Mahānirvāṇa Tantra: Tantra of the Great Liberation
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- Catalogue identifier
- kali-0006
- Alternate titles and import identifiers
- KALI-0006; mahanirvana_avalon_1913
- Author or attribution
- Traditional Sanskrit text; translated by Arthur Avalon (John Woodroffe)
- Record type
- Book
- Language
- English
- Date / edition
- 1913
- Source / repository
- Publisher not independently checked
- Access
- Open access
- Subjects
- Kali Library Research Catalogue; Tantras and Esoteric Literature; Translations and Commentaries
Description and curator notes
Avalon's English translation presents fourteen chapters of the Mahānirvāṇa Tantra together with an extensive introduction. The dialogue gives a sustained account of the worship of the primordial power, especially Ādyā Kālī, while placing that worship alongside teachings on Brahman, liberation, initiation, social duties, consecration, and Kaula religious life. Chapter seven is particularly valuable for the name index: it contains the hymn of the hundred names of Kālikā, a protective kavaca, and discussion of the Kula principle. The instruction to repeat a text 108 times must not be confused with a claim that this particular hymn contains 108 names. The final chapter discusses the installation of the Shiva linga and classes of avadhutas, showing the wider ritual and social setting of the work. This historical translation is a foundational English-language document for research into modern presentations of Bengali Shakta Tantra. Its terminology, editorial interpretation and claims about tradition should be compared with the Sanskrit and later critical scholarship. The translation is a complete edition, not a collection of isolated practice instructions.
KALI-0006 — Kali Library Research Catalogue.
Access and reliability assessments below are supplied by the curator's 4–5 November 2026 research release, not a new independent verification.
Author / attribution: Traditional Sanskrit text; translated by Arthur Avalon (John Woodroffe)
Publication: Publisher not independently checked · 1913
English edition dated 1913 by the archive; complete fourteen-chapter translation.
Format / language: Historical book / primary devotional or interpretive source · English; original: Sanskrit
Composition / textual history: unknown
Identifier: mahanirvana_avalon_1913
Kali relevance: Direct Adya Kali theology, hymn, names, kavaca and worship.
Context: Date and textual history of the Sanskrit work are debated; publication date is not composition date. The chapter-seven list is 100 names.
Subjects: Tantras and Esoteric Literature; Translations and Commentaries
Evidence / reliability: Primary historical source in a freely accessible transcription; historical claims require comparison with modern scholarship.
Access / rights: Complete text checked 2026-11-04. Historical original and translation are public domain in the United States. Check local jurisdiction before reproduction; link to the hosted edition. Internet Sacred Text Archive requests attribution and noncommercial reuse of its transcription.
Source and alternate access links:
Read complete text: https://sacred-texts.com/book/mahanirvana-tantra-tantra-of-the-great-liberation
Alternate / related form: https://sacred-texts.com/tantra/maha/index.htm
Source access
Read or locate the original source at Publisher not independently checked
Rights and reading conditions
Complete text checked 2026-11-04. Historical original and translation are public domain in the United States. Check local jurisdiction before reproduction; link to the hosted edition. Internet Sacred Text Archive requests attribution and noncommercial reuse of its transcription. This library links to the source and does not reproduce its full text.
Citation
Traditional Sanskrit text; translated by Arthur Avalon (John Woodroffe). Mahānirvāṇa Tantra: Tantra of the Great Liberation. Publisher not independently checked · 1913.
This page supplies catalogue metadata and links. It does not reproduce the underlying source text. Historical, religious, healing and interpretive claims belong to the cited sources, not to an independent verification by this catalogue.