Shakti and Shâkta : essays and addresses on the Shâkta Tantrashâstra

SHAKTI AND SHAKTA

the ill-informed and misinformed animadversions on Indian religion which we meet with so frequently in the West, that all ended there in empty abstraction without any emotional content whatever. But this isnotso. For one religious philosopher of that type of abstractionism there are perhaps 100,000 Bhaktas in India. It is in the soul of the people that we must seek the main characteristics of a national religion, and not in the mind of the exceptional philosopher.’ —The Quest.

‘* Personally, we are not admirers of either the Tantrik cult or literature . . . but it cannot be ignored by any serious student of Hinduism . . . judged from this point’ of view, the editor, translator, and commentator are entitled to the gratitude of all students of religion . . . editing has been done with great care .. . with excellent introductions and commentaries.’’—Hindustan Review.

** We welcome these two books for more reasons than one. The Tantras embrace every phase of human life, and there is hardly a branch of learning which isnot covered by them. It has been the custom among some people to run down the Tantra Sh4stra as obscene and immoral—as containing the germs of anarchy and disorder. It has been the custom among these superficial writers and speakers to opine that our Shastras are dry, intellectual speculations, which do not, in their higher phases, though devoid of the taint of idolatry, contain anything to touch the different phases of human nature. To them we recommend these two books, if they have a genuine desire to know our Shastras in their true aspect. They have been translated with great care, and are as faithful reproductions of the texts as translations could be. The Introduction to the Mahijnirvina is a masterly summary of everything that the beginner ought to know, and the footnotes to the translations have added greatly to the value of the book, and have made clear many a knotty point which to the ordinary reader is obscure. We are pleased to notice that the learned author is bringing out other books of this class. It was through the efforts of European scholars that the Vedas and Darshanas were saved from oblivion, and it was left to another European scholar to do justice to the sacred Tantras. ’’—The Bengalec.

‘« These books, dealing with the secret mysticism‘and magic of India, are the most interesting which have been published in recent years. We will in a forthcoming number deal fully with these volumes. Meanwhile we recommend to our readers the comprehensive volume entitled * Tantra of the Great Liberation.’ "—Newe Metaphysische Rundschau,

Vil