26 Isanaśivagurudevopaddhati IŚĀNAŠIVAGURUDEVAPADDHATI CONTENTS Tantrapaddhati also known as Tsanaśivagurudevapaddhati is divided into four parts, namely, (1) Sämänyapāda; (2) Mantrapada, (3) Kriyapada and (4. Yogapäda. Of these, the first two form Pürvärdha or the former half and the last two the Uttarärdha or the latter half. The work is divided into numerous sections called Patalas. The subjects dealt with include the hymns on the various deities; Japa; Homa and other religious rites to be carried out to please them and derive benefits; the means of their attainment; their application for averting the evil effects of poison; malicious plants and diseases; the use of medicines; the properties of medicinal herbs; the science of magic; the construction of temples; vimãnas; consecra- tion of idols; modes of worship; details of festivals and other allied topics. The treatment is so elaborate that the work consists of nearly 18,000 stanzas in various metres and divided into a total of 119 Patalas of varying length. The first publication of the the text by T. Ganpati Sastri is printed in four volumes. These volumes contain the four Pādas of the work in the following mode of arrangement. Vol. I. Sāmânyapāda contains 1-14 Patalas Vol. II Mantrapāda contains 15-52 Patalas Vol. III. Kriyapada contains 1-30 Patalas 31-64 Patalas and Yoga- Vol. IV. Kriyapada includes pada 1-3 Patalas In other words Sämänyapāda consists of 14 Patalas; and Mantra- pada contains 38 Patalas. Thus the first part or Pärvärdha of the treatise consists of a total of 14+38-52 Patalas. Kriyāpāda, the biggest of the four sections, consists of 64 Patalas while yogapāda, the shortest contains only 3 chapters. Thus the second part or Uttaradha includes 64+3=67 Patalas. The whole work is thus planned into 119 well-divided sections. Each of the four Pädas is concceived as a separate unit by the author.
