A History of Hindu Chemistry from the Earliest Times to the Middle of the Sixteenth Century A.D. v1.c9.s2.15

v1.c9.s2.15

We have here the outlines of what has been known latterly as the Tantric Cult—a curious admixture of alchemical processes on the one hand, and grotesque and obscene and sometimes revolting rites on the other—all centred round the worship of Siva and his consort Párvatí. The sidelight which is thrown in the life of King Harsa and the graphic account left by his contemporary, the Chinese pilgrim Hiuen Thsang, enable us to draw a picture of N. India in the VIIth century A.D. It has hitherto been taken almost for granted that Buddhism was expelled from India by the persecution of the Brahmins of the Renaissance period. There may have been zealous bigots who now and then went the length of hunting down Buddhists ; but the concensus of testimonies seems to be that both the people and the princes generally maintained an attitude of philosophic toleration towards the creed of Sákyamuni even so late as the XIth century A.D.¹ The causes which brought about the extinction of Buddhism in India worked from *within*. The purity of life, and the austerity of practices enjoined on the followers of the creed, become in the long run irksome.