Dasha Maha Vidyas
India is a land of divinity. There are lot many spiritual practices in India. There are nine types of Bhakti Margas and some thousands of Sadhanas and Upasanas such as yogic practices like Hatha Yoga and Kriya Yoga, pranayamas (breathing exercises) and innumerable Tantric Sadhanas. Vedic practices come under Dakshinachara and Tantric practices come under Vamachara. Dakshinachara practices are subtle where as Tantric practices are extreme. There are more rules and regulations to be followed in Tantra than Satvik Shadhanas of Dakshinachara. It is not what everybody thinks about tantra. Many of them misunderstand the meaning of Tantra. Tantra Shastra has been conceived by Lord Maha Siva himself. When Mother Parvathi asked Maha Shiva to give the devotees the easiest path to reach him, Siva agreed to do so. That was the auspicious time when the birth of Tantra Shastra took place.
Tantra says not to abstain from any thing. It says pursue everything, give your soul what it wants and then lure it in to the path of enlightenment. When the insider is satisfied with common worldly pleasures, it just relaxes and lets you do whatever you need. Let it be spiritual practice. That is why Panchamakaras are proposed in Tantra.
Tantra is predominantly the worship of Shakti, the feminine power from which the world had emerged. There are thousands of Maha Vidhyas mentioned in Puranas. But there are ten Maha Vidyas which are predominantly practiced. Maha Vidyas means highest orders of Knowledge. The first and foremost is Goddess Kali and the others are Tara, Tripura Sundari (Maha Shodasi), Bhuvaneshwari, Bhairavi, Bagalamukhi, Chinnamasta, Dhoomavathi and Kalamatmika. Some times Mathangi, Kamakhya, Pratyangira and Vana Durga are also mentioned.
Practicing a Maha Vidya bestows us with knowledge or the worlds and give us Moksha, The Nirvana.
Jai Maha Kali _/\_
