Reading section 31

It is easy to criticize and condemn this worship. Its outward signs are repulsive to Europeans and its inner meaning strange, for even those who pray to the Madonna are startled by the idea that the divine nature is essentially feminine.[730] Yet this idea has deep roots in the heart of Bengal and with it another idea: the terrors of death, plague and storm are half but only half revelations of the goddess-mother who can be smiling and tender as well. Whatever may be the origin of Kali and of the strange images which represent her, she is now no she-devil who needs to be propitiated, but a reminder that birth and death are twins, that the horrors of the world come from the same source as its grace and beauty and that cheerful acceptance of the deity's terrible manifestations is an essential part of the higher spiritual life.[731] These ideas are best expressed in the songs of Rama Prasada Sen (1718-1775) which "still reign supreme in the villages" of Bengal and show that this strange worship has really a hold on millions of Indian rustics.[732] The directness and childlike simplicity of his poems have caused an Indian critic to compare him to Blake. "Though the mother beat the child," he sings, "the child cries mother, mother, and clings still tighter to her garment. True, I cannot see thee, yet I am not a lost child. I still cry mother, mother."

"All the miseries that I have suffered and am suffering, I know, O mother, to be your mercy alone."

I must confess that I cannot fully sympathize with this worship, even when it is sung in the hymns of Rama Prasada, but it is clear that he makes it tolerable just because he throws aside all the magic and ritual of the Tantras and deals straight with what are for him elemental and emotional facts. He makes even sceptics feel that he has really seen God in this strange guise.

The chief sanctuary of Saktism is at Kamakhya (or Kamaksha) on a hill which stands on the banks of the Brahmaputra, about two miles below Gauhati. It is mentioned in the Padma Purana. The temples have been rebuilt several times, and in the eighteenth century were munificently endowed by an Ahom king, and placed under the management of a Brahman from Nadia in Bengal, with reversion to his descendants who bear the title of Parbatiya Gosains. Considerable estates are still assigned to their upkeep. There are ten[733] shrines on the hill dedicated to various forms of the Sakti. The situation is magnificent, commanding an extensive prospect over the Brahmaputra and the plains on either bank, but none of the buildings are of much architectural merit. The largest and best is the temple dedicated to Kamakhya herself, the goddess of sexual desire. It is of the style usual in northern India, an unlighted shrine surmounted by a dome, and approached by a rather ample vestibule, which is also imperfectly lighted. An inscription has been preserved recording the restoration of the temple about 1550 but only the present basement dates from that time, most of the super-structure being recent. Europeans may not enter but an image of the goddess can be seen from a side door. In the depths of the shrine is said to be a cleft in the rock, adored as the Yoni of Sakti. In front of the temple are two posts to which a goat is tied, and decapitated daily at noon. Below the principal shrine is the temple of Bhairavi. Human sacrifices were offered here in comparatively recent times, and it is not denied that they would be offered now if the law allowed. Also it is not denied that the rites of the "five m's" already mentioned are frequently performed in these temples, and that Aghoris may be found in them. The spot attracts a considerable number of pilgrims from Bengal, and a wealthy devotee has built a villa on the hill and pays visits to it for the purpose of taking part in the rites. I was informed that the most esteemed scriptures of the sect are the Yogini Tantra, the Mahanirvana Tantra, and the Kalika Purana. This last work contains a section or chapter on blood,[734] which gives rules for the performance of human sacrifices. It states however that they should not be performed by the first three castes, which is perhaps a way of saying that though they may be performed by non-Aryans under Brahmanic auspices they form no part of the Aryan religion. But they are recommended to princes and ministers and should not be performed without the consent of princes. The ritual bears little resemblance to the Vedic sacrifices and the essence of the ceremony is the presentation to the goddess of the victim's severed head in a vessel of gold, silver, copper, brass or wood but not of iron. The axe with which the decapitation is to be performed is solemnly consecrated to Kali and the victim is worshipped before immolation. The sacrificer first thinks of Brahma and the other gods as being present in the victim's body, and then prays to him directly as being all the gods in one. "When this has been done" says Siva, who is represented as himself revealing these rules, "the victim is even as myself." This identification of the human victim with the god has many analogies elsewhere, particularly among the Khonds.[735]

It is remarkable that this barbarous and immoral worship, though looked at askance except in its own holy places, is by no means confined to the lower castes. A series of apologies composed in excellent English (but sometimes anonymous) attest the sympathy of the educated. So far as theology and metaphysics are concerned, these defences are plausible. The Sakti is identified with Prakriti or with the Maya of the Advaita philosophy and defined as the energy, coexistent with Brahman, which creates the world. But attempts to palliate the ceremonial, such as the argument that it is a consecration and limitation of the appetites because they may be gratified only in the service of the goddess, are not convincing. Nor do the Saktas, when able to profess their faith openly, deny the nature of their rites or the importance attached to them. An oft-quoted tantric verse represents Siva as saying _Maithunena mahayogi mama tulyo na samsayah_. And for practical purposes that is the gist of Saktist teaching.

The temples of Kamakhya leave a disagreeable impression--an impression of dark evil haunts of lust and bloodshed, akin to madness and unrelieved by any grace or vigour of art. For there is no attempt in them to represent the terrible or voluptuous aspects of Hinduism, such as find expression in sculpture elsewhere. All the buildings, and especially the modern temple of Kali, which was in process of construction when I saw the place, testify to the atrophy and paralysis produced by erotic forms of religion in the artistic and intellectual spheres, a phenomenon which finds another sad illustration in quite different theological surroundings among the Vallabhacarya sect at Gokul near Muttra.

It would be a poor service to India to palliate the evils and extravagances of Saktism, but still it must be made clear that it is not a mere survival of barbaric practices. The writers of the Tantras are good Hindus and declare that their object is to teach liberation and union with the Supreme Spirit. The ecstasies induced by tantric rites produce this here in a preliminary form to be made perfect in the liberated soul. This is not the craze of a few hysterical devotees, but the faith of millions among whom many are well educated. In some aspects Saktism is similar to the erotic Vishnuite sects, but there is little real analogy in their ways of thinking. For the essence of Vishnuism is passionate devotion and self-surrender to a deity and this idea is not prominent in the Tantras. The strange inconsistencies of Saktism are of the kind which are characteristic of Hinduism as a whole, but the contrasts are more violent and the monstrosities more conspicuous than elsewhere; wild legends and metaphysics are mixed together, and the peace that passes all understanding is to be obtained by orgies and offerings of blood.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 680: See also chap. XXIV. as to Saktism and Tantrism in Buddhism. Copious materials for the study of Saktism and Tantrism are being made available in the series of tantric texts edited in Sanskrit and Tibetan, and in some cases translated by the author who uses the pseudonym A. Avalon.]

[Footnote 681: See _Annales du Musee Guimet_, Tome VIII. Si-Do-In-Dzon. Gestes de l'officiant dans les ceremonies mystiques des sectes Tendai et Singon, 1899.]

[Footnote 682: See Underhill, _Mysticism_, chaps. VI. and VII.]

[Footnote 683: See Dhalla, _Zoroastrian Theology_, p. 116.]

[Footnote 684: Specially Ath. Veda, XII. 1.]

[Footnote 685: Village deities in south India at the present day are usually female. See Whitehead, _Village Gods_, p. 21.]

[Footnote 686: Thus Candi is considered as identical with the wood goddess Basuli, worshipped in the jungles of Bengal and Orissa. See _J.A._ 1873, p. 187.]

[Footnote 687: Vaj. Sanh. 3. 57 and Taittir. Br. I. 6. 10. 4.]

[Footnote 688: Crooke, _Popular Religion of Northern India_, I. 63. Monier Williams, _Brahm. and Hinduism_, p. 57 gives an interesting account of the shrine of Kali at Vindhyacal said to have been formerly frequented by Thugs.]

[Footnote 689: This idea that deities have different aspects in which they practically become different persons is very prevalent in Tibetan mythology which is borrowed from medieval Bengal.]

[Footnote 690: Though there are great temples erected to goddesses in S. India, there are also some signs of hostility to Saktism. See the curious legends about an attendant of Siva called Bhringi who would not worship Parvati. Hultzsch, _South Indian Inscriptions_, II. ii. p. 190.]

[Footnote 691: There is a curious tendency in India to regard the male principle as quiescent, the female as active and stimulating. The Chinese, who are equally fond of using these two principles in their cosmological speculations, adopt the opposite view. The _Yang_ (male) is positive and active. The _Yin_ (female) is negative and passive.]

[Footnote 692: The Mahanirvana Tantra seems to have been composed in Bengal since it recommends for sacrificial purposes (VI. 7) three kinds of fish said to be characteristic of that region. On the other hand Buddhist works called Tantras are said to have been composed in north-western India. Udyana had an old reputation for magic and even in modern times Saktism exists in western Tibet and Leh. It is highly probable that in all these districts the practice of magic and the worship of mountain goddesses were prevalent, but I find little evidence that a definite Sakta sect arose elsewhere than in Bengal and Assam or that the Saktist corruption of Buddhism prevailed elsewhere than in Magadha and Bengal.]

[Footnote 693: But the Brahmans of isolated localities, like Satara in the Bombay Presidency, are said to be Saktas and the Kanculiyas of S. India are described as a Saktist sect.]

[Footnote 694: The law-giver Baudhayana seems to have regarded Anga and Vanga with suspicion, I. 1.13, 14.]

[Footnote 695: See especially the story of Manasa Devi in Dinesh Chandra Sen (_Beng. Lang. and Lit_. 257), who says the earliest literary version dates from the twelfth century. But doubtless the story is much older.]

[Footnote 696: Viratap. chap. VI. (not in all MSS.). Bhishmap. chap. XXIII. Also in the Harivamsa, _vv._ 3236 ff. Pargiter considers that the Devi-Mahatmya was probably composed in the fifth or sixth century. Chap. XXI. of the Lotus Sutra contains a spell invoking a goddess under many names. Though this chapter is an addition to the original work, it was translated into Chinese between 265 and 316.]

[Footnote 697: But he does mention the worship of the Divine Mothers. Harshacar. VII. 250 and Kadamb. 134.]

[Footnote 698: Hymns to the Devi are also attributed to him but I do not know what evidence there is for his authorship.]

[Footnote 699: As pointed out elsewhere, though this word is most commonly used of the Sakta scriptures it is not restricted to them and we hear of both Buddhist and Vaishnava Tantras.]

[Footnote 700: The Adhyatma Ramayana is an instance of Saktist ideas in another theological setting. It is a Vishnuite work but Sita is made to say that she is _Prakriti_ who does all the deeds related in the poem, whereas Rama is _Purusha_, inactive and a witness of her deeds.]

[Footnote 701: XI. iii. 47-8; XI. V. 28 and 31. Probably Vishnuite not Saktist Tantras are meant but the Purana distinguishes between Vedic revelation meant for previous ages and tantric revelation meant for the present day. So too Kulluka Bhatta the commentator on Manu who was a Bengali and probably lived in the fifteenth century says (on Manu II. i.) that Sruti is twofold, Vedic and tantric. _Srutisca dvividha vaidiki tantrikica._]

[Footnote 702: II. 15.]

[Footnote 703: See for full list Avalon, _Principles of Tantra_, pp. lxv-lxvii. A collection of thirty-seven Tantras has been published at Calcutta by Babu Rasik Mohun Chatterjee and a few have been published separately.]

[Footnote 704: Translated by Avalon, 1913, also by Manmatha Nath Dutt, 1900.]

[Footnote 705: Analysed in _J.A.O.S._ XXIII. i. 1902.]

[Footnote 706: Edited by Taranatha Vidyaratna, with introduction by A. Avalon, 1917.]

[Footnote 707: See Avalon, _Principles of Tantra_, p. lxi. But these are probably special meanings attached to the words by tantric schools. _Nigama_ is found pretty frequently, _e.g._ Manu, IV. 19 and Lalita-vistara, XII. But it is not likely that it is used there in this special sense.]

[Footnote 708: Edited by Avalon, 1914.]

[Footnote 709: Satirical descriptions of Saktism are fairly ancient, _e.g._ Karpura Manjari, Harvard edition, pp. 25 and 233.]

[Footnote 710: Tantrism has some analogy to the Feng-shui or geomancy of the Chinese. Both take ancient superstitions which seem incompatible with science and systematize them into pseudo-sciences, remaining blind to the fact that the subject-matter is wholly imaginary.]

[Footnote 711: For what follows as for much else in this chapter, I am indebted to Avalon's translation of the Mahanirvana Tantra and introduction.]

[Footnote 712: Pasu-, vira-, divya-bhava.]

[Footnote 713: Avalon, Mahan. Tan. pp. lxxix, lxxx.]

[Footnote 714: "The eternal rhythm of Divine Breath is outwards from spirit to matter and inwards from matter to spirit. Devi as Maya evolves the world. As Mahamaya she recalls it to herself.... Each of these movements is divine. Enjoyment and liberation are each her gifts." Avalon, Mahan. Tan. p. cxl.]

[Footnote 715: Yair eva patanam dravyaih siddhis tair eva codita--Kularnava Tantra, V. 48. There is probably something similar in Taoism. See Wieger, _Histoire des Croyances religieuses en Chine_, p. 409. The Indian Tantrists were aware of the dangers of their system and said it was as difficult as walking on the edge of a sword or holding a tiger.]

[Footnote 716: Vamacara is said not to mean left-hand worship but woman (vama) worship. This interpretation of Dakshina and Vamacara is probably fanciful.]

[Footnote 717: Sometimes two extra stages Aghora and Yogacara are inserted here.]

[Footnote 718: Mahan. Tan. X. 108. A Kaula may pretend to be a Vaishnava or a Saiva.]

[Footnote 719: Although the Tantras occasionally say that mere ritual is not sufficient for the highest religions, yet _indispensable preliminary_ is often understood as meaning _sure means_. Thus the Mahanirvana Tantra (X. 202, Avalon's transl.) says "Those who worship the Kaulas with _panca tattva_ and with heart uplifted, cause the salvation of their ancestors and themselves attain the highest end."]

[Footnote 720: But on the other hand some Tantras or tantric treatises recommend crazy abominations.]

[Footnote 721: Mahanir. Tant. X. 79. Bhartra saha kulesani na dahet kulakaminim.]

[Footnote 722: _Ib._ XI. 67.]

[Footnote 723: _E.g._ It does not prescribe human sacrifices and counsels moderation in the use of wine and _maithuna._]

[Footnote 724: See Frazer's _Adonis, Attis and Osiris_, pp. 269-273 for these and other stories of dismemberment.]

[Footnote 725: See Frazer, _Golden Bough: Spirits of the Corn_, vol. I. 245 and authorities quoted.]

[Footnote 726: Images representing this are common in Assam.]

[Footnote 727: Hsuean Chuang (Walters, vol. I. chap. VII) mentions several sacred places in N.W. India where the Buddha in a previous birth was dismembered or gave his flesh to feed mankind. Can these places have been similar to the piths of Assam and were the original heroes of the legend deities who were dismembered like Sati and subsequently accommodated to Buddhist theology as Bodhisattvas?]

[Footnote 728: It is an autumnal festival. A special image of the goddess is made which is worshipped for nine days and then thrown into the river. For an account of the festival which makes its tantric character very clear see Durga Puja by Pratapachandra Ghosha, Calcutta, 1871.]

[Footnote 729: One explanation given is that she was so elated with her victories over giants that she began to dance which shook the Universe. Siva in order to save the world placed himself beneath her feet and when she saw she was trampling on her husband, she stopped. But there are other explanations.

Another of the strangely barbaric legends which cluster round the Sakti is illustrated by the figure called Chinnamastaka. It represents the goddess as carrying her own head which she has just cut off, while from the neck spout fountains of blood which are drunk by her attendants and by the severed head itself.]

[Footnote 730: Yet the English mystic Julian, the anchoress of Norwich (c. 1400), insists on the motherhood as well as the fatherhood of God. "God is our mother, brother and Saviour." "As verily God is our father, so verily God is our mother."