Early History of the Vaishnava Faith and Movement in Bengal, from Sanskrit and Bengali Sources c10.s1.14

c10.s1.14

Before imparting a Mantra to the disciple, the preceptor should be guided by several considerations. Of these the selection of worthy recipients is of primary importance. Gopāla Bhaṭṭa holds that chaste (*sādhvī*) women and noble-minded (*sad-dhī*) Śūdras are entitled to receive initiation into Tāntric Mantras, and quotes several authorities from the Purāṇas and Saṃhitās to support this view. People of mixed or low castes, including even the lowest Caṇḍāla, can also enjoy this privilege. The preceptor should also find out the suitable nature of the Mantra to be imparted and determine whether it is favourable or not, in accordance with the Tāntric principle of a Mantra being of twenty types, such as Siddha, Sādhya, Susiddha, etc.¹ This is to be accomplished by the purely Tāntric method described in the Śaradā-tilaka, by means of a rectangular Maṇḍala, in the sixteen Koṣṭhas of which the letters of the alphabet are to be written.² Some of the Mantras are declared to be beneficent and some harmful, while others are deficient and impure. The latter kind, therefore, requires Saṃskāra or purification, which consists of the ten operations of Janana, Jīvana, Tāḍana, Rodhana, Abhiṣeka, Vimalīkaraṇa, Āpyāyana, Tarpaṇa, Dīpana and Gupti, described in the Śaradā-tilaka, which work is again quoted extensively. But there are, of course, certain Mantras which are beneficent in themselves and do not require any Saṃskāra.