Tara-Bhakti-Sudharnava

Tara-Bhakti-Sudharnava is a treatise on Tantric rituals and contains theoretic matter only incidentally. It is described as an ‘Arnava’ or ocean and is divided into eleven ‘Tarangas’ or waves. Its author is Narasimha, a disciple of Gadadhara. Narasimha was born in the line of Ravikara of Mithila and was the fifth in descent from Govinda Thakkur, the author of Kavya-pradipa. He flourished about 1668 A.D. From his writing he appears to be later than Kamalakara Bhatta who wrote Nirnaya-sindhu in 1612 A.D.

The treatise is written in lucid verse with occasional explanations in prose. It is concerned with the worship of Tara, one of the ten great forms (Vidyas) of the Eternal Sakti. It should be pointed out that this Tara is not the celebrated goddess of the Bauddha Pantheon.