Isose-86e UNIVERSITA DI ROMA «LA SAPIENZA» DIPARTIMENTO DI STUDI ORIENTALI (ESTRATTO) RIVISTA STUDI ORIENTALI VOLUME LXXI FASC. 14 + (1997) ROMA, BARDI EDITORE, 1998,a 14 VEDIC AND TANTRIC MANTRAS aides timeriko mitra it me trividbo makbab Bh sgavctapurina 11.27, Inmopucrion, ‘An investigation of the relationship between Vedic and Tantric elements it the use of mantras in later Hinduism seems at first sight a rather specialisex objective; Some might even argue that such a categories «Vedio» and «Tantric are often subjected by Indian exegetes to specific religious agenda and are therefore not purely descriptive term, but ~ a hope to demonstrate in the following pages - they can still help us it understanding a neglected area in Indian religious history Although it is perhaps not wrong to say that Vedic and Tantric element important for the historian to focus on thos aspects in which the Tantric is in clear opposition to the Vedic. The ‘methodological justification for such a seemingly biased approach is tha inclusvism in Indian religious euleuee has blurced the 1 betwee, heterogeneous clements, and that if we star the investigation of issues lke the on discussed here from the vedicized Tantric system of the Srividya, we fal t understand the historical process that has led to this apparent freedom fron contradiction! One peculiarity of many studies on Tantsic mantra is their emphasis ot linguistic and on ametamissues. But attacking the problem from a linguist philosophic angle cannot inform us about the religious function of man Ether becuse they are eitec Tike th a ‘iva (ALE 1589, p ‘story of Tanzzm have paved the way for ahistorc approacies148 irgen Hanneder a some cases the concentration on language theory produces incorrect and even absurd results. For instance STaAL has concluded that «itis not possible to make 4 systematic distinction between Vedic, Tentric, and other Hindu mantras»? — without realizing that it is his comparative approach that excludes any such clistinetion. His proclamation that «hp» is a universal mantra, which occurs even in the Zauberflote, hardly needs refutation? ‘The present article attempts to fil the gap by investigating some seemingly innocuous changes in the ritual use of mantras in their historical and theological dimensions ‘THe TuBotocy oF Mantas. Vedic and Tantric mantras ate obviously defined by their source: a Vedic ‘mantra is one that is derived from the Veda, a Tantric mantra from the Tantras Generally speaking Tantckas consider Vedic mantras to be almost powerless, because they regard their source, i Vedic revelation, as « lower form of knowledge that cannot lead to liberation. The Vaidikas on the other side of the religious spectrum do not accept the Tantras as valid revelation and consequently regard Tantric mantras as impure', A problematic area the broad mainstream that is based on sruti and herefore includes Purinic forms of worship. We may of course talk of Purinic mantras, but itis, 1 think, important to do so without confusing the Vedic and the Tantric elements in not. Te Puranas io this respect as independent would thus unnecessarily confuse the distinction’, Apart from this theological distinction between Vedic and Tantsic mantras, there is also an important formal one in that Tanttic mantras often contain bye, sseed silables», like brim etc. These bijas are not meaningful Sanskrit words, hp in thee senses, and peshaps in ight diferent meanings =i we ry comma simple hired modes, The: in of then present sy st show that atin Tantei ete important relgios coordinates tht may sll sharpen out adeodig ot Instory of Hindus, " bl Vedic and Tantric Mantras Me arson ends here and as such are comparable to the Vedie stobbas". But the comp since there is no necessity fora stobba in a Vedic mantra, and there are indeed no too many sobbas in them, whereas a Tantric mantra is defined by its bt, Th term atitialistic dadaism> therefore (inspired by the stobba «dadas), thoug! amusing, is misleading’, Tantric Bjas can not be explained as artistic statements ven fit were convenient todos for pilsophising Pas jeneraly speaking, all Vedic mantras ~ according to the proponents c rc prec are othe snl oe hat hy te eed om he Vd ‘heavenly"] splendour and are causes for immediat knowledge», Furthermore the divsioh of schools into «genera» (cidrana) and especial {viéesa), with the implication that the éspecial» is more effective, but on) accessible to an elite is applied to mantras, Saar eee ee ees bts nat Sip i he ncn rae ee ec st at tae mantah somatostatin te na i tejasab /? spburanti divyatesaskab sadyabpratyayahirakah Tanralbaroee 3,150 Jirgen Hanneder a ‘The occurrence of a ba indicates that a mantra is Tantric, and the bije may further reveal the particular ch the used. If we take, for instance, the five Tantic brabmaveantras, we see that in the different mantric systems iti only the Bie that changes. By reciting om ksareSinamsrdme nay ‘one indicates that one is following the mantric system of the Svacchandarantra! whereas by saying on hone iinamnirdme namah one follows the ritual system of the Saiva Siddhinta!, We could therefore say that, regardless of their meaning, mantras, including bij, make sense in a ritual context. ‘Above, or below, the level of rit Bical positions on mantras may difer widely. This is a discussion of the theology of ‘mantras in different Tantric schools, but we may add a few points made by the nnon-dualist exegetes that help to elucidate the place of mantras in Tantric ritual ‘A mantra denotes a deity and is used in ritual o evoke its presence, to awaken the deity in the consciousness of the worshipper", The power of the mantra is thus its bility to make aware of something, or «to articulate» (pani). Fora sectarian Saiva like Abhinavagupta this is of course only the property of Saiva mantras, the perdmarSa of mantcas of other schools like Vaisnava et. i impus represents this awareness (paramara) more fully in that itis specific denotaton' But even a Tantric mantra is powerful”’only if leamed from the teacher directly; a mantra taken from a manuscript is powerless", In other words, the is a sound that i transmitted through a line of teachers (parampani) and has as its souree the supreme deity itis thus thought to be efficent only within this specific socio-religious context "See Seacchandionr 1 45cd-46 wth Kemati’s commentary. BRUNER (1986), p93. For the pattern om plus x tame inthe dave ease, ce Tero cach on Tantisn has almost excusively tnd ean any be understood. refer to Bis nd pind ine) For this term, see Tewroks 4161 and 30.21; Sect that writen mantras are inllectve excep ia the cases re quotation in Tentrote 15 34 that one shold not 15) Vedic and Tantric Montras 151 4k about the status of those mantras that are used in Tantric Here one mi situal but are ultimately derived from the Veda, like for instance the five Vedic brabmamantras® that are used in the Tantric kalmydsa®. I have not seen an tion: for ‘attempt to resolve this inconsistency, but sy to imagine a justificatior ee aghora-mantra that is used in Tantric ritual, it might be argued, is taken by the adherents of the Agamas from the Svacchandatantra, not from the Tatiana od ere lective rr pil deserpgen of cect dion btwn Ved and Tani ‘mantras applies to the more heterodox Tantric traditions, which we took as out pint. AS we sal ee, the icte change in th in later Hinduism. This I wish to investigate Vedic and non-Vedic elements wi a demonstrate by analysing such a hybrid, that is Vedic-cum-T namely the ritual used for the recitation of malmantras MALAMANTRAS, -day Hinduism bes to my ‘This type of mantra recitation common in present-day Hin knowledge never been the objet of stentic analysts. Tn this practice a text ike, vse Nebap et 10 forte aghovomanre and Rtbake 170 seid ina manoscipttogeber wit med wih stan hat werefor instance, the Bhagavadgita, or one of the various Sabasranimastotrs®, 45a single long mantra®. This complete recitation of a text (parva undertaken in order to promote one's religious welfare, ot for very specific ends, has curing an illness. For this purpose the text to be used is embedded in a ial, which we shall briefly analyse. This liturgy is often only printed in recent editions or booklets for devotional use and, since the texts presented in them are popular versions, they are usually not systematically collected by lib Before comparing the various elements that can a recitation, we shall give the beginning of the Bhagavadgitamalamantra as an ‘example, Fortunately this text is an exception, since its edited in the appendix ¢o the critical edition of the Bhagavad, arya bribbagavadgitamalimantrasya Dhagavin vedavyasa rib / amgtup chandab / srikrsnaparamaitma devati / ‘afoeyin anvaiocyas team prajividas iam / saroadbarmin pari share Saranam vrai itt Saktih / aban toa sarvapapebbyo ‘moksayiyiei ma Sucab iti kilakam / eC ityarthare dbarmirthakimamoksarthejape vintyoga // This is followed by the so-called karanydsa, the assignment of lines from the text as mantras to the fingers”, then similarly to the aigas, ie. heart, head, top- am dabat path it gu a. Vedicand Tantric Mantras 133 introductory sual the rel nena, sch ital peiinay to he prone many her cent of edged pfs may ecu One pocket eon of the Ramone describes ‘nent preimnay oa paranen dnes ti page But her we sal tone simpler ale uote the metre; and finally the deity of the mantra. These are said to be indispensable A ina states that on ‘samp ome "he pote login Ak134 Hirgen Hanneder [8) more examples, we can only conclude tht this pattern is adapted toa variety of manteas and therefore better not defined in a rigid way. We may therefore ”. ‘Rimesvara rejects this conservative position and argues that, since Purinas are valid scripture, their postion on the Tantras should be the guiding line, He then adduces passages that permit Tantric practice for those who are specially qualified, and only for them; that means, the problem is resolved by adhering t0 a strict adbikdrabheda: for Vaidikas only Vedic worship, for Tantrikas only Tantric if. Then the author leads us, through a series of quotations", ro the position that thee ae in fat two forms of valid worship, Vedic and Tantric. Sill the opponent cannot soften his position on adbikarabbeds and says: t annareinday3tntayraddeyvem aston | oem eyes ai bbspuinese Eb babu saab mapaladerd canna bbaianactio hepte158 Jirgen Hanneder ) as we expect from Ramesvara’s remarks, ice to perform the Vedic Sandhya first and then the sformed, and not just its Tantric part If we look at the Somasembbupaddbati, we find a Tantric Siva-gayatr, without indication of a Vedie part to be performed beforehand. Neither is there anything in Abhinavagupta’s account ofthe sandbya to suggest such a combination, but there isa bref remark by Keema tothe effect that a Vedic sandbyais to be performed by the practitioner ofthe Svecchande-cult But this is not oo surprising, since the Tantres are «Vedic tothe extent that like all Hindus of cast they ad frst been purified by the Vedic rites of pasage ‘1 And even when they had gone through the ceremony of Tantric rte of passage which gave them access to Sava bound to conform to the rules of the Veda-based social 8 (desedbarmab). The Saiva himself as subject to two levels of injunction: the general or and the special level reached by his initiation», This has to be borne in mind when we discuss the combination of Vedic and Tantric is above all the attitude of the heterodox exegetes that is markedly tof the adherents of the combined practice: for them the is seen as a merely exterior compromise, whose tracts from their goal ~ unless one would believe themselves are vedicized practice . init. However, with the rsyadinyaa Tantric mant ‘att jet 1901 0m tamabetsa vidmabe sgrtadbe dma oe rah 2 * Commenting on Staccandatnee 2 ed sendy nendanan bey 3 he says Sasradrtonevedaiidbens "SANDERSON 1195), 9.23, armas Vedic and Tantric Mantras 159 We see here « further step in paralelising Tantric ritual with its Vedic counterparts, because for those who practiced the religion «the need to match these orthodox rituals was strong enough to compromise the very belies which justified the seperate existence of the Tantric system. Equivalence in observable practice was ultimately more important than insider theories of super ‘The tension created by these diverse forces of compromise, rejection and fusion goes some way towards understanding the development of Tantrism as well as the change of mainstream Hinduism under its influence “Tas PRocess OF INFILTRATION. Parnas. For the process of infiltration of Tantric material into the mainstream we find evidence in the manuals for domestic ritual, the Puranas, and some later Upanisads, We quote examples from each and shall concentrate on passages where the rs, metre and deity are mentioned for a mantra that is tantric, or tantzicized through bias, o used in a Tantric ny.sa - For one wishing to lft Tantic ritual into the orthodox realm, Purlnas were an excellent stating point, since they, because of their status as sort, could be accepted as valid scriprure by non-secarans, but were at the same time prone 10 amplification and redaction. As an example for this shall briefly analyse some of the relevant passages from the Dev?bbdgavatapurana ‘Without the present issue in mind one might come tothe conclusion that the Devibhagovatapurina has no consistent attude towards non-Vedic cults, becau- ght which integrates Tantric doctrines®. This bbe adopted by the Vaidikas»“, Thereafter the validity of the Veda is asser- 5). 2 nee Tani tin, s pinin ir ertham gPbociox ngith/ anv iano cs tab prin tbat een porta derma saat soma rt160 Jirgen Hanmeder 14) king should expel those who adopt other ry would be the Vamma, Kapaliks, Kaula, Bhairavagama, all of which are in contradiction to fruti and smurti, and which were produced by Siva in order to delude. ‘Then there isa sudden shift in perspective: «There are some good Brahmanas, who are distressed outside the path of the Veda. In order to liberate them gradu and there that are not in contradiction to the Veda. It is never a sin for Vaidikas (2}"to adopt thesen'® In other words, some Brahmanas who have lost their adhikara for the Veda ‘may adopt Tantric worship wholeheartedly, and we may add that by o doing they ‘would in any case lose it. To this excuse is added a lit of T that there are groups of scriptures related to all the five deities ofthe socalled osicayatana that receive offerings in Smita ritual. With this the author wants to suggest that, though leaving the Vedic domain, we are still within the non. sectarian Smarta religion, Perhaps the slip of the pen that follows indicates what the author really meant, namely Agamas composed by Siva (Sai:kerena); Presumably all the other groups of Agamas ae inthis context empty ‘The solution first envisaged by the Devibhdgavata inthis passage is that of adbikarebbede: in principle the Vaidikas should adopt Vedic rites and the ‘Tantrikes Tantric ones. But the arguments mentioned inthe previous section also Provide us with an excuse for those who adopt Tantric rites, namely the apa and reassure the esiant tha no sini incurred. We must a tha the author had as an introduction to the pasage distinguished an internal and an external form of pj The division into Vedic and Tantric applied only to the extemal mode, whereas the internal is now described in the conclusion ofthe chapter: the interal pais the dissolution of consciousness (spmillaya), which isto say thatthe diference in Arya are resolved in yoga and the conservative reader may calm down ‘Compared with the early heterodox Tantric tradition that declares the Veda invalid and the practices derived from it ineffective, the Devibhagavata is very Ts npc a eigen het ena ee se nu RGD re as th ei 868 wnapayt amas cx postales bu 17 ‘eat act / eda dg date ne Doss coe kahit // © Thee a of cone as, pd there ae races of et canon oferta by Sips but falar thought ob aut by Sn the perpen win ay cae eran Se oe sre Sai 031 Vedic and Tantric Mantras 161 moderate; but elsewhere in the text itis strongly suggested that the actual practice advocated is Tantric, We find one indication in the chapter that describes the babyapija in detail: there the goddess is imagined These five are identi consciousness (i.e. waking state up to turyaizal, but 1 (Devi) am unmanest consciousness and utterly beyond them, Therefore these [ive always bec seat in the Saktitantram. This unspecific reference be interpreted as neutral eclecticism, in other words just like the Veda. As proof for this one could add sive a résumé of Vedic, Tantric and other modes of worst case of acamana of which six modes are listed”. But if we examine further passages’ we must conclude that the authors or redactors of this Purina tried theis best to appear unbiased while including Tantrie practices into orthodoxy. In its eagemess to build bridges for the conservative t0 a T patria, a gayatitotra and -schasrandm ee chapter 1273 the author saya tht th act that diky ques fo tual ‘cs, grants (da) divine knowledge and removes (i evi is known by those who Veda and Tantra», In the same chapter we also find the nyasa ¢ that of Ramesvara discu expound different views on Tantric worship in order to get the broader public. The outcome is not a clea recommendation of T but an integration of heterodox elements into the orthodox domain.162 Jirgen Hanneder U on Vedic and Tantri¢ Mantras 16 Domestic Ritual. Concvosiows There ae traces of atemps to tantcize Vedi ritual inthe Sita Itest What are th to be drawn from these observations? The eal of rather its appendices, We have already mentioned the apocryp! sccounts'of predate any Seedy inflvnce, namely the Abvaliyanagrbycparisista, which isto be distinguished from the one edited by | Tantrdlota and ido not use the hybrid ritual and iti AITHAL”. The apocryphal work, which teaches an aiganyaa ofthe g has made its way into mainstream ritual and was not only quoted by later author but also used by HILLEBRANDT and KANE for their description of details of domestic ritual. routs, which contains a hybrid situa called ratory ny of mantras on several parts of the bbody’s, Here we finda hybrid ritual, namely the ri, metre and dety of « mantra that contains a bj ‘The case of the Baudhayanagrbyaparisista is less clear It has been observed already by BOHLER that «many of the newly-added rites do not belong to the ancient Brahmanical worship, but to the Paurinic religions, the service of Siva, Skanda, Narayana, and other deities, and some show an admixture of Tantric clements»”. HARTING, while subscribing to the opinion that there is « strong Puripic influence, has rejected the notion that Tantric elements are present. An ‘obvious case is, however, a quotation of the Baudbayancgrbyaparissta in the Nirnayasindb ricized form, that is, with lis of bir inserted Auth different instance i the Paraserdmakalpasitra, which isa Siividy manual with a pseudo-Vedie tile, The long introductory validity of the Tantras by the commentator Rimesvara shows th ware ofthis discrepancy. Sectarian Upanisads. One could also quote examples from enother Vedic genre, namely the Upanisads. We find in the Hamssopanisar the rsi ete, bja, akti, kilaka, as well as anga- and Raranyasa, Compare also the Daksinamirtyupanisat, the Srivamapiiroatapinyupanisat quoted above, the Ganapatyupanisat, and the Sarasvatirabasyopantat 2 Se Patsata Av: Aaya ‘ako ain an tat rhein iy, ALB XVI, Adyar 1963, p, 2306 ip chendsh hannah alinevetra ne tintopsh esd th palimantirya mans ive. the ral sources of the Stividya its Nitydodasikarnava and the Yoginibrdaya. This is perhaps not enough to prove the hybridization to be late, since we would expect the information about the rsi scestaily in seipeure itself, bt in ritual manuals. OF those the more accessible ones are: the Prepaicas Tripurasrase muceaya by one Nagabhai cd the Sara étilakd. All of these works, except the one by Sivannda teach the hybrid ritual®. ‘One can only speculate about the season for Sivananda’s strongly influenced by the exegetical terminology of the Pratyal positon with regard tothe Veda is more compromising, as quotations from Vedic sources as well as from the Smasta Praparicasara show. This position leads to doctrine of an increasing (Veda, Saivs, Vame, Kaula, ut then he carefully downgrades all statements about a conflict between Veda and Agama which he finds in his sources. He deliberately misunderstands the statements in the Teka about Siva being the author of all scriptures, in order to show that the Veda is as valid as the Agamas* mantra is the [anasoagurudevapaddbat?. But this sof no help, since the work is an unusual mixture of Sxvidya elements, not with the expected Pratyabhia background, but with many quotations from Siddhanta authors such as Bhatia ‘Rimakantha I, One reference to the Keshmitian non-dualsts that I noticed is a paraphrase of Pratyabhiiahrdaya 1, The author is explicily eclectic in that he The same holds te for Arhor'sKriromadyotib, a a atone cn jude from the psugessnte Sn (98) Fe a ot inporant wok nfonssty ee164 Jirgen Hanneder 18) mentions the incorporation of Srauta and Smicta elements”. The compromise with Vedism is made clear in the quot from a Svayambbuvatantra, which states that the Veda is valid, since the Agamas, authored by § Instead of establishing a superior position for the Agamas, the author seems more concerned with adducing a der to defuse posible objections from sakas, such as: if Siv author of the Veda, then the Veda is not beginningless. But the contradiction is only apparent, because Siva is beginnngles!™ Other manuals, like the Saradatilaka, re and deities» and the commentator Raghavab support of this rule. He quotes several non ‘mania isnot effecive without them, Ik would be simple to adduce further instances of the hybri ‘throughout later literature, but what ae the conclusions? One fundamental problem remains, namely the judgement of the scope of our sources: docs a certain liargy cover the whole ritual or only pat of i, that i the pare thats modified? In che present study one could of course argue thatthe ‘omission ofan element ina rtual, lke the etc, may mean no more than that its performance was taken for granted. But if, on the other hand, it was clear to the heterodox Saivas that the rete. belonged to Vedic mantras only — and we have reason to belive this no explicit prohibition ofthe practice of reciting the ri, metre and deity can be expected. If we take into consideration the intemal logic of the Tantric systems, the hybrid practice appears a an important modification of the core of Tani 5 at bringing it in line the observation tha che hy 4. JR Gharpare, Bombay ei, Vol, I Caleta 1928 rsradiph by Nacasba Vi (Gisghece Inca CLV) (ences yadiey di). One could ad che Tatras ie Rupa 13, Compare the prominent postion ofthe Sriatraninm na inthe Gh chaptet of Ananda Sorbent See SANDERSON (190) 0,156.58 191 Vedic and Tantric Mantras 16 1, PRIMARY SOURCES Arseyabrabmana, Arseya Brihmana with Vedirhaprakia of Syne. Ed, Bellikoth Rama ‘andra Sharma, Tirupati: Kendriya Sans 1967 oe Asvaliyanagrbyoparissa in: Gehyasira of ASval jotheca Indica XLI, Cal 1869 (p. 265 — —_ isonet: Topi, Sibi ed Gagapa ISH, vvandrum Sanskrit Series 69,7 Ravediya Trikalasemdbya Pot rireayasigara bukpraksian man o rama icra ‘kaya-nyayertittha’ ity eteib sasodbitans Riwimariin’ > Nityasodesikarnava, : Kathake. Katham, Die Samhita der Kathi-Gakha, Ed. Leopold von Schroede cen 500 alee tty Toc: Abo Aon Reding: MD. Pad Tontriloa/-vveka. The Tan Ed. by RC. Dwivedi and Navjvan Rastogi. ( vols, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass 1987 (Sanskrit S 1918-1938} rcaya, tripurdsareasamuccaya Dupont, Popout. a, rao, ayn 95 ani exe XV XIX). Brhaddevor3. The Brhad-devata attributed to Saunaka. Ed. Arthur Anthony Macdom ‘Cambridge, Massachusens: Harvard University 1904, [Manse The Manuszaei withthe Commentary Manvarthamukt ‘Native Rim Achicya, Published by Sarabhamabat Pandu166 Jirgen Hanneder Lo} 1 Tarkapaficinana, Biblothe aka. Saraditlakatantram, ed, Anthut Avalon, Sandbya. Sandy’, Giapres, Gorakby Surdarakinds. Sundarakisndah, cenoapusyien 1928, Subbagodaya, Edited as an appendix to Ni Somaiepaddba > Browe-Lacaacx bu Vedicand Tantric Mantras 16 ‘REFERENCES ‘Avvex Hanvey P, (ed) (1989) Mantra, SUNY series in Religious Stdies, State Univers of New York Pres, Albany. ‘Vaso Skish CHANDRA (1991), The Daily Practice of the Hindus. Munsbiram Mancha