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**HawksBurnDown** · 02-24-2011, 12:23 AM

There are many misconceptions about Tantras.

1. Tantras are not only related to Sakthism. The Saiva Agamas are also Tantras. Thirumandiram by Thirumoolar is divided into 9 chapters which are called Tantras. Then there are Vaishnavite Tantras like Lakshmi Tantra (available in Giri trading). Other than these we have the Vaishnava Agamas.

This misconception arose because of the pioneering work of John Woodroffe (Arthur Avlon) who first translated some of the Tantras and also wrote in detail about it. Unfortunately since he was based in Bengal he was exposed to only Bengali Tantras which are mostly Saktha. But even here he did not attempt to translate the Vaishnava Tantras of Bengal. He was followed by many western authors who repeated the same mistake.

It may come as a surprise to many that the Guru who taught Tantras to Sri Ramakrishna was Maa Bhairavi Brahmani who was a Gowdiya Vaishnavite. The tantriks in Gowdiya Vaishnavism are called Sahajeeya.

Then we have tantras of Kerala which are similar to the Aagnas of Tamil nadu and deal mainly with temple worship.

2. Not all Tantras deal with Kundalini.

3. There is no common Philosophy encompassing all the Tantras.

02-24-2011, 12:23 AM	#7
HawksBurnDown Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 695 Senior Member	There are many misconceptions about Tantras. 1. Tantras are not only related to Sakthism. The Saiva Agamas are also Tantras. Thirumandiram by Thirumoolar is divided into 9 chapters which are called Tantras. Then there are Vaishnavite Tantras like Lakshmi Tantra (available in Giri trading). Other than these we have the Vaishnava Agamas. This misconception arose because of the pioneering work of John Woodroffe (Arthur Avlon) who first translated some of the Tantras and also wrote in detail about it. Unfortunately since he was based in Bengal he was exposed to only Bengali Tantras which are mostly Saktha. But even here he did not attempt to translate the Vaishnava Tantras of Bengal. He was followed by many western authors who repeated the same mistake. It may come as a surprise to many that the Guru who taught Tantras to Sri Ramakrishna was Maa Bhairavi Brahmani who was a Gowdiya Vaishnavite. The tantriks in Gowdiya Vaishnavism are called Sahajeeya. Then we have tantras of Kerala which are similar to the Aagnas of Tamil nadu and deal mainly with temple worship. 2. Not all Tantras deal with Kundalini. 3. There is no common Philosophy encompassing all the Tantras.
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