Book Title: Philosophies of India
Author(s): Heinrich Zimmer, Joseph Campbell
Publisher: Routledge and Kegan Paul Ltd

View full book text
Previous | Next

Page 604
________________ THE LAMB, THE HERO, AND THE MAN-GOD The Lamb, the Ilcro, and the Man-God "NO ONE who is not himself divine may (successfully) worship the divinity (nādevo devain arcayet).” 33 "Having becoine the deity, one should offer sacrifice to it (devam bhūlvā devam yajet).” 84 The identity of the hidden nature of the worshiper with the god worshiped is the first principle of the Tántric philosophy of devotion. The gods are reflexes in space (which is itself the work of Māyā-Sakti) of that sole reality, Brahman, which is the Sahui of the devotee. Knowing his own Soil, then, to be his object of devotion, the Tāntric sādhaka approaches the Goddess in worship (pūjā), through the meditative muttering of prayers (japa: the recitation of the litany of her names), the unrelenting verbal repetition (again japa) of sacred formulae (muntra: word-sounds which contain her essence), the making of mental and external offerings (homa), and one-pointed meditation on her inner vision (ilhyāna). He could never hope to experience the final identity if he were not already convinced and aware of it from the first. Meanwhile, to support his preliminary approach, he sets before his eyes and mind an image (pratīka, pratimā) of the deity. This may be a statue, painting, symbol of some kind, or yantra; 85 in special cases it may be a living B8 Gandharva Tantra. 84 Ib. Editor's note: I have not been able to procure copies of some of the Tantric texts cited in this chapter, hence cannot give for them precise references. 36 A yantra is a geometrical diagram. For a description of its preparation and use, cf. Zimmer, Myths and Symbols in Indian Art and Civilization, pp. 140-148. 581

Loading...

Page Navigation
1 ... 602 603 604 605 606 607 608 609 610 611 612 613 614 615 616 617 618 619 620 621 622 623 624 625 626 627 628 629 630 631 632 633 634 635 636 637 638 639 640 641 642 643 644 645 646 647 648 649 650 651 652 653 654 655 656 657 658 659 660 661 662 663 664 665 666 667 668 669 670 671 672 673 674 675 676 677 678 679 680 681 682 683 684 685 686 687 688 689 690 691 692 693 694 695 696 697 698 699 700 701 702 703 704 705 706 707 708 709