Editing Tantra (section)

==Etymology==
Tantra ({{langx|sa|तन्त्र}}) literally means "loom, warp, weave".<ref name="Monier">{{harvp|Monier-Williams|Leumann|Cappeller|2002|p=436}}</ref><ref name="Barrett">{{harvp|Barrett|2008|p=12}}</ref><ref name="Flood"/> According to Padoux, the verbal root Tan means: "to extend", "to spread", "to spin out", "weave", "display", "put forth", and "compose". Therefore, by extension, it can also mean "system", "doctrine", or "work".{{sfnp|Padoux|2017|p=7}}

The connotation of the word ''tantra'' to mean an [[Eastern esotericism|esoteric]] practice or religious ritualism is a [[British Raj|colonial era]] European invention.{{sfnp|Padoux|2002|p=17}}{{sfnp|White|2005|p=8984}}{{sfnp|Gray|2016|pp=3-4}} This term is based on the metaphor of [[weaving]], states Ron Barrett, where the Sanskrit root ''tan'' means the [[Warp and weft|warp]]ing of threads on a loom.<ref name="Barrett"/> It implies "interweaving of traditions and teachings as threads" into a text, technique or practice.<ref name="Barrett"/><ref name="Flood">{{harvp|Flood|2006|p=9}}</ref>

The word appears in the hymns of the ''[[Rigveda]]'' such as in 10.71, with the meaning of "[[warp (weaving)]]".<ref name="Monier"/> It is found in many other [[Vedic era]] texts, such as in section 10.7.42 of the ''[[Atharvaveda]]'' and many [[Brahmana]]s.<ref name="Monier"/><ref name="Urban"/> In these and post-Vedic texts, the contextual meaning of ''Tantra'' is that which is "principal or essential part, main point, model, framework, feature".<ref name="Monier"/> In the [[Smriti]]s and [[Indian epic poetry|epics]] of Hinduism (and Jainism), the term means "doctrine, rule, theory, method, technique or chapter" and the word appears both as a separate word and as a common suffix, such as ''atma-tantra'' meaning "doctrine or theory of [[Atman (Hinduism)|Atman]] (Self)".<ref name="Monier"/><ref name="Urban">{{harvp|Urban|2008|pp=26–27}}</ref>

The term "Tantra" after about 500&nbsp;BCE, in Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism is a bibliographic category, just like the word [[Sutra]] (which means "sewing together", mirroring the metaphor of "weaving together" in ''Tantra''). The same Buddhist texts are sometimes referred to as tantra or sutra; for example, ''Vairocabhisambodhi-tantra'' is also referred to as ''Vairocabhisambodhi-sutra''.<ref name="Felch">{{harvp|Felch|2016|pp=174–175}}</ref> The various contextual meanings of the word Tantra vary with the Indian text and are summarized in the appended table.
{| class="wikitable collapsible" 
|+Appearance of the term "Tantra" in Indian texts
|-
! Period{{refn|group=note|The dates in the left column of the table are estimates and contested by scholars.}} !! Text or author !! Contextual meaning of tantra
|-
| style="background: silver;"| 1500–1100 BCE || ''Ṛigveda'' X, 71.9 || Loom (or weaving device){{sfnp|Banerjee|1988}}
|-
| style="background: silver;"| 1200–1000 BCE || [[Sāmaveda]], ''Tandya Brahmana'' || Essence (or "main part", perhaps denoting the quintessence of the ''Śāstras''){{sfnp|Banerjee|1988}}
|-
| style="background: silver;"|1200–900 BCE || ''[[Atharvaveda]]'' X, 7.42 || Loom (or weaving){{sfnp|Banerjee|1988}}
|-
| style="background: silver;"|1200–800 BCE || [[Yajurveda]], ''Taittiriya Brahmana'' 11.5.5.3 || Loom (or weaving){{sfnp|Banerjee|1988}}
|-
| style="background: silver;"|800-600 BCE  || ''[[Shatapatha Brahmana|Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa]]'' || Essence (or main part; see above){{sfnp|Banerjee|1988}}
|-
| style="background: silver;"|600–500 BCE || [[Pāṇini]] in ''[[Aṣṭādhyāyī]]'' 1.4.54 and 5.2.70 || Warp (weaving), loom<ref name="Pontillo">{{harvp|Pontillo|Candotti|2014|pp=47–48 with footnotes}}</ref>
|-
| style="background: silver;"|350–283 BCE || [[Chanakya]] on ''[[Arthaśāstra]]'' || Science;{{sfnp|Kangle|1986|p=512 with footnote}} system or [[shastra]]<ref name="Joshi"/>
|-
| 300 CE || [[Isvarakrsna|Īśvarakṛṣṇa]] author of ''[[Samkhyakarika|Sānkhya Kārikā]]'' (''kārikā'' 70) || Doctrine (identifies ''[[Sankhya]]'' as a ''tantra''){{sfnp|Bagchi|1989|p=6}}
|-
| 320 CE || ''[[Vishnu Purana|Viṣṇu Purāṇa]]'' || Practices and rituals{{sfnp|Banerjee|1988|p=8}}
|-
| 320–400 CE || Poet [[Kālidāsa]] on ''[[Abhijñānaśākuntalam]]'' || Deep understanding or mastery of a topic{{refn|group=note|{{harvp|Banerjee|1988}}: "''Tantra'' is sometimes used to denote governance. ''Kālidāsa'' uses the expression ''prajah tantrayitva'' (having governed the subjects) in the ''Abhijñānaśākuntalam'' (V.5)."}}
|-
| 423 || Gangdhar stone inscription in [[Rajasthan]] || Worship techniques (''Tantrodbhuta''){{sfnp|Joshi|2012|pages=48–50}} Dubious link to Tantric practices.{{sfnp|Lorenzen|2002|pp=31-32}}
|-
| 500 <ref name=schomerus8>Hilko Wiardo Schomerus and Humphrey Palmer (2000), Śaiva Siddhānta: An Indian School of Mystical Thought, Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-81-208-1569-8}}, pages 7–10</ref> || [[Agama (Hinduism)| Hindu Agamas]] || A set of esoteric doctrines and practices, featuring archaic prosody and linguistic evidence dating back to 500 BCE.<ref name=schomerus8>Hilko Wiardo Schomerus and Humphrey Palmer (2000), Śaiva Siddhānta: An Indian School of Mystical Thought, Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-81-208-1569-8}}, pages 7–10</ref><ref name="RDeC">{{cite book|title=Haunting the Buddha: Indian Popular Religions and the Formation of Buddhism|last=DeCaroli|first=Robert|year=2004|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]], US| isbn=978-0-19-516838-9}}</ref>. Tantra here implies "Extensive knowledge of principles of reality".{{sfnp|Wallis|2012|p=26}}
|-
| 550 || Sabarasvamin's commentary on Mimamsa Sutra 11.1.1, 11.4.1 etc. || Thread, text;{{sfnp|Scharfe|1977|p=87 with footnote 50}} beneficial action or thing<ref name="Joshi">{{harvp|Joshi|1977|p=409}}</ref>
|-
| 606–647 || Sanskrit scholar and poet [[Bāṇabhaṭṭa]] (in ''Harṣacarita''{{refn|group=note|{{harvp|Banerjee|2002|p=34}}: "Banabhatta, the Sanskrit author of the 7th century, refers, in the ''Harshacharita'' to the propitiation of Matrikas by a tantric ascetic."}} and in ''[[Kadambari|Kādambari]]''), in [[Bhāsa]]'s ''Cārudatta''  and in [[Sudraka|Śūdraka]]'s ''[[Mṛcchakatika]]'' || Set of sites and worship methods to goddesses or [[Matrika]]s.{{sfnp|Joshi|2012|pages=48–50}}{{sfnp|Banerjee|2002|p=34}}
|-
| 650 <ref>Hajime Nakamura, [https://books.google.com/books?id=w0A7y4TCeVQC&dq=Mahavairocana+Sutra+composed&pg=PA322 Indian Buddhism: A Survey with Bibliographical Notes], Motilal Banarsidass 1996, p.321</ref> || [[Vairocanābhisaṃbodhi Sūtra]] || The first evidence of Buddhist esoteric doctrines or practices, known as [[Vajrayāna]] and sometimes also as Tantrayāna.
|-
| post-650 || [[Buddhist tantric literature]] ||  Various Vajrayāna esoteric doctrines or practices.
|-
| 975–1025 || Philosopher [[Abhinavagupta]] in his ''[[Tantrāloka]]'' || Set of doctrines or practices, teachings, texts, system (synthesis of the 64 monistic āgamas and based on [[Kashmir Shaivism]]){{sfnp|Dyczkowski|1989|pp=4-5}}<ref name="Flood"/>
|-
| 1150–1200 || Jayaratha, [[Abhinavagupta]]'s commentator on ''[[Tantrāloka]]'' || Set of doctrines or practices, teachings
|-
| 1690–1785 || [[Bhaskararaya]] (philosopher)|| System of thought or set of doctrines or practices, a canon{{sfnp|Brooks|1990|pp=16-17}}
|}