-Tantras and commentary on the Mul Tantras by Rishis and savants.

The Mahanirvana Tantra has a dramatic opening, Parviti says

The Devi said : "At present Kaliyuga holds sway and causes the destruction of Dharma and prompts people to commit wicked deeds, immoral and false acts. Now influence of Vedas has gone, Smrites have also been drowned in forgetfulness and the names of various Puranas which are full of history and point to various paths will not remain known and consequently the people will turn against virtuous acts. The people of Kali will become rudderless, vain, full of Sin, voluptuous, greedy, cruel without feelings of pity and will become haughty and accustomed to using unkind words. The people of Kaliyuga will keep company of low persons, will try to acquire the wealth of others, speak ill of others, act viscously and will become wicked. In trying to forcefully get another's wife these people will have no fear of sin. These persons will always remain poor, dirty and diseased. The Brahmins will not perform the daily Sandhya and will act like Shudras. Prompted by greed they will try to earn their living by performing forbidden acts and commit sins. They will be liars wicked persons vain, have evil tendancies and sell their daughters and will be opposed to tapas and vrat. They will flout the rubes with regard to eating and drinking and will always denounce the Shastras and virtuous men. 0 ! Lord of jagat, who among these people will read stotras and understand yantras and under the Kaliyuga perform Purashacharans. Men of Kaliyuga will be of very evil tendencies and will be sinful persons. How will they be reduced?" Sadashiva replied:- "Devi, you are blessed, merciful and kind and you are the well wisher of people of Kaliyuga. Whatever you have said about me is true". Then Sadashiva revealed the forms of worship which leads to liberation from bondage.

Tantra shastra has a wide connotation and it covers the Panchadeva upasana which came into vogue after the Mahabharata war with the start of Kaliyuga. The Pancha-devas are Ganesh, Vishnu, Surya. Shiva and Devi and there are separate sets of Agamas for each of them. Thus there are Ganpatya, Vaishnava, Saura, Shaiva and Shakta Agamas. In popular parlance Tantriks are supposed to be those who are worshippers of Shakti (Devi). Shakti is never worshipped alone. Every aspect of Shakti has Her Bhairava and both are worshipped together. Every Mahavidya has Her corresponding Bhairava. The same is the case With the Kul-devis of Kashmiri Brahmins. Ragnya's Bhairava is Bhuteshwar, Sharika's Bhairava is Vemdeva, Jwala's Bhairava is Mahadeva and Bala Tripura Sundari's Bhairava is Karneshwar. Similarly Shaiva's cannot ignore the consort of Shiva- the Devi and Shaiva and Shakta Upasana cannot be separated.

There are two broad forms of Shakta worship viz the Sbri Kul and Kali Kul. Kularnava Tantra is the authoritative Agam for Shri Kul and the Mahanirvana Tantra for Kali Kul. The Sammohan Tantra (Chap. VI) mentions 64 Tantras, 327 Upatantras, and several yamalas, Damaras, Samhitas and other scriptures of the Shaktas and 32 Tantras, 125 Upatantras and Yamalas, Damaras and other scriptures of Shaivas. The number of known Tantras is much less than the number mentioned and they have been either withdrawan or lost.

The question is raised as to the value and worth of the teachings of Agamas. It is answered by Sir John Woodroffe in the following words:

"In the first place there must be a healthy physical and moral life. To know a thing in its ultimate sense is to be that thing. To know Brahman, is according to Advaita, to be Brahman........... But to attain and keep this state as well as progress therein certain specific means, practices, rituals or disciplines are necessary. The result annot be got by mere philosophical talk about Brahman. Religion is practical activity. Just as the body requires exercise, training and gymnastic, so does the mind. The means employed are called sadhana. Sadhana is that which leads to Siddhi. Sadhana is development of Shakti. Man is a vast magazine of both latent and expressed power. The object of Sadhana is to develop man's Shakti, whether for temporal or spiritual purposes. But where is Sadhana to be found. Seeing that the Vaidika Achara has fallen into practical desuetude we can find nowhere but in the Agamas and in the Puranas which are replete with Tantrik rituals."

The sway of Tantra Shastra after the Mahabharata war extended beyond the frontiers of India and included Iran, Afghanistan, Tibet, Burma and nearly south eastern Asian countries and Tantrik literature divided them into three zones viz Vishnukranta, Ratha Kanta and Ashwa Kranta. The North eastern zone camo under Vishnu Krant, North western zone under Ratha Kranta and Southern zone under Ashwa Kranta. The dividing point of the aforesaid division was the eastern end of the Vindhvas. The three Krarnas (schools) of Tantrik Sadhana prevailed in each of the aforesaid zones viz Kashmir Krama in Rath Krant; Bang or Gaur Krama in Vishnu Krant and Kerala Krama in Ashwa Krant. The Shakti-Sangam Tantra speaks of the aforesaid three schools:

Eighteen regions of North East beginning from Nepal and going upto Orissa come under the sway of Gaur school; Nineteen regions from Aryavarta upto the seas come under Kerala Krama and the Kashmir Krama. Kashmir occupied remaining eighteen come under a prominent place in the field of Tantrik worship during the past Mahabharata period. Its scholars and savants were treated as authorities for the Kashmir Krama in the regions North-West of the Vindhyas. As in the parts of India there were votaries of Vishnu, Ganesh an Surya, so were they in Kashmir also but Shiva Shakti worship had a place of its own in Kashmir.

It was in Kashmir that the Adi - Shankaracharya realized the full impact of Shakti. There is controversy with regard to the age of Adi Shankaracharya. According to one view he was born in 740 A.D. while according to the Kanchi Math history the year of his birth is said to be 509 B.C. The present Shankaracharya of Kanchi Math, Jagatguru Shrimad Chandra Shekhar Sarswati Maharaj, the greatest savant of present day India, is sixty eighth in line of spiritual descent from the Adi Shankaracharya. The Kanchi records give the chronological table in the of all the Shankaracharyas of Kanchi Math together with names and dates of assumption of office by them. In spiritual descent, on an average there are usually three holders of the office in a century. Very often a holder of office takes a boy disciple in the later period of his life and the successor if he does not meet a premature death may continue in the seat of his office for a long span of years. Among the Shankaracharyas of Kanchi Math as many as 11 Shankaracharyas including the present one have held their office for more than 60 years. Out of them the second Shankaracharya presided over the Math for 70 years, the fourth for 96 years, the sixth for 81 years, the eighth for 83 years and the fifty - third for 81 years. The present Shankaracharya has been holding his office for 68 years.

The Adi Shankaracharya dividing the country into four zones founded four Maths; Jyotir Math at Joshimath near Almora district of U. P. ; Govardhan at Puri (Orissa), Sharda at Dwarka (Saurashtra) and Shringeri in south. After installing his disciples in each of these Maths, who were also called Shankaracharyas, the Adi Shankaracharya retired to Kanchi where also be had a Math, the fifth, and another disciple of the Adi Shankaracharya became the Shankaracharya of the Kanchi Math. The Kanchi parampara also finds support from the history of the Gaudapadacharya Math or Kaivalya Math now called the Kavale Math of Saraswat Brahmins. It was founded by Swami Vivarnananda at the same time when the Adi Shankaracharya founded his Maths. Sri Gaudapadacharya's disciple was Shri Govindacharya. The latter had two disciples the Adi Shankaracharya and Swami Vivarnananda. The headquarter of the Kavale Math is near the city of Goa and the present head of the Math Shrimad Sacchidananda Sarasawati Maharaj is seventy-sixth in line of descent from Swami Vivarnananda. There is no reason to doubt the authenticity of Kanchi records which give the date of Shri Shankar's (Adi Shankaracharyas) birth as 2593th year of Kaliyuga era which corresponds to 509 B. C. The aforesaid date of Shri Shankar's birth is also supported by some Jain compositions and the "Brihat Shankara Vijaya" by Shri Chitsukhacharya who was also a disciple of the Adi Shankaracharya. It would appeal that the Maths founded by the Adi Shankaracharya and the Kavale Math are the oldest monastic institutions in India. All the aforesaid Shri Shankara Maths have Shri Yantras installed therein and the worship of Shri Yantras is performed according to Tantrik rites as prescribed by the Parashuram Kalpa Sutra.

Kashmir was the centre of Tantrik as also of Sanskrit learning when the Adi Shankaracharya visited Kashmir. Perhaps the Sanskrit University in Kashmir in those days was located near the shrine of Shardaji near the banks of Krishna Ganga-now in Pakistan occupied Kashmir. The Saraswat Brahmins who left their homeland more than two thousand years back and settled in Saurashtra, Maharashtra, Gujrat, Karnataka and Kerala, have a tradition that their homeland was Kashmir. They hold Sharda Devi in great veneration. I visited the Sharda Devi shrine alongwith my late grand father-in-law, Dr. Balkrishna Kaul in the summer of 1935. My late wife Girija and members of Dr. Kaul's family were in the party. The shrine is located on a hill top like the shrine of Jwalaji. The steps leading to the top of the hill appeared to be twisted as if they had been battered by an earthquake. The question as to when did the University township cease to exist requires investigation. It was in the Shrine itself that I first met the late Pandit Shridhar joo Dhar who had become my guide and philosopher in the closing years of his life. He was the greatest living Shakta Sadhak of his days and his death last year was a great loss to the Tantrik World.

Swami Vivarnananda, founder of the Kavale Math was a Saraswat and very likely a Kashmiri Brahmin. Even in Adi Shankaracharya's times the sway of Kashmir School had extended to far south. The famous temple of Kanya Kumari is a gift of Kashmir Krama to the country. The rites performed in the temple are in accordance with the Kashmir Krama.

Hindusim, as it emerged after the carnage of the Mahabharata war, has the fullest impress of Tantras on it. In the words of Shri Aurobindo modern Hinduism is ninety percent Tantrik. It influenced Jainism and Buddhism also and there are Jain and Buddhist Tantras. Gautam Buddha denounced the Vedas and also the Tantriks. There are any number of Buddhist Jataks in which the Tantrik Brahmins are badly criticised. It appears that by that time some degenerate Tantrik Cults had come up and so-called Tantrik widely practised black magic and indulged in drinking, womanising and senseless animal killing. That led to a reaction in society and genuine Tantrik Sadheks retired in their shells. What happened then is happening even now. We hear of miracle performing Tantriks whose services are openly offered to those who pay handsomely. One also heals of weird rites performed by Tantriks or persons belonging to so-called Tantrik cults where sex plays a part and all sorts of immoral acts are performed. Such cults are not peculiar to India. They are also to be found to a larger extent, in Europe, America and other countries of the world. There are groups and societies in Europe and America which worship Satan calling him by his old name Lucifer and in their rites every accepted norm of decent behaviour is flouted. The truth of Shastrik way has to be judged by what it lays down and not by what is twisted or degenerate aspects show. Sir John Woodroffe says:

"I refer to the well known division of worshippers into Dakshinachara and Vamachara. The secret sadhana of some of the latter (which I may say here is not usually understood) has acquired such notoriety that to most the term "the Tantra" connotes this particular worship and its abuses and nothing more. I may here also observe that it is a mistake to suppose that aberrations in doctrine and practice are peculiar to India. The west has produced many a doctrine, and practice of an antinomian character. Some of the most extreme are to be found there. Moreover, though this does not seem to be recognised, it is never-the-less the fact that these Kauli rites are philosophically based on monistic doctrine. Now, it is this Kaula doctrine and practice, limited probably, as being a secret doctrine, at all time to comparatively few, which has come to be known as " the Tantra Nothing is more incorrect.............

Here I shortly deal with the significance of the Tantra Shastra which is of course also misunderstood, being generally spoken of as a jumble of "black magic," and "erotic mysticism," cemented together by a ritual which is "meaningless mummery". A large number of persons who talk in this strain have never had a Tantra in their hands, and such orientalists, as have read some portions of these scriptures, have not generally understood them, otherwise they would not have found them meaningless. They may be bad or they may be good, but they have a meaning. Men are not such fools as to believe for ages what is meaningless. The use of this term implies that their contents had no meaning to them. Very likely; for to define as they do, Mantra as "mystical words", Mudra as "mystical gesture" and yantra as "mystical diagrams", does not imply knowledge. These erroneous notions as to the nature of Agama are of course due to the mistaken identification of the whole body of the scripture with one section of it. (Viz. Vamachara doctrine and practice). Further this last is only known through the abuses to which its dangerous practices, as carried out by inferior persons have given rise. It is stated in the Shastra itself in which they are prescribed that the path is full of difficulty and peril and he who fails upon it goes to hell. That there are those who have so failed, and others who have been guilty of evil magic, is well known."

The Sadhana of Shiva - Shakti in Tantra Shastra is graded. Initially it has two forms viz general and special. The general form is open to all. People read from scriptures, recite stotras, go to shrines and ship the deity according to Panchopachar rites or shodashopachar rites. In Kashmir the people recite the stotras of Ragnya, Sharika, Jwala, Bala, Shiva, Ganesh, Vishnu, etc. and offer worship at their shrines. They perform the rites peculiar to the Kashmiri Brahmans, such as Herat during Shivaratri, Pan for Lakshmi and worship Vatuk Bhairava on Khecher Mavas day besides performing the rites and rituals which are common among the Hindus. All these come within the category of general worship. Only after initiation in the mantra of any Devata or Devi the form of worship becomes different and acquires a special character. The aforesaid grades are described as follows in Kul Pradeep:

They are Vedachar, Vaishnavachar, Shaivachar Dakshinachar, Vamachar, Siddhantachar, and Kaulachar in order of their graded superiority, Kaulachar being superior to all. There is nothing above Kaulachar. It is most secret and subtle and this only is the Sakshat Param tatwa which travelling from ear to ear remains always".

The aforesaid first four are paths of Pravrithi and the rest from Vamachar onwards lead to Nivritti. In the first four the practitioner is in Pashubhava and from Vamachar and onwards he assumes the Veerabhava. In Vamachar worship the five makars are used viz meat, wine, fish, fried cereal and communion between man and woman. It is the use of the five makars by the shakta sadhaks which has been subjected to criticism since long as has been mentioned by Sir John Woodraffe. The shakta practioners have never shown any anxiety to meet ignorant criticism because they were always anxious to keep their highly powerful mode of worship a close secret. The veerabhava is not meant for all. It is Raj Vidya, princely knowledge Guhya Vidya, secret knowledge which is meant only for the elite, the select few. It is full of dangers and pitfalls and even Yogins cannot easily be admitted into its secrets.

Only that person is admitted in Veerachar who has sufficient self-discipline and control over his body and senses and who would not be tempted to misuse his powers. Such misuse leads to the cultivation of Siddhis and black magic and hinders spiritual progress. The person who is qualified to handle this highly potent sadhana should be free from avarice and blind to the wealth of others, impotent for women other than his wife, dumb in talking ill of others, and should have mastery over his senses. Only such a person can safely handle the stages of Sadhna from Vamachar to Kaulachar.

There is nothing obnoxious in meat, fish and fried cereal. The Kashmiri Brahmins freely use meat and fish in 'Herat Puja', on the occasion of 'Khechir Mawas' and these are used during the Navaratras by those whose Kul Devis are Sharika and Jwala and in Shradhapuja for a departed person. Most of Kashmiri Brahmins are non-vegetarians and meat and fish form part of their diet. Wine taken in measured dose is tonic and medicine but its misuse is disastrous. There are strict injunctions of the shastra that wine should be taken only in the course of sadhana and in a restricted manner. The practice of shakta sadhana in its upper reaches awakens the dormant centres of energy in the body and raises ferment in it. During such phases the use of wine, meat, and fish becomes necessary to suitain the body lest it should break. Further, the Tantrik practioner uses the very things which rouse sense and passion in order to subdue them. Poison is used to eliminate the poison itself. The Kularnava Tantra says:

As for the last M, it symbolises the cosmic process of creation. It is the adaptation of the sansl~ar of the Hindus - the Garbhadana Sanskar. The Mahanirvana Tantra makes the emphatic assertion that in the "fifth tatwa" the participant should only be a Swakiya, the lawfully wedded wife and no one else;

0 Consort of Shiva ! in this strong Kaliyuga which has an enervating effect, for the remaining fifth tatwa viz 'maithun', only the lawfully wedded wife should be made the participant as she alone is free from all blemishes. [ Mahanirvana Tantra Chap. VI- 14 ]

The Veerachar Sadhana and the subsequent stages leading to Kaulachar can only be safely performed by a householder. In such worship it is necessary for the practitioner to have a female partner as his shakti and the wife is the safest shakti. Solo efforts in shakti worship are always fraught with risks and dangers. Wife as shakti acts as a shock absorber and safety valve and provides a shield against adverse currents which often come in his way besides helping him in his sadhana. But Shakti worship with another woman who is not the wife - a parkiya -is Fraucht with great dangers which may unhinge the practioner's mind or may even prove fatal. It may be frankly stated that the worship involving sex union with wife is always in privacy of the two and any suggestion that such acts are indulged in groups is patently absurd and needs no comment.

Lastly, the sadhak arrives in the Divya Bhava where he no longer needs the use of meat, wine etc. and the crutches of makars are discarded. Non-vegetarian diet is no longer necessary. Sex union with his shakti assumes the shape of cosmic union that takes place when the Kundalini rising from her seat in the base of the spine, the four petalled Muladhar Chakra, goes up piercing the upper Chakras viz Swadhishthan Manipur, Anahat, Visshudba, and Agya and meets her Lord in the uppermost thousand-petalled chakra, the Sahsrar. The union of the two symbolises the setting into motion the creative process in the universe. The practitioner, and such exalted sadhaks are few, reaches the top of the Everest in his spiritual climb and becomes a Kaul, an Aghoreshwara. He has burnt all his Karmic bonds, there is no death or rebirth for him, neither Mangal or Amangal, nor pain or pleasure. While he is in his mortal body he is a Shiva and when he leaves his body he remains on the astral plane as long as he likes having become a sun of a solar system of his own. He carries on his wishes from the astral plane through the medium of other persons. The shastra is full of praise for Kaulas. The line of such Kaulas has continued unbroken in Kashmir since times immemorial and they along with the few advanced Sadhaks have been directing the Kashmir Krama while the people in general carried on their general Kulapuja.

The Kashmiri Brahmans who are the only remnant left of the Hindus of Kashmir, the rest having been converted to Islam, have shown an amazing tenacity in sticking to their Vedic and Tantrik heritage. Their shakha is Kath and their veda is Krishna Yajurveda. Their grihya sutra which controls their rituals is Laughakshi, which certainly goes back prior to the Mahabharata era. I doubt if there is any other section of the Hindu community in India which has kept up its Vedic and Tantrik heritage in all its purity unaffected by the tidal waves of Jainism, Buddhism and the later equally strong Vaishnava movements led by Rarnanujacharya, Ramanand, Madhavacharya, Vallabhacharya and Nimbarkacharya. Some individuals might have been influenced by the teaching of the aforesaid Acharyas but the community as a whole firmly stuck to its old moorings.

Buddhism made a great impact in Kashmir during and after the period of Emperor Ashok but he last ditchers among the community stuck to their guns and remained steadfast.

For nearly 300 years beginning from the IX century A. D. till the commencement of XI century A.D. Kashmir remained under the spell of the brilliant sages and savants who propounded the Kashmir Shaivism and Trika Shastra. Their unbroken chain beginning from Shri Kantha and followed by Vasugupta, Kallata, Somananda, Utpalacharya, Lakshmana, Abhinavagupta, Khsemraja and Yogaraja raised Kashmir Shaivism to sublime heights. After the Adi Shankaracharya, no other sage or savant occupies such a dazzling place of honour among the Hindus than Mahamaheshwara Abhinavagupta.

Sir John Woodroffe says:

"Unsurpassed for its profound analysis is the account of the thirty - six Tattwas or stages of cosmic Evolution (accepted by both Shaivas and Shaktas) given by the Northern Shaiva School of the Agama.........."

"In fact Shakta literature is in parts unintelligible to one unacquainted with some features of what is called the Shaiva Darshan."

The Trika Shastra also lays down the practical forms of Sadhana. While the culminating points in Shakta Sadhana and the Trika Sadhana are the same but the starting points are different. For a Shakta Kashmiri Brahmin his form of Sadhana is well chalked out in the Prescribed forms of worship of Ragnya, Sharika, Jwala etc. but the Sadhana mentioned in the Malinivijayottara Tantra (which lays down the Trika Sadhana) is different though there are common points. I have considered the aspects of Shaiva Darshana and Trika Shastra as also the forms of Shiva-Shakti worship at some length in my Review of the Biography of Bhagwan Gopi Nath ji of Kashmir and in a letter which I wrote to Swami Lakshman ji Maharaj, the famous Shaiva philosopher of Kashmir, which have been published in the form of a booklet.

I have tried to avoid repetition of what I have said in my "Review" and in my letter to Swamiji. But the teachings of Shaiva Darshan and Trika have raised a conflict among the Kashmiris whether, particularly in their special Sadhana, they should follow their old traditional path or giving up their Ragnya, Sharika and jwala, should follow the path as prescribed by Trika Shastra. Swami Lakshman ji Maharaj has yet to answer this question.

The advent of Islam in Kashmir wiped off the Hindus leaving only 11 families, some say 9. It is a tribute to their amazing tenacity that the few who remained blossomed again. They had occasional periods of respite particularly in the reign of Zainul-Ab-din and in phases after the Moghul conquest of Kashmir. Their plight worsened again during the Pathan rule and then improved again during the Sikh and Dogra regimes. Now again they are in low waters. Their economic condition is bad and they are facing unemployment. The younger generation, though highly educated has lost its religious moorings and has become rudderless. Kashmir is no longer the famous seat of Sanskrit learning as it was in former days. There is no Sanskrit Department in the Kashmir University. Members of our priestly class who are our traditional teachers and custodian of our religious and cultural heritage are leaving their vocations and their children are taking to other professions. The perennial source of ancient Kashmir-Krama seem to have dried up. This has caused grave concern to shaktas all over India. The weakening of the Kashmir Krama is creating a great imbalance in Shakta worship. Sometimes back the matter was considered by the executive committee of the All-India Shakta sammelan and it expressed its serious anxiety over the prevailing conditions in Kashmir, and I as the president of the Sammelan was asked to go to Kashmir and assess the situation. I have been to Kashmir several times during the last five years and even though what I have seen has pained me but I have not lost hope. Things could not be worse than what they were when we were only 9 or 11 families left. Then we rose as if from ashes. I have not met initiates in our Kaul Sadhana besides a very few. But there are quite a number of eminent Sanskrit scholars. It is indeed a matter of regret that nearly 4000 Sanskrit manuscripts pertaining or Shakta worship and Shaiva Darshan were lying uncatalogued in some almirahs of the Research Department and Archives in Srinagar. I wrote about them to the Government of Jammu & Kashmir as also to the Union Government. Now they have been removed and handed over to the Kashmir University, which does not have a Sanskrit department. I do not know how the Kashmir University proposes to deal with them.

Tantricism and Kaulachar in Kashmir, having a hoary past, has gone on, facing ups and downs and will continue to go on. A letter which I received from late Pandit Shridhar Joo Dhar is instructive and interesting. It runs thus.

What is Mantra

Guru is a guide who can understand all one's problems and suggest Mantras with the help of which one could get rid of all problems.

Mantra is a divine combination of divine syllables or sounds which when chanted with devotion,faith and emotion gravitate the concerned God or Goddess or deity and secure their divine blessings. For divine help one must link with divine forces but majority of humans are unaware of these forces and have no link whatsoever. But when an individual starts chanting Mantra related to a particular deity regularly the gap between him and the concerned divine force steadily decreases. By regular use of Mantra a subtle link is formed and through this one could then obtain any desired boon within the power of the deity. One could obtain wealth, prosperity, fame, fearlessness, success and spiritual upliftment, but for each a different Mantra is chanted and a different deity propitiated.

A Mantra is a special set of words through only that particular deity could be summoned. If I write or speak in Chinese you won't be able to understand and my words will not produce any effect. But if I speak the language you know its effect shall be with doubt. Praying to these deities in one's language won't help much but if one uses the words that they can understand the result shall be instant.

These words are the Mantras evolved by Rishis and Yogis who actually prepared them and used them to prove their worth. Over the ages these have helped thousands of Sadhaks achieve even that which appeared impossible to them. Within doubt that whose chanting fulfils one's wish is a Mantra.