The Heart of the Yogini

1. See note 17 on page 62 of Hindu Tantric Literature in Sanskrit.
2. Studies in the Tantras, pp. 104–105.
3. See the commentary on "Chatushpitha Mahatantram" (Svacchanda Tantra 1.5).

In the Nityashodashikarnava (pp. 99, 253–254), the Rudrayamala is cited, but there is no mention of it in the Yogini Hridaya. Here, there is a discussion of the Mahajnanarnava (2.77) and the Vidyapithanibandha (2.78). Bhaskararaya considers the Mahajnanarnava to be a text of the Tantra school, while Amritananda provides a derivative etymological explanation for this term. This text is not mentioned anywhere in "Tantric Literature" or Aufrecht's catalog, but Jayaratha, the commentator on the Vamakesvarimata, cites the Mahajnanarnava in the context of the six-fold meaning of mantras (p. 139). This makes it clear that the Mahajnanarnava is an independent text, and the subject matter in the Yogini Hridaya is based upon it. It is highly probable that the six-fold meaning is also expounded in Tantras related to the Vidyapitha seat of knowledge, just as in the Mahajnanarnava. Amritananda has also provided a derivative meaning for the term 'Vidyapitha-nibandha', while Bhaskararaya interprets 'Vidyapitha' as centers like Kashi, Kashmir, etc., and 'nibandha' as works like the Brahma Sutras. We have already discussed the pitha seat classification of Tantras in the introduction to the Nityashodashikarnava (pp. 56-57). Based on the authority of the Brahmayamala, Dr. Prabodh Chandra Bagchi has called the Yogini Hridaya and similar texts "Tantras associated with the Vidyapitha." The existence of different Tantras expounding on Vidya knowledge/deity, Mantra, Mudra, and Mandala must be of the same nature as the separate availability of Kriya, Charya, Yoga, and Anuttara Tantras in Buddhist Tantric literature. Kshemaraja has called the Svacchanda Tantra a Chatushpitha Mahatantra. This suggests that just like independent Tantric texts on these specific subjects, Tantric texts describing all subjects simultaneously, following the system of the Siddhanta Shaivagamas, also began to emerge. In the Tantras or nibandha compendium texts associated with the Vidyapitha, subjects like Mahatattvartha meaning of the great reality were likely expounded. The term 'Vidyarnagama' is used here (2.85). In our view, this also refers to the Agama texts associated with the Vidyapitha.