The History of Buddhist Thought c30.s1.t5: Tantra
The History of Buddhist Thought c30.s1.t5
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Tantra
c30.s1.t5.1
*Guhyasamāja-tantra* or *Tathāgataguhyaka*, edited by B. Bhattacharyya. Gaekwad's Or. Ser., 53. Baroda, 1931. (Professor Winternitz in an important article in *IHQ*. 1933, p. 1 ff., points out that the *Tathāgataguhyaka* quoted by Śāntideva in his *Śikṣāsamuccaya* is a different work. In the work here edited we find "the same unsavoury mixture of mysticism, occult pseudo-science, magic, and erotics, as in most of the other Buddhist Tantras". The editor, although he admits that the work definitely asks its followers to disregard all social laws, thinks that Yoga and the Tantras are regarded as the greatest contributions of Sanskrit to world culture. In his *Introduction to Buddhist esoterism* (1932) he declares that “the Tantric culture is the greatest of all cultures, because it aims at the spiritual perfection and psychic development of man, and as such no one can deny that the Tantric culture is the greatest contribution made by India towards the world’s civilization”. His views are not shared by all Indians.¹
c30.s1.t5.2
¹ Mr. Bhattacharyya’s views do not seem to be perfectly balanced. In his introduction to *Sādhanamālā*, vol. 2, p. xxxiii, he says, “it is indeed a pity that the Hindus, and also the Jainas to a certain extent, could not throw off the worthless and immoral practices enjoined in the Tantras even when Buddhism was stamped out of India.”
c30.s1.t5.3
Besides canonical works the following are important: *Matériaux pour servir à l’histoire de la déesse buddhique Tārā*, par G. de Blonay. Paris, 1895. *Adikarmapradīpa*. (In *Bouddhisme, études et matériaux*, par L. de la Vallée Poussin, 1898. This contains valuable studies on tantric rites, maithuna or sexual union, spells, and the relations of Tantra with Śaivism.) *Subhāsita-saṃgraha*. Edited by C. Bendall. Louvain, 1905. (The editor holds that this work explains the decay, decrepitude, and dotage of Buddhism as shown in the Tantra-literature. A more convincing account was given by Mm. Haraprasad Sastri. See the important account of his life and work given by Dr. N. N. Law in *IHQ*. ix, 1933, p. 307.) *Les chants mystiques de Kāṇha et de Saraha ; les Dohā-koṣa et les Caryā*, éd. et trad. par M. Shahidullah. Paris, 1928. (The author explains the “argot tantrique”, by which technical religious terms were applied in obscene senses. The best general treatment is by L. de la Vallée Poussin in *ERE*, art. “Tantrism”.) *The Post-Caitanya Sahajīā cult of Bengal*. By M. M. Bose. Calcutta, 1930. (A study of a modern tantric sect. The author has also published the Bengali texts of the sect in *Sahajiyā sāhitya*. Calcutta, 1932.)