God is not only the Lord of creation but also the Lord of destruction.

Whereas the Vedantic method of enquiry is one of rejection and eliminaion, the Tantric method is one of acceptance and sublimation.

The meaning of the dictum ‘Truth is Beauty and Beauty Truth’ is expounded in the hundred verses of the Saundaryalaharī. What is described as ‘Śāntam-Śivam-Advaitam’ in the Upaniṣad, is revealed here as the ultimate perfection of beauty and its adoration.

In the Mahābhārata, there is reference to Śakti worship in many contexts. Before entering the Matsya kingdom for spending the last year of exile incognito, Dharmaputra prays to Durgā. At the commencement of the battle of Kurukṣetra Srī Kṛṣṇa asks Arjuna to get down from the chariot and to pray to Durgā, and Arjuna does so.

Śaṅkarācārya says in Saundaryalaharī: “O Parabrahmamahiṣī! The knowers of Veda call you Vāk-Devatā the consort of Brahmā, Lakṣmī the consort of Viṣṇu, and Pārvatī the consort of Śiva. But Thou art the Fourth (Turīya) of inconceivable and limitless majesties—the indeterminable Mahāmāyā who revolves the wheel of this world.”

Referring to the Śākta Tantras, which are sixtyfour in number; the Saundaryalaharī says that after Śiva had filled the world with the other Tantras, He gave out, at the request of Devī, the Śrī Tantra which fulfils the objects covered by all the other Tantras, and this is known as the worship of Tripurā or Śrī-Vidyā.

Mantra, Yantra and Tantra form the three corners of the triangle of Śrī-Vīdyā. Mantra is visualized in the Yantra. The worship of the Yantra, internal and external, and the practice of Kuṇḍalinī Yoga and other Sādhanas constitute the Tantra or modus operandi.

The first forty one are dealing with the Mantra, Yantra, and the other partly philosophical and partly ritualistic ideologies of the Śākta cult as also with the mysteries of Kuṇḍalinī Yoga. This portion is called Ānandalaharī, the Flood of Bliss. The fifty-nine verses that follow give a description of the form of the Devī utilising most of the figu

The writings of Sri Aurobindo and his followers have also contributed to a better understanding of the subject. Kāvyakanṭha Gaṇapati Śāstri, a disciple of Sri Ramaṇa Maharṣi, has written a book of Sūtras called Daśa-Mahā-Vidyā or the worship of Kālī, Tārā, Sundarī, Bhuvaneśvarī, Bhairavī, Chinnamastā. Dhūmavatī, Bagalā, Mātaṅgī and Kamalā’tmikā. Th