[Advaita-l] Re: Bhutas and Tantra

[Jaldhar H. Vyas]

On Fri, 29 Aug 2003 bhaskar.yr at in.abb.com wrote:

> >  When I was personally interacting with Sri Jaldhar prabhuji to prove
> supremacy of Sri Krishna over other deities, Jaldhar prabhuji had quoted
> *kalau chandi vinAyakau* from Appaiah Dikshita's work *chandi path*.  In
> kaliyuga worship of chandi & vinayaka more suited. So, prabhuji, we cannot
> say that appaiah dikshita advicing us to worship only tAmasa rUpa of these
> deities since it is addressed to all kaliyuga people.
>

Btw that maxim is from Shri Bhaskararayas' Guptavati tika on the Chandi
Path not Appaya Dikshita.  He did not create it, he was quoting a proverb
which was already in common currency at that time (17th century.)  But I'm
glad you brought it up because it illustrates an important point.  This
Bhaskararaya was a great Vaidika scholar and proudly mentions in all his
works the various somayajnas he and his ancestors had performed.  Plus
at the beginning of works like Guptavati he respectfully salutes
Shankaracharya and his parampara.  Yet he is primarily known today for his
Tantric writings.  The Chandi Path itself also has this dual character.
It is part of the Markandeya Mahapurana one of the 18 said by tradition to
have been composed by Maharshi Vedavyasa so it is "vedic" yet according to
the commentaries the method of chanting it is according to the Katyayani
Tantra.

What this shows is that Veda and Tantra are not polar opposites but in
fact intersect at some points.


-- 
Jaldhar H. Vyas <jaldhar at braincells.com>
It's a girl! See the pictures - http://www.braincells.com/shailaja/