The commentary invokes the Vedic assertion of the coexistence and eter-
nal relation of a word and its meaning, and implies that knowledge aris-
ing from the mantra Omleads ultimately to direct perception of Î ́svara.^60
In ÓSaÓt-cakra-nir ̄upaÓna, however, a fundamental application of mantrais
the rousing of the dormant kuÓnÓdalin ̄ı by the mantra Hu ̄m-kÓ ara ̄ [SCN 50].
Liberation according to both classical Yoga and Tantra requires freeing
the mind of its fragmentive activity. Mantrais a yogic practice that is
therapeutic in virtue of its power to counter the dissipation of mental en-
ergy, and to channel the s ̄adhaka’spower to realize a higher state of
being.
AESTHETIC THERAPEUTICS IN TANTRAHinduism’s therapeutic impetus is evident in Ía ̇nkara’s speaking of ulti-
mate liberation as health, svasthya, ̄ ‘self-abiding,’ and all the way back to
this hymn to Rudra (Íiva) in the ÓRgveda, among the most ancient texts
on earth:
May I attain a hundred winters, O Rudra,
through the most comforting remedies given by you!
Drive away from us enmity, farther away distress,
away diseases—in all directions!... Bring us across to the further shore of distress
for our well-being. Keep away all onsets of infirmity!
... Cause our heroes to thrive with your remedies!
I hear of you as the best physician of physicians.
RV 2:33.2–4 (trans. Maurer)
If it is granted that liberation is healing, in the sense of gaining freedom
from limitations and suffering, each of the many Hindu religious and
philosophical traditions can be seen, on its own terms, as having some
therapeutic concern. In seeking a more comprehensive account of reli-
gious therapeutics, the initial model derived from classical Yoga and
Åyurveda is next expanded with Tantra’s ‘aesthetic’ therapeutics. I
understand aestheticnot only in reference to art, but also in its original
sense, pertaining to sense perception [Gk. aisthenasthai, ‘to perceive’].^61
Tantra’s concept of the body as part of the sacred creation, and as an in-
strument and subject of enlightenment, opens the way for aesthetic forms
of religious practice, such as music and dance, whose therapeutic proper-
ties are both psychophysical and spiritual.
tantra and aesthetic therapeutics 153