Yogini Tantra
Yogini Tantra is a 16th-century tantric text by an unknown author from Assam, India and dedicated to the worship of Hindu goddesses Kali and Kamakhya. Apart from religious and philosophical themes, this voluminous tantra contains some historical information.
The text is especially important for the vamachara form of tantric worship.
Like many other Kaula-inspired texts, Yogini Tantra advocates the moral codes of mainstream Hinduism to be broken and suspends many of the usual prohibitions concerning inter-marriage between members of different castes. It allows women to speak up to everyone and to have intimate relationships with whom they please.
Date and Place
The Yogini Tantra was written in Assam in the 16th century. The date is determined from the reference to the 16th-century Koch dynasty (kuvacha), who are said to have been born to a Mech woman.[1] Some authors place it in the 17th century.[2]
Notes
- ↑ "The Yogini Trantra, which was composed in Assam itself in about the 16th century, refers to the Koches as kuvachas and says they were born of a Mech woman." (Ch XII v3) (Nath 1989, p. 3)
- ↑ "(A)ccording to the Yogina Tantra—a product of seventeenth-century Assam—the entire religion of Kamarupa is itself described as kirata dharma. (Urban 2011, p. 237)
References
- Magee, Mike, Yogini Tantra, retrieved 2007-12-28
- Nath, D (1989), History of the Koch Kingdom: 1515–1615, Delhi: Mittal Publications
- Urban, Hugh B. (2011). "The Womb of Tantra: Goddesses, Tribals, and Kings in Assam". The Journal of Hindu Studies. 4: 231–247. doi:10.1093/jhs/hir034.