The Roots of TantraKatherine Anne Harper, Robert L. Brown 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. |
Contents
1 | |
OVERVIEWS | 15 |
THE HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF TANTRA | 37 |
THE ART HISTORY AND ARCHAEOLOGY OF TANTRA | 91 |
THE VEDAS AND TANTRA | 169 |
251 | |
GLOSSARY | 255 |
257 | |
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Abhinavagupta Agama Agathocles Agni Atharva Veda Atman B¯AUp banners Bhagav¯an Bhagavad G¯ıt¯a Bhagavata Bhairava bhakti body Brahmin Buddhist cakra century C.E. commentary concept connection consciousness context cult deity Delhi demons Dev¯ı Pur¯a¸na Dev¯ı-M¯ah¯atmya Devi Purana discussion divine doctrine early figure first garbhag¸rha Goddess Goudriaan Gupta Heart Hindu Hindu Tantra Hinduism homa Ibid icon identified important India Indus Valley inscription K¯ap¯alikas king Krsna ma¸n¸dala mantra Mathura means meditation Muller-Ortega N¯agoji N¯ar¯ayana nondual offerings ofTantrism P¯a˜ncar¯atra Padam¯al¯a Mantra Vidy¯a Padoux practices practitioner Pradyumna Press PTlv Puru¸sa reference religious represented Rg Veda rites ritual fire s¯adhaka S¯akta Tantrism sacrifice Saiva Saivism sakti Sanskrit Saptam¯at¸rk¯as self’s Shingon Siva skull sloka spinal spiritual sr¯ıcakra Sr¯ıvidy¯a Srividya supreme symbolism Tamil Tantric religion Tantric ritual Tantric traditions Tantrism temple Teun Goudriaan tion Tirum¯ular’s Tirumantiram trans Triadic Tripur¯a Udayagiri University Upani¸sads V¯asudeva Veda Vedic verses Vi¸s¸nu vy¯uha worship Yavana Yoga