Introduction (Manunscripts of the Vārāhī Tantra)

The Vārāhī Tantra is considered to be one of the sixty-four nondual Tantras and is often quoted in Tāntrik compendia and manuals composed by illustrious paṇḍits such as the Bṛhattantrasāra by Śrī Kṛṣṇānanda Āgamavagīśa Bhaṭṭācārya, Puraścaryārṇava by the king of Nepāl Pratāpasiṃha Sāhadeva, Śyāmārahasya of Śrī Pūrṇānandagiri and the Śāktānandataraṅginī of Śrī Brahmānandagiri, among others.^[1] However, there are at least four different texts bearing the title Vārāhī Tantra. It is difficult to say which of them, if any, is that which is referred to in the classical lists of the 64 nondual tantras.

The first of these (Vārāhī Tantra), upon which the present work is based, is a text belonging to the Kaula tradition (Vārāhī Tantra 3.7). The colophon states that it is "the greatest and the most secret tantra" (mahātirahasyatantra), associated with the Dakṣiṇāmnāya (Southern Tradition) and following the path of Nirvāṇa (nirvāṇapada). It consists of 6500 granthas^[2] divided into thirty-six chapters,^[3] and is said to have been revealed in Kāmarūpa in the form of a dialogue between Guhyakālī and Pracaṇḍabhairava.

The second text (which shall be referred to hereafter as Vārāhī Tantra), consisting of fifty chapters and 2545 verses, was revealed in the form of a dialogue between Varāha and Vārāhī, and is praised in the colophon as being the highest among the great Tantras (mahātantrottama). In the first chapter, along with the definition and characteristics of the Tāntrik literature, it gives a list of the sixty-four main Tantras together with their respective number of verses, among which the Vārāhī Tantra is said to contain 6303 verses.

The third text (Vārāhī Tantra") is in the form of a dialogue between Śrī Kṛṣṇa and Rādhikā. It consists of eight chapters and 500 verses.

The fourth (VVK), also called the Vajravārāhīkalpa, is a Bauddha Tantra divided into thirty-eight chapters and, as it is stated in the colophon, is the king among the great Tantras (mahātantrarājā).

To the best of our knowledge, none of these texts of the Vārāhītantra have yet been published.

The present research is based upon the Kulāgama "Vārāhī Tantra" (Vārāhī Tantra), of which we edited the first fifteen chapters; for the critical edition we consulted two main manuscripts: one, marked as #. (ka.), belongs to the Kaiser Library of the Government of Nepal (Kathmandu) and the other, marked as „. (kha.), is preserved in the Sarasvatī Library of Sampūrṇānanda Sanskrit University (Varāṇasī).

Both manuscripts are incomplete. The colophon of the last chapter of manuscript #. states that the text is actually only the first part of the Vārāhī Tantra ("Vārāhītantrapūrvakhaṇḍasampūrṇam").

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

See Appendix 2.

[2]:

A “grantha” is a particular measurement, thirty-two letters long, which is used also in prose or in poetries with different metres (See Jagannātha in his “Manuscriptology: An entrance”, Parimal Publications Delhi: 2007, p.46).

[3]:

See the colophon of the Vārāhī Tantra