Andre Padoux has had a distinguished career as a diplomat and then as a scholar of Sanskrit, notably of ‘Kashmir’ Shaivism and Shakta Tantrism. He was Director of Research at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris, for many years. He is a renowned expert on the ‘science of mantra’ (mantrasastra) and has published important articles in this field.

• Foreword Introduction 1. The Extraction and Examination of Mantras 2. Nyasa, the Ritual Placing of Mantras 3. A Hindu Rosary Ritual 4. On the Defeats and the Perfecting of Mantras 5. Mantric Practices and the Nature of Mantric Utterance 6. Body and Mantra 7. The oral and the Written

Andre Padoux has had a distinguished career as a diplomat and then as a scholar of Sanskrit, notably of ‘Kashmir’ Shaivism and Shakta Tantrism. He was Director of Research at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris, for many years. He is a renowned expert on the ‘science of mantra’ (mantrasastra) and has published important articles in this field.

• Foreword Introduction 1. The Extraction and Examination of Mantras 2. Nyasa, the Ritual Placing of Mantras 3. A Hindu Rosary Ritual 4. On the Defeats and the Perfecting of Mantras 5. Mantric Practices and the Nature of Mantric Utterance 6. Body and Mantra 7. The oral and the Written

Andre Padoux has had a distinguished career as a diplomat and then as a scholar of Sanskrit, notably of ‘Kashmir’ Shaivism and Shakta Tantrism. He was Director of Research at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris, for many years. He is a renowned expert on the ‘science of mantra’ (mantrasastra) and has published important articles in this field.

• Foreword Introduction 1. The Extraction and Examination of Mantras 2. Nyasa, the Ritual Placing of Mantras 3. A Hindu Rosary Ritual 4. On the Defeats and the Perfecting of Mantras 5. Mantric Practices and the Nature of Mantric Utterance 6. Body and Mantra 7. The oral and the Written