The Turbaned Superman 25
Tantric systems of practice, regardless of sectarian affiliation, largely share the
character of a ritual framework aimed at purifying— often through literally or
symbolically deconstructing— the adept’s body and ritually reconstituting it as a
perfected body composed of mantra powers, at which point one may be consid-
ered a siddha, or perfected being. The “ground zero” of tantric practice is the body
of the individual male practitioner, which is subjected to a variety of ritual activi-
ties aimed at a range of different aims. The terminolog y applied to this practitio-
ner is similarly variable. The most consistent subject of the manuals’ prescriptions
is the sādhaka, or the adept. Within the southern Śaiva Siddhānta and Vaiṣṇava
Pāñcarātra traditions, the sādhaka is the third of four possible stages in a hier-
archy of initiated practitioners. Having undergone two sets of ritual initiations,
he has chosen the path of worldly powers as his ultimate goal. However, while
the Śaiva Āgama texts regularly use the term sādhaka synonymously with yogin,
other texts take pains to distinguish the sādhaka from his otherwise superpower-
ful counterparts.
For instance, the Jayākhya Saṃhita, an authoritative Pāñcarātra text, insists
that, unlike the yogin or the tapasvin, whose power derives from an accumulated
store of practice that can be depleted by use, the power of the tantric sādhaka
is more permanent. Although his practice involves a wide range of acts that fol-
low the standard repertoire of tantric ritual (ritual purification, imposition of
mantras, visualization, internal and external worship, and so forth), the heart
of the sādhaka’s efforts is in the control of mantra, and all of the sādhaka’s obla-
tions, recitations, and meditations are aimed at acquiring control of a particular
mantra deity.^13 Once “conquered,” the mantra deity (which normally appears
anthropomorphically) is under the sādhaka’s full and permanent control and
cannot be lost or depleted. This allows him to use to his heart’s content the
attendant powers, which cover the typical range of immortality, flight, being
obscenely attractive to women, and so forth.^14 Thus, unlike more discrete rituals
of magic that are geared at particular results, the sādhaka becomes intrinsically
superpowerful. It should be added that, unlike the tapasvin, saṃnyāsin, and the
rest of the superpower- possessing cohort, the sādhaka is also not conceived of
as a reclusive renunciant. He remains a part of his human community and is
indeed expected to use his power and authority for the benefit of others as well
as himself.
However, given that such terminological distinctions do not appear to be
universal even within the tantric corpus, we can perhaps cautiously identify the
tantric sādhaka with the popular Yogi, while at the same time taking to heart the
special nature of his superpowers. To this end, Hélène Brunner has proposed that
the sādhaka is ultimately an ambiguous sort of figure who combines the features
of the classical yogin— that is, his solitary introverted practice and the power and