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Travel & Registration Grant For Conference On The Shakta Tantras

The International Conference On Historical, Sociological, Philosophical and Spiritual Significance Of Shakta Tantra with Special Reference to the Srividya Tradition is being held at Sanchi University during 17th-19th December, 2018.

Tantrashastra is one of the most important traditions of India. It inherits the finest philosophy of Vedanta but has developed it’s own path for spiritual attainment. But it is a much neglected field in the history of Indian Philosophy. Much work has to be done to explore the full significance of Tantrashastra.

There are three sub-schools within the Shaktatantra- Kaula, Misra and Samaya. They have their own independent treatises. The Kaula group has 64 treatises within various commentaries and the Mishra group has 8 treatises with several commentaries. The Samaya group is the most important among the Saktatantra on account of its exalted philosophy and unique method of worship. The Shubhagamapanchaka and hundreds of independent treatises explore it’s philosophy. The samaya tantras points the way to liberation along with the material prosperity. These tantras actually represent the quintessence of the old Upanishads, with their emphasis on realising Brahman.

Sri Vidya is known by several names in Shaktatantric texts as Sri Lalita- Divine beauty, mother of grace, one who sports; Rajarajesvari- the eternal empress of all sovereignties; Parabhattarika- most imperial majesty or the supreme and sovereign ruler ; Kamesvari —the mother of love, goddess of desire; Srisundari- the mother of beauty, Tripurasundari- the most beautiful in all three worlds and so on. She is also known as Tripura, Sri Minaksi, Sri Kamaksi and Sri Visalaksi by the worshippers of Sri Vidya.

The main aim of Srividya is the realization of Advaita i.e. unity of individual soul and universal soul, unity of Siva and Sakti. Quite in agreement with the Advaita Vedantic stand point, Srividya tradition maintains a dual aspect of universal mother namely saguna(having form) and nirguna(formless). Texts dealing with Srividya describe the nature of Srividya like the Upanisads describe the Brahman.She is indeterminate(nirvisesa) as well as determined(savisesa). She is described as Absolute Existence, Absolute Consciousness and Absolute Bliss (saccidanandasvarupini), in her nirguna form. She is the Reality from which all things originate, sustained and merge in the end (laysthityudbhavesvari). She is the inner self of all. She is the highest knowledge (parasamvid), beyond space and time. She is the ocean of consciousness, in which there is neither rise nor fall. She is self-luminous. She is the Truth and can be realized through direct experience (anubhava).

Indic Academy will provide a travel grant of INR 15,000 (12,000 + 3,000) each to two candidates in order to attend this conference. Please fill up this form with the relevant details in order to apply for this grant. Refer to this brochure for more details.

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