Varahi Tantra (English Study)
by Roberta Pamio | 2014 | 29,726 words
This English essay studies the Varahi Tantra and introduces the reader to the literature and philosophy of the Shakta Tradition to which this text belongs. These Shakta Tantras are doctrines where the Mother Goddess is conceived as the Supreme deity who is immanent and transcendental at the same time. The Varahitantra (lit. the "Doctrine of th...
List of the Manuscripts
The present critical edition of the Vārāhī Tantra is based upon the following manuscripts:
1. Vārāhī Tantra (Vārāhī Tantra), marked here as. (ka.), belonging to the Kaiser Library of the Government of Nepāl (Kathmandu). It is a Kaula Tantra in a form of a dialogue between Pracaṇḍabhairava and Guhyakālī.
Leaves 1-140. Granthas 6500. Script Devanāgarī. Lines 15 per page. Pāko kāgaz, i.e. “sturdy paper”[1]. Incomplete. Date: (?).
2. Vārāhī Tantra (Vārāhī Tantra), marked as. (kha.), preserved in the Sarasvatī Library of Sampūrṇānanda University (Benares). It is a Kaula Tantra in a form of a dialogue between Pracaṇḍabhairava and Guhyakālī.
Leaves 1-228: 1-58, 60-73, 82-150, 161-177, 186-189, 200-213, 215-228 (erroneous enumeration from 190-200; leaf 190 is 200 and leaf 219 is 228). Script Devanāgarī. Size 11.5 x 5.2 inches. Lines 10 per page and letters 33 in a line. Palm leaf. Incomplete. Date: April 1832 (?).
In addition have been consulted the following manuscripts:
3. Vārāhī Tantra (Vārāhī Tantra) from the private collection of Rājarājendranārāyaṇa Deva, now in the Sanskrit Sahitya Pariṣad of Kalkattā. It is a Śākta Tantra, in a form of a dialogue between Vārāha and Vārāhī.
Leaves 1-93. Verses 2545. Script Baṅglā. Size 20 x 5 inches. Lines 10 per page. Country-made yellow paper. Complete.
4. Vārāhī Tantra (Vārāhī Tantra") preserved in the Sarasvatī Library of Sampūrṇānanda University (Benares). It is a Vaiṣṇava Tantra, in a form of a dialogue between Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa.
Leaves 1-23. Script Baṅglā. Size 13,7x3,1 inches. Lines 7 per page and letters 51 in a line. Incomplete (1-8 paṭalas).
5. Vārāhītantre Caṇḍīpāṭhaphala, marked here as d., is from a private collection of Mr. Rajīv Śarmā (Kāmākhyā Dhām, Assam).
Leaves 1-11. Script: Nevārī. Lines 4 per page. Complete.
6. Marīcitantre Caṇḍīpāṭhaphala, from an anonymous private collection in Vārāṇasī (U. P.).
Leaves 1-10. Script Devanāgarī. Lines 8 per page. Complete. Paper.
Date: saṃvat 1727.
7. Vārāhīvidhāna, preserved in the Sarasvatī Library of Sampūrṇānanda University (Benares). It explains the vidhi of the yantra of the navārṇamantra.
Leaves 1-4. Script Devanāgarī. Size 4,6 x 2,3 inches. Lines 7 per page and letters 17 in a line.
8. Vārāhīkrama, preserved in the Sarasvatī Library of Sampūrṇānanda University (Benares). It is the Vārāhīkrama section of the Paraśurāmakalpasūtra.
Leaves 1-12. Script Devanāgarī. Size 12,9 x 4,7 inches. Lines 9 per page and letters 57 in a line. Complete.
9. Vajravārāhīkalpa, belonging to the Kaiser Library of the Government of Nepal (Kathmandu). It is a Buddhist Tantra.
Leaves 1-145. Script Nevārī. Lines 14 per page and letters 54 in a line. Complete.
Footnotes and references:
[1]:
The Pāko kāgaz, i.e. “sturdy paper”, is a handmade Nepalese paper of multiple layers.