The Svacchanda Tantra

This story was told by Kumara himself to the sages. The world obtained knowledge of this Agamic science, which has flowed from the peak of Kailasa through tradition. Through the medium of the Hindi script, I am offering it to the society of today.

Included in the questions of Parvati were curiosities regarding these subjects—the guru, the disciple, the practitioner, the mandapa ground, mantra, time, offerings (yajana), burnt offerings (havana), installation (adhivasa), menstrual cycles, the five cow products, the sacrificial cake (charu), the tooth-stick, the mandala, initiation (diksha), anointing (abhisheka), time, and specific means for the accomplishment of activities, etc. Thus, in this first part of the book, Lord Bhairava has provided proper solutions to curiosities related to all the social rituals, sacrificial traditions, and social conduct integrated with the prevailing ideological and practical lifestyle of that era. These solutions are relevant for today's era as well. In this way, the importance of this Tantra-text is self-evident.

The realization (pratyabhijnana) of Shiva established within one's own self is the subject matter of this text. To see the world as the manifest form of Bhairava is its purpose. The practitioner, engrossed in the experience of the Bhairavashtaka eight-fold state of Bhairava of Svacchanda Bhairava, deduces here the Shaktic exuberance of powers like Brahmi and Maheshvari, which arise in the form of the beautiful rays of Bhairavi, who dwells in the embrace of Bhairava. This first section concludes by giving the message of the possibility of Bhairava-nature in the Shaktic exuberance, along with the process of matrika-prastara arrangement of phonetic energies at the beginning of the sacrifice.

It is the good fortune of this grand publication that it is coordinated with the scholarly and gentle encouragement of Prof. Abhiraj Rajendra Mishra, Vice-Chancellor of Sampurnanand Sanskrit University, who is radiant in the Department of Oriental Studies and brilliant as the sun in the Sanskrit firmament.

This work is adorned under the directorship of the publication expert, Dr. Harishchandra Mani Tripathi. These two are the witnesses and publishers of my scholarly pulsation. My blessings for their continued advancement. With best wishes for the director of the printing art, Vijay Press—