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Among the many spiritual traditions born and developed in India, Tantra has been the most difficult to define. Almost everything about it—its major characteristics, its sources, its relationships to other religions, even its practices—are debated among scholars. In addition, Tantrism is not confined to any particular religion, but is a set of beliefs and practices that appears in a variety of religions, including Hinduism and Buddhism. This book explores one of the most controversial aspects of Tantra, its sources or roots, specifically in regard to Hinduism. The essays focus on the history and development of Tantra, the art history and archaeology of Tantra, the Vedas and Tantra, and texts and Tantra. Using various disciplinary and methodological approaches, from history to art history and religious studies to textual studies, scholars provide both broad overviews of the beginnings of Tantra and detailed analyses of specific texts, authors, art works, and rituals.
List of Illustrations

Preface
Katherine Anne Harper

Introduction
Robert L. Brown

PART I: Overviews

1. What Do We Mean by Tantrism?
André Padoux

2. Early Evidence for Tantric Religion
David N. Lorenzen

PART II: The History and Development of Tantra

3. Historical and Iconographic Aspects of Sakta Tantrism
M. C. Joshi

4. Auspicious Fragments and Uncertain Wisdom: The Roots of Srividya Sakta Tantrism in South India
Douglas Renfrew Brooks

5. The Structural Interplay of Tantra, Vedanta, and Bhakti: Nondualist Commentary on the Goddess
Thomas B. Coburn

PART III: The Art History and Archaeology of Tantra

6. The Spinal Serpent
Thomas McEvilley

7. The Warring Saktis: A Paradigm for Gupta Conquests
Katherine Anne Harper

8. Early Evidence of the Pancaratra Agama
Dennis Hudson

PART IV: The Vedas and Tantra

9. Imagery of the Self from Veda to Tantra
Teun Goudriaan

10. Tongues of Flame: Homologies in the Tantric Homa
Richard K. Payne

PART V: The Texts and Tantra

11. Becoming Bhairava: Meditative Vision in Abhinavagupta's Paratrisika-laghuvrtti
Paul E. Muller-Ortega

12. Tantric Incantation in the Devi Purana: The Padamala Mantra Vidya
Lina Gupta

List of Contributors
Glossary
Index

Sujets

Archaeology

East Asian religions

Hinduism

Informations

Publié par	State University of New York Press
Date de parution	01 février 2012
Nombre de lectures	1
EAN13	9780791488904
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	3 Mo

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Extrait

The Roots of Tantra

SUNY Series in Tantric Studies
Paul E. Muller-Ortega and
Douglas Renfew Brooks, editors

The Roots of Tantra

Edited by
Katherine Anne Harper
and Robert L. Brown

State University of New York Press

Published by
State University of New York Press, Albany

2002 State University of New York

Printed in the United States of America

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever
without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system
or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic,
electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise
without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.

For information, address State University of New York Press,
90 State Street, Suite 700, Albany, NY 12207

Production by Dana Foote
Marketing by Patrick Durocher

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

The roots of Tantra / edited by Katherine Anne Harper and Robert L. Brown.
p. cm.—(SUNY series in tantric studies)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-7914-5305-7 (alk. paper)—ISBN 0-7914-5306-5 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Tantrism—History. I. Harper, Katherine Anne. II. Brown, Robert L., 1944 Oct. 6–
III. Series.

BL1283.83 .R66 2002
294.5′514—dc21
2001054184

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

List of Illustrations

CONTENTS

Preface by Katherine Anne Harper

Introduction by Robert L. Brown

PI
OVERVIEWS

1. WhatDo We Mean by Tantrism?
Andr´ Padoux

2. EarlyEvidence for Tantric Religion
David N. Lorenzen

PII
THE HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF TANTRA

´
3.Historical and Iconographic Aspects of S¯akta Tantrism
M. C. Joshi

4. AuspiciousFragments and Uncertain Wisdom: The Roots of
´ ´
Srı¯vidyaSa¯kta Tantrism in South India
Douglas Renfrew Brooks

5.The Structural Interplay of Tantra, Ved¯anta, and Bhakti:
Nondualist Commentary on the Goddess
Thomas B. Coburn

PIII
THE ART HISTORY AND ARCHAEOLOGY OF TANTRA

6. TheSpinal Serpent
Thomas McEvilley

vii

Contents

´
7. TheWarring Saktis: A Paradigm for Gupta Conquests
Katherine Anne Harper

¯
8. EarlyEvidence of thegAmaar a¯aPatr¯ca˜n
Dennis Hudson

PIV
THE VEDAS AND TANTRA

9. Imageryof the Self from Veda to Tantra
Teun Goudriaan

10. Tonguesof Flame: Homologies in the Tantric Homa
Richard K. Payne

PV
THE TEXTS AND TANTRA

11. BecomingBhairava: Meditative Vision in Abhinavagupta’s
Par¯atrı¯s´ika¯-laghuv¸rtti
Paul E. Muller-Ortega

12. TantricIncantation in theı¯P Dve¯aur¸na:
The Padama¯la¯ Mantra Vidy¯a
Lina Gupta

List of Contributors

Glossary

Index

115

133

171

193

213

231

251

255

257

ILLUSTRATIONS

Cover:A. P. Gajjar,Yoniand Lingam,1975. (Private collection)

1. Buddhaﬂanked by skull tappers. Gandhara, Pakistan. Ca.
ﬁrstsecond century..(Courtesy of The Russek Collection)

2. Stonedisk with Mother Goddesses. Patna, Bihar. Third century
...(Courtesy of the Archaeological Survey of India)

3. RingStone with relief of a Mother Goddess. Ropar, Punjab. Third
century...(Courtesy of the Archaeological Survey of India)

4. Steatitestone tablet. Rajgir, Punjab. Third century...(Courtesy
of the Archaeological Survey of India)

5. AnantasayinVis¸ ¸nu inyoganidra.Bhitargaon. Fifth to sixth century
..(Courtesy of the Archaeological Survey of India)

´
6.Sr¯ıyantra

7.alK¯ayı¯artn

8. IndusValley seal impression Mohenjo-Daro, showing motif of
symmetrically ﬂanking goats with feet on central tree and
mountain. (Courtesy of the Archaeological Survey of India)

9. Summeriancylinder seal showing symmetrically ﬂanking goats
with hooves on tree and/or mountain. Uruk Period. (Line drawing
courtesy of Joyce Burstein)

10. IndusValley seal impression showing dompteur motif.
MohenjoDaro. (Courtesy of the Archaeological Survey of India)

11. Achaemenianseal showing Sumerian dompteur motif with central
male ﬁgure ﬂanked by griffenlike composite monsters. (Courtesy of
The Morgan Library)

12. IndusValley painted potsherd showing lion attacking bull.
Mohenjo-Daro. (Courtesy of Arthur Probsthain Publisher)

vii

100

101

102

viii

Illustrations

13. Sumeriancylinder seal impression showing lion attacking bull from
behind. Uruk period, ca. 3000...(Line drawing courtesy of
Joyce Burstein)

14. IndusValley seal impression showing a goddess in a tree with a
bull god and seven vegetation spirits. Mohenjo-Daro. (Courtesy of
the Archaeological Survey of India)

15. Sumeriancylinder seal impression showing a goddess in a tree with
a horned god. Third millennium...(Line drawing courtesy of
Joyce Burstein)

16. Babylonianseal showing entwined serpent pair homologized to
human body. ca. 2000...(Courtesy of Princeton University
Press)

17. IndusValley seal impression. (Courtesy of the Archaeological
Survey of India)

18.lu¯Mh¯ndba¯aa.anas(Digital art courtesy of Joyce Burstein)

19.goYsa¯a Vnanaignademonstrated by Shirendra Brahmachari.
(Courtesy of Probashi Publishing Company)

20. Australianaboriginal ritual view. (Couretsy of International
University Press)

21.Saptama¯t¸i,irho BUd. agayaC f4 evireto roanel. Exrk¯a PylE raap.l
ﬁfth century..(Photograph by Katherine Anne Harper)

22.Detail of emblematic banners, Saptam¯at¸ a¯kenaPE .lretxofior r
Cave 4, Udayagiri, Bhopal. Early ﬁfth century..(Photgraph by
Katherine Anne Harper)

23.Saptama¯t¸kra¯raylExterior Panel. yadU ,6 evaC fo El.paho Bi,irag
ﬁfth century..(Photography by Katherine Anne Harper)

24.Detail of emblematic banners, Saptam¯atr¸vef Ca P¯akxE .lenao roiret
6, Udayagiri, Bhopal. Early ﬁfth century..(Photograph by
Katherine Anne Harper)

25.Detail of emblematic banners, Saptama¯tr¸ve oorCaf Ex. riteP a¯lenak
6, Udayagiri, Bhopal. Early ﬁfth century..(Photograph by
Katherine Anne Harper)

102

103

105

106

107

108

109

120

121

122

PREFACE

The study of Tantrism as a specialized academic ﬁeld has been a relatively recent
phenomenon, perhaps stretching over only the last three or four decades; and, in
the last few years, specialized studies dedicated to this often misunderstood subject
have been published and received with increasing enthusiasm. This book is an
initial study addressing origins in that it attempts to seek out and understand some
of the nascent forms and sources of Tantrism in ancient India. The volume grew
out of two conferences held in the greater Los Angeles area in October 1989 and
March 1995 that were devoted speciﬁcally to ﬂeshing out the meager evidence on
early Tantrism. It is a matter of great satisfaction that so many scholars have
worked to address questions concerning the origins and have shaped careful and
detailed responses, particularly given the paucity of material remnants, both
archaeological and textual, known at this time. The reader will encounter various
approaches to the general topic concerning roots and origins; the diversity is the
result of speciﬁc disciplines and backgrounds, each scholar bringing unique
insights to the general topic. By no means does this volume attempt to be
comprehensive; the problems involved in uncovering inchoate elements giving rise to
Tantrism and its early manifestations are far too broad to be bound in a single
volume. What we hope to accomplish is to pose a body of new questions and
stimulate new dialogue and research in the ﬁeld of Tantric studies.
The editors wish to thank the many participants for their excellent
contributions and their great patience. In addition, we would like to thank the Society
for Tantric Studies, Loyola Marymount University and the University of
California at Los Angeles for various forms of support along the way.
—Katherine Anne Harper

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Introduction
Robert L. Brown

´
Stella’s personal spiritual teacher was a wandering Saivite Tantric monk
who belonged to the Aghori orders . . . He tested her through a drastic
´
Saiva experience in which she was to follow him to the Kalighat temple,
where he had her ascend a funeral pyre and sit on a corpse that was
about to be cremated. . . . Then he told her to gather the ashes, take
them home, and rub them on her body.
—Barbara Stoler Miller,Exploring India’s Sacred Art

Barbara Miller describes an experience in the life of Stella Kramrisch that took
place sometime in the 1920s or 1930s in Calcutta. A pioneer in Indian art history,
´
her volumes on the Hindu temple and studies of Siva have deﬁned the ﬁeld. Miller
goes on to say, “Throughout the entire happening she [Stella] had implicit faith in
its validity as a ritual that conﬁrmed her in her fearlessness and let her understand
1
life with a lightened heart.”I bring up this incident because it appears rather
outside the bounds of Tantric research and scholarship. It is so highly idiosyncratic
2
and unusualthat it causes one to wonder if it actually happened. It ﬁts, however,
with the individualistic and personalized nature of Tantric practices. No one
would ﬁnd it hard to identify the episode as Tantric, despite difﬁculty in
associating it with a speciﬁc ritual or text. What Kramrisch derived from the experience
was a sense of power and a feeling of well-being, both Tantric goals.
Almost every study of Tantrism begins by apologizing. Scholars say it is little
understood, that it cannot be easily or precisely deﬁned and that it lacks a coherent
structure. Andr´ Padoux in his article in this volume (What do we Mean by
Tantrism?) outlines some of what makes deﬁning Tantrism so difﬁcult. First, it is a
term, in fact a notion, that is Western. It is not a concept that comes from within
the religious system itself, although it is generally recognized internally as different
from the Vedic tradition. This immediately makes it suspect as an independent
category.
Second, Tantris