History of Chemistry in Ancient and Medieval India, Incorporating the History of Hindu Chemistry by Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray c17.15

c17.15

of theory to practice. The development of Tantrism is a feature that Buddhism and Hinduism in their later phases have in common. The object of Hindu Tantrism is the acquisition of wealth, mundane enjoyments, rewards for moral actions, deliverance by worshipping Durga, the Sakti of Siva—Prajna in the terminology of the Mahayana—through means of spells, muttered prayers, *samadhi* (suspension of all outward consciousness), offerings, etc Similarly, the Buddhistic Tantras purpose to teach the adepts how by a supernatural way to acquire desired objects, either of a material nature as the elixir of longevity, invulnerability, invisibility and alchemy, or of a more spiritual character, as the power of evoking a Buddha or a Bodhisattva to solve a doubt or the power of achieving in this life the union with some divinity. There is an unmistakable affinity between Tantrism on one side, and the system of *yoga* and *kammatthana* on the other. Tantrism is, so to say, a popularised and, at the same time, degraded form of *yoga*, because the objects are commonly of a coarser character, and the practices partly more childish and more revolting.