कौल (तन्त्र योग)

KAULA (TANTRA YOGA)

Definition of Kaula and Kula

Kaula is also known as Kula, Kulamārga (“Kula Path”), Kuladharma, and Kulācāra (“Kula Tradition”). The Sanskrit word, kaula derives from kula, meaning “family” or “clan,” referring either to a spiritual lineage or a grouping of deities invoked in ritual. A worshipper may revere a personal kula devatā, or engage in worship of deity-clusters such as Kuleśvara (“Lord or Īśvara of Kula”) and Kuleśvarī (“Goddess of Kula”), namely, Shiva and Shakti, who are honoured in Abhinavagupta's Tantrāloka (“the light on Tantra”). Kaula primarily deonotes one who follows the Vāmamārga (“Left-hand Path”) of tantra, wherein Shakti is revered in and as the real, living woman through embodied ritual, as delineated in Chapter 29, the Kula rite, of the Tantrāloka. The ultimate aim of Kaula practice is pratyabhijñā, the recognition of one’s true nature as the nondual Shiva-Shakti; pure, self-aware Consciousness (Saṃvit). This realization dissolves bheda (the mistaken perception of separation) and reveals abheda (the ever-present fullness in which nothing exists apart from the Divine). In this view, liberation (mokṣa) is not escape from the world, but the recognition that one is already Whole, free, and inseparable from the pulsating, ever-unfolding unity of Shiva and Shakti. Everything becomes an expression of Devī’s (the Goddess’s) dance, the playful movement (līlā) of Consciousness (Shiva).

Red hibiscus is used to worship Goddess Durgā, Kālī and Gaṇeśa

Origins of Kaula

The Kaula tradition is often regarded as a form of Shaiva tantrism derived from the Kāpālika sect. The Sanskrit word, kāpālika, originates from kāpāla, or “skull,” meaning “skull-bearer” in its possessive form (kāpālika). This is not the real “skull,” of course, but the symbolic representation of the Sanskrit alphabets or mātṛkā-s, which embody the essence of the Cosmic Goddess and serve as the building blocks of all creation in the form of sound (śabda). Both the Kaula and Trika (Trinity) lineages of tantrism are said, traditionally, to have originated from the Kāpālikas.

Kaula is also associated with Matsyendranātha (“Lord of the Fishes”) of the Haṭha Yoga or Nātha tradition. In Tantrāloka 1.7, Abhinavagupta, in describing his lineage, mentions Macchanda (interpreted as “fish-egg”) as the “all-pervading (vibhuḥ) brightness (prasannah)” or may the “eminent (vibhuḥ) Macchanda be pleased (prasannaḥ) with me.” (alternative translation)

rāgāruṇaṁ granthi-bilāva-kīrṇaṁ yo jālamātāna-vitāna-vṛtti |

kalombhitaṁ bāhyapathe cakāra stān me sa macchanda-vibhuḥ prasannaḥ ||1|7||

Later, in Tantrāloka 29. 32, Abhinavagupta says, Macchanda is of “saumye” (north or the esoteric “soma”).

Matsyendranātha is also said to have transmitted the Kaulajñananirnaya text of the tradition of the Yoginī Kaula School. This school is linked to the yoginīs associated with the Kaula Tantric School in ancient Assam (Kāmarūpa). Additionally, the Siddha Kaula School, derived from Shaiva doctrine, is said to have been transmitted by the siddhas, the male counterparts of the yoginīs. Another significant lineage is the Ardhatryambaka school associated with the Bhairava Tantras. Śambhunātha, described by Abhinavagupta as “the moon shining on the ocean of Trika knowledge,” initiated Abhinavagupta into the Kula rituals. In Tantrāloka 1.13, he is mentioned together with his Bhagavatī, whom Jayaratha, the primary commentator on the Tantrāloka, identifies as his dūtī or ritual consort.

Subdenominations of Kaula

Kaula is usually divided into four subdenominations, in texts such as the Ciñciṇīmata and Kulanarva Tantra (p. 38), corresponding to the four cardinal directions: eastern (pūrvā), northern (uttara), western (paścima) and southern or right (dakṣiṇa) schools. These are known as the four āmnāya-s or “faces” of the tradition (sometimes extended to include upper and lower faces as well). Each āmnāya is linked to a function of the cosmic process: creation or sṛṣṭi (east), grace or anugraha (north), dissolution or saṃhāra (west), and maintenance or sthiti (south). These directions also correspond to specific Kaula goddesses and their associated texts, namely: Kuleśvarī (eastern), Kālī (western), Kubjikā (northern, from “crooked” referring to the coiled up kuṇḍalini), and Kāmeśvarī (southern, associated with Śrīvidyā and Tripurasundarī). The Trika texts, such as the Tantrāloka, engage primarily with the northern and eastern currents, especially through the worship of Kuleśvara and Kuleśvarī, and are thus integrated into the broader Kulamārga (Kula path). In Tantrāloka 13. 300-301, Abhinavagupta charts the sequential (krama) descent of “Divine grace” or śaktipāta (from śakti and pāta “to fall”) as the following: in the Siddhānta and Left-hand (Vāma) [paths]; thereafter (tataḥ), in the Right-hand (Dakṣiṇa) view (matē), the Kula, and the Kaula—in the “six-and-a-half-fold” (ṣaḍardhē), in the heart (hr̥dayē).

kramikaḥ śaktipātaśca siddhāntē vāmakē tataḥ |

dakṣē matē kulē kaulē ṣaḍardhē hr̥dayē tataḥ ||

(Note: Krama, meaning “succession,” is also a subsect of Kaula.)

Golden Celebration Rose - with love to May

Kaula Philosophy

You are the Universe

Kaula philosophy understands that there is a unifying interconnectedness or consciousness in all living entities of the universe. This unifying consciousness originates from the Absolute (Paramaśiva) as Svātantrya (from sva or “self” and tantra “to put forth or to spread”) expressing its Absolute Freedom as Shiva. “Shakti polarises this Absolute Consciousness into Aham and Idam (I and This)—subject and object. Shakti, however, is nothing separate from Shiva, but is Shiva Himself in His creative aspect. She is His Ahaṃ-vimarśa (I-consciousness), His unmukhata—intentness to create” (Pratyabhijñā-hṛdayam, Introd., 9). This creative matrix is vividly depicted in Kaula philosophy as radiating families of goddesses, like those outlined earlier on, unfolding in waves of energy that form the very fabric of creation, much like interference patterns seen in quantum mechanics. Abhinavagupta captures this vibratory unfolding of reality in Tantrāloka 1.115, as “the wheel of waves of pure consciousness is meditated upon” (saṁvid-ūrmi-cakram-upāsyate). In Sanskrit:

एकस्य संविन्नाथस्य ह्यान्तरी प्रतिभा तनुः।

सौम्यं वान्यन्मितं संविदूर्मिचक्रमुपास्यते॥११५॥

Ekasya saṁvinnāthasya hyāntarī pratibhā tanuḥ |

Saumyaṁ vānyanmitaṁ saṁvidūrmicakramupāsyate ||1|115||

Bimba-pratibimba

Thus it is said that Shiva is Pure Consciousness (saṁvid-svabhāvikā), that is, the very source of self-conscious light (prakāśa-ātmakaḥ), and Shakti is the mirror or reflective awareness (vimarśa) through which Shiva becomes self-aware. Shakti is the mirror-like aspect of consciousness: not separate from Shiva, yet allowing for the emergence of distinction, perception, and manifestation. This relationship is expressed in the doctrine of bimba-pratibimba or “image” (Shiva) and “mirror-like-image” (Shakti) whereby the reflection is not other than the image, but is its dynamic, expressive potential. In this view, the “whole is in every part,” just as in a hologram where the complete image is encoded in each fragment through interference patterns. When light is projected onto any portion of the hologram, the entire image is revealed, mirroring how every expression of Shakti contains the full presence of Shiva. This resonates with the Vedic concept of piṇḍa-brahmanda wherein the piṇḍa (the “individual body or microcosm”) is a replica of the universe called Brahmanda (“the macrocosm or Brahma’s Egg”). (See too David Bohm’s, Wholeness and the Implicate Order).

Hiraṇyagarbha, हिरण्यगर्भ

(AI-generated image)

The Praxis

खेचरी मुद्रा

In Kaula ideology, the body, self, or ātman is seen as a mirror image of the vibrating universe (spanda). The fundamental premise of Kaula is to use the body as a vehicle to attain liberation (mokṣa), conceived as reabsorption back into Shiva Consciousness. The praxis involves the awakening of Kuṇḍalini Shakti and the practice of āsana, prāṇāyāma, bandhas (energy locks), mudrā-s (seals), mantra-s, nyāsa (ritual placement of the hands on the body while reciting mantra-s), the five M’s (pañcamakāra), and the sexual kula rite (e.g. Chapter 29 of Tantrāloka). These practices aim to unify the consciousness of Shiva-Shakti, known as the Yāmala or Divine Couple. This bliss state (ānanda) is identical with the notion of Svātantrya or Absolute Freedom. “The Tantrikas consider the ATMAN as transcending the universe to be the highest principle. The Kaulas consider the UNIVERSE as the Atman principle. The followers of Trika philosophy maintain that the ATMAN is both immanent and transcendent” (Pratyabhijñā-hṛdayam, p. 37).

Kula-Akula is Kaula

The Tantraloka (Chapter 29. 4) and the Parātrīśikā-vivaraṇa (texts by Abhinavagupta) describe the manifest reality as Kula (Shakti and her manifestations) and the Unifying Consciousness, Shiva, as Akula. The prefix “A” denotes “beyond” or “transcendent,” meaning akula is that which is beyond kula; the nonclustered, unmanifested principle. At the highest level of reality, Shiva and Shakti are the Supreme Divine Couple (Tad-ubhaya-yāmala). Shiva is variously termed as anuttara (unsurpassable), prakāśa (light), prakāśa-ātmakaḥ (conscious light), cit (consciousness), and akula (beyond manifestation). Shakti, on the other hand, is described as vimarśa (reflective awareness), visarga (creative energy from which the universe arises), kuṇḍalini (primal energy of the body), spanda (vibration), and kaulika (that which pertains to the Kula or the supreme energy of Shiva manifesting throughout the cosmos). On the microcosmic plane, this energy operates within the human body (see Kaulajñananirnaya, third Paṭala).

There is no real distinction between Shiva and Shakti; they are inseparable aspects of the same Ultimate Reality. From the Kaula perspective, life itself is the expression of Shiva’s consciousness in union with his Shakti. Thus Kaula refers to both Kula (Shakti) and Akula (Shiva, “the one who possesses Shakti”). Everything emanates from them in such a way that creation (sṛṣṭi) is not separated or divided from them. Rather, the panoply of the world is a reflection of them.

कुल

शक्ति

अकुल

शिव

Ahaṃ - “I [am][that]”

अहं

This unity of Shiva and Shakti is expressed in the primordial mantra ahaṃ, meaning “I [am].” The Parātrīśikā-vivaraṇa (p. 36) explains: “the “a” or the supreme Shiva [is] the first letter of ahaṃ. Visarga is the expansion of “ahaṃ” upto the anusvāra [bindu] i.e. the nasal sound which is marked by a dot on “ha” in “ahaṃ.” Thus “a” in ahaṃ represents Shiva, “ha” represents “Shakti,” the anusvāra represents the fact that though Shiva is manifested right upto earth through Shakti, he is not divided thereby; he remains undivided.” This creation (sṛṣṭi) can also be read in the direction of reabsorption (saṃhāra) or “return movement from phenomena to Shiva (ibid.)” represented by the seed or bīja mantra Maha (Ma + Ha + A). In this process of reabsorption, the goal is for the Kuṇḍalini Shakti to reunite with Akula, the highest, unmanifest aspect of Shiva. “The whole cosmic play of sṛṣṭi-saṃhāra is of the nature of visarga (ibid.),” symbolized by the two vertically placed dots (ः) in Sanskrit grammar, expressing emission (creation) and retraction (return) as one continuous pulse. In Kaula philosophy, therefore, the whole universe, that is, the subject and object of existence, is nothing but the rhythmic pulsation (spanda) of Shiva and Shakti in their eternal embrace. This vibration is not separate from oneself. It is one’s very being.

मह

Kaula (Tantra Yoga)

Kaula (Tantra Yoga) is the direct recognition (pratyabhijñā) that all of reality, self (ātman), world, and Divine, is the Undivided pulsation (spanda) of Shakti Herself, inseparable from Shiva. This is epitomized in the seed mantra of consciousness ahaṃ “I [am that].” Liberation (mokṣa) is attained not by rejecting the world but by recognizing it as one’s own Self.