Living traditions in the tantra and the agama
Govind Kashyap
- Apart from Sri Vidya, are there any other living traditions in vogue in the Tantra and the Agama?
- There is the Shakta tradition in Bengal, but I gather it is dying.
- Kashmir Saivism is practically gone out of Kashmir and the North.
- The Kamakhya in Assam seems to be the only center of Shakta activity in the country other than the South - is this accurate to say?
- In Maharashtra, and perhaps Gujarat, there could perhaps be some offshoots of the Dattatreya sampradaya. Is this reasonable to say?
- How about Kerala?
विश्वासो वासुकेयः
Namaste to all,May I request members, if they get the time, to guide on the following:A large number of sampradaya-s in the Tantra and Agama are vanishing/have disappeared, and are now historical details.But there are a few traditions that still have some adherents.
- Apart from Sri Vidya, are there any other living traditions in vogue in the Tantra and the Agama?
- There is the Shakta tradition in Bengal, but I gather it is dying.
- Kashmir Saivism is practically gone out of Kashmir and the North.
BVK Sastry (G-S-Pop)
Namaste
Indented responses placed below pl.
BVK Sastry ( ) :
From: bvpar...@googlegroups.com [mailto:bvpar...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Govind Kashyap
Sent: 17 September 2021 09:40
To: भारतीयविद्वत्परिषत्
Subject: {भारतीयविद्वत्परिषत्} Living traditions in the tantra and the agama
Namaste to all,
May I request members, if they get the time, to guide on the following:
A large number of sampradaya-s in the Tantra and Agama are vanishing/have disappeared, and are now historical details.
BVK Sastry ( ) : The sampradayas have gone underground would be a better expression. Or the ‘shrouded secrecy’ is a veil used to cover up ‘ in adept practices and greed- driven –actions. Not unusual, as history of ‘ Tantra – Mantra- practices’ even as late as nineteenth and 20th centuries have shown how the high end goal of ‘ devi –saakshaatakaara’ was downgraded to ‘ abhichaara – vasheekarana’- practices. The contribution of ‘negative glorification by films as ‘ religion- mysticism – horror- exorcism ’ in projecting Tantra as ‘ evil- action’ cannot be overlooked.
But there are a few traditions that still have some adherents.
Apart from Sri Vidya, are there any other living traditions in vogue in the Tantra and the Agama?
BVK Sastry ( ) : Yes. There are many other ‘ living’ - Saiva, Vaishnava, shakta, Ganapathya - Tantra and aagama traditions, not self-declaring loudly. The sativcs have made conscious choice to yield way to ‘Vedic ( - ??) ’ culturally loaded religion-professions ; and made a conscious choice to remain dormant.
There is the Shakta tradition in Bengal, but I gather it is dying.
BVK Sastry ( ) : Bengal Shakta Tantra is a variant of ‘Dasha-Maha vidya’ tantras ; socially molested and misprojected. Sri Ramakrishna’s Kali worship is not the cup of tea of many Ramakrihsnaites themselves !
Kashmir Saivism is practically gone out of Kashmir and the North.
BVK Sastry ( ) : Any ‘Tantra – aagama’ will survive and flourish on the eco –system of a community. When external factors put a threat to spiritual exploration, siddhi- sadhana, the result is the kind of social migration you have pointed. Per se , Tantra- Aagama itself has no regional lock.
The Kamakhya in Assam seems to be the only center of Shakta activity in the country other than the South - is this accurate to say?
BVK Sastry ( ) : No. More deeper packets are there. These may have to be searched out. And what is ‘ shakta-activity’ -? Is it by the norms of ‘ drunken orgies and licentious life’ camouflaged as ‘tradition?? This model of looking for Shakta activity would be a travesty of search in Tantra and aagama !
In Maharashtra, and perhaps Gujarat, there could perhaps be some offshoots of the Dattatreya sampradaya. Is this reasonable to say?
BVK Sastry ( ) : yes. Datta –Sampradaya , as one of the forms of ‘ Natha –Sampradayas’ with more leaning to Shankara –Vedanta.
How about Kerala?
BVK Sastry ( ) : Less spoken better it is. Kerala had a wonderful tradition of blending ‘ Ayurveda –Vastu and Tantra’ with ‘ Upa-veda framework. The available information shows that the ‘ fruit bowl of traditions’ has become a ‘ bottled juice’ – making any source clarity to emerge.
I would appreciate any guidance in this matter.
BVK Sastry ( ) : In any case, The search to Tantra –aagama’ needs a solid eco-system of ‘ Vedic Samaj’ which seems to be fast eroding and diluting as ‘ Religion community with worldly interests prioritized than harmonizing the ‘ Purusha –Artha – Purohita’ model. There is no (Dharma-) Raja, There is no –(Vedic) purohita; only ‘Raja-purohitas’ are playing their ‘ political games’.
with kind regards
GK
Regards
BVK Sastry
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Govind Kashyap
Sivanar
BVK Sastry (G-S-Pop)
Namaste
Indented responses placed below pl.
BVK Sastry ( ) :
From: bvpar...@googlegroups.com [mailto:bvpar...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Govind Kashyap
Sent: 18 September 2021 07:28
To: भारतीयविद्वत्परिषत्
Subject: Re: {भारतीयविद्वत्परिषत्} Living traditions in the tantra and the agama
Thank you Dr Sastry
The Saura (Surya/Solar deity) tradition too, I understand, is part of the five/six principal deities in the tantra path (the other being Siva, Vishnu, Shakti/Devi, Ganapat).
BVK Sastry ( ) : Main stream ‘ Vedanta wrapper- Devataa- Pooja systems’ are not the ‘be all and end all of ‘tantra’ or ‘aagama’.
The ‘brahmopaasanaa’ as ‘devataa’ opens up several avenues- techniques – custom guidance ( anushaasanam); these are technically the ‘tantras’ (= techniques of exploring the Brahma-Parinaama/ prakriyaa in Jagat’. The Surya / Saura – tantra is not the same as ‘ Solar worship’ where ‘solar’ is taken to be a pointer to the visible star called ‘ sun/ Helios’ providing the day-night referencing system for earth.
But the Saura tradition in the tantra exists only in some limited pockets/communities in the northern areas' Brahmin communities today, I gather.
BVK Sastry ( ) : Explore and you will find embedded every where !
Solar worship was once a mighty tradition, and is closely associated with the Vedic path. (As an aside, Surya is also part of the Smarta tradition by way of the Panchayatana puja, if I am not wrong).
BVK Sastry ( ) : By social order change , every system of ‘ upaasanaa’ has declined or gone underground. ( ‘antarhita’- tirodhana- are some technical words to contemplate).
I wonder how it came to be considered as a part of the tantric path - or is this a wrong conclusion?.
BVK Sastry ( ) : Contemplate on Gita 11th chapter : 11-12 in particular. Contemplate on how ‘solar traditions of west’ totally differ from ‘ Surya- upaasanaa as ‘ Para-brahmposanaa, vedokta -Adityopasanaa’. You may be able to find an answer.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/bvparishat/534e2c5b-1aab-40c6-8e38-84086ed5e3d8n%40googlegroups.com.