Whose Tantra?
Reflections on Bazaari Tantra – A Critical Category of Discourse in the
Study of Tantrism
Madhu Khanna
There has been an active interface between the symbolic representation
of culture in our myths, legends, religions and artistic representations on
the one hand, and the articulations of the modern industrial
technological culture, on the other. As in the case of so many disciplines,
the scientific temper of modern development ideology questions the
ancient expressions of Hindu religiosity. In most cases ancient practices
that are resistant to social change are under threat. In other cases, the
process of modernization and globalization has generated a slow decay
and a systematic withering away of old religious and cultural varieties,
resulting often in the collapse of traditional systems of living. Moreover,
the prominence of religion in public life has opened up new areas of
debate between religion and politics. In the wake of this any discourse
on civilization representations (in this case the popular stream of Hindu
Tantra) would benefit greatly by asking certain pertinent questions such
as, can traditional representations resist the onslaught of modernity and
globalization? Or can they co-exist, retaining their resilience and sacred
power without distortion of form and content? More importantly, does
globalization tend to appropriate and juggle with context, meanings, and
metaphors thereby creating and transforming these ancient symbolic
archetypal representations to fit into their “political” agendas.
In the light of these questions my presentation sets out to examine the all
pervasive presence, visibility, forms, and dynamism of popular forms of
Tantric practices found in Indian market places or “bazaars”.
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Madhu Khanna
I
Contextualizing the category Bazaari Tantra
Scholars pursuing scholastic studies tend to confuse the “aught” from
the “is” in the study of Tantrism. I have used the word bazaari in the title
of my paper. The word bazaari needs some explanation. A bazaar
(market place) is a window to popular culture, and popular culture with
respect to this paper is not understood as a sub-culture for the masses; or
a sub-culture that provides a form of control of the masses by hegemonic
groups of power. I am inclined to agree with Adam Possamai1, that
popular culture is a vehicle of “the auto-determinism of social actors”
and “a platform for our own biography” in so far as it creates our lives,
our views of ourselves. The bazaars in India, then, may also shape the
form, content and aesthetics of religion and religious life. While popular
culture may amuse, instruct and entertain, it is also “an inspiration for
religion. One hypothesis of my paper is that bazaari Tantra is engaged in
shaping the scenarios in popular culture through a wide range of massmediated cultural products, such as religious icons, images, stores
(named after Tantra/Yantra), TV serials and the like.
In lineage-based traditional communities, religious practices, norms of
ethnic identity, taste and distaste are easily transmitted from generation
to generation. Today, the pattern has reversed. People create their own
individualized identity. They choose the gods they want at a given place
or time. Popular emblems of culture in the open bazaar offer a library of
choices and invariably mould the construction of one’s ‘religious’ self. In
the new social landscape of multiculturalism, people draw their
inspiration from vast religious resources.
Self-choice and autodeterminism of the market forces has given rise to a hybridization of
religions. And Tantra, for better or worse, has found a new space in the
public arena.
Adam Possamai, Religion and Popular Culture – A Hyper-Real Testament
(New York: P.I.E. Peter Lang, 2007), 20.
1
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Madhu Khanna
Another point to note is the distinctive feature of the Indian bazaar and
its encounter with Indian modernity. Kajri Jain2 in her monumental
work (Gods in the Bazaar 2006) has outlined the distinctive links of the
nature of production, consumption, and circulation of popular art.
Contextualizing popular Tantra in the context of Indian modernity, it
may be said that bazaari Tantra as is generally thought of, is not entirely
an urban phenomena. It cuts across the metropolises, the small towns,
the village, the street and the home, the public and the private, capitalist,
bureaucrat, worker, politician, the young and the old. The ubiquity of
bazaari Tantra and its sacred practices extends to multiple sites such as
public arena, political spectacle, private and domestic spheres.
A very wide variety of tantric prayogas have become part of the hyper
consumerist religion loosing their esoteric symbolism and potential
strength. As they become part of a globalized consumer culture, religious
mythology and doctrines are freely mixed. The hyper-real has blurred
the boundaries between the real and the unreal. This has had a profound
impact on the esoteric core (rahasya) and secret wisdom of Tantra. What
was once its hallmark over the centuries is moving to the exoteric. The
secrets of Tantra are no longer is the privilege of a few lineage-based
communities of devotees. The esoteric knowledge is being ‘undressed’
by a host of false gurus and the media at large. Because of the nature of
its social location, bazaari Tantra will continue to be regarded as a
floating category that is amenable to change by the swings and swirls of
the market forces. Some modern day tantrikas observed that what was
once confined to close circle of practitioners is now liberated from the
narrow confines of tradition. Tantra has now become freer in its
expression, through a variety of personal inventions, due to the deinstitutionalization that has taken place from the growing thrust of
modernity and modern day globalization. The pervasive presence of the
“esoteric-popular” versus the “exoteric popular” in the past has changed
the terms of this discourse considerably. What was once the exclusive
domain of the elite group of lineages is now readily available for popular
consumption.
2
Kajri Jain, Gods in the Bazaar: the Economies of Indian Calendar Art
(Durham: Duke University Press, 2007).
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Madhu Khanna
There is a large percentage of modern day tantrikas their votaries of
every shade and in the market. The sophisticated tantrikas concerned
with pure philosophical aspects of Tantra speculations and quiet
religious reflections. On the other end is the unsophisticated, but
literate/learned traditional pundits who attach equal importance to
ritualistic instruction and a sprinkling of philosophy. At the lowest rung
of the ladder are the bazaari tantrikas, who are unconcerned with Sastric,
doctrinal or speculative issues. Their main inspiration and object of
discipline comes from daily social concerns (vyavhāra) and practical
application of ritual formulae to solve survival needs of the masses. The
escalating rate of bazaari tantrikas is ever on the increase. According to
my informant there are 10,000 persons in Delhi alone who dabble with
some form of Tantra.1
The opening up of free economy and the explosion of the information
technology and the emergence of over a hundred TV Channels in India
have created a new space in the media for appropriation, and
reinterpretation of the sacred. In the public domain Tantra has a
visibility and presence. There are separate magazines in the market or
special issues devoted to the subject.2 The well known Hindi magazine
Kādambanī has been bringing out a special number on “Tantra” for the
last six years. Zee TV has introduced serials on the awe-inspiring Aghora
cult of Tantra. Many TV ads sell new-age religions, and there is growing
market of cheap tantric books in the vernacular languages.
Scholars have recognized the all-inclusive nature of Tantra which
reverberates between the twin aims of bhoga and moksa-centered
worship. Rarely a sharp distinction is made between para and the
laukika (high/elite) and the popular forms of Tantrism. Indologists who
presume the textual study of Tantra base their researches on the
assumption that greater part of the Tantras are Sastra-centric. My own
researches have shown otherwise. The orally transmitted popular forms
of Tantra have paid an equally significant role in the history and
1
2
According to my informant Saurabh Kwatra, a well-known astro-journalist.
See for example, Tantra Jyotisa in the bibliography.
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Madhu Khanna
evolution of the Tantras. Lorenzen has also problematized the dual
character of Tantra: “Does the term Tantric religion cover only those
texts known as Tantras, Samhitas and Agamas, or does it include a wide
range of popular religious phenomena?”3 A wider definition of Tantra
embraces popular traditions, written and vernacular that have a wider
social base in Indian Society.
The popular (laukika / vyavaharika) form of tantric culture represents a
fluid space with many contradictions. There are several persons who are
half time tantrikas, who have government jobs, are householders but
claim to have acquired powers (siddhis) either directly, or through their
gurus. They help people alleviate their sufferings by means of remedies
(upayas) known to them. Some are full time tantrikas who have
negotiated their way in the market and have acquired an enviable status.
In both cases the tantrikas maintains an identity that is not static but in a
process of formation. He is an ideal representation of a ‘self – in
process’. In this negotiation the form of Tantra that he practices is not
fixed but is continuously produced and used in ways that can not be
fully pre determined. Although they do not form a clearly identifiable
cultural, social, or political group, the tantrikas in the market place have
had an enormous influence on the Indian psyche. What is striking is
that all forms of bazaari Tantra works its way through the ethos of
complex networks of corporate capitalism and has accommodated to the
profit-seeking values of the capital oriented market system.
Under the agenda of globalization the increasing popularity of
telemedia, advertising has emerged as a dominant medium of
expression. There has been marked ‘shift’ in the image of the marketplace tantrikas. The traditional ubiquitous wonder worker relegated to
the private spaces is now being recast in the language of modern media.
To take a few examples:
David N. Lorenzen, “Early Evidence for Tantric Religion” in Who Invented
Hinduism: Essays on Religion and History, ed. David N. Lorenzen (New Delhi:
Yoga Press, 2006), 64-77.
3
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Madhu Khanna
1. “This is my challenge. When all efforts fail, I guarantee to solve all
your problems”.
Baba Jamil Khan Tantrika, New Delhi
2.
“Grace transforms into destiny… why be upset? A meeting with me
will dispel your sorrows. I excel in Bengali, Shifali, Black (magic),
Sulemani, Rahamani ilm”.
Baba Kamal Khan Bengali Tantrika, New Delhi
3.
I guarantee resolution of all your problems.
I transform
hopelessness to hope (nirasha me asha).
Baba Abrara Khan Bengali Tantrika
4.
“Contact me immediately to learn about tantra-vidya… when I have
the solution… why wait…. Guaranteed success”.
Baba M Sadiq
5.
“Tantra, yantra mantra give success in all matters… invest
astrologically in shares and see your money growing. Fees Rs. 1500/“
Rajeev Khattar, Chennai
6.
“Know the cause (of your afflictions) through jyotisha… its resolution
through Tantra”.
Shrimaliji, editor Jyotisha Tantra
The modern day advertisements in popular media in the newspapers,
popular journals and magazines reflect this shift. The change in image is
no doubt the result of the socio-economic transition and the growing
consumerism encouraged by the liberal economy. The redefined image
of the “glocal” tantrika is a convenient site for negotiation between the
traditional esoteric vidyas of the past and the unlimited consumerist
aspirations of the urban middle class.
Popular forms of Tantra are not a separate and distinct category or a sect,
or a religious tradition, as it tends to loop and web with a variety of
sects, and sub-group of Hinduism. The face of Tantra in the Indian
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Madhu Khanna
bazaars is very different from the Tantric tradition mirrored in the
sophisticated Sanskrit texts. Bazaari Tantra has created its own class of
literature in the Vernacular1 languages of India. In North India Hindi
books, found in hundreds, are sold in local bookstores, temple markets
and on pavements. The buzz-word Tantra is associated with magical
rites (jadu-tona), occult practices of the most depraved kind and sinister
religious activities verging on extreme. Tantra is looked upon as a dark
underworld of Hinduism, one that is feared for the dangerous powers
that it may unleash. In my exploration I encountered that the responses
of people were somewhat contradictory. Although many people
associated Tantra with the black magic and immoral behavior,
substantial number of people agreed that the Tantrikas in the bazaars
were very powerful individuals who had variety of “mantra-yantra” and
“tantra saktis” to alleviate human suffering. The bazaari Tantra had
access to a domain of nature’s powers that the high caste Brahmin priests
lacked.
Bazaari Tantra may be distinguished from all other forms of Tantra. Its
exclusive concern is prayoga, or application of ritual and yogic
prescriptions laid out in Tantric Scriptures transmitted orally through
inter-generational lineage-based traditions. It is built on a bedrock of
sum total of traditional knowledge systems such as folk-lore, popular
culture, regional culture, disciplines such as astrology, alchemy,
liturgies, mantra-lore, ayurveda, gemology, etc. Bazaari Tantra is entirely
siddhi-oriented. It is concerned with the acquisition of powers that can
be applied for alleviation of day-to-day problems of life. The tantrika
are looked upon as dream merchants, who can find a magical answer to
life crisis situations and claim to fulfill an individual’s most cherished
wishes. It uses both malefic and benefic applications of rituals. At the
local level Hindu and Muslim Tantra, Bengali Tantra, Black magic (kalajadu), Sufi and Shifali, Kala-ilm, Sulemani, Rehmani, and sectarian
religious sects with tantric orientation co-exist together.
Siddhis and Potent Tools
1
Some representative examples of popular Tantra literature in Hindi are given in
the bibliography.
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Madhu Khanna
Two potent instruments of tantric siddhis used by the tantrikas are the
yantra and the mantra (jantar and mantar in Hindi). In the post-medieval
Tantric literature, especially of the Saiva, Sakta and sectarian sects,
innumerable ritual manuals and digests were compiled on the usages
and ritual formula of tantric mantras and their inherent spiritual powers.
The Tantras have devised their own mantrasastra, exclusive scriptures
dealing with the efficacy of mantras. These scriptures have developed
potent mantric formulas of the Tantric deities, spells, incantations and
charms for the attainment of magico-propitiatory and magico-defensive
powers. The other tool is the yantra, a linear power diagram of great
potency that is believed to tap hidden psychic sources in order to achieve
mastery over the causal forces of nature. The occult yantra is
distinguished from all kinds of power diagram by its practical
application and utilitarian ends. The primary purpose is to gain control
over the forces of nature for positive or negative ends, but mainly for the
attainment of worldly rather that spiritual goals, especially those not
easily attainable by secular or religious effort. As practical magic, occult
yantras have played an important role in Indian rural life, and remain a
living tradition.
The occult figures are not stereotypes but within the tradition vary
endlessly. Each shape is a means to communicate with supernatural
forces that work between heaven and earth. The forms and functions of
the signs and diagrams are as many and individual as the human needs
and purposes that they are intended to fulfill; and it is claimed that there
is no wish that a yantra cannot satisfy. They are used for preventive
medicine, as good luck charms, for exorcism, to ward off calamities, to
gain wealth or learning, to enhance bodily charms, to restore alienated
affection, to ensure conception or the birth of a son, to secure harmony
and influence in the community, and so on.1
1
The Yantracintamani (Thought Jewel of Yantras), is solely devoted to eighty
occult yantras, which grants all desires, conscious or unconscious. The
Kamaratna Tantra is another occult text which lists a large number of occult
yantras and the rituals to accompany them.
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Madhu Khanna
In contrast to the uniformly beneficent siddhis, the tantrikas have been
associated with six magical rites (sat karmas) in which the first one, Shanti
rituals and yantras grant protection from the ill effects of planets and
curses, cure diseases and dispel fears. Second: Vasikarana grants the
power to attract and being under one’s control men, women, gods and
animals, and have one’s desire fulfilled through them. Third: Stambhana
lends the power of preventing or restraining another’s action. Fourth:
Vidvesana grants the power of separating friends, relatives, and lovers.
Fifth: Uccatan transmits the power to uproot. Sixth, Marana grants the
power to liquidiate. The rites have been given a doctrinal basis, and are
ascribed symbolic association with deities, compass directions, mantras,
elements and colors2. In my exploration I met two tantrikas who dabble
with these rituals.
II
Some Profiles of Bazaari Tantrikas
The Enabling Deities
In a generic sense all Hindu Tantric deities, theoretically can be invoked
in prayoga rituals, some Tantric gods and goddesses play a greater role.
The most popular gods in the popular stream that claim superiority, and
are invoked as sacred functionaries is Siva-Hanuman, the who is looked
upon as an incarnation of Siva. The prayogas are performed on a
Hanumat Yantra with tantric bija mantras, following strict rules of the
ritual digests. Bhairava is invoked in his Vatuka Bhairava aspect in his
sattvic or tamsic form. Among the goddesses, the most influential and
widespread are the Ten Mahavidya Goddesses who may be invoked
collectively or individually for mundane ends. Apart from these deities
who are linked to, or derive their power from Siva, there are lesser
divinities of lower status in the hierarchy of the Hindu pantheon. A large
number of spiritual powers (siddhis) and are attributed to the Yaksinis
and Yogini-sadhanas.
2
See Madhu Khanna, Yantra: The Tantric Symbol of Cosmic Unity (London:
Thames and Hudson, 1979), 153-160.
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Madhu Khanna
Table 1: List of problems for which Tantric remedies are sought
S.No.
Family & Marriage
Career &
Business
Health &
Healing
Evil
Influences
Others
1.
Obstacles to
Marriage
Promotion in
Career
Healing of all
kinds
Subjugation
of Enemies
Magic
Tona)
2
Birth of Child
Success
Politics
Secret
Diseases of
women (Gupt
Roga)
Bhuta-Preta
Mukti
Exorcism
from
Evil
spirits
Problems
arising from
ill placement
of planetary
conjunctions
3
Birth of Male Child
Foreign
Travel
Secret
Diseases of
men (Gupt
Roga)
Protection
from Enemies
Property
Disputes
4
Forlorn Love
Freedom
from Evil
Court
Disputes
5
Obstacles in love
Dispelling the
result of Evil
Prayogas
6
Divorce
Nazar
Eye’
in
‘Evil
Informants and Sources: Baba Jamil Khan Tantrika, New Delhi, Baba
Kamla Khan Bengali Tantrika, New Delhi, Great Baba Samani Bengali,
Baba Abrara Khan Bengali Tantrika, Baba M Sadiq, Srivaidika
Pratisthan, S.Vijaya Kumar Chennai, Rajeev Khattar, Chennai, Shrimaliji,
editor Jyotisha Tantra, Tantrika Pandit, Mahendra Mishra, New Delhi.
(Jadoo
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Madhu Khanna
Kanti Charan Sharma of Aligarh, is a traditional Purohit who learnt his
vidya from his father. He is the official tantric astrologer of high-ranking
politicians in Uttar Pradesh and civil servants. He is quick to point out
that the Chief Minister to the Police Inspector come to him. He claims to
have Yaksini-Siddhi. The cult of the Yaksa-Yaksini male and female
nature spirits is traceable to the pre-Aryan autochthonous tradition.
Yaksinis are regarded as a class of supernatural beings but subordinate
to the ‘high’ gods of the Hindu pantheon. These deities occur in Hindu,
Buddhist and Jaina literature from very early times. He explained:
The Yaksini, is the wife of Yaksa. They are said to be of innumerable
numbers. Legend holds that they are empowered with powers that
can be exploited for different mundane ends. Yaksinis are swift,
active and easy to please…. they are eternal, they existed in primal
time and even created the gods, they will survive the holocaust….
once pleased by the devotee, they fulfill all wishes and bestow
fortune and desired prosperity. They assume various manifestations
and he recalled the names of fifty Yaksinis: Chinchi Pishacani
Yaksini, when gratified bestows knowledge of past, present and
future; Rati-Priya Yaksani, bestows wealth; Kanakavati Yaksani
bestows divine eyesight (divya-anjana) whereby the devotes can
identify buried wealth; Svarnarekha Yaksani, bestows divine sight;
Chandrika Yaksini bestows immortality; Padmavati Yaksani
[originally, deity from the Jaina pantheon] fulfills all wishes;
Bhandara Purana Yaksani bestows abundant food; Vata Yaksini
bestows divine gifts; Anuragini Yaksani bestows wealth. Yaksanis
report to Kuber and Kuber to Lord Krishna. I cannot reach Kuber.
My siddhi is limited but effective.
The Yaksanis assumed a renewed significance in tantric-prayoga in that
their enabling rituals are described in late Damara Tantra and other
texts1. Jai Prakash Shastri, is the disciple of Hare Ram Sharma, who
1
Cf. Ram Kumar Rai, ed., Damara Tantra, Tantra Granthamala No. 13
(Varanasi: Prachya Prakashana, 1988), 86-116 ; S.N. Khandelavala
Bhutadamara Tantra, Chowkhambha Surabharati Granthamala 278
(Varanasi: Choukambha Prakashana, 2000), 64-71. Some unedited
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Madhu Khanna
practices “Vanaspati (=Herbal) Tantra” He has a shop in the village
Fatehpura Beri, in the outskirts of Delhi where he heals people through
Ayurvedic medicines, traditional herbs that embody tantric divinities
and tantric yantras. “I perform seva to humanity. Today Tantra and
mantra is identified with people who are imposters. But it is not so.
Mantra and yantras are spiritual tools of salvation. They are employed to
heal people”.
Figure 1: Two modern ads by practicing tantrikas
Anjana Chisti lives in a remote village, Padrona, near Kaptanganj, in U.P.
He can exorcise of demonic power (preta-yoni-mukti), and claims that he
has found a cure for alcoholism. He is an established tantrika and runs
the Society of Paravijnana Samsthan, from where he is involved in the
service of humanity. His practice involves using mantras, and yantras.
Lakshmi Devi a desperate housewife went to him for a cure for her
alcoholic husband. “Chishti sab gave a metal yantra inscribed with 41x41
numbers. Whenever my husband was in full consciousness, I would
wash the yantra in water, and make him drink the consecrated water.
manuscripts in Sanskrit are also found in the collection of Asiatic Society
of Bengal, Calcutta: Yakshini Kalpa (No. 6028); Yakshini Paddhati (No.
8370); Yakshini Prayoga (No 12327 ka). These sources attest to the
popularity of her worship.
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Madhu Khanna
This was repeated for three month. Today, my husband works as a
priest (pujari), at Dabauli Devi Temple. He hates the name of alcohol.
While, my informant was relating this, a woman stormed into his room
and began to dance and scream wildly. Who are you asked Chishti, “My
name is Kaushalya and I am going to kill you”. The relative informed
that Kaushalya, was under the evil influence of a demon (preta-atma).
The tantrika picked a lemon with a knife. Chanting some mantras he
blew his breath over the consecrated lemon. He then touched her throat
with the consecrated knife. In a few moments, the lady was silent.
Chishti said that “the demon has left her body and the woman is free
from evil spirits”.
Tantra and Politics
The bazaari form of Tantra has penetrated highest level of Indian society,
inspiring political leadership and power. The former Congress party
Prime Minister, PV Narsimha Rao, is said to have appointed a Tantric
guru called Chandraswami as his personal advisor. The guru was on
trial for political corruption and criminal charges. The Bhartiya Janta
Party, of the Vishva Hindu Parishad combine also had their share of
Tantric advisers. Lalu Prasad Yadava, the charismatic leader of Bihar,
buoyed by his political ambition is said to maintain tantrikas who help
advise him. In the last election Lalu Prasad Yadav was a worried man
despite the fact that his party was confident of a ‘vote bank’, the presence
of other party rebels and over ambitions grass-roots leader from the
Yadav clan made him less confident. For a man who had taken pride in
debunking superstition, and upper caste Brahmin astrologers, at the time
of election he was playing host to tantrikas who were advising him to
perform the pujas that will enable his flock to attain the magical figure of
hundred numbers in the election.
Bhagatji of Kamakhyawale, learned in tantra-vidya, lives in Kamakhya, a
well known pilgrimage centre of goddess worshippers in North-East
India. He claims to have vasikarana-siddhi. “For fifteen years I performed
her worship today, I work in Airport Authority of India, as well as I heal
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Madhu Khanna
people. I invoke Kalimata, especially in the rite of subjugation of enemies
(vasikarana). This is my special siddhi.”
Mohammad Rizvin Khan in Mumbai works with Mumbai Police. He
claims to have mastered “Black Owl Tantra” (Kale Ullu ka Tantra)1 and
charges an exorbitant rate to perform rituals. I asked him why and how
did he get this power. “I am poor and am a son of a beggar. My sister
died in an accident and I wanted to know about the cause of her death. I
began to wander in the cremation ground. I have no guru. I discovered
my vidya observing the Aghoris. My “Black Owl Siddhi” came naturally
to me. “In Kaliyuga there is victory of fortune, as well as that of sin.
Hence, god as well as demons should be worshipped. There is no good
or evil. In Kaliyuga we should worship both.”
Saurabha Kwatra, a journalist, is a Lal Kitab specialist. Lal Kitab a
collection of five books completed around 1939-1950. It is primarily an
astrological book of divination written in Urdu language. Its authorship
is disputed. One of the editions was promoted by Roop Chandra
Sharma in the last century. He is the disciple of Goswami Kundanlal of
Lahore, who had mastered the prescriptions of Lal Kitab. The work
prescribes remedial measures for averting negative effects of the planet.
Kwatra describes it as a “wonder book of astrology. The only thing that
can change destiny is this book. All other forms of Tantra are false. It
does not accept any mantra or yantra or faith. It is kriya-centered. The
effect of the upaya begins when we decide to do an upaya, not the time
when the prescribed ritual is performed”.
Imposter Tantrikas
The growing materialistic desire for acquisition of wealth has given a
fillip to a number of charlatans and fake tantrikas. In the ever growing
market of neo-tantrikas, imposters are not hard to find. Take the case of
Maulana Ismail in Sitaram Bazaar of old Delhi, and Baba Sahib of Tagore
Garden, who would trick the patients by quoting exorbitant amount to
1
Cf. Manuscript in the collection of Asiatic Society of Bengal, Calcutta viz.
Ullu Kalpa (No. 6157).
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Madhu Khanna
perform puja and kriyas at non affordable prices. Narayana Dutt of
Jodhpur charges Rs. 101/- for a darsana and a fee of Rs. 500/- to speak for
a fleeting five minutes. If the time is extended the fee would be extended
proportionately. Mahatma Vashikaran, who promises to bring parted
lovers together, would distribute ash (vibhuti), with a sprinkling of a
drug, until one day he was exposed by the police to be drug trafficker.
Narayan Singh of Ujjain lured people by telling them tales of a fictitious
hidden treasure, and stories of treasure hunts where treasure lay in
metal pots buried deep in the ground. The goddess appeared to him in a
dream and revealed the places where the treasure was hidden and could
be retrieved by his tantric powers. According to a report in Sahara
Times, in their lust for easy money many lost there wealth. 1 On the other
hand, Noorani Baba who hates the word Tantric but calls himself a
Siddha Purusha says, “a fake imposter sells his spirituality for money. A
real tantrika does not take any money. He simply blesses, he is
compassionate, toward everyone. Each person is a powerhouse of
energy and therefore, one can cure one’s self. People only need to
perform sadhana. Tantra is to be employed for the good of humanity.”
He continued, “my method is not based on Hindu Tantra kriyas but
comes from the ayats of the Quran. Very few people know about the
mantra sura-e-jin. I work with inscribed yantras in Persian and Urdu”.
II
The Tantric icon and the loss of the sacred
The most poignant articulation of globalization is perhaps reflected in
the way in which capital market forces de-constructs, de-possesses and
de-mythify the multi-layered and meaningful religious representations
that play an important role in providing a cultural identity to a given
community.
1
Cited in the monthly Hindi magazine Kadambani, 1996, 171, ff.
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Madhu Khanna
Scores of religious icons, murtis, are being hand-crafted or manufactured
today more so than ever before. Despite the quantitative expansion in
production, there is a qualitative degradation in the art and symbolic
content. One can clearly discern subtle shades of the deconstruction, demythification and desecration of the Hindu icon. On the highway from
Delhi to Jaipur or to Rishikesh, one encounters several examples of the
new found aesthetic. The roadside installs large images of Hindu gods
such as Hanumana and Shiva, almost fifteen to twenty feet high. The
images, made of concrete, have puffed up torsos, stunted legs,
disproportionate figures and the other-worldly expression of comic-book
heroes. These, and many others, defy all norms of iconometry. Stacks of
icons produced en masse and sold in modern emporia evince the same
disregard of conventional aesthetics. A number of images of Ganesha
found in print and sculpture use minimal iconic element, exaggerating
one part of the body while reducing the other. In many instances
(Madhubani painting from Mithila in North Bihar, for example) one
discerns a disappearance of almost all iconic features and an
introduction of impressionistic, almost virtual images with "fake"
iconography which is neither drawn from the canon, nor constitutes an
act of true innovation.1
Most of these modern icons of ancient gods and goddesses are
responding to the market forces. They have lost their original vigor and
vitality and, in several cases, they are beyond visual recognition. Their
forms are dictated by the market forces demanding exotic bric-a-brac for
tourists. The blurring of boundaries between the sacred and the secular,
the loss of the sense of the sacred, and the rituals that support them, have
created an asymmetrical relationship between the user and the objects of
adoration. The icons and other religious symbols have fallen from their
pedestals and are used as decorative items, to embellish private and
public spaces. The ritual implements such as chalices are used as
ashtrays, and ritual-bells, for calling servants rather than dispersing antidivine forces from the atmosphere. The new aesthetic has forced the
1
Observations in this section are based on my earlier article. See Madhu
Khanna. “In the Flow of Modernity: Some Reflections on Tirtha and Murti in
Hindu India” Evam: Forum of Indian Representations 2: 1 & 2 (2003): 99-114.
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Madhu Khanna
religious symbol to become more and more ubiquitous and to disappear
into anonymity.
The aniconic Tantric murtis or the yantras, the linear geometric
configurations composed of bindu, triangle, square, lotus symbols,
juxtaposed, combined and intersected in various combinations to form
mandala-like patterns used frequently in Tantric and Agamic worship,
have fallen prey to the same fate. The yantras are, essentially, sacred
power diagrams and energy patterns representing the totality of
creation. One of the greatest of all tantric yantras, is the Sri-cakra cult of
the Goddess Tripurasundari. The Sri-cakra embodies the creative field of
Siva and Sakti in all its phases of manifestations from the germinal state
of creation to the gross realms. The cakra is the throne of the hundred
and ten goddesses who are invoked in meditation. Tradition holds that
there are nine hundred and sixty variations of this timeless symbol.
Stripped of its symbolic content, the vision-inducing aesthetic symbol
has been widely used by contemporary designers to decorate public
spaces, such as the ceiling of a restaurant in a five-star hotel, as MTV
props, on table tops, and fabric designs. Lately, a distorted 3D version of
the Sri-cakra is being sold through extravagant advertising. Media
intervention has reduced this unique symbol into a cheap commodity.
The commodification of the Sri-cakra has introduced innumerable
versions of the "distorted" icon. Media corporations such as SONY, Zee
TV and Sahara Network are perhaps the best examples of the crossnation, cross media formation. Modern ads are not simply centered on
enhancing sale of products for daily use but the thrust is about making
products out of sacred objects, and spiritual ideologies and worldviews.
TV channels today are heavily loaded with a plethora of ads selling
sacred objects of worship – icons, gems, rudraksamala (sacred beads),
talisman, yantra, mantras and chants in audiocassettes and DVD Rooms.
Bazaari Tantra uses the ‘language of the market’ to seduce innocent
consumers. A classic example of consumerist re-branding is the way in
which Smriti Irani, a highly successful Indian soap opera queen of Sas bhi
Kabhi Bahu Thi, appears on Sony and Zee TV channels dressed in a
traditional attire selling the sacred icon of goddess, the Sri Yantra / Cakra
as though it was a piece of chocolate. By her mannerism and alluring
words she ensures and promises her customers a life free of poverty,
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Madhu Khanna
sickness and ill luck if this yantra was bought and merely kept in the
house ! Apart from the fact that the image being advertised is faulty in
its execution, the manner in which it is advertised induces one to believe
that success and efficiency of a religious symbol does not lie in the ability
and spiritual attainment of the practitioner but in the commoditized
object of adoration. The ad glorifies the privileged class who is blessed
with affluence to buy sacred ‘products’ at exorbitant prices while they
are available for a pittance in traditional temple markets. The ethical
question whether heavily laden sacred symbols should at all be
advertised goes unanswered.
Another commercially successful program on tantrikas is a series “Kal
Kapala Mahakala”, said to be based on actual stories on the extreme
form of Aghora Tantrikas who perform gory rituals in the cremation
ground. The program projects a haphazard, fragmented sessions of
rituals in the cremation ground, and misrepresented version of the lost
knowledge of tantric-kriyas in the cremation ground. Here one finds a
curatorial refashioning of the highly complex and symbolic spiritual
worldview, reduced to a pastiche of images of liquor, skull-cups and the
dark and demonic rites. The scenography of the image with the camera
focused on skull-ups and liquor to rouse awe and wonder in the
onlookers is a clear instance of how the secular imagination
systematically deconstructs and robs archetypal symbols of their sacred
meaning and potency. As a corrective, art institutions should encourage
viewing of religious symbols from an informed perspective and with an
appreciation of its history.
Trade branding is yet another manifestation of the bazaari Tantra and
capital corporatization. Rajiv Ramchandani, a T-shirt baron in India with
sixty stores is a co-founder of a company called “Tantra”. According to
him he successfully managed a multi-crore business by recoursing to cult
brand tactics, “what made his company called “Tantra”, a brand without
a big business packing, is cult branding – an invisible halo that
surrounds a successful product”. In Delhi and Calcutta alone there are
fashion houses, shops, and restaurants have successfully used the brand
label “Tantra” to promote their businesses. These are few but pertinent
examples of the multiple forums of Tantra in the market place.
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Madhu Khanna
III
Does the linguistic formation of the term “Tantra” that changed
dramatically over the course of history provide contexts for
accommodating the bazaari forms of Tantra? Academic appraisals
on the term Tantra / Tantrism vary. There is no fixed definition of the
word Tantra1. Different definitions are given for the term Tantra which
implies that the scope of the term is yet to be fully determined. Tantra is
perhaps one of the most complex words, partly on account of its intricate
historical development.
The meaning of the word has changed
especially from the period of its formation to modern times. The first
and the earliest etymological usage of the word Tantra is traceable to the
Vedas in the sense of a ‘loom’ or ‘wrap’ (Rig. Veda X. 71.9; Atharva Veda
X.7.42; Taitiriya Brahmana II 5.5.3; cf. Panini V.2.70). In the Apasthamba
Grhayasutras (1.15.1) and the Samkhyana Grhyasutra (1.16.16) the word
Tantra means doing or making something. In later times the word
Tantra was used as a suffix to denote any system of knowledge, a treatise
or a book with its principle expositions. For instance, Sankara uses the
term in his Brahma Sutra (11.2.32) as ‘kapilasyatantra’ to denote the Tantra
of Kapila2. The suffix Tantra has been applied to any body of
knowledge, a book, or a literary composition. This simplistic meaning
does not explain the traditions that came to be recognized as the Tantras.
The generic usage has no special religious or metaphysical import. The
term Tantra here applies to a class of literature and stands for a system of
doctrines, or a book. For instance, the term Agama (tradition) and
Samhita (collection). Tantra in this generic sense is any scripture by
which knowledge is spread, or expanded.
1
For discussion on definition of Tantra see: Teun Goudriaan,
“Introduction, History and Philosophy” in Hindu Tantrism, ed. Sanjukta
Gupta, Dirk Jan Hoens and Teun Goudriaan (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1979);
Andre Padoux, “Tantrism” in Encyclopedia of Religion, Vol. 14, ed. Mircea
Eliade et al (New York: Macmillan, 1987), 272-80.
2
N. N. Bhattacharyya, History of the Tantric Religion (New Delhi: Manohar
Publications, 1982), 2 ff.
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Madhu Khanna
By eighth century the term Tantra had acquired a new resonance and
distinct overtones. A more comprehensive technical definition is found
in later literature where Tantra stands for a technical branch of spiritual
knowledge (tanyate vistaryate jnanam iti tantram). This definition is taken
from the Kamikagamas of the Shaivasiddhanta (Tantrantara Patala)1.
Tantra here does not mean any scripture, but a definitive scripture,
which charts the shortest route to liberation. None of the meanings
however tell us what Tantra represents in its entirety.
In the Agamas, there have been several attempts to describe the contours
of the Tantric tradition in their respective contexts. Lengthy substantive
definitions of Tantra that highlight certain signs (laksanas)2 that define the
tradition are not applicable to bazaari Tantra as they only heighten the
difference between the textual and the oral heritage. The popular usage
of the team “Tantra” in modern times associates it with subversions such
as black magic, forms of divination, mantra-lore, esoteric-astrology etc.
rather than it being used as an extension of cultivated definition. The
popular meaning of Tantra is in constant tension with the cultivated
‘high’ definitions, so much so that the wide popularity of its popular
meaning has displaced the cultivated meaning expounded in the learned
literary tradition. Popular nuances use the word in a descriptive way as
indicating a certain sphere of spirituality/religiosity, whereas, the Sastras
define it in an evaluative way. A large part of market made Tantra
accommodates itself to the earliest broad based definition of Tantra
described as suffix to denote any system of knowledge, oral or written, a
treatise, or a book.
For the practitioners of bazaari Tantra who I met, Tantra simply means “a
method (upaya) or a spiritual technique” for attaining diverse siddhis,
enabling spiritual powers that can be applied for benefic or malefic
purposes. In one sense these tantrikas repeat expected patterns of ritual
but with a difference. The orally transmitted traditions does mirror, a
more individualistic and hybrid style of spiritual engagement that has
1
Cited in Srigangadhara Dvivedi, ed. Agamarahasyam (Jodhpur: Rajasthan
Oriental Institute, 1968), 5.
2
Varahi Tantra, cited in Agamarahasyam, ibid., 3.
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Madhu Khanna
lost its salvific dimensions, and regional specificity. Bazaari Tantra has
transformed what may have been a mystical way of healing to a more
profit seeking activity, bhoga, in the absolute sense, over the pursuit of
moksa. Some bazaari forms legitimize and validate their powers to Sastra,
others disclaim the written word over the experiential dimension of
ritual. It appears to me that bazaari Tantra is about different levels of
inclusion and exclusion, boundaries and transactions, about code
making and code-breaking with the sophisticated sectarian traditions of
Tantra.
It is worthwhile to consider whether the practical prayogas of bazaari
Tantra is a subset of the literary / written traditions? The immanence of
Tantric literature is one of the most important elements of medieval
India. A distinctly large part of Hindu Sakta Tantras, such as the early
Nitysodasikarnava, and later compendiums Mantramahodadhi, of
Mahidhara Tantrasara of Agamvagisha; occult compilations such as
Yantracintamani and Kamaratna Tantra, are compendiums of ‘floating
knowledge’ about tantric practices, which were collected from diverse
sources possibly, practicing tantrikas, recollections of former lineagebased traditions, to serve as a reference for practitioners. These sources
clearly speak of the application of tantric prayogas through mantras,
yantras, and siddhi-oriented rituals, including the negative six ‘magical’
rites (satakarma). Much of what bazaari tantrikas are doing has a pale
reflection in some of the above sources continuing old age practices but
deviating from the older norm. It may be noted that the texts themselves
get represented in a hundred different versions and get recycled through
their interaction with an oral audience. As the situations and contexts
change, texts renew or reinterpret the rituals absorbing many subaltern
oral elements. The existence of a greater number of Tantra sources is
replete with practical formulations from the oral stream. Might we then
look upon such a large chunk of the written sources as printed folklore!
Bazaari Tantra, on the other end, has created its own class of literature in
vernacular languages of India.
22
Madhu Khanna
Figure 2: Tantra Jyotisa, a monthly Hindi magazine.
IV
Concluding Remarks
One of the fallouts of modernization is that it has brought the discourse
of the sacred and the secular into contest. In most cases this contest ends
in polemics. Invariably, it is materialistic or commercial paradigm of
profit seeking, within the modern secular context that prevails.
Caught between clashing or rival world-views, pre-modern cultures
witness an era of “entropic modernity” or a process of socio-cultural
regression that is far removed from its civilizational roots. In this
scenario the figure of a bazaari tantrika is one who is choked and
bombarded by the external needs to find an identity for himself to
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Madhu Khanna
survive daily battles of life. The only tools he has to his command are
those transmitted orally though prayoga through the lineage-based
communities. And like everyone else caught in the evil networks of the
global world, he too has had to juggle contexts, meanings and methods
of his transmitted heritage and wisdom. Globalization reiterates that
human selfishness is the primary basis of society that one may apply any
means necessary to obtain monopoly and wealth and much of bazaari
Tantra is being pushed to the edges to submit to the unethical ethos. A
fundamental paradigm shift is needed in the civilization ethos from
greed, selfishness, ego-centered aggrandizement, and violence to
sisterhood, brotherhood, and cooperation, sharing, to non-violence. This
can only take place if there is a parallel critique of the values of
globalization. We need a culturalisation of globalization rather than a
globalization of ancient cultures! This culturalisation means that there
has to be a radical change in the way we cognize our worldview, the way
we think, the way we experience the “other” and the way we act. It
brings out the relational aspect of texts and its oral contents. The
intrinsic value of world religions and inter-faith unity has to play a
greater role to put globalization on track. The point made by Richard
King in his book Selling Spirituality1 that we need to “recapture a space of
the spiritual as a site for resistance” is crucial if we are to survive the
holocaust of global capitalism. Bazaari Tantra, as I perceive, is a very
significant category of discourse for a number of reasons: (a) for a more
conclusive understanding of the composite and inclusive nature of
Tantric heritage and culture; (b) the critical role that orality of scripture
has played in molding Tantric practice; and (c) the changing role of the
sacred in the globalized economy. For all these reasons bazaari Tantra
needs to be addressed by scholars at various levels for all these reasons .
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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1
Jeremy Carrette and Richard King, Selling Spirituality: the Silent Takeover of
Religion (London: Routledge, 2005), 179.
24
Madhu Khanna
Agamahasyam, ed. Srigangadhara Dvivedi. Jodhpur: Rajasthan Oriental
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Madhu Khanna
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Madhu Khanna
Graham, William A. Beyond the Written Word: Oral Aspects of Scripture in
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* I am grateful to Saurabha Kwatra for introducing me to several
Tantrikas.