YOGASVARUPE
Tantra and Hinduism
Tantra is an integral component of Hinduism at a structural level, just as hydrogen atoms are an integral component of a water molecule (H2O). Tantra permeates every system of worship in India at the present day, including Vaishnavism, Shaivism, Shaktism. One cannot segregate it from Hinduism, just as one cannot segregate taste from the food.
Tantric traditions originated as a development within Hinduism during the first millennium CE. Over the course of this millennium Hinduism went through a remarkable series of transformations, Transitioning from the ancient Vedic tradition into the classical traditions of Hinduism. This period saw the rise of both the tantric and the Bhakti devotional movements. While the latter drew from the tendency toward monotheism seen in late Vedic literature, Tantrism developed from Vedic ritual traditions as well as from the yogic and meditative traditions that developed both within ancient Hinduism.
The essential philosophy is in harmony with the Vedic worldview and whatever differences exist are with respect to very subtle and highly specialised philosophical points. In the words of Swami Samarpanananda.
Tantra is not a unitary system like the Vedas or any of the Hindu philosophies. It is an accumulation of practices and ideas of the Hindus, since prehistoric times. Its birth is rooted in the Vedas; its development proceeded through the Upanishads, Itihasas, Puranas, and Smritis; and its luxuriant growth has been fostered by Buddhism, various minor Hindu sects, and also foreign influences. The vitality and elasticity, thus acquired, made tantra enter every house and temple of India and it also made powerful inroads into every country where Indian thought went. What obtains as Hinduism in India and the West, is essentially tantra packaged to suit the needs of a particular community or individual.
Tantra is not a unitary system like the Vedas or any of the Hindu philosophies. It is an accumulation of practices and ideas of the Hindus, since prehistoric times. Its birth is rooted in the Vedas; its development proceeded through the Upanishads, Itihasas, Puranas, and Smritis; and its luxuriant growth has been fostered by Buddhism, various minor Hindu sects, and also foreign influences. The vitality and elasticity, thus acquired, made tantra enter every house and temple of India and it also made powerful inroads into every country where Indian thought went. What obtains as Hinduism in India and the West, is essentially tantra packaged to suit the needs of a particular community or individual.
An important point to be noted is that Puja, the mode of worship that is common in households and temples, is essentially Tantric in its origin and development; a yajna on the other hand is a pure Vedic construct rooted in Vedic metaphysics. While there is something known as Puranic Puja, the Puranas themselves have heavily borrowed from the Tantra Shastras.
The connection of contemporary Hindu practices, such as daily worship ceremonies (puja, Nitya puja) conducted by many Hindus in private shrines or public temples, to tantric traditions is part of Hinduism, as the rich liturgical literature produced by Hindu traditions.
The connection of contemporary Hindu practices, such as daily worship ceremonies (puja, Nitya puja) conducted by many Hindus in private shrines or public temples, to tantric traditions is part of Hinduism, as the rich liturgical literature produced by Hindu traditions.
While most Hindu traditions have received some influence from the tantric traditions, the focus here will be the Hindu traditions that clearly and unambiguously identify as tantric.
But Tantrism, while originating in a Hindu context, is not limited to Hinduism. Early Hindu tantric traditions had a striking impact on South Asian Mahayana Buddhist traditions, leading to the development of distinctly Buddhist tantric traditions and spreaded all over Nepal, Tibet and south east Asian countries.
But Tantrism, while originating in a Hindu context, is not limited to Hinduism. Early Hindu tantric traditions had a striking impact on South Asian Mahayana Buddhist traditions, leading to the development of distinctly Buddhist tantric traditions and spreaded all over Nepal, Tibet and south east Asian countries.
Tantric traditions are multiple and also originated as multiple, distinct traditions of both text and practice. One of the most important tropes in the history of the dissemination of tantric traditions is that of lineage, the transmission of teachings along an uninterrupted lineage, from master to disciple, the so-called guruparaṃparā. This focus on lineage is found throughout the tantric world; originating in India, this emphasis was transmitted to Tibet and East Asia and remains an important concern of contemporary tantric communities.
The fact that it is so widely spreaded in Hinduism is due to it being largely extended over various scriptures providing alternative approaches to the reality from the ultimate liberation to worldly success. Other terms for their scriptures; Hindu tantric traditions also use the terms agama, jnana, Samhita, siddhanta, Vidyā, and upanishads to designate scriptures. Each of them contained an alternative way of teaching or passing down the knowledge in the form of smrithi.
One of the important facts is that tantra emergence is due to other traditions also growing at the same time. tantras were the sub part of Vedic tradition, the ritual aspect of the Veda conducting ceremonies. A new sub tradition which came out from the Vedas emphasised on liberation coming out of the life and death cycle and achieving moksha as the main goal of life. Now this was given access to everyone who is looking to attain their absolute state which wasn’t the case in the Vedic time. Which spreaded the practices and teaching all over India in various traditions.