The Serpent Power: Note to Second Edition — различия между версиями

Considering the recondite nature of the subject, the first edition published by Messrs. Luzac & Co., London has had amore rapid sale than was expected, and a call for a second edition has enabled me to revise the whole work and to make several corrections and additions both in the Introduction and Text. To this second edition has been added the Sanskrit Text of the works here translated which formerly appeared as Vol. 2 of the Tantrik Texts and which has since gone out of print. This edition also contains in addition to the original coloured plates of the Chakras, a number of half-tone plates from Life, showing some positions in Kundalini Yoga.

The Introduction deals in a general way with the subject-matter of the Texts translated. I take however this opportunity to say again that it has not been possible to give here a full explanation of such matters, and refer my reader to my other works dealing with the Tantras and their Ritual, namely, Principles of Tantra, a work of peculiar value in that it is a translation of the work of a Bengali Pandit himself a Shakta unacquainted with the English language but an inheritor of the old traditions; as also the second edition of my Shakti and Shakta dealing with ritual, published since the date of my first Preface. The Studies in Mantra Shastra referred to therein has also recently been published under the title of Garland of Letters. All such technical terms as Bindu, Nada and the like used in the works translated have been fully explained therein as also the general principles of Mantra. It is necessary also to know with accuracy the exact meaning of the terms Consciousness, Mind, Life, Matter and so forth as used in Vedanta and these have been given in the series of little works under the general caption. The World as Power. It is not possible to understand the rationale of Yoga without an accurate understanding of these fundamental terms. It has been rightly said that "the practical portion of all Yoga, specially of Raja Yoga, is concerned with mental practices. It is therefore absolutely necessary that the student of Yoga should know what his mind is and how it works" (Raja Yoga, by Swami Dayanand, p. 9). I have given a short account of Sarvananda and his life in the Hindusthan Review. Other works by me on the Shastra are noted in the advertisement sheet at the end of the book.

Les Andelys Eure

A. Avalon, October, 1922