The Intuitional Science of Tantra
The subject of today’s discourse is “The Intuitional Science of Tantra”. Before I come to that topic, however, let me first say something about [the word] tantra. Usually the word tantra is derived from tan plus trae plus d́a. The root verb tan means “to expand”. The process by which one attains liberation from all bondages by strengthening and expanding one’s entitative existence is called Tantra.
The word tantra can be interpreted in yet another way. Each and every entity, each and every existence has an acoustic expression of its own. For instance, ta is the acoustic root of dullness or inertness. And the process that brings liberation from this state of staticity, or ta, is called Tantra. Taḿ jád́yát tárayet yastu sah tantrah parikiirtitah [“That which redeems human beings and paves the way for their emancipation from the bondages of staticity is called Tantra.”]
The cult that Sadáshiva formulated and introduced into human society to ensure the removal of inertness in the physical, psychic and spiritual strata of life is called Tantra. Tantra is not at all theoretical; it is essentially practical, and on the basis of practice, its philosophy has evolved. The major portion of the science of intuition in the Vedas, on the other hand, is purely theoretical; only a small portion is practical. In Tantra, ninety percent of the intuitional science is practical, and only a very small portion is theoretical.
The science of intuition in the Vedas has already been discussed extensively. Tantric literature, like Vedic, offers an elaborate treatment of intuitional science. Both Veda and Tantra have proclaimed that everything of this manifested universe emanates from Brahma. As the Vedas have put it:

The Intuitional Science of Tantra
The subject of today’s discourse is “The Intuitional Science of Tantra”. Before I come to that topic, however, let me first say something about [the word] tantra. Usually the word tantra is derived from tan plus trae plus d́a. The root verb tan means “to expand”. The process by which one attains liberation from all bondages by strengthening and expanding one’s entitative existence is called Tantra.
The word tantra can be interpreted in yet another way. Each and every entity, each and every existence has an acoustic expression of its own. For instance, ta is the acoustic root of dullness or inertness. And the process that brings liberation from this state of staticity, or ta, is called Tantra. Taḿ jád́yát tárayet yastu sah tantrah parikiirtitah [“That which redeems human beings and paves the way for their emancipation from the bondages of staticity is called Tantra.”]
The cult that Sadáshiva formulated and introduced into human society to ensure the removal of inertness in the physical, psychic and spiritual strata of life is called Tantra. Tantra is not at all theoretical; it is essentially practical, and on the basis of practice, its philosophy has evolved. The major portion of the science of intuition in the Vedas, on the other hand, is purely theoretical; only a small portion is practical. In Tantra, ninety percent of the intuitional science is practical, and only a very small portion is theoretical.
The science of intuition in the Vedas has already been discussed extensively. Tantric literature, like Vedic, offers an elaborate treatment of intuitional science. Both Veda and Tantra have proclaimed that everything of this manifested universe emanates from Brahma. As the Vedas have put it:
Ánandáddhyeva khalvimáni bhútáni jáyante;
Ánandena játáni jiivanti;
Ánandaḿ prayantyabhisaḿ vishanti.
And Tantra has expressed it similarly:
Mayyeva sakalaḿ játaḿ Mayi sarvaḿ pratiśt́hitaḿ;
Mayi sarvaḿ layaḿ yati tad Brahmá dvayamasmyaham.
Parama Puruśa says, “Everything has emerged from me, everything is being maintained in me, and ultimately everything will dissolve in Me.”(1)
Mayyeva sakalaḿ játam [“All created beings have evolved out of Me”]. The word játam is derived from the root jan plus the suffix kta. Here the Cognitive Entity has been recognized as the primordial cause of creation. Obviously, this is a major difference between Tantra and the Sáḿkhya school of philosophy, for in Sáḿkhya, Prakrti [the Supreme Operative Principle] has been given the dominant role. But in Tantra, Parama Puruśa has been given the dominant role. Ánanda Sútram(2) clearly states, Shaktih Sá Shivasya Shaktih. Shakti [Prakrti], the Supreme Operative Principle, carries on Her creative flow according to the expressed desire or expressed approval of Parama Puruśa. Hence Puruśa is the prime cause of creation.
Mayyeva sakalaḿ játaḿ Mayi sarvaḿ pratiśt́hitam. Since everything in this universe is born out of Puruśa, there is nothing beyond or outside Puruśa; hence Mayi sarvaḿ pratiśt́hitam – “everything is residing in Him.” He is the base of everything; there is no way to go beyond Him. Human beings may go a little way from Puruśottama, the Supreme Nucleus of the universe; they may increase the length of their radius; but they can never go beyond the Cosmic periphery. In fact, every object emerging from Him in the phase of saiṋcara is maintained in Him, and in the phase of pratisaiṋcara(3) is finally dissolved in Him. That is to say, the Entity who was in the beginning and the middle, is also present in the end.
Tad Brahmádvayamasmyaham – “Brahma is One.” The Supreme Operative Principle is not given any special importance. To say that Prakrti is doing everything, one will have to admit that nature is everything, but basically nature is a blind force; she cannot do anything by herself unless supported by intellect.
As mentioned earlier, in Tantra, sádhaná has been given the utmost importance. What is sádhaná? Sádhaná means practical effort. An effort to what? An endless effort to move towards Puruśottama, the Nucleus of the Cosmic Cycle.
Now this movement from imperfection to perfection, and in fact every movement in this universe, is not without obstacles. Fundamentally every movement involves opposition, and the resultant achieved during the fight against the obstacles is called progress. So the more vigorously one tries to move towards the goal, the more vehemently one will to have fight against obstacles. Those who are averse to struggle will never make any progress; what to speak of progress, without struggle one will lag behind. Hence, struggle is the essence of life. Those who abhor struggle, who consider struggle to be violence, have no place in this universe. Not only that, they are hypocrites, for although in practical life they have to resort to struggle, outwardly they hesitate to confess it. They feel that if they admit it openly they will become debased in public estimation. They fail to realize that by denying the plain truth, they are hurting themselves [by acting against their own consciences].
This cult of Tantra, as enunciated by Shiva, was the first to show human beings how to attain Brahma. The earlier methods of incantation, contemplation, eulogy, or repetition of hymns, attempted in various ways to lead human beings towards Brahma, but to no avail. The essential thing is to come in the closest proximity to Parama Puruśa, to be established in Brahma. That is why Tantra proclaims:
Uttamá sahajávasthá madhyamá dhyánadhárańá;
Japastútih syádhadhamá múrtipújá dhamádhamá.
[Ideation on Brahma is the best, dhyána and dhárańá are second best, repetitious incantation and eulogistic prayer are the worst, and idol worship is the worst of the worst.]
When spiritual aspirants start spiritual practice, they cannot understand what to accept and what to avoid. Hence in the initial stage they take to idol worship. Only afterwards do they realize its futility.
Mrcchiládhátudárvádimúrttáviishvaro buddhayo;
Klishyantastapasáh jiṋánaḿ viná mokśam ná yánti te.
[Those who think that Parama Puruśa is confined within idols made of clay, stone, metal, or wood, are simply torturing their bodies with penances – they will surely not attain salvation without self-knowledge.]
“If idols made of wood, clay, iron or any other metal are accepted as objects of meditation, then what will be the result?” It is said, Yádrshii bhávaná yasya siddhirbhavati tádrshii [“As you think, so you become”]. The aspirants’ own entitative existence will be turned into clay, metal or wood – a state which in the scriptures is called Prakrtiliina. It is a dreadful state.
Higher than idol worship is the practice of dhárańá and dhyána, through which one can make steady progress. The last stage is called nirvikalpa samádhi, or asamprajiṋáta samádhi, which is otherwise known as uttamá sahajávasthá, or, in the language of other scriptures, uttamo Brahmasadbhávah.
Many may think that since Tantra is a rigorous practice, a hard reality, then in Tantra there must not be any scope for sweet kiirtana. But certainly there is scope for kiirtana. Tantra exhorts spiritual aspirants to advance towards their goal, smashing the boulders of obstacles and impediments; it never tells people to suppress their sweet sentiments. On the contrary, it advises spiritual aspirants that the more love and devotion they develop for the Cosmic Goal, the more speedily they move towards Him. Hence Tantra recognizes all kinds of sweet sentiments. Kiirtana, song, dance, instrumental music – all are accepted in Tantra and unambiguously recognized as vehicles to ensure spiritual progress.
And what is more, Sadáshiva Himself was the original propounder of song, dance and instrumental music. Tantra is based on reality, and takes the qualities of the Supreme Entity in a practical way. In Tantra, Shiva is not an imaginary entity; rather He has been accepted as the benevolent Father. That is why even today, in the society of devotees, Shiva’s popularity remains totally unimpaired, because He is the original father of Tantra.
As said earlier, Tantra is completely realistic; so its relation with Iishvara [the Supreme Entity as Cosmic Controller] is also based on realism. It is not something fanciful. It has been said,
Bhayánáḿ bhayaḿ bhiiśańaḿ bhiiśańánáḿ;
Gatih práńináḿ pávanaḿ pávanánám.
Mahoccaeh padánáḿ niyantr tadekaḿ;
Paresháḿ paraḿ rakśakaḿ rakśakánám.
[You are the fear of fear, you are the most frightening to the dreadful, you are the very movement of all living entities. You are the purity of purity. You are the Supreme Controller of all the controllers occupying exalted posts. You are the highest authority of all high authorities. You are the protector of protectors.]
“O Saviour of saviours, You are the fear of fear – fear is afraid of You as much as living beings are afraid of fear.”
Elsewhere it has also been said,
Bhiiśasmádváyuh pavate bhiiśodeti súryah
Bhiiśasmadágnishcendrashca;
Mrtyuh dhávati paiṋcamah
Tasmáducyate bhiiśańamiti.
–Atharvaveda
[Out of fear of Him the wind blows, the sun rises on time. Out of fear of Him the fire-god, the moon-god, the god of energy and the god of death carry out their duties faithfully. This is why He is called Bhiiśańam, The Terrible.]
As He is feared by all, every action in this universe is being properly undertaken. Were He not apparently dreadful, He would not be able to discharge His responsibilities properly. Tantra has made such a realistic appraisal of Parama Puruśa and said: Bhiiśasmádváyuh pavate – “The wind blows on time out of fear of Him; it never completely ceases to blow under any circumstances”… bhiiśo’deti súryah – “out of fear of Him, the sun rises on time every day without the least deviation”… bhiiśasmádagnishcendrashca mrtyuh dhávati paiṋcamah tasmáducyate bhiiśańamiti – “out of fear of Him, fire burns, and Indra faithfully discharges his duty” (Indra means “energy”; due to fear of Parama Puruśa, all other energies are doing their duties according to their inherent characteristics) “and due to fear of Him, death reaches the proper person at the proper time.” Death cannot say that he will reach somebody a couple of days later. Out of fear, he will always arrive at the stipulated time.
Gatih práńinám [“You are the very movement of all living entities”]. The property of movement, of dynamism, is one of the basic characteristics of our Supreme Lord. Life also is characterized by movement. We distinguish between living and non-living entities on the basis of their movement. Those who lack in dynamism, though physically they may be alive, are virtually dead: there is no justification for their existence. Hence my exhortation to all is to become active, vigorously active. This quality of dynamism comes directly from Parama Puruśa, because He Himself is always dynamic.
Pávanaḿ pávanánám. Human beings consider certain objects to be sacred; those objects are called pávana in Sanskrit. “And those sacred objects in turn look upon Parama Puruśa as sacred.” Indeed, they themselves are considered sacred because they are related to Him, otherwise they would not be sacred.
Mahoccaeh padánáḿ niyantr tadekam. In this world various persons occupy various exalted posts, and because of their posts they enjoy social respect and position. “But however high their rank may be, they pray to the Lord, saying, ‘O Lord, I exist by Your grace – protect me, O Lord.’” So the Lord is controlling everyone, whatever may be their post. The moment one transgresses one’s jurisdiction out of vanity or ego, one is removed from that post. Whenever one misuses or abuses one’s authority, the Lord pushes the person out, and the person falls on his knees. This is the rule. The Lord is controlling everything; He does not tolerate the abuse of power or authority by anyone. In fact, one of His names is Darpahárii [Stealer of Vanity]. He does not tolerate anyone’s darpa [vanity]. We see in practical life that people may be seated today in the most exalted position in society, but if they grossly abuse their position, they will meet with such a great fall that their bones and skin will be altogether beyond recognition.
Paresháḿ param. In the absence of a witnessing entity, the existence of any entity or phenomenon cannot be substantiated. When an action takes place, there should be an entity to witness it, to appreciate it. Due to the presence of the witnessing entity, an action or an object is substantiated. The entity which witnesses is called para, and the entity or entities which are witnessed are called apara. We consider many entities as para or witnessing entities, but “above all these witnessing entities there is one Supreme Witnessing Entity, Parama Puruśa.” Hence He is rightly called Paresháḿ param [“Witness of all witnesses”].
Rakśakaḿ rakśakánám. In various spheres of life, we look upon various objects or persons as our saviours or protectors. But “those very persons whom we looked up to as our saviours or protectors, themselves look to Parama Puruśa for protection.” However cautious one might be, there can never be any absolute security for anyone without the protection of Parama Puruśa. No one can say with any certainty that a particular medicine will cure a particular disease. Even the physician who specializes in the treatment of that disease may himself die of that disease. People invent a particular weapon, thinking that it will counteract other weapons; but often it fails. And people are often over-cautious. There is an old saying in Bengali, Sábdháner mára nei, which means, “Caution circumvents trouble;” but Rabindranath Tagore once said that caution no doubt circumvents trouble, but it is also true that trouble sometimes circumvents caution! Hence Tantra teaches that the human mind should be channelized in only one direction, not in a thousand directions.
Tadekaḿ japámas tadekaḿ smarámas
Tadekaḿ jagatsákśiirúpaḿ namámah;
Tadekaḿ nidhánaḿ nirálambamiishaḿ
Bhavámbodhipotaḿ sharańaḿ vrajámah.
[I will remember You only. I will contemplate on You only. I will salute You only, the Witnessing Entity of this expressed universe. You are the supreme shelter, but you require no shelter, and no authority lords over you. We take shelter in You in the form of a ship sailing on this vast universe.]
“If anyone’s name is to be chanted in japa, it is the name of Parama Puruśa.” What is japa? A word has a particular meaning; repeating the word inwardly again and again, after having understood its meaning, is what is termed japa. As a result of the prolonged repetition of a word, whose inner meaning is clearly understood, its ideation becomes permanently imprinted on one’s mind, and consequently there occurs a radical change in one’s mental arena. The extroversial tendencies of the mind gradually become introverted. This is the benefit of japa. And if anyone’s name is to be repeated, it is the name of the Lord.
Usually worldly people remember constantly their earthly joys and comforts, or dwell on the names of their enemies. But that is all useless. Only the name of Parama Puruśa should be remembered and chanted, for ultimately one will have to reach Him, to merge in Him.
Namah Shiváya shántáya kárańatrayahetabe;
Nivedayámi cátmánaḿ tvaḿ gatih Parameshvara.
[Salutations to Shiva the tranquil, the cause of the three worlds; I surrender myself to You, the culmination of my journey, the Supreme Lord.]
Ultimately one will have to reach Him. There is no other way. Hence wise persons take only the name of the One and Supreme Lord, and never the name of any other entity.
Tadekaḿ smarámah. “If one has to take refuge in any entity, or has to contemplate any entity, one should take refuge in or think about only the Supreme One,” because whenever the mind broods on a second entity, it will become one with the latter; that is, if the mind constantly reflects on physicality, one’s whole psycho-spiritual existence will become physical. That is a terrible situation.
Tadekaḿ jagatsákśiirúpaḿ namámah. “If there is anyone to whom spiritual aspirants should surrender, if there is anyone to whom they should pay salutations, it is Parama Puruśa.” The system behind salutations is to look for the Supreme Being that is the inner essence of a person, and to pay salutations to that Parama Puruśa. The generally-accepted rule is that one should say namaskára to a human being or a god or goddess, but one should say namaste or namastubhyam only to Parama Puruśa, not to any other entity.
Tadekaḿ nidhhánam. Human beings run along many different paths, but “ultimately they will have to take the path towards the Supreme One.” Nányapanthá vidyate ayanáy – “There is no other way for them.” So if they begin in time to run towards the Supreme One, it saves them a lot of time and energy later.
Nirálambamiisham. In this world each and every object requires a support, a strong base. Nothing can maintain its existence without a dependable base. For example, the base of Calcutta is West Bengal; and the base of West Bengal is India. The continent of Asia is the base of India, and the base of Asia is our planet earth. The base of the earth is the solar system, and the base of the solar system is Parama Puruśa. But “Parama Puruśa does not depend for His existence upon any base. Rather everything is sheltered in Him – He is the base of everything.” So if human beings have to look for any shelter, it must be a self-supporting, self-sheltered entity.
Bhavámbodhipotaḿ sharańaḿ vrajámah [“seek shelter on the ship floating on this ocean of bhava”]. “Casting aside all futile arguments and time-consuming propensities of mind, we will seek shelter only in You.”
Bhavámbodhipotam [“ship floating on the ocean of bhava”]. The unrequited saḿskáras [i.e., the as-yet-unserved balance of reactions to one’s original actions] which are responsible for one’s rebirth are called bhava, and dharma is the means to cross the vast ocean of bhava. To cross this bhava is part of your sádhaná, and is also your dharma. But individually human beings are very weak; it is next to impossible for them to cross the ocean of bhava without the direct help of Parama Puruśa. Máyá(4) is very powerful; human beings cannot fight against Her singlehandedly. So one must first seek the shelter of Parama Puruśa and then fight against Her. Máyá gives way to the one who is endowed with divine power from Parama Puruśa because She is, after all, the immanent power of Parama Puruśa. Shaktih Sá Shivasya Shaktih. As Krśńa said,
Daevii hyeśá guńamayii mama Máyá duratyayá;
Mámeva ye prapadyante Máyámetáḿ taranti te.(5)
[This Máyá of Mine is of the nature of three principles, and is almost insurmountable. Only those who take refuge in Me can overcome this Máyá.]
“This divine Máyá is insurmountable; microcosms, by their individual efforts, cannot surmount Her. But those who have taken shelter in Me, can easily surmount Her.” Bhavámbodhipotaḿ sharańaḿ vrajámah.
Now to cross an ocean, the passengers need to board a ship. Parama Puruśa comes to human beings as a ship does to pick up passengers. What should we do? We should secure a safe shelter on that ship – sharańaḿ vrajámah. All sádhakas are rushing to that ship which will take them to their proper destination. Human beings have to take refuge in that divine ship; they will have to come rushing, without further delay. They should not and must not waste a single moment.
12 November 1978 DMC, Calcutta