Yogini Tantra

The Yogini Tantra is a 16th- or 17th-century tantric text by an unknown author either from Assam or Cooch Behar^[1] and is dedicated to the worship of Hindu goddesses Kali and Kamakhya. Apart from religious and philosophical themes, this voluminous tantra contains some historical information.

The text is especially important for the vamachara form of tantric worship.

The Northeast Indian Yogini Tantra manuscript referenced here should not be confused with a classification of Vajrayana Tantras known as Anuttarayoga Tantras which include a sub-class known as the Mother Tantras which includes a further sub-classification known as the Yogini Tantras.

Date and Place

The Yogini Tantra was written in Assam or Cooch Behar in the 16th or 17th century. The date is determined from the reference to the 16th-century Koch dynasty (kuvacha), who are said to have been born to a Mech woman.^[2] Some authors place it in the 17th century.^[3]

Published Versions

There are contemporary published versions of the entire Yogini Tantra in Sanskrit,^[4] and there are versions that include Hindi language translations.^[5] There are no known published English language translations at this time. There is a partial English language summary of the contents of the Yogini Tantra available online^[6] and the Sanskrit language version includes an English language Preface and Introduction with important details about the manuscript including other published versions in Indic languages.^[7]

Notes

^ Urban (2015), p. 74: "One of the most explicit descriptions of Tantric sexual rites occurs in Yogini tantra, a sixteenth-century text from Cooch Behar, immediately adjacent to Assam"
^ "The Yogini Trantra, which was composed in Assam itself in about the 16th century, refers to the Koches as kuvachas and says they were born of a Mech woman." (Ch XII v3) (Nath 1989, p. 3)
^ "(A)ccording to the Yogina Tantra—a product of seventeenth-century Assam—the entire religion of Kamarupa is itself described as kirata dharma. (Urban 2011, p. 237)
^ Yogini Tantra. Biswanarayan Shastri, ed. Delhi: Bharatiya Vidya Prakashan. 1982.
^ Yogini Tantra. Biswanarayan Shastri, ed. Delhi: Bharatiya Vidya Prakashan. 1982. P.viii.
^ "Yoginī Tantra". 23 July 2021.
^ Yogini Tantra. Biswanarayan Shastri, ed. Delhi: Bharatiya Vidya Prakashan. 1982. Pp. v-x and xi-xliv.

References

Magee, Mike, "Yogini Tantra", Shiva Shakti, retrieved 28 December 2007
Nath, D (1989), History of the Koch Kingdom: 1515–1615, Delhi: Mittal Publications
Urban, Hugh B. (2011). "The Womb of Tantra: Goddesses, Tribals, and Kings in Assam". The Journal of Hindu Studies. 4 (3): 231–247. doi:10.1093/jhs/hir034.
Shastri, Biswanarayan (1982), Yogini Tantra, Delhi: Bharatiya Vidya Prakashan
Urban, Hugh B. (2015), Desire, Blood, and Power: Georges Bataillie and the Study of Hindu Tantra in Northeastern India, Negative ecstasies, pp. 68–80

[ab-1] Urban (2015), p. 74: "One of the most explicit descriptions of Tantric sexual rites occurs in Yogini tantra, a sixteenth-century text from Cooch Behar, immediately adjacent to Assam"

[2] "The Yogini Trantra, which was composed in Assam itself in about the 16th century, refers to the Koches as kuvachas and says they were born of a Mech woman." (Ch XII v3) (Nath 1989, p. 3)

[3] "(A)ccording to the Yogina Tantra—a product of seventeenth-century Assam—the entire religion of Kamarupa is itself described as kirata dharma. (Urban 2011, p. 237)

[4] Yogini Tantra. Biswanarayan Shastri, ed. Delhi: Bharatiya Vidya Prakashan. 1982.

[5] Yogini Tantra. Biswanarayan Shastri, ed. Delhi: Bharatiya Vidya Prakashan. 1982. P.viii.

[6] "Yoginī Tantra". 23 July 2021.

[7] Yogini Tantra. Biswanarayan Shastri, ed. Delhi: Bharatiya Vidya Prakashan. 1982. Pp. v-x and xi-xliv.

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