Tantra - Relation With Vedic Tradition

Relation With Vedic Tradition

Various orthodox Brahmanas routinely incorporate Tantric rituals in their daily activities (Ahnikas). For example, sarvA~nga-nyAsas and kara-nyAsas (Tantric techniques for placing various deities) are part of chanting tracts such as the rudra-prashna of the yajurvEda and viShNu-sahasra-nAma; and gAyatrI-AvahanaM is a common part of Sandhyavandanam in south India. Orthodox temple archakas of various sects profess to follow rules laid out in Tantric texts, for example priests of the Iyengar sect prefer to follow Pañcaratra Agamas.

However, it has been claimed that orthodox Vedic traditions were antagonistic to Tantra. André Padoux notes that in India tantra is marked by a rejection of orthodox Vedic tenets. Moriz Winternitz, in his review of the literature of tantra, points out that, while Indian tantric texts are not positively hostile to the Vedas, they may regard the precepts of the Vedas as too difficult for our age, while an easier cult and an easier doctrine have been revealed in them. Many orthodox Brahmans who accept the authority of the Vedas reject the authority of the Tantras. Although later Tantric writers wanted to base their doctrines on the Vedas, some orthodox followers of the Vedic tradition invariably referred to Tantra in a spirit of denunciation, stressing its anti-Vedic character.