History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c92.129

v7.c92.129

It is possible that the founders of the Tāntrik or Śākta cult of the five *makāras* threw defiance at the terrible aspect of God or the Highest Spirit, that rules the destinies of men and things and that made men sometimes suffer terribly even if they led lives of virtue, to do the worst for their disregard of conventional morality and social practices and hoped by their Yoga exercises to attain to high psychical powers and bliss.¹⁷⁴⁷ There is another possible motive also. Masses of common people were being drawn towards Buddhism. The founders of Hindu Tāntrik cults wanted to retain them within the Hindu fold. As common people drank wine and ate meat, they were told that they would attain higher spiritual levels even while indulging in meat and drink provided they followed Tāntrik gurus and practices. The idea was that Śakti was all and was for all; *bhoga* (enjoyment) need not be given up, as man is part of Devī or Śiva. Bhoga should be sublimated, that is all that is required in Kaulaśāstra. The Tāntrikas¹⁷⁴⁸ substitute a yoga of enjoyment (*bhoga*) for the yoga of abstinence and asceticism. When indulging in the left-hand path practices the sādhaka is supposed or held to be destroying the egoistic elements of the soul.