Page:A History of Hindu Chemistry Vol 1.djvu/88

 Brahminism. There are however two distinct classes of Tantras—Brahminic and Buddhistic—dealing in magic, alchemy, sorcery, and allied subjects, which will claim our attention here. The causes which favoured the rise and progress of the Hindu Tantras equally contributed to the development of the Buddhistic,Cf. "Pour des esprits grossiers et ignorants, de tels livres ont certainement plus de valeur que les légendes morales des premiers temps du Buddhisme. Ils promettent des avantages temporels et immédiats; ils satisfont enfin à ce besoin de superstitions, à cet amour des practiques dévotes par lequel s'exprime le sentiment religieux en Asie, et auquel ne répondait qu'imparfaitement la simplicité du Buddhisme primitif."—Burnouf's only in the latter, instead of Siva and Párvatí, a Buddha, a Tathágata or an Avalokitesvara is often addressed in the invocation as the source and fountain of all knowledge. We have also a class of Tantras which is an admixture of Buddhistic and Saiva cult. A notable example of which is afforded by the