A History of Indian Literature v2.c19.s6.t5.68

v2.c19.s6.t5.68

In the Tantric ritual literature we have also the Sādhanas or works on magic ritual. These teach the methods by which a person can attain to Siddhi, *i.e.* "perfection" or mysterious powers, and become a Siddha, "an accomplished one." The virtue of these Siddhis is that the Siddha has the power of making himself small, large or light, at his own will, can penetrate into other bodies, can rise and move about in the air can converse with heavenly beings, can obtain everything he desires, can have gods and goddesses, men and women in his power, has the power of healing diseases by merely looking at the sufferer, and also of attaining omniscience and Nirvāṇa at will. The methods taught in the Sādhanas consist of using the Mantras according to very detailed instructions, the use of certain positions of the fingers (Mudrās) ; and most specially is it emphasized that the Sādhaka is to become absorbed in meditation (Dhyāna) on some deity, and is to bring that deity before his mind in so intensive a fashion that he becomes entirely identified with it.[^1) For the purposes of this identification it is essential that the deity be accurately described in every detail. These descriptions were utilised by the sculptors and painters in the construction of images of the gods. It is for this reason that the Sādhanas, which are collected in such works as the Sādhanamālā or Sādhana-Samuccaya,[^2) are of the very greatest importance from the point of view of Buddhist iconography. The deities which are worshipped in these Sādhanas, are the Dhyāni-Buddhas and their "families," and also numerous forms of Tārā and other female deities. There is also a Buddhist god of love, Vajrānaṅga, an incarnation of Mañjuśrī, who is invoked in Sādhanas (Nos. 59 and 60) where it is taught how a man can get a woman into his power. The essential content of the Sādhanas is magic. It is true that the preparations for the magic ritual also include Yoga exercises, meditations, devotion (pūjā), confession of sins, love (maitrī) and mercy (karuṇā). For this reason we find, for instance, in the very long