Hinduism: A Short History (45 page)

21–28; 90–96;

I, 11–12.

and

contain many materials too.

42.

   Thus the Devī-māhātmya of the

, is almost certainly interpolated into a text that originally had nothing to do with Śāktism and which is the main source for Devī-pūjā.

43.

   R. C. Hazra, “The Upapurāṇas,” in

, vol. II, pp. 280f.

44.

   The

consists of chaps. 81 to 93 of the

(sixth century C.E.). It has been edited separately many times; English translation (with Sanskrit text and notes) by Swāmi Jagadisvar-ananda.

45.

   Cf. R. C. Hazra,

, pp. 19f;

V, 1–19;

17–20. For translation of major passages, see W. D. O’Flaherty,

, pp. 238–249.

46.

   The buffalo sacrifice features prominently in village rituals (cf. H. Whitehead,

.

47.

I, 12ff.

48.

   Ibid., II, 21–27.

49.

   Ibid., Ill, 34.

50.

, 1–19.

51.

   Ibid., V, 20; III, 1f. describes a vision of Devī in her Dvīpa. Ibid., X, 2: Devī in the Vindhyās.

52.

V, Iff.;

V, 30f.

53.

V, 14–80.

54.

   Ibid., vv. 101ff.

55.

   Ibid., VII, 2ff.

56.

   Ibid., VIII, 8–11.

57.

   Ibid., v. 23.

58.

   Ibid., VIII, 52.

59.

   Ibid., X, 28–32.

60.

   Ibid., v. 27: the bell is invoked as a means to protect from all evil.

61.

   Ibid., vv. 4–6.

62.

   Ibid., vv. 20–30.

63.

, chap. 38. A highly interesting study of one of these goddesses is provided by Pratyapaditya Pal in his article “The Pilgrimage of Nanda,”

XXXII/2 (1989) pp. 112–141.

64.

, Umāsaṃhita 28–45 (Umā’s

Rudrasāṃhitā 14ff.

, passim.

65.

X, 4–8. “The name ‘Mothers’ had apparently to do with the placing of children on the laps or by the side of these mother-goddesses, who were virtually looked upon as the guardian angels of small children. The Mahāyāna deity Hārītī ... had a similar figure and function. She had ectypes in Manasā, the serpent goddess and also Śītalā, the goddess of smallpox who begins to figure towards the end of this period in temples in Kathiawad and Gujarat (Sejakpur and Sunak). Later on the goddess Saṣṭī took over this protective function from the Mothers ... Probably the name ‘Mothers’ was euphemistic when extended to the Yoginls and was designed to cover up their destructive or terrible aspect ... number fluid ... sixty-four and more in

. names vary.” H. D. Bhattacharyya,

, vol. IV, pp. 342f.

66.

, chaps. 15ff., describes how Satī attends uninvited Dakṣa’s sacrifice, is insulted and gives up her life. Śiva takes Satī’s body on his shoulders. Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Sanaiścara enter it and cut it into pieces and let them fall to earth. Chap. 18 describes where the different parts of Satī’s body fell and how she was called in those places: Satī’s feet fell at Devīkta, where she was called Mahābhāgā; her thighs at Uḍḍiyāna, where she was called Kātyāyanī; her

at Kāmagiri in Kāmarūpa, where she was called Kāmākhyā; her navel east of Kāmārupa, where she was called Pūrṇeśvarī; her breasts at Jālandhara, where she was called Candi; her neck at the eastern borders of Kāmārupa, where she was called Dikkaravāsinī and Lalitākāntā.

67.

VII, 33f.

68.

   Ibid., IX, 50.

69.

IV, 138; R. C. Hazra,

, vol. II, p. 29.

70.

   Ibid., Ill, 6.

71.

   Tantrism has been defined as “systematic quest for salvation or spiritual excellence by realizing and fostering the bipolar, bisexual divinity within one’s own body.” Teun Goudriaan and Sanjukta Gupta,

, p. 1.

72.

   H. D. Bhattacharya, “Tāntrik Religion,” in

, vol. IV, p. 135. The most exhaustive account is found in T. Goudriaan and Sanjukta Gupta,

, A History of Indian Literature (ed. Jan Gonda) vol. II, fasc. 2; Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, 1981.

73.

   There is a large number of goddesses in the Mahāyāna Buddhist Pantheon, gentle ones and fierce ones: Vasudhārā, Nairātmā, Parnaśavarī, Prajñā-Pāramitā, Mārācī, Vajravārāhī, etc. Cf. Nalinaksha Dutt, “Buddhism: Iconography,” in

, vol. IV, pp. 275ff.

, pi. 209, 210, 226.

74.

   In

I, 37ff., Devī speaks to Śiva: “By Thee also have been spoken for the Liberation of good men Tantras, a mass of Āgamas and Nigamas, which bestow both Enjoyment and Liberation, containing Mantras and Yantras and rules as to the

of both Devīs and Devas ...” In the Tantras Devī is mainly worshiped as “Tripurā-sundarī, bright as millions of rising suns, armed with the noose, the elephant hook, the bow of sugar-cane and the arrows of flowers.” Cf.

with Bhāskara’s commentary. Translated by R. Ananta Krishna Sastry.

75.

   H. D. Bhattacarya,

, vol. IV.

76.

   A. T. B. Ghosh, “The Spirit and Culture of the Tantras,” in

, vol. IV, pp. 241ff.

77.

   Cf.

, chaps. 5 and 6. The description of Vāmacāris in H. Wilson,

, p. 142; also text of the

.

78.

   H. D. Bhattacarya,

, vol. IV, p. 320.

79.

   Ibid., p. 320.

80.

   Ibid., p. 321.

81.

X; VIII, 154–175.

82.

   Ibid., in No. 202 it is also said: “Those who with devotion worship the Kaulas with Pañcatattva cause the salvation of their ancestors and themselves attain the highest end.” D. N. Bose,

, p. 155.

83.

, chap. V

84.

   D. N. Bose,

, chap. X, “Tantric Symbols and Practices,” explains a number of Yantras.

85.

   J. Woodroffe,

, pp. 106ff.

86.

   Ibid., pp. 91ff. “The ritual which aims less at beseeching than compelling the goddess, consists chiefly in the correct use of spells, magical or sacramental syllables and letters, diagrams and gestures. The worshipper seeks union with the divine, seeks indeed to become divine. It is believed that man is a microcosm corresponding to the macrocosm of the universe.” “The Tantras not merely sanction the lowest rites of primitive savagery and superstition, they are guilty of the crime of seeking philosophical justification for such things.” Payne,

, pp. 59f.

87.

   H. D. Bhattacharya,

, vol. IV, p. 325. “No wonder that before the recognition of the fifty-one Śakti-pīṭhas distributed all over India, pilgrimages to sacred places should have been considered unnecessary by Sāktas who located these symbolically within their body.”

88.

   J. Woodroffe,

, pp. 135ff.

89.

   Ibid., p. 12; quoting

I, 10.

90.

   D. N. Bose,

, chap. XVI, “The Ten Mahāvidyās.”

91.

   Cf. J. Woodroffe,

, pp. 74ff.

92.

   The most famous

is the Śrīcakra consisting of forty-three triangles. Regular

is offered to it twice daily in South Indian Śakti

. Other

are engraved upon thin gold, silver or copper plates, which are rolled into a cylinder and then put into a golden or metallic case so that they may be worn on the body of a person with a view to avoid diseases, possession of devīls and other such evils, which, it is supposed they have the power to ward off. Occasional worship is also offered in this case containing the magical

and the wearer’s faith in its efficacy may well affect cures in many cases. (T. A. G. Rao,

, vols. I-II, p. 332). Cf. Moti Chandra, “Our Lady of Beauty and Abundance: Padmaśrī,” in

, pp. 497–513 (with illustrations).

93.

   Cf. T. A. G. Rao,

, vols. I-II, pp. 320ff.

94.

III, 4; Hymn to Gaṅgā and other rivers

, pp. 255ff.

95.

   Thus, for example, the famous

, etc.

No. 5). About their authenticity, cf. S. K. Belvalkar,

, Lecture VI.

96.

   Ibid., v. 28. The recitation of a litany of names and titles of Devī is a very common practice. The following purāṇic texts contain the one hundred and eight names of Devī:

13, 26–53;

VII, 30, 55–83;

sṛṣṭikhanda 17, 185–211;

, Āraṇyakhaṇḍa 98, 6–92;

90–95;

I, 11–12 (1000 names of Devī).

97.

   A description of a human sacrifice to Devī is found in

V, 9, 12f. A. P. Karmarkar,

, p. 213, cites many historic instances of human sacrifice. Up to the nineteenth century every Friday one human sacrifice was offered in the Kālī temple at Tanjore. Marathas were keen observers of this cult. The head was placed on a golden plate before Kālī; the lungs were cooked and eaten by Kandra Yogis; the royal family ate rice cooked in the blood of the victim. Many tribes, for example, Khonds, Nagas, Bhumji, Bhuviyayas, knew the practice of human sacrifice. Guru Gobind Singh offered a disciple to Durgā. About the practice of human sacrifice at the notorious Tamreśvari temple in Sasya (Assam), cf. Barua-Murthy in

, p. 86. The human sacrifice was an annual feature there. In 1565 Nārā Narayan, a ruler of Kutch, rebuilt the temple of Kāmākṣī. For its consecration, one hundred and forty men are said to have been sacrificed. Also in Bhāvabhuti’s

we find the description of a human sacrifice before the image of the Devī. D. C. Sircar,

, p. 16, brings ample historical evidence of regular human sacrifice to Devī. Even today newspapers report from time to time cases of human sacrifice and self-immolation to Devī.

98.

   According to D. C. Sircar,

, the origin of the Śakti Pīṭhas is due to a further evolution of the

story at the beginning of the Middle Ages. Early Tantras (eighth century?) mention four

Ātmapīṭha, Parapītha, Yogapītha, and Guhyapīṭha. Later texts mention eight, ten, eighteen, forty-two, fifty-one and even one hundred and eight

.

99.

   Barua-Murthy,

, pp. 19ff. F. Pratt,