History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c92.251

v7.c92.251

Late Dharmaśāstra works relied for the initiation into mantras on tantra works. For example, the Dharmasindhu (p. 32) expressly says so There is a difference between Dīkṣā and *upadeśa*, which latter means the communication of only a mantra in a solar or lunar eclipse, at a tīrtha, Siddhakṣetra (sacred region once inhabited by a siddha) or in a Śiva temple. Raghunandana in Dīkṣātattva (vol II. pp. 645-659) gives a lengthy treatment of dīkṣā at the beginning of which he remarks that in the Śāradātilaka and other works numerous topics of dīkṣā are described but as in his time all those were not being followed he attempts only a brief treatment.