Tantra
Tantra
(Skr.) One of a large number of treatises reflecting non-indogermanic Hindu and Mongolian influence, composed in the form of diaogues between Shiva (q.v.) and Durga (see Sakti) on problems of ritual, magic, philosophy, and other branches of knowledge. The Tantras, outside the main current of Vedic (q.v.) thinking yet sharing many of the deepest speculations, stress cult and teach the supremacy of the female principle as power or sakti (see Shaktism). — K.F.L.