ABSTRACT
The worship of divinity under sexual emblems is very ancient in India, presumably as old as the Mohenjo-daro civilization, which is usually held to be pre-Aryan. The Buddhist Tantras have numerous references to male and female dieties; and the latest dass of that literature, called the Anuttara-yoga-tantra is pervaded with sexual symbolism. This is true both of the traditional scripture (āgama) and the later commentaries. We should know that these works and the associated practices were evolved among peoples who took the spirit world for granted, believed that human beings could develop supernormal powers granted by deities, and assumed that in certain esoteric groups the appropriate procedures for such ends has been handed down from time immemorial.
