64 - Discourses on Tantra Volume One

Chapter 16

The Psychology behind the Origin of Tantric Gods and Goddesses (1)

Yesterday I talked about the Puranic gods and goddesses. In this connection let me tell you one thing more. Various types of Puranic methods, such as nyása(1), práńáyáma, etc., have now become accepted in the Puranic mode of worship, but in fact these methods are of Tantric origin and not related to the Puranas. When doing práńáyáma one will have to concentrate one’s mind on a certain point. This is a Tantric method; when the mind is concentrated on a point it gets confined to a particular space. This method, confining the mind to a certain space, is called Yudhiśt́hira Vidyá in yoga shástra. That is, this was invented by the first Páńd́ava brother, Yudhiśt́hira.

However, I will have to say something more about the Puranic system of worship. There are many Puranic worship practices which people are inclined to believe to be very old; many believe that they are as ancient as the Vedas. But that is not the fact of the matter. None of the Puranic systems of worship, or Puranic rituals, is older than 1200 or 1300 years. All those systems of worship are post-Buddhistic, or developed somewhat prior to the period of Buddhist Tantra [which came one thousand years after Buddha himself], or developed, at the earliest, contemporaneously with Buddha.

Numerous Buddhist gods and goddesses later became accepted as Puranic gods and goddesses; for example, the Buddhist goddess Shiitalá became converted into a Puranic goddess because of the fear of smallpox and some of the Buddhist Tantric gods and goddesses also became converted into Puranic gods and goddesses. For instance, the Buddhist Tantric deity Tárá is now accepted as a Puranic deity; these days many Hindus accept Tárá Devii. You will find many persons with names such as Tárádás, Tárápada, etc. Similarly, the Hindu Tantric goddess Kálii has been accepted in Buddhist Tantra.

For these reasons I was saying that no Puranic ritual or mode of worship is older than 1200 or 1300 years. In the wake left by the collapse of Buddhism [in India], the Puranic religion or neo-Hindu religion emerged, and the Buddhist Tantric gods and goddesses became accommodated in the new religion.

A new religious movement called the Nátha Cult emerged during the period of transition from the Buddhist Era to the Puranic Era. Many gods and goddesses of the Nátha Cult can also be detected [in the Puranic religion], for instance Buŕo Shiva. In fact, most of the Puranic gods and goddesses receiving great reverence in our country are not older than five hundred or six hundred years. If any of them are 1200-1300 years old, that is indeed the maximum.

Some people believe that the worship of Durgá is something very old, but that is not true at all. This worship became popular during the Muslim period; that is, it is of quite recent origin.

The system of Durgá worship was in existence at the time when Krttivasa first composed the Bengali Rámáyańa. Since Durgá worship was a contemporary matter, Krttivasa mentioned the goddess Durgá in his Rámáyańa. For instance, he mentioned that Ramacandra worshipped the goddess Durgá with 108 lotus flowers. But in the original Sanskrit Rámáyańa, Valmiiki’s Rámáyańa, these stories are absent. The worship of Durgá was popular during the time of Krttivasa, and therefore he inserted the story into his Rámáyańa. But even in the Rámcaritmánasa composed by Tulasii Das, the story is conspicuously absent. Thus we can conclude that it was only created in the imagination of Krttivas. So the idea that the system of Durgá worship is quite old is entirely unfounded.

The system of worshipping the goddess Durgá was first introduced in Bengal by Kamsanarayana Ray, the king of Tahirpur of Rajsahi District [now in Bangladesh], during the Pathan period. King Kamsanarayana had a lot of wealth. He told the pandits, “I have so much wealth, I would like to hold the Rájasuya Sacrifice.” The pandits said, “O king, in Kali Yuga there is no system for holding the Rájasuya Sacrifice [a sacrifice done only by the most powerful kings]. But since you have so much money, you can celebrate the worship of the goddess Durgá in accordance with the instructions in the Márkańd́eya Puráńa.”

The story goes that Kamsanarayana Ray spent as much as 700,000 rupees for the worship of the goddess Durgá. 700,000 of the rupees of those days mean almost 70 million rupees today. It was a huge expense, and this sparked a competition among the other kings and landlords. The following year King Jagadvaballabh of Ektakia (his name was Jagat Narayana according to other sources) spent 850,000 rupees on the worship of the goddess. In this unhealthy process of competition, the worship of the goddess Durgá became an affair restricted only to the wealthy landlord households. Actually the display of wealth became the primary motive. There were gargantuan feasts, and a lot of pageantry. “I will feed multitudes of people, I will hold huge pageants.” The competition went on.

All kinds of landlord, big, small and medium, began to worship the goddess. This all happened during the period of Pathan rule [just before the Mughal Dynasty]. These are purely Puranic systems of worship, and the books considered authorities for this subject are only the Puranas. None of these books has anything to do with Tantra or Veda, except that they prescribe chanting some rks [couplets] from the Deviisukta [verse] of the Rgveda. Actually, the worship of the goddess Durgá has no direct relation to the Rgveda, except that incidentally the word “Haemavatii Umá” from the Deviisukta is quoted. [“Umá” is conceived of as another name for Durgá.]