Digital Ebook (PDF) — Tantrik Texts Series, Volume I: Second Edition, Revised and Enlarged (1937)
Text / Tradition: Tantrābhidhāna (Tantric lexicon), with Bījanighaṇṭu, Bījābhidhāna, Mantrārthābhidhāna, Varṇabījakośa, Mudrānighaṇṭu and allied glossaries | Edited by Panchanana Bhattacharya Tarka-Sankhya-Vedantatirtha | Series Editor Arthur Avalon (Sir John Woodroffe) | Tantrik Texts Series Vol. I, Agamanusandhana Samiti, Calcutta; Sanskrit Book Depot, Calcutta, and Luzac & Co., London
Key Features
The Tantrabhidhana is the opening volume of the celebrated Tantrik Texts series directed by Arthur Avalon (Sir John Woodroffe), and it is fitting that the series begins here. Before one can read the Tantras, one must be able to understand their language. This volume supplies that key: it is a collection of traditional Sanskrit lexicons that explain the hidden vocabulary through which the tantric scriptures conceal and convey their mantras. It is presented here in the second edition, revised and enlarged, of 1937, edited by the learned pandit Panchanana Bhattacharya Tarka-Sankhya-Vedantatirtha, with an English summary.
The Tantras rarely write their mantras out plainly. Instead, each letter and seed syllable is indicated by a coded name, a symbolic synonym that only the initiated reader can decode. A single bija may be called by the name of a deity, an element, or a part of the body, and a sadhaka who does not know these equivalences cannot reconstruct the mantra at all. The glossaries gathered in this volume, known as nighantus and abhidhanas, preserve these traditional correspondences, making them an indispensable companion for anyone who studies tantric literature in the original.
Gathered within a single volume are several distinct works. The Tantrabhidhana itself sets out the coded names of the letters. The Bijanighantu and Bijabhidhana treat the seed syllables and their designations. The Mantrarthabhidhana explains the meanings of mantras, and the Varnabijakosha serves as a lexicon of the letters of the alphabet and their seed-forms. The Mudranighantu presents a glossary of the mudras, the sacred gestures of ritual worship. The Sanskrit title page further names the Mantrabhidhana, Matrikanighantu and Varnanighantu among the texts brought together in this collection.
Together these lexicons reveal how deeply the tantric tradition regards sound and letter as sacred. Each letter of the alphabet is understood as a living power of the Divine Mother, and each mantra as a form of the deity itself. To understand these glossaries is to glimpse the inner architecture of tantric worship, in which word, syllable, and gesture are all vehicles of the Supreme.
For the scholar of Sanskrit tantric literature, the student of mantra shastra, the practitioner seeking to read the scriptures with understanding, and the collector of Arthur Avalon's monumental work, the Tantrabhidhana is a foundational reference, presented here in its Sanskrit text with an English summary in a single volume.
Ebook Details
Format: PDF (digital download)
Language: Sanskrit text with an English summary
Text: Tantrābhidhāna with Bījanighaṇṭu, Bījābhidhāna, Mantrārthābhidhāna, Varṇabījakośa, Mudrānighaṇṭu and allied lexicons
Editor: Panchanana Bhattacharya Tarka-Sankhya-Vedantatirtha; series edited by Arthur Avalon (Sir John Woodroffe)
Original Publication: Tantrik Texts Series Vol. I, Second Edition, Revised and Enlarged, 1937. Published by the Agamanusandhana Samiti, Calcutta; Sanskrit Book Depot, Calcutta; Luzac & Co., London
Content: The complete Sanskrit lexicons with English summary, faithfully reproduced from the classic edition
Ideal For: Scholars of Sanskrit tantric literature, students of mantra shastra and bija mantras, practitioners of the Shakta and tantric traditions, readers of Arthur Avalon / John Woodroffe, and collectors of the classic Tantrik Texts series
Why You'll Love It
The key that unlocks the language of the Tantras in a single download: the opening volume of Arthur Avalon's Tantrik Texts, gathering the traditional Sanskrit glossaries of coded letters, seed syllables, mantras and mudras, an essential reference for every serious reader of tantric scripture.
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Bring home the Tantrabhidhana Kosha, the classic lexicon of tantric mantra, bija and mudra, in this Sanskrit edition with English summary from the first volume of Arthur Avalon's Tantrik Texts series, available exclusively at The Soma Store. As soon as your payment is complete, you'll receive your ebook instantly. The download will appear on the checkout confirmation page and be sent to your email as well.
