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tantra (TAN-truh, TUHN-truh) - n. A Hindu or Buddhist religious or esoteric text, esp. one dealing with rituals, disciplines, and practices.
In Shivaism, which is the best known variety in the west, these often take the form of a dialogue between Shiva and his wife, but Vaishnavism and Buddhism have their own texts with their own formats. Yoga is one of those practices. From Sanskrit trantra, principle/system/doctrine, originally the warp threads of a loom, from tan, to stretch/extend, from PIE *ten-, to stretch/extend (see tenet for a similar metaphoric extension of the same root).
---L.
In Shivaism, which is the best known variety in the west, these often take the form of a dialogue between Shiva and his wife, but Vaishnavism and Buddhism have their own texts with their own formats. Yoga is one of those practices. From Sanskrit trantra, principle/system/doctrine, originally the warp threads of a loom, from tan, to stretch/extend, from PIE *ten-, to stretch/extend (see tenet for a similar metaphoric extension of the same root).
---L.
