To publish or not to publish

A lot of Tāntrika stava or stutis are kept secret. Frequently, they are marked with adjectives like guhya (secret), guhyaatiguhya (more secret than the secret), gopanīya etc. Often, the narrator Śiva asks the listener Pārvatī to keep the stava secret like one's own vulva.

Given that, it becomes a moral dilemma for us, whether we should publish those stutis or not. Publishing means we violate the poet's (or Śiva's) intent. If we don't publish, they will disappear quickly, as many have already.

According to Devīdatta Śukla, a prominent editor for the daśamahāvidyā stotrasaṅgraha series of a small publisher in Allahabad, it is worthwhile to publish these secret stotras even though they have insisted on remaining as a secret. He argues that longeivity of the stava is more important and in the absense of Saṁskṛta readers the stava will just disappear.

Your comments are appreciated on this matter. Would you like to see rare and secret verses on Stutimandal? Please give reasons. To help us, please give a brief background about you related to Tantra. People who have learnt Tantra are encouraged more so to reply to this message, since they will know the positive and negative points of such publications better.

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