Sketch of the Religious Sects of the Hindus c7.s2.40

c7.s2.40

tras are of earlier composition, especially as we find the system they inculcate, included by ANANDAGIRI, in his life of SANKARA'CHA'RYA, amongst the heterodoxies which that Legislator succeeded in confuting. On the other hand, there appears no indication of Tantrika notions in the Mahábhárat, and the name of Tantra, in the sense of a religious text book, does not occur in the vocabulary of AMERA SINHA. It may therefore be inferred, that the system originated at some period in the early centuries of Christianity, being founded on the previous worship of the female principle, and the practices of the Yoga with the Mantras, or mystical formulæ of the Vedas. It is equally certain that the observances of the Tantras have been carried to more exceptionable extremes in comparatively modern times, and that many of the works themselves are of recent composition. They appear also to have been written chiefly in Bengal and the Eastern districts, many of them being unknown in the West and South of India, and the rites they teach having there failed to set aside the ceremonies of the Vedas, although they are not without an important influence upon the belief and the practices of the people.