abhubuks.u, a seeker ofbhukti, and more specifically, if he receives the proper
dı ̄ksa ̄, a sa ̄dhaka. The mantra he has received (after its compatibility – its am.s ́a–
with him has been carefully checked) must then be mastered by means of a spe-
cific and often long and complex process of worship called mantrasa ̄dhanaduring
which it will be treated as a deity to be honored and propitiated so that it will
eventually bring this sa ̄dhakaall he desires. In the S ́aiva kaula dı ̄ks.a ̄, too, there
is a moment when the initiand is possessed by the mantras placed in a ritual
diagram. These are cases where the distinction between mantra and deity tends
to disappear. We cannot enter here into the difficult question of the nature of
Tantric mantras, a subject on which traditions often disagree. We may, however,
say that, depending on texts and circumstances, mantras are seen either as
deities or powers, or as powerful formulas, formulas which exist empirically as
linguistic or metalinguistic elements, but which are divine in essence, and this
is why they are powerful. But they can also be seen and manipulated as both
formula and deity – a deity that is a mantra. This ambiguity probably results
from the fact that Tantric conceptions of mantras unsystematically combine
notions of Vedic origin on the power ofva ̄cwith a ̄gamic rites and theological
beliefs. The former are more prominent in the tantras of Bhairava and still more
in the often nondualist S ́aiva metaphysical systems (and in the texts of the
Pa ̄ñcara ̄tra), while the latter prevail in the generally dualist and highly ritu-
alistic S ́aiva ̄gamas.^14 In India today, apart from ritual, it is the magical use of
mantras that is the most in evidence.
The scope of this chapter does not permit us to review, even briefly, the many
and varied mantric practices described in Tantric texts; nor can we look at the
beliefs which go with them, however interesting (and sometimes curious) they
may be. The often very subtle philosophical disquisitions on the nature, effective
power, and spiritual ways of access to the power to be found, for instance, in the
work of such S ́aiva Kashmirian masters as Abhinavagupta or Ks.emara ̄ja (tenth
to eleventh centuries) must also be left aside in spite of their interest. We shall
therefore limit ourselves to a rapid survey of just two important aspects of the
use of Tantric mantras, namely their ritual and their yogic applications.
As has already been pointed out, all Tantric rituals consist essentially in the
utterance of mantras. A rite, even a ritual worship, a pu ̄ja ̄, can be performed
without any icon or concrete object of any sort, but it cannot be carried out
without mantras. In a pu ̄ja ̄the deity is invoked and made present in the icon or
diagram; it is kept there and made to pay attention to the cult by mantras. It
is bathed, it is offered flowers, incense, food, etc., with mantras which do not
merely accompany these actions and offerings, but actually perform them.
Indeed, a pu ̄ja ̄can be perfomed without any concrete substances, etc., being
offered, but with only mantras being uttered. This goes on until the deity is “dis-
missed” by the appropriate mantra; after which there normally takes place a
recitation (japa) of the deity’s mantra, which is finally “offered” to it. Since there
is a Tantric rule that “one who is not a god cannot worship god,” the officiating
person’s body and mind must be deified before the worship begins. This prelim-
inary ritual is performed by placing (by nya ̄sa) mantras on the performer’s body,
mantra 489