Aryans and Dravidians

[6500isa at ucsbuxa.ucsb.edu]

The Tantras are texts which are specific to one of the various divisions
of Hinduism, i.e. the Saiva Tantras, the Agamas, are considered canonical
by Saivas, indeed even on a par with the Vedas, but not held to be so by
the Vaisnavas, etc. It seems to me that to speak about Tantra as one thing
is to immediately de-problematize a very problematic subject. The salient
features of Tantrism seem to be the themes of subtle physiology,
sexomagical ritual, and initiation. These themes have been worked out both
within and outside of the Vedic framework. The schools of Kashmir Saivism
and Sri Vidya consider themselves to be both Vaidika and Tantrika, while
the Kapalikas and Aghoras seem to be rather outside the Vedic pale. While
certain aspects of Tantrism may resemble certain practices found in the
Atharva Veda, the very lateness of the Tantic texts make any direct
connection seemingly unlikely. Any thoughts?

Ganesh Natarajan