Arjun, a history student, visits a museum gallery on religious life in early medieval India. In the first hall he sees a wooden image of a deity from Puri in Orissa, shown with a sister and a brother; a label explains that such images are made even today by local tribal specialists. In the next hall is a stone smeared with ochre, worshipped in a village shrine, and beside it a tenth-century sculpture of a Buddhist goddess from Bihar. A last panel compares the gods of the Vedic hymns with the gods of later religious stories. Arjun writes down questions for his teacher.
Arjun's teacher links the goddess from Bihar to Tantric forms of worship. Which of the following statements about Tantric practices is correct?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → They were open to women and men, and caste was often ignored in rituals.
Option (1) They were open to women and men, and caste was often ignored in rituals. — Correct. Tantric practices, often linked with the goddess, were open to women and men, and practitioners often ignored caste and class within the ritual.
Option (2) They were practised mostly by Brahmana priests in temple rituals held for rulers. — Incorrect. Tantric worship was widespread in several parts of the subcontinent and open to women and men of different castes, far beyond a priestly circle.
Option (3) They upheld the authority of the Vedas and centred on precisely chanted mantras. — Incorrect. Those engaged in Tantric practices frequently ignored the authority of the Vedas. Precisely chanted mantras belonged to the Vedic tradition that often condemned them.
Option (4) They influenced Jainism and Buddhism, mainly in the western parts of the subcontinent. — Incorrect. These ideas influenced Shaivism as well as Buddhism, mainly in the eastern, northern and southern parts of the subcontinent.
NCERT (2026-27): “1.2 Difference and conflict “… On the other hand those engaged in Tantric practices frequently ignored the authority of the Vedas. …” |