Siddhas may have been a minority, though, since
Buddhist monks are quite frequently represented as
Buddhist monastic tantrikas. Monastic Buddhism ap-
parently tried to displace overt siddha behavior with
visualized or covert forms, and we occasionally read
of monks becoming siddhas by being expelled from
their cloisters for inappropriate behavior. Monks
were responsible for domesticating the esoteric
method by formulating it as on a continuum with
monastic and Mahayana vows. This eighth-century
hermeneutic was formalized in the triple discipline:
The tantric master is expected to practice the vows of
the monk (pratimoksasamvara), the bodhisattva
(bodhisattvasamvara), and the sorcerer (vidyadha-
rasamvara). This reading emphasized that the eso-
teric system was a branch of the Mahayana—the
mantra-method (mantranaya).
The maturation of tantric Buddhism happened sur-
prisingly quickly. There is no concrete evidence for
tantra prior to the late seventh century, and yet all the
basic principles were in place a century later. It is also
primarily a North and Central Indian phenomenon,
with modest contributions from South India or Sri
Lanka. The emphasis on PILGRIMAGEsites predomi-
nantly found in North and Central India, like the leg-
endary Odiyana (Swat Valley), reflect this reality.
Because tantra arose in a culture of fragmentation,
there is little textual unity, and the works classified by
later authors as tantric may call themselves by other ti-
tles: discourse (sutra), meditative aid (DHARANI), se-
cret spell (MANTRA), incantation (vidya), ritual (kalpa),
as well as tantra. The textual sources gain added com-
plexity through the tendency of later authors to read
esoteric directions into earlier Buddhist scriptures and
to incorporate these scriptures in their exegesis. Ac-
cordingly, the HEARTSUTRAis often taken as a tantric
text, since it contains a mantra, even though this text
predates any tantric Buddhism per se.
Classificatory systems thus had to wrestle with great
differences in texts, and consequently there is no una-
nimity on tantric typology. Perhaps the most basic
scheme is that employed by Buddhaguhya and others
in the mid-eighth century: Tantras are those that
emphasize external ritual activity (kriyanaya-tantra)
or those that emphasize internal yogic practices
(yoganaya-tantra). The fourfold classification favored
by Tibetans has been often cited: Tantras are those that
enjoin ritual action (kriya), behavioral practice (carya),
meditation (yoga), or the highest yoga (anuttarayoga-
tantra). Textual examples include the Susiddhikara
(kriya), the Vairocanabhisambodhi(carya), the Sarvata-
thagatatattvasamgraha(yoga), and the Guhyasamaja
(anuttara-yoga-tantra). The latter category was often
subdivided into two, with the Guhyasamajabeing a
mahayoga-tantra and works like the Cakrasamvara
classified as a yoginl-tantra.It must be emphasized,
though, that there were many other typologies—some
with seven or more categories. Neither was there una-
nimity on which texts actually belonged to which cat-
egories, irrespective of the number of categories. Some
important texts, like the Mañjus ́rlnamasamgltior the
Hevajra,might be classified into two or three categories,
depending on the interpretation.
Linguistically, the tantras reflect the regionalization
of Indian society. They are written in regional or non-
standard Sanskrit—often influenced by colloquial ex-
pressions or grammar—and some of those composed
in Eastern India use vernacular-based literary lan-
guages, such as Apabhrams ́a, in liturgical environ-
ments. Siddhas would also compose adamantine songs
(vajraglti) to express their understanding or to critique
others, and they often provided a signature line to
identify the author. Consequently, tantric Buddhism
returned to the autobiographical voice and the use of
non-Sanskritic languages, as had been done in the early
days of Buddhist literature but had been largely aban-
doned under the influence of the classical Mahayana.
Ritually, the fundamental meditative ritual became
the sadhana,a rite wherein the meditator visualized the
buddha or divinity as before him or identical to him-
self, prior to performing specific activities: recitation
of mantras, yoga, fire sacrifice, initiation, tantric feast,
and so on. The visualization sequence most often in-
cluded imagining a royal palace inside a protective
sphere, and visualizing a lotus on which is placed a seed
syllable (bljamantra), which transforms first into a
symbol of the divinity and then into the divinity itself.
Thus, the syllable ommight turn into a wheel and then
into the Buddha Vairocana. If the practice contained
a full mandala of buddhas or divinities, the meditator
would perform the same act (or an abbreviated ver-
sion) for each figure. Because the mandala is generated
or born, this meditative form is sometimes called the
birthing or developing process (utpattikrama).
Many of the later tantras also discuss an esoteric yo-
gic physiology, sometimes called the vajra-body, in
which the body contains psychic ganglia that may be
represented in the form of wheels (cakra) or other
arrangement. Generally, they contain the letters of the
Sanskrit alphabet, the vowels (ali) and consonants (kali),
in one or another of many specified combinations.TANTRA