History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c92.164

v7.c92.164

¹⁷⁶⁸ Sir John Woodroffe remarks (in the Introduction to his 'Principles of Tantra' part 2, pp. XII-XIV) that the one topic that appears to differentiate Tantras from other religious works is the constituent parts of its ritual such as the mantras, bījas, mudrās, yantras, *bhūtaśuddhi* and that it is mainly by these items rather than by anything else that the tāntrik character of a work is established Vide also 'the Śāktas' by E. A. Payne p. 137 for a similar view Sir John Woodroffe, while reviewing Payne's work (in JRAS for 1935 at p. 387), himself agreed that what distinguished the Śākta ritual is the mantra and magical sections and that part of it which deals with the secret ritual, that, while there is ordinarily no *bhoga* (enjoyment) where there is *yoga*, in the Śākta doctrine a man may have both *yoga* and *bhoga* and that this is a distinct and profound characteristic of that doctrine Even the Buddhist Vajrayāna Tantras purport to aim at the attainment of *bodhi* (vide Guhyasamāja p. 154, Sādhanamālā I. p 225 and II. p 421) and ज्ञानसिद्धि I. 4 ये तु सत्त्वाः समारूढाः सर्वसङ्कल्पवर्जिताः। ते स्पृशन्ति परां बोधिं जन्मनीहैव साधकाः ॥