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Kaula

Chapter · January 2019

DOI: 10.1007/978-94-024-1036-5_547-1

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K
Kaula
Patricia Sauthoff
History and Classics, University of Alberta,
Edmonton, Canada
Synonyms
Kula; Kulamārga
Definition
Kaula is an esoteric system of Śaiva Tantra in
which adherents (also called Kaulas) utilize trans-
gressive or “left-handed” practices to achieve the
harmonious fusion of Śiva and Śakti.
Development
The word Kaula refers to one who is part of a
Kula, a family, clan, or lineage. Within the Kaula
school of Tantra, such families are not necessarily
hereditary but instead refer to a “family” of prac-
titioners. Kaula practice can be divided into two
streams: pūrvakaula, early Kaula, and
uttarakaula, later Kaula ([1], p. 847). Pūrvakaula
practitioners utilize forbidden substances, such as
meat, liquor, dried grains, fish, and sexual prac-
tice, during ritual without restraint, while
uttarakaulas seek union with the goddess through
# Springer Nature B.V. 2019
P. Jain et al. (eds.), Hinduism and Tribal Religions, Encyclopedia of Indian Religions,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-1036-5_547-1
the symbolic application of such ritual elements.
The term Kula was probably used first in Śaiva
Vidyāpīṭha (goddess-centered) ([2], p. 35) tradi-
tions to describe clans of yoginīs, supernatural
feminine powers, and mother goddesses (mātṛ)
([3], pp. 120–121).
Kaula practice derives from the cremation-
ground practices of the kāpālika tradition ([2],
pp. 57–220). These ascetic practitioners left
behind no texts, and much of what is known
about them comes from reports of ash-covered
skull bearers practicing extreme worship in char-
nel grounds ([4], p. 97). Such practices inspired a
later phase of Kaula practice that developed
around the ninth century ([5], p. 326). This later
development emphasized eroticism over charnel
ground rites. Here erotic rites with female com-
panions, sanguinary rites to deities such as
Bhairava and Cāmuṇḍa, the attainment of super-
natural powers through yogic practice, initiation
using consecrated liquor, and states of possession
become central to worship ([6], pp. 28–29).
Finally, in the eleventh century, the Kaula
school developed into a philosophical system,
led by the Kashmiri writer Abhinavagupta and
his disciple Kṣemarāja, who combined Kaula
practice with other Tantric lineages in the Trika
school. Abhinavagupta reformed the Kaula, leav-
ing the crematory imagery intact but withdrawing
the transgressive Kaula practices, such as animal
sacrifice, non-vegetarianism, alcoholic offerings,
and ritualized sexual practices and imagery, from
the public. Only a small number of initiated
2 Kaula
adherents would be allowed to know the full
extent of Kaula ritual practice ([7], p. 173). This
final phase of Kaula innovation was exported to
Southern India where it served as the basis for the
Śrīvidyā system ([5], p. 326). Throughout its
development, Kaula ritual uses the body as the
focal point to liberation. Practitioners partake in
various transgressive ritual behaviors or Tantric
visualizations that allow the practitioner to
reshape their mental states by transforming the
body ([8], p. 57). The Kaula influenced haṭha
yoga works such as the Śiva Saṃhitā and incor-
porated Kaula physiology but not retain initiatory,
mantric, or maṇḍalic practices ([9],
pp. 328, 333, 341).
Major Literary Works
Starting with the second phase of Kaula reforma-
tion, after the crematory practices of the kāpālika
sects, Kaula texts and works with Kaula influ-
ences began to appear in the literary record.
Kaula texts focus on the goddess Kuleśvarī, who
sometimes appears with Bhairava, surrounded by
the eight mātṛs. Works such as the
Jayadrathayāmala and Brahmayāmala describe
the extreme ritual practices associated with the
Kaula. While texts such as the Kulapañcāśika,
Kulasāra, Kulānanda, Kaulajñānanirṇaya,
Yoginī kula, and Siddhāmṛtakaula clearly state
their Kaula affiliation in their names, Śākta-
oriented texts of the Tantric Mantramārga, such
as the Mālinī vijayottara, demonstrate Kaula affil-
iation ([6], p. 28). This means a clear demarcation
between the Mantramārga and Kulamārga is
unclear. There is also a slight problem
distinguishing between Kula and Kaula scrip-
tures, which the Kaulajñānanirṇaya describes as
distinct but overlapping ([10], pp. 214–110; [11],
pp. 679–690). These internal classifications, while
important to the texts themselves, overlap enough
that modern scholarship has adopted both terms
for the same traditions, noting that some texts only
have Kaula elements, while others clearly belong
to the Kulamārga. Kaula traditions are also some-
times seen as distinct from one another according
to the goddess upon whom their rites focus ([12],
p. 59).
The Brahmayāmala and the later
Jayadrathayāmala demonstrate kāpālika borrow-
ings in descriptions of practitioners taking on the
attributes and behaviors of a skull-bearing
Bhairava. The Brahmayāmala features possession
by the mātṛs, who grant supernatural powers
([13], p. 185). Similarly, the Siddhayogeś
varī mata tells of possession by Rudra’s female
power, Śakti, and the highest mantra goddess Parā
([13], p. 187). The Brahmayāmala and other texts
of the Mantramārga do not describe themselves or
even appear to be aware of the Kula scriptural
designation ([14], p. 157).
Sixty-four yoginīs appear in the
Kaulajñānanirṇaya, and the text classifies three
types of consorts with whom the practitioner per-
forms sexual rites. These three are the “innate”
(sahajā) consort who is one’s own wife; the “clan
born” (kulajā), a courtesan; and the “outcaste
woman” (antyajā) ([14], p. 159).
Abhinavagupta’s Tantrāloka presents an exe-
gesis on Trika philosophy, a system that unifies
the teachings on sound of the Spanda, the philo-
sophical explanations of the Pratyabhijñā, and the
rituals of the Krama, a subset of the Kaula that
features Kalī as its main deity. In the Tantrāloka,
Abhinavagupta and the commentator Jayaratha
quote Kaula texts such as the Kulakrīdāvatāra,
Triśirobhairava, Trikakularatnamālā,
Yogasaṃcāra, Trikasāra, Bhairavakula, and
Vīrāvalī kula to provide scriptural authority in its
Kaula exegesis ([6], p. 29). These quotations of
the Kulakrīdāvatāra and other texts are often the
only extant sections of the texts known to survive
([6], p. 28). The Ciñciṇāiata speaks of four sys-
tems of Kaula teachings. These systems (āmnāya)
adhere to the four cardinal directions, east
(Pūrvāmnāya), north (Uttarāmnāya), west
(Paścimāmnāya), and south (Dakṣiṇāmnāya).
Each āmnāya focuses on the worship of a distinct
pantheon of deities ([6], p. 28). The Kaula thought
expressed in the Mālinī vijayottara and
Tantrāloka adheres closely to the Pūrvāmnāya,
which appears to be the original form of Kaula
worship ([6], p. 28). The redactors of the
Mālinīvijayottara appear to synthesize
Kaula
Saiddhāntika and Kaula teachings so that they
could be assimilated into the Trika ([15], p. xli).
The Paścimāmnāya tradition focuses on the
goddess Kubjikā. Texts of the tradition, such as
the Kubjikāmata Tantra, draw on Trika scriptures
and share with the wider tradition a focus on
Navātman, who is both a deity and a mantra
([16], p. 26). Unlike the majority of Kaula texts,
the Kulārṇava Tantra places little emphasis on
yoginī rites ([14], p. 21).
Practice
Initiation (dī kṣā) is the most important rite of the
Kaula tradition. It is through initiation that one
gains access to the secret teachings and rites of the
sect. Once a member, the worshipper can partici-
pate in yoginī rites. These include sexual inter-
course with a dūtī , the ingestion of bodily
substances, and the use of ritually forbidden offer-
ings such as meat and alcohol ([17], pp. 860–861).
While the transgressive practices of the Kaula
have antecedents in earlier traditions, the Kaulas
offer a reform that takes the focus away from
sexual activity and the consumption of meat and
alcohol as the production of powerful substances
and moves them toward a means to access an
expansion of consciousness through bliss ([11],
p. 680). Offerings to the yoginī s became a way for
the Kaula practitioner to delight in the senses by
fusing himself with the yoginī s. This practice
could also take place internally where one visual-
izes the gratification of the yoginī s through the
breath ([11], p. 681).
The Pūrvāmanāya Kaula emphasizes sponta-
neous and intense immersion with Kuleśvara over
the elaborate ritual of other Tantric sects. Such
practice includes an often passive practitioner
whose guru opens his path to salvation, unifies
him with the deity, and creates for him a divine
body so that he can have a direct experience of the
deity ([11], p. 682). Conversely, the Uttarāmnāya
invites the practitioner to visualize a complex
pantheon of deities, many of whom are character-
ized by animal faces. Here, sexual practice places
the adherent into a state of possession by these
deities. This possession offers him access to direct
3
knowledge of the deity and the destruction of his
awareness of differentiation ([11], p. 682).
Six centers (cakra) along the body, associated
with the five elements and the mind, make up the
central features of the Paścimāmnāya ([16], p. 3).
The initiate performs meditation and yogic prac-
tices that focus on the navātma mantra as it moves
through the cakras. Meditation on the phonemes
of the mantra and the various aspects of the divine
allows the practitioner to identify himself with the
powers of the deities and to realize the reintegra-
tion of consciousness ([16], p. 3).
Finally, the Dakṣiṇāmnāya centers on
Kāmeśvarī. It teaches erotic magic through the
use of cakras and mantras in ritual and meditation
([18], p. 5). The Śrīvidyā or Tripurā tradition is the
best known transmission of the Dakṣiṇāmnāya.
Like the other traditions of Kaula worship, the
Dakṣiṇāmnāya was influenced by Abhinavagupta
and the Kashmir Śaiva Trika system ([18], p. 13).
This means that much of the epistemological and
ontological features of the Kaula are understood
and reinterpreted, through the Trika lens. The
specific deities and practices of the four Kaula
traditions demarcate one from another.
Cross-References
▶ Goddesses
▶ Kashmir Śaivism
▶ Pratyabhijñā
▶ Śaiva
▶ Śākta
▶ Śrīvidyā
▶ Tantra
▶ Yoginī
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