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INTRODUCTION
 
chara Vedachara in this series means some Vedic ritual
as modified by the Tantra It is purely external in
character The second, Vatşnavachara is the path of
devotion and the third, Sanachara is the path of
knowledge After completing these three preliminaries
of karma, bhakti and jnana the sãdhaka passes on to
Daksınachara, which means it seems, the achara which
is favourable to the accomplishment of higher
sadhana These four stages belong to the Pravritti
marga After completing them, the sadhaka enters upon
the path of Nivrittı, the first stage of which is the
Vamachara At this stage with the help of a guru he
undergoes special initiation and tries to conquer his
destres-not by renunciation but by means of sublima-
tion and consecration He has to rise by the very
things by which the ordinary man falls The Kular
nava Tantra says, "Yaireva patanam dravyuh siddih
taireva chodita" This is the characteristic Tantrik.
doctrine which opens the door to all kinds of licence
under the cloak of religion When man ist ught
that his impulses towards eating and drinking and
sexual enjoyment are best subjugated by religiously
satisfying them we know what the teaching will lead
to in practice
 
The discipline that begins in Vamachara is said to
become complete in the next two stages-Siddhanta and
Kaula In these stages the sadhah is supposed to
become more and more free from the bonds of samsara
He is attached to nothing, he hates nothing fears
nothing and is ashamed of nothing He becomes free
from the bonds of family, sect and society As the