Further Lights : The Vedas and the Tantra

There have been two lines of higher thought occult and ultra-mundane that have governed the religious and spiritual mind of India ancient and mediaeval, and to a considerable extent the devout Hindu of modem times. The Veda and the Tantra known as Agama, are the spiritual authority and support for the earnest faith in the revealed nature of these sacred texts. Among certain sections of the learned classes, the Tantra is supposed to contradict the Veda. A perusal of the Second Section of this book will remove the misconception. Even so, among a large section of the learned classes, the Veda in the main is the only meant for rituals, karma, and real spiritual knowledge is to be found only in the Upanishads. This notion also will be uprooted on a close reading of the First Section. Is to be noted that occult truths are there in the Veda while its main object is spiritual. It is also true that the spiritual aim is admitted as the goal in the Tantra while deliberating on the occult side of the teachings. The two scriptures, the Veda and the Tantra, which form the authority of the modern religious mind have been taken up for illustration in this book.