Chapter 5
Appropriating the Inappropriate
John R. Dupuche
Many forms of appropriation – cultural, linguistic, social and so on – are studied in
this volume of essays. Perhaps the form of appropriation that goes to the heart of all
reality, however, is religious or metaphysical, which is precisely the focus of this
essay. It studies the extreme act of appropriating the inappropriate, which,
paradoxically, constitutes the ultimate method of attaining the universal mind, the
mind of Devī herself.
The word ‘appropriation’, in its various cognates, ‘inappropriate’, ‘expropriate’,
‘proper’, ‘improper’, ‘property’, ‘proprietor’ and its additional meanings in the French
word propre signifying ‘clean’, and ‘self’ are tackled in this essay. It seeks to show
how all these varied meanings are reconciled in the overarching structure of the
non-dualism (advaita) of Kashmir Shaivism which seeks to attain the ultimate state of
‘resting in the self’ (svātmāviśrānti). Only by this reconciliation of opposites can all
It will be shown that ‘appropriation’ does not mean domination, or elimination,
despising or fearing. Quite the contrary, appropriation means that one truth is found
in the other, one is a preparation for the other. The very title Tantrāloka ‘Light on the
Tantras’, suggests the supremacy of Kashmir Shaivism whilst demonstrating the
essential value of the other tantras.
This non-dualism (advaita) of Kashmir Shaivism raises many crucial issues,
however. The limited and the unlimited: how can they be non-dual? How can the
impure be pure? How can god and goddess be identified? Good and evil, pleasant
and unpleasant, in short, all the forms of sukha and duḥkha: how are they one?
These incompatibilities are resolved, this chapter hopes to show, by
Abhinavagupta (c. 975–1025 CE), the leading figure in this school, in his
presentation of the Kula ritual in chapter 29 of his great work, the Tantrāloka, and in
its thorough-going commentary by Jayaratha (c. 1225–1275 CE). In his Tantrāloka
Abhinavagupta surveys all the tantras of his day and reinterprets them according to
the philosophical system of Trika in the form initiated by Vasugupta (875–925 CE) in
his seminal work Śivasūtra. To put it very briefly, according to this system all reality
is seen as threefold, Śiva, Śakti, human; subject, means and object of knowledge;
action, mental constructs and the absence of mental constructs; the goddesses
Parā, Parāparā, Aparā, etc. etc. This threefold structure, however, is shown by
Abhinavagupta to be non-dual.
Among the vast number of tantras examined in that encyclopaedic work,
highly the guru who follows the Kula ritual procedure (kulaprakriyā) – because of [its]
restfulness – in comparison with the guru who is devoted to tantra ritual procedure
(tantraprakriyā)’ (TĀV vol. 2, 31) – where the Devī has the central role.
Abhinavagupta must find his way through reefs and shoals, however. He must
justify his teaching in face of the Laws of Manu and Brahminic dharma and their strict
sanctions against impure substances. He must show how the extremist Kula is
worthy of consideration, in face of the need to keep it secret. He must show how his
preferred ritual, the Kula ritual, is available to householders despite its origins in the
exotic practices of the Kāpālikas. He must show how this material reality is real in
contrast with a monistic version of the Vedantā, which sees this world as illusion
(māyā). He will need to mitigate the essential divisiveness of the four āśrama, which
place liberation (mukti) in opposition to the other three āśrama, and show how the
Kaula practitioner can become liberated while still living (jīvanmukta). In achieving
this, he must depart from the fundamental dualism of the school that prevailed in the
Vale of Kashmir in his day, namely the Śaivasiddhānta, for which liberation consists
in being only like Śiva, and so fundamentally other than Śiva (Sanderson 1988, 691).
He does all this by showing how Devī appropriates everything, even the
inappropriate.
The presentation in this essay is readily accepted by scholars in the field, but
misconstrued extensively in popular tantra which eagerly uses the antinomian
character and illicit substances to an end not intended by Abhinavagupta. Georg
misunderstanding of the Tantric path. Their main error is to confuse Tantric bliss…
with ordinary orgasmic pleasure’ (quoted in Urban 2003, 205). To which Hugh Urban
(2003, 255) adds ‘instead of the ideal of unity, order, or harmony, the late-capitalist
aesthetic is one of physical intensity, shock value, immediate gratification, and
ecstatic experience’. The ‘Tantric sex’ business in the West has made an ‘abusive
appropriation of the adjective “Tantric”’ (White 2003, xiv). This essay seeks to
re-appropriate the Tantric sexual tradition.
Tantrāloka 29 is a ritual text. It does not present a clear, systematic philosophical
discourse but rather describes various ceremonies. By interspersing rubrics with
occasional comments, by using symbolic gestures and code words with multiple
layers of meaning (sandhi), Abhinavagupta and his commentator Jayaratha show
how appropriation occurs. This chapter will try to unpack the bewildering welter of
information by quoting relevant ritual texts and explaining the terminology. In this
way a much needed systematic presentation will be provided out of material that is
not systematic. It is a corrective to common misunderstandings that still exercise a
powerful and fascinating effect on the modern mind.
Expropriating the traditions
What is the place of the Vedas, the Laws of Manu, and the wide variety of schools
that tussled with each other in the Vale of Kashmir around the year 1000 CE? Other
schools might seek to disprove their opponents’ view by rational debate, but
Abhinavagupta does not discard other views. Indeed, the very concept of
all is non-dual, all must somehow cohere. This coherence is achieved by a process
of expropriation. An example of this is provided in the first major ceremony of TĀ 29
where the practitioner withdraws his mind from the outer, lesser manifestations to
reach the inner dwelling of the goddess.
She who dwells within the kula which consists of a circle, i.e. of the
mantras, the Perfected Beings, the subtle-breath and the instrument of
consciousness, she who is consciousness, she who has been called
Prabhvī (Sovereign): she, in this context, is Kuleśvarī (Mistress of the
Kula). She [dwells] at the centre as Śrī Parā (the Illustrious Supreme One)
and as Devī (TĀ 29.46b–47).
Having acquired the mind of Devī, the practitioner then moves outwards, in a
contrary movement, since all the other traditions proceed out of the union of god and
goddess as rays of light from their source – ‘A stream of rays flows like sparks of fire
from consciousness which has the form of a great splendour’ (TĀ 29.50a). Thus the
other traditions are not simply false. Rather, to the extent that they are distant from
the source, they have less power and are less enlightening. As Abhinava says:
‘“Non-dual only, not dual” is Parameśitā’s1 command. The mantras given by the
Siddhāntas and the Vaiṣṇavas etc., are therefore impure. Because they cannot bear
so much splendour they are lifeless…’ (TĀ 29.74–75a).
Alexis Sanderson, in his meticulous study of the history of the Tantric tradition,
shows this in detail. He points out that there is a clear trajectory (Sanderson 1988,
669) from the Vedas, through the Siddhānta tradition, the Left, Right, Mata, Kula,
and Kaula traditions, to reach the Trika; ‘Thus the Trika locates itself at the furthest
remove from neutral “Vedic” orthodoxy’ (Sanderson 1990, 50). The Trika is superior
to the Kula ritual inasmuch as Trika is pure consciousness, without the need for
ritual. Sanderson further notes that in this process, the tantras progressively shift
their focus away from the male deity to the female deity, from the dharma
established by the god to the antinomianism inspired by the goddess. It is a
trajectory from ‘right’ to ‘left’, from the licit to the illicit, from the ordered to the
disordered.
Devī is triumphant, therefore, not by rejecting other traditions, but by lessening
their importance. She shows she is superior to them by absorbing them. Each is
given its place but she surpasses them by being their heart, their source and their
purpose. They are simply a diminution of the totality of her revelation. Thus the
Vedas and other traditions are not false; they are only inadequate and impotent.
Devī, the Appropriator
The Kula tantra tradition makes many extremist claims. It holds that Devī, and not
Brahmā or Viṣṇu, is supreme; it postulates a non-dual position; it makes use of
impure substances; it attributes overwhelming power to mantras; it has an
antinomian character; it emphasises the primacy of energy; it holds to the reality of
this world and so on. All these hallmarks of the extreme Kula tantra must be justified
by an appropriate ontology, which is described in the following passages and the
According to Kashmir Shaivism the ultimate reality is not ‘That’ (tat) as in the
famous tat tvam asi (‘Thou art That’) of the Vedānta, but ‘I’ (aham). This basic
viewpoint underlies the rituals, and the rituals in turn are designed to inculcate the
sense of “I” in the practitioner.
The phoneme A, the first phoneme of the Sanskrit alphabet, represents Śiva, the
foundation of all. The phoneme HA is, properly speaking, the final phoneme of the
alphabet. By the rule of pratyahāra, where the first and last phonemes of a series
contain all that is found in between, the word aham signifies the beginning and end
of all. It is the whole of reality in all its aspects, not disparate but identical, non-dual.
All is ‘I’.
Furthermore, the phoneme Ḥ (visarga), which is classed as the last of the sixteen
vowels, represents the moment when all reality, symbolised by the thirty-four
consonants of the alphabet, comes into existence. The very orthography itself is
taken to symbolise this pregnant moment for Ḥ is written as ‘:’ where the two dots
represent the union of Śiva and Śakti. From their union, all reality proceeds; ‘Ḥ is the
projection of reality’ (Abhinavagupta 1975, 52).
Thus, the ultimate reality is the couple, Śiva and his Śakti, who are engaged in an
eternal embrace, not divided but inseparate (anavachinna). As Jayaratha puts it, the
world is ‘the outflow from the pulsation (sphāra) of Śiva and Śakti’ (TĀV vol. 7, 3295).
From their relationship, indeed from the play (krīḍā) of their love-making, the world is
emitted. All arises from them. This world is the vibration (spanda) of their intercourse.
likewise engaged in love play, surround the original couple. The whole universe is
one vast field of love-making. Abhinava writes, again in the first major ritual:
The swollen Śakti pours forth. Bhairava,2 for his part, is overjoyed. … A
stream of rays flows like sparks of fire from consciousness which has the
form of a great splendour. Within [the triangle] the set of twelve is to be
worshipped and then the set of sixty-four or the set of four or whatever one
desires. … He should worship that same [stream] within [consciousness]
as a group of deities. Māheśī, Vairiñcī, Kaumārī, Vaiṣṇavī are at the four
cardinal points, while Aindrī, Yāmyā, Muṇḍā, Yogeṣī are at the corners,
starting from the north-east. The set of eight [goddesses is each with a
bhairava] starting with Aghora and finishing with Pavana. Then, as regards
this set of eight [couples], [each of them] is to be worshipped in turn in a
paired state by contemplating the bliss of their union (TĀ 29.51-53).
Thus, Śiva and Śakti are the foundation and impulse of all the traditions and of all
aspects of reality. The ‘I am’ which the practitioner realises is not separate from the
whole of reality. ‘I am’ signifies equally ‘I am all’.
The mutuality of Śiva and Śakti is different, however. Śiva is the inactive aspect of
consciousness; Śakti is the dynamic aspect. The well-known phrase reads, ‘Śiva
without Śakti is a corpse.’ This is true conceptually; it is also true orthographically. If
the word śiva is written in devanāgarī script without the ‘i’, which symbolises Śakti, it
2 The word śiva means ‘auspicious’. The word ‘Bhairava’ refers to Śiva in his awesome and terrifying
reads as śava (corpse). Since Śiva and Śakti are present in all their manifestations,
stillness and movement are found everywhere.
In all of this Bhairava, the fearsome form of Śiva, is inactive. Bhairavī is the active
principle of the godhead. The title ‘Bhairavī’ is suitably connected with the low-caste
sexual partner, the dūtī, who is fearsome since her shocking impurity will impel the
practitioner to that supreme dimension of reality where there is neither pure nor
impure. We shall see this in detail later.
Śakti is ‘swollen’ because she eternally emits both fluids and offspring. The
goddess is author of reality. All reality is the emanation of her unbounded nature.
The whole world is her radiance (sphurattā). She holds all things in her being, even
the most opposed. All is proper to her, no matter what it may be.
This same idea is found in the term kula, which has several meanings: ‘clan’,
‘family’, ‘woman’. For Abhinavagupta, it refers above all to Śakti: ‘And the kula is the
Śakti of Parameśa, his capacity, eminence, freedom, vitality and potency, mass,
consciousness and body’ (TĀ 29.4). Kula is thus the source of all; ‘Kula, the
unsullied consciousness within the self-existent, is the universal cause’ (TĀV vol. 7,
3294).
Mortal women are eminently appropriate symbols of Devī by reason of their
bodies. The emission of fluids and the birth of children are the perfect expression of
the constant fruitfulness of the goddess. But this has implications. Since every
woman is the perfect symbol of Devī, to unite with the ritual sexual partner (dūtī) is to
appropriated by Devī and to acquire supreme consciousness. Jayaratha quotes a
pertinent text: ‘And let him contemplate each [male and female joined in intercourse]
in turn as having the form of Śiva and Śakti’ (TĀV vol. 7, 3363). Highest knowledge
is obtained more effectively in this way than through a guru, as we shall see.
Furthermore, her sexual organ is to be worshipped as the maṇḍala of all reality,
extending from the high point of consciousness to the outermost circle of light (TĀ
29.130-132); ‘… the “mouth of the yogini” is said by Maheṣī to be the principal circle.
At that place this sacred oral [ritual] tradition [is celebrated]. From it, knowledge is
obtained’ (TĀ 29.124b-125a). Additionally, the woman is called vāma in its various
meanings. Because she sits on the ‘left’ of her consort she is vāma, meaning ‘left’;
because she is a ‘beautiful woman’, she is vāma, meaning ‘beautiful’; because she is
antinomian she is vāma, meaning ‘left’ in the sense of ‘sinister’; she is vāma because
she ‘emits’ (vamati) products from her ‘opening and closing central path’ (in other
words her vagina) (TĀ 29.122a). This combination of meanings is essential to the
Kula ritual.
Śiva and his Śakti are expressed in the manifold variety of the world, but the
human being is the finest expression of this variety. The human body is itself a
maṇḍala consisting of an intricate yet organised set of faculties. These are arranged
hierarchically into the ‘principle chakra’ (mukhya-cakra) and its sub-chakras
(anucakra) (cf. TĀ 29.105b-106a). The principle chakra is consciousness itself or,
anatomically, the sex organ. The identification of the sex organ, particularly that of
ritual described later in this chapter. The act of satisfying or satiating (tarpaṇa) the
lesser faculties makes the higher faculties start to function; their ‘wheel’ (cakra)
begins to turn. This process continues till consciousness, ‘the principal circle’, is
manifest and acknowledged and ultimately worshipped; ‘After drawing her close,
after reverencing each other, having satiated each other, worship of the principal
circle takes place by a process involving ‘the inner part’ (antar-aṅga)’ (TĀ
29.104b-105a). All the chakras and their functioning are the work of the goddess. All are her
property.
The reverse process also occurs, for oscillation is an essential characteristic of the
Kula ritual. Abhinavagupta puts it clearly:
As a result, the pair, who are intensely agitated by the contact which
occurs through being absorbed into the upper sacred place, agitates the
sub-circles as well. The [sub-circles], in this case, are integrated with the
[sacred place], they are not separate from it (TĀ 29.114–115a).
When supreme consciousness, the principal chakra, ‘the upper sacred place’, is
attained, all the other chakras are invigorated as well.
Śiva is commonly understood to express himself in five ways: emanation (sṛṣṭi);
stability (sthiti); absorption (saṃhāra); concealment (tirodhāna); and grace
(anugraha). Śiva does these things by his own freedom (svātantrya), but his free will
is none other than the goddess. He freely conceals himself in his emanation, even to
the state of becoming inert (jaḍi), dull, opaque and ignorant; and he freely reveals
The Śakti not only emits the world but she reabsorbs it as well, whence her
‘dangerous’ aspect. She seizes the practitioner and takes him into the absolute. All
actively comes from her and all actively returns to her, so that she is called
Kālasaṅkarṣiṇī, ‘she who draws time to a close’ (TĀV Vol. 7, 3339). She is Kālī, the
fearsome goddess; she is Kālāntakī, ‘she who is the end of time’ (TĀV Vol. 7, 3300).
She brings all to herself and therefore back to the god with whom she is united.
There is a constant alternation.
The twofold process of emission and reabsorption is described by Jayaratha
through the image of the woman who sits on the oil press and directs the turning of
the wheel (cakra). This image is simple, yet has many meanings. The woman
symbolises the goddess who governs this changing world. The turning of the wheel
symbolises this transient world with its constant coming to be and ceasing to be. The
pressure of the woman sitting on the wheel symbolises the impact of Śakti on the
practitioner as she draws out from him, as from a grain of sesame seed, the finest
‘oil’ to be used in sacrifice. Jayaratha provides a relevant quote: ‘The goddesses,
who have no physical form, turning to him who does have physical form, abide within
the body. They play with diverse attitudes (bhāva) since they long for the finest
ingredients (dravya)’ (TĀV vol. 7, 3309). He spells it out more fully:
[Cakriṇī, the principal Śakti,] because the universe is placed within her
womb, has the form of Kuṇḍalinī … When, out of her own freedom, she
wishes to display the extent of duality, she … assuming the [limited]
whatever is ‘blue’, ‘pleasant’ etc. Then again, intending to bring the
universe to rest in the self alone, she brings pressure to bear on the ‘seed’
(bīja) in order to separate the oil (rasa) from the husk; i.e. by a process of
reducing the subjectivity which derives from the body etc. she draws out
the essence of supreme consciousness … (TĀV vol. 7, 3337-3338).
This obscure passage is a good example of how difficult it is to understand the
text without explanation. The Cakriṇī is given the title Kuṇḍalinī which comes from
the word kuṇḍala (‘ring’ or ‘circle’). The title is given because the goddess governs
the cycle of emanation and dissolution. All things emanate from the goddess, and, in
that sense, all come from her ‘womb’. She freely emits the universe through all its
levels down to the most limited and objective reality, which is customarily referred to
as ‘blue and pleasant’. The cycle continues, for the goddess also leads back to
fullness of consciousness from which all came in the first place. She freely brings
people to consciousness. She destroys their limited sense of self, which here is
referred to as ‘subjectivity’ and brings them to unlimited awareness. This unlimited
consciousness is the ‘oil’ which is worthy of the sacrifice. The now abandoned limited
form of consciousness is the husk, which is useful only for feeding animals (paśu),
that is those people who do not have divine consciousness. She presses the ‘seed’
because she is the principal agent in this process. The ‘seed’ refers to whatever
method will lead to consciousness. Pressing the ‘seed’ can also refer to the
Devī is the cause both of the emanation and of the dissolution of the universe.
Absorption, however, does not mean annihilation. It refers to the dissipation of that
illusion whereby a person imagines that they are merely individual and time-bound.
Absorption is the elimination of false understandings and the imparting of the
enlightened mind where all is seen as the expression of the Śakti. Abhinavagupta is
thoroughly realist. Reality truly exists and is objective but, in the moment of
enlightenment, is also at last truly understood for what it is. The practitioner in turn
becomes what he really is and understands himself fully. Essentially he is Śiva.
Absorption is not a sort of infantilism or a reductionism. It is not rejection of matter, or
flight into an ideal world. The Kula practitioner simply recognises that all reality is
Śakti. Indeed, the tāntrika should constantly reflect that he is nothing in himself; he is
only śaktis (energies); ‘I am not, neither does another exist; I am only energies’. He
should, in every circumstance, as a result simply of recollection, maintain that
attitude of mind (TĀ 29.64).
Devī is wild, contrary. Truth and bliss are to be found in her ungovernable career.
She appropriates all the rituals and all substances to herself, whether proper or
improper. She is dangerous. Yet only here, in her train, can ultimate consciousness
be found. She is omnipotent and communicates her power to her devotes. She is
bliss itself and shares her bliss with those whom she chooses. She is found in the
ordinary; she is extraordinary. Devī is the triumph of the feminine. All is properly
Who appropriates whom? Devī and Deva
Abhinavagupta very often uses the phrase ‘Śakti and Śaktimān’ (‘the one who
possesses Śakti’, namely Śiva). (Cf. TĀ 29.108a, 114a, 119b, 154b, 246a) In this
way he indicates that there is no separation of the goddess from the god. She is his
form. She is his consciousness, his energy. But is she paramount? The question is
significant.
Devī’s act of appropriating all reality to herself involves her being identified in turn
with Śiva. This process is outlined by Abhinavagupta in his the study of pronouns ‘I’,
‘you’, ‘he’, ‘she’, ‘it’ (cf. Dupuche 2001, 1–16). He notes that objects are
grammatically divided into masculine, feminine and neuter genders. The knowing
subject (pramātṛ) observes objects (‘he-she-it’) and by so doing transforms them into
‘you’, which has no grammatical gender, and are seen as Śakti. By means of the
same contemplation (bhāvanā), Śakti in turn is transformed into pure consciousness,
‘I’ (aham). Thus the act of contemplation transforms the observed object into the
observing subject. The object is drawn to the subject and becomes the subject. The
object, ceasing to be foreign and separate, becomes identified with the Self so that
Śiva is the ultimate ‘I’ of all reality.
In other words, the practitioner, upon realising that his very self is none other than
Śiva, occupies the centre point between the fluctuations of emission and
reabsorption of the universe: ‘Mentally projecting all the faculties such as seeing
simultaneously, on all sides, into their respective objects and remaining at the
1982, 98). If he looks outwards he sees himself, since all is a projection of his own
being. If he looks inward he sees all things since he is the foundation and essence of
all beings. His ‘eyes’ are both open (unmīlita) and closed (nirmīlita); his view is both
outward (bahiḥ) and inward (antaḥ). It is the ‘attitude of Bhairava’ (bhairavamudrā).
This attitude is expressed in sexual terms. Indeed, the purpose of the sexual
rituals is to attain this frame of mind. Abhinavagupta puts it well: ‘Moreover, having
by his own nature become the sole lord of the kula, he should satiate the many
śaktis by pairing [with them], he who possesses every form’ (TĀ 29.79). Devī is the
focus of Kula ritual, yet Śiva is the ultimate tattva; he is the thirty-sixth category in the
list of categories whereas Śakti is thirty-fifth, and the last, in descending order, is
earth (pṛthivī). Who is ultimate, Śiva or Śakti? They are both paramount but
differently. Śiva is inactive, but this very inactivity of itself involves Śakti, for from the
void of his being Śakti arises. He is paramount by being empty (śūnya); she is
paramount by being full (pūrṇa). The ultimate reality is both empty and full. He who is
without form ‘possesses every form’.
Devī appropriates by means of her mantra
3The goddess is the self-illumination (vimarśa) of the god who is light (prakāśa). She
is his self-awareness, which is his word (vāc). All mantras are expressions of that
primal word. Therefore the effectiveness of a mantra (mantravīrya) is the proof of its
closeness to Śiva. According to Abhinavagupta, that proof is shown not in the
3 Properly speaking, the phonic form of the goddess is the term vidyā, whereas mantra is the phonic
capacity to defeat enemies in battle or to win a bride, but in attaining the greatest gift
– fullness of knowledge. Jayaratha puts it well in a quotation:
The mantras mentioned in the tantras of the Siddhānta etc., are all
impotent since they all lack the splendour of Śakti. The great mantras of
the Kaula tradition, by contrast, are splendid with innate fire; they shine
with a divine splendour, immediately causing conviction (TĀV vol. 7,
3293).
In the Kula ritual tradition there are three principle mantras – Parā, Mālinī, and
Mātṛsadbhāva – which are the phonic form of the goddess. Indeed, the goddess and
her vidyā are one. Parā is the supreme mantra of the Trika, consisting of the three
phonemes S, AU, Ḥ. Mālinī consists of the fifty phonemes of the Sanskrit alphabet,
but with vowels (considered to be male) and consonants (considered to be female),
mixed in together,4 starting with NA and finishing with PHA, whence the abbreviated
form NA-PHA. This combination of male and female bestows enjoyments.
Mātṛsadbhāva, which can be translated as ‘essence of the mother’ or ‘essence of the
knowing subject’, is the sound KPHREṀ, which grants liberation.
Jayaratha explains their various usages.
In all ritual actions, Mālinī is distributed as follows: [Mālinī alone] is to be
used for success; if the aim is for liberation, Mātṛsadbhāva is recited first,
then [Mālinī], then Mātṛsadbhāva again; if the aim is for both [success and
liberation], Parā is recited first, then [Mālinī], then Parā again (TĀV vol. 7,
3308).
The goddess and her phonic form are one and the same. To have the mantra is to
have all the powers of the goddess and possess all that she is. Since the mantras
have different values – Mālinī emphasises success or enjoyment (bhukti);
Mātṛsadbhāva emphasises liberation (mukti); Parā gives both – the practitioner
recites the combination that best achieves his purpose.
The vidyā cannot be given explicitly in written form, for then it loses its power. It
can be truly acquired only in initiation, during which the disciple is absorbed by the
goddess. But the vidyā is truly given to the initiate. Therefore he appropriates the
Devī. Who appropriates whom? To have one is to have the other. The initiate and
the goddess appropriate each other. To have her mantra is to have all she is, all her
powers. He and she are one, just as she and her mantra are one.
Devī appropriates by means of initiation
In chapter 36 of the Tantrāloka, Abhinavagupta portrays the vast sweep of traditions
that descend from Śiva. Śrīkaṇṭha (aka Śiva) is the guru of the three Perfected
Beings (siddha), Āmardaka, Śrīnātha and Tryambaka. At Śrīkaṇṭha’s command,
these promulgate the dualist, dualist-non-dualist and the non-dualist Śaiva traditions
respectively. Furthermore, Tryambaka himself has twin children, a son and a
daughter who is called Half-of-Tryambaka or Ardhatryambakā. Her lineage, namely
(adhyuṣṭa-pīṭha). The fact that the lineage is communicated through the daughter helps to
explain the predominance of women in the Kula ritual.
The initiation ceremony, derived from the Mālinīvijayottaratantra, which is the
foundational text of the immense Tantrāloka, reads as follows:
After sprinkling the [disciple] with rudraśakti,5 [the guru] should bring him
before the god. After looking at the arms of the [disciple], [the guru] should
set them on fire with rudraśakti. With the same [rudraśakti] he should place
a flower in the hands of the [disciple], which have been smeared with
sandal-paste. Having ensured that [his disciple's hands] are unsupported,
[the guru] should reflect on them as being pulled by rudraśakti, which is a
flame with the form of a hook. Then, after the [disciple] has spontaneously
taken the cloth, he is blindfolded and he spontaneously drops the flower.
From its fall [the guru] ascertains the kula to which the disciple belongs].
Then, after [the disciple] has uncovered his face, [the rudraśakti] makes
[him] fall prostrate at the feet [of the goddess into whose kula he has been
initiated] (TĀ 29.187b–190).
In other words, the guru blindfolds the disciple and places a flower in his hand while
the disciple stands above a maṇḍala or yantra that sets out the various yoginīs and
their families (kula), which are manifestations of the goddess. The guru projects
Śakti into the disciple’s arms who, when inspired to do so, lets the flower fall. The
place where it comes to rest indicates the ‘family’ to which he now belongs. By being
assimilated by the goddess into a kula, the disciple acquires all the powers (siddhi)
and worlds (bhuvana) that belong to that kula. He is to worship the goddess of that
clan and in return the goddess gives herself to him.
He has been appropriated by the goddess, but he in turn has appropriated the
goddess. Not only does he have the typical eight powers (siddhi), such as
minuteness (aṇimā), but, most importantly, he has the bliss (ānanda) that belongs to
the Devī, which is the highest supernatural power.
The ceremony of initiation shows the predominance of the goddess. Although the
guru is active and in some sense directs the energy, it is the goddess who actually
initiates. The guru may direct the goddess to the disciple’s arms but it is the
rudraśakti, the phonic form of the goddess, who does the initiating.
In the Ratnamāla, which is one of the very large number of texts referred to and
quoted in the Tantrāloka but which has not yet been retrieved, the goddess is
similarly active but in a less spectacular fashion.
[The disciple]…stands upright before [the guru]. The guru who is
composed of the Śakti should [then] reflect on the Śakti, which is all
blazing, as going from the foot to the top of the head of the [disciple],
burning his bonds. After that, when the [disciple] has sat down, [the guru]
should reflect, step by step, on the [Śakti] as burning [the bonds], starting
right from the cleansing of the base [and] terminating with the final
cleansing of the top [of his head]. Having thus burnt…all the categories
in Śiva, whether in his simple or his composite form. [The Śakti,] which the
yogī joins to the path, nourishes that which is of the same nature [as
herself and] burns up anything else that belongs to a different class (TĀ
29.203–206).
The mantra is given to the disciple in initiation and cannot be used effectively
without initiation. The disciple becomes one with the mantra; he becomes the mantrī.
In reciting her phonic form he unites with her and all her powers. He takes on the
mantra, becomes the mantra, is taken by the mantra. He, the mantra and the
goddess are identical. Jayaratha explains: ‘Therefore, one should not make the
slightest distinction between the practitioner of the mantra [and] the mantra [viz.
Śiva], the prāṇa which is identical with the [mantra-goddess] and the [limited] self’
(TĀV vol. 7, 3351). The initiate, the mantra, the god, the subtle-breath, the goddess
and her powers – all appropriate each other. The mantrī emits with his mantra and
he reabsorbs all with his mantra. He has been initiated; he is now ready to perform
the ritual.
Devī appropriates by means of ritual
The very many practices described in chapter 29 of the Tantrāloka are summed up
in the daily (nitya) ritual. Devī is central to them all.
After entering the hall of sacrifice rich with perfume and incense, facing
north-east he should, by means of Parā or Mālinī, upwards and
downwards, perform the cleansing which consists of ‘fire' and ‘growth',
with the mantra Mātṛsadbhāva.…Let him fill the vessel with ingredients6
which are the fruit and the causes of joy. At that point, through an identity
with the mantra that has been mentioned, he should bring himself to the
state of Bhairava. Consequently, he should satiate the self with its
multitude [of goddesses] in the circle and sub-circle, externally by
sprinkling drops [from the ingredients in the vessel] upwards and
downwards, and internally by drinking [the ingredients] (TĀ 29.18–23).
There are three basic steps in the ritual. The first consists in the practitioner
transforming himself into Bhairava. This is done by placing (nyāsa) the vidyā of the
goddess on the various parts of his body. It is first placed in an upwards-moving
direction which signifies the ‘burning up’ of his whole person, that is the reabsorption
of his whole person into consciousness in imitation of the offering that is consumed
by the sacrificial fire. He then emanates his whole person by means of the same
vidyā. In this way he is transformed by the goddess. His whole being is now her
outer manifestation. He is defined in her terms. His individual and limited ‘I’
(ahamkāra) is the expression of the goddess from whom all comes and to whom all
returns. More than that, his limited self is in fact Bhairava. He is truly able to perform
the sacrifice, for only Śiva can fully sacrifice to Śiva.
6 These ingredients will be described in the following section. Their ‘improper’ nature is essential to
The second step is to prepare the elements in the sacred vessel, whose nature
and significance will be explained more fully in the next section when dealing with
the ‘improper’ substances.
The practitioner has become Bhairava by means of the Devī and her phonic form.
In this state he now satiates all the śaktis, from the greatest to the least, by giving
them a share in the ingredients of the vessel. He satiates the internal śaktis by
drinking, as Jayaratha explains with a quotation: ‘The goddesses, who have no
physical form, turning to him who does have physical form, abide within the body.
They play with diverse emotions (bhāva) since they long for the finest ingredients’
(TĀV vol. 7, 3309). In other words, the goddesses are active within the practitioner
and cause him to experience many emotions and states of mind, such that he will
move to the highest state of consciousness, which is the ‘finest ingredient’.
Having reached the state where he understands himself as Bhairava, he then
satiates the external śaktis by sprinkling the ingredients around him. He who is
Bhairava thus shows the fullness of his power by reserving none. He shows the
greatness of his being by being completely unconcerned with it. His whole focus is
on the Devī and her entourage. They are the source and purpose of the ritual. His
transcendence is shown by his use of ‘inappropriate’ substances.
Proper and improper
The paśu (‘bonded animal’) operates on the dualistic level, distinguishing between
pure and impure, right and wrong. The vīra (hero), on the other hand, transcends
clearly by making use, in the second step of the daily ritual, of those very substances
which the divisive mind considers to be improper. Typically such substances are
called ‘the hero's meal’ (vīrabhojya) (TĀ 29.777a).
These forbidden substances are not the usual five Ms (pañcamakāra) of other
Tantric rituals, but the three Ms of the Kula ritual, namely wine (madya), meat
(maṃsa) and intercourse (maithuna) with impure and adulterous women.
These three elements are interrelated; ‘Bliss is the supreme brahman and it
resides in the body in three ways. Of these, two are aids, the other is the result, [all
three] consisting of [bliss]’ (TĀ 29.97). Jayaratha explains (TĀV vol. 7, 3355) that the
two ‘aids’ are wine and meat. The ‘result’ is intercourse. All three lead to bliss. In
other words, the consumption of the forbidden substances, wine and meat, the use
also of beautiful things such as incense and flowers, satisfies the physical appetite
and opens up the higher chakras. This is because of the interrelationship of
sub-chakra and principal sub-chakra.
Resulting from what is done by the one who possesses Śakti in the circle
and sub-circle and in the ‘subtle-breath'; resulting from taking the food
which pours forth bliss and from external sources such as perfume,
incense, garlands etc., there is a welling up of consciousness (TĀ 29.108).
The satisfaction of the lesser leads to the manifestation of the greater, so that there
is a ‘welling up (ucchalana) of consciousness’, which is the non-dualist mind in all its
Wine (madya)
In the Laws of Manu 11.68, 91-98, 147-151 the use of wine is strictly forbidden so
that Jayaratha goes to great length (TĀV vol. 7, 3299-3304) to show why the use of
wine is legitimate. Note that he does not take the same care to show the propriety of
using outcaste women.
Wine is to be preferred to the manufactured (kṛtrima) alcohols such as mead and
whisky for it is natural and unprocessed.
And [alcohol] is of two kinds: processed and natural. Of these, the
processed is of three kinds: grain alcohol, mead and rum. However, the
natural, the single produce of the grape, which is designated by the words
‘Bhairavic' etc., surpasses [the other alcohols] to a supreme degree, which
is the reason why he mentions [the alcohols which are made from] flour
etc. (TĀV vol. 7, 3299).
This same preference for what is spontaneous is found in the choice of the guru, for
the best guru is a person who is naturally gifted and ‘not made’ (akalpita), just as the
highest forms of initiation7 are those given by directly by the goddess without the
services of a human guru.
This reference to spontaneity shows that, while method and practice have their
due place, the goddess is essentially free and acts as she pleases. She is under no
one’s control. She freely chooses to manifest or not to manifest herself, as in the
cases where the initiation ceremony is ineffective. Spontaneity is evidence of Devī’s
freedom and supremacy.
Because wine is the spontaneous and natural product of the grape, it is
considered to be the very self of god and goddess. To drink wine in the ritual context
is to be identified with the divine pair; ‘Alcohol is the supreme Śakti; wine is said to
be Bhairava. The self (ātmā) is turned into liquid form since Bhairava is
great-hearted (mahātmanā)’ (TĀV vol. 7, 3299). Not only does the practitioner use the
forbidden wine, but he adds other impure substances. Jayaratha explains with a
quote: ‘This lineage [of the Perfected Beings] is to be worshipped with ingredients
that are both hated by people and forbidden according to the scriptures, that are both
disgusting and despised’ (TĀV vol. 7, 3298). He gives the recipe for the ingredients:
‘Male semen, male urine, and menstrual blood, faeces and phlegm; human flesh,
beef, goat's flesh, fish, fowl; onion and indeed garlic’ (TĀV vol. 7, 3306). By using
such a concoction, the practitioner shows that he transcends pure and impure,
pleasure and horror, and all the dualities. Śakti is the source of them all. If he is to be
united with her, he must not fear to take all her products into himself.
Meat (maṃsa)
While meat is one of the forbidden ingredients and is mentioned several times (TĀV
vol.7, 3301, 3329, 3354, 3355, 3357), there is little detailed discussion of it in the
presentation of the Kula ritual. It is found among the ingredients just listed. It is also
Intercourse (maithuna)
The Kula ritual is explicitly sexual: ‘The [kaula ritual] can in no way be successfully
performed without a sexual partner’ (TĀV vol. 7. 3353). The appropriation performed
by the goddess reaches its apogee here, but it must be properly understood for it is
subject to serious misunderstanding.
The dūtī, the ritual sexual partner, who is to be identified with Ardhatryambakā, the
legendary founder of the Kula tradition, is the principal means by which the guru
communicates the Kula tradition.
To [the dūtī] alone … the guru properly transmits the substance of the
Kula. And by means of the [mouth of the śakti], he transmits [the
substance of the Kula] to men, in the manner which has been described
(TĀ 29.122b–123a).
Jayaratha is quite explicit about the reason for this superiority: ‘… because her
central sacred space [that is, her vagina (yoni)] is spontaneously fully opening and
closing, the śakti is superior to the [guru's] own body’ (TĀV vol. 7. 3378).
Although in the ritual context, the guru will designate and consecrate the woman
who is to be the dūtī, she in fact surpasses the guru precisely because of her body.
His act of consecration does not confer superiority; it is simply an acknowledgment
of the superiority she already has by nature. ‘[The guru] should ritually prepare [the
śakti] because by her very being8 she is superior to his own body’ (TĀ 29.123).
8 The term sad-bhāva is translated here as ‘by her very being’. The terms kaula-sad-bhāva and
The guru may teach his disciple and initiate him, but it is the dūtī with her ‘lower
mouth’ (vaktra) who will bring the disciple to consciousness. Whereas the guru must
use words from his ordinary mouth, she brings him to consciousness by her very
body.
Because of that [superiority], i.e. because of the [superior] nature [of the
śakti] which has been mentioned, the ‘mouth of the yoginī' alone, which is
synonymous with other [‘mouths'] such as the Picu-mouth9 etc., is said by
the Lord Maheśvara to be the principal circle. At that very place this
sacred oral [ritual] tradition … is to be celebrated. As a result knowledge is
received from it, i.e. the [disciple's] entire absorption into supreme
consciousness takes place (TĀV vol. 7. 3379).
The ‘oblation’ and the sacred oral tradition, the discriminating knowledge
and the mating and the ceremonial of worship are located in the ‘mouth' of
the yoginīs (TĀV vol. 7, 3309).
A word of explanation is needed. The ‘mouth’, namely the vagina of the yoginī, is
the focus. The ‘oblation’ is the sexual fluid that arises there; the ‘sacred oral tradition’
is passed down by means of this organ since the Kula ritual is deemed to come from
Ardhatryambakā; ‘the discriminating knowledge’ is the experience of supreme
consciousness which is achieved through the ‘mating’; and the ‘ceremonial of
9 Śiva has six faces (mukha) of which the Picu-mouth, the lower face, is here identified with the female
worship’ is performed not in the Vedic fire-pit (kuṇḍa) but in the vagina of the sexual
partner.
Abhinavagupta specifically notes that the women are chosen, not because of age
or beauty, but because they are impure. Their husbands perform impure tasks: ‘The
husbands are an outcaste, a kṛṣṇa, a bowman, a butcher, a tanner, a eunuch, a
bone-splitter, a fisherman, a potter’ (TĀ 29.66).
The dūtī is morally adulterous and socially impure, totally adharmikā. Moreover,
the intercourse is best undertaken when the woman is deemed to be physically
impure by reason of her menses. In other words, the ritual is not concerned with
romantic love or passion but with the rejection of the categories of pure and impure.
In this way the tāntrika shows he possesses the purity of non-dual consciousness
and that he transcends the dualist mind which is the real impurity.
The social customs of medieval Kashmir valued the wife particularly in relation to
sexual pleasure and to children, but the Kula ritual is not concerned with orgasm and
progeny. Jayaratha explains it clearly.
In this [ritual], however, the activity is not undertaken because of a desire
for sexual pleasure in a worldly sense. Rather, [the activity is
undertaken]… because of the intensity of the absorption into the very
nature of undivided supreme consciousness.…If one's wife were indeed
involved, there would be a danger of focusing on sexual pleasure (TĀV
The dutiful husband will engage in intercourse with his wife so as to achieve
ejaculation and secure progeny. The focus is, therefore, on the ejaculation and its
pleasure. The Tantric practitioner, on the other hand, is not focused on such things
but on the consciousness that is experienced in the pleasure. The difference is
significant.
The woman is the visible counterpart of Devī who is Śiva’s consort, not his wife.
The male practitioner and the dūtī seek to manifest in their own being the
relationship of Śiva and Śakti. They become the divine pair, not as husband and
wife, but as deity and consort.
The dūtī is an adulterous outcaste. Yes, but what is the really essential
requirement? In leading up to the answer, Jayaratha gives verbal portraits of two
women, the one highly erotic, the other very demure (TĀV vol. 7, 3357–3360), in
order to show that no single woman can have all feminine qualities. Abhinavagupta
then gives the answer: ‘The characteristic quality of a śakti is that she is in no way
separated (anavicchanna) from him who possesses her. Let him, therefore, bring [a
śakti] of this sort, but without regard to castes etc.’ (TĀ 29.100b–101a). The essential
requirement is that she should be inseparate (anavicchanna). Her mind must show
complete identification (tādātmya) with the practitioner. Only then will the coupling
truly reflect the identity of Śiva and Śakti. Clearly, she is likely to be very different
from her male partner in terms of intelligence, but the identification spoken of here is
not in external matters such as social status or education. Identification refers to an
Much is required of the male practitioner also. During the use of the three Ms with
its pleasures he must retain his awareness of supreme consciousness.
And it is said in the Triśirastantra: “He whose interior faculties are set on
an unsullied foundation while in the midst of the set of six senses10
becomes fully absorbed into the abode of Rudra.” (TĀ 29.110b–111a).
Jayaratha explains.
And so the person who is qualified for this [ritual] belongs amongst those
great-hearted knowledgeable persons whose thought is undifferentiated.
By putting aside their own fluctuating mental states, they attend to just one
consideration: is the mind centred just on the non-duality of consciousness
or not? (TĀV vol. 7, 3363).
The male practitioner takes part in the rituals, not in order to attain the divine bliss
which he does not yet enjoy but in order to show that he already possesses it. This
crucial point is made clearly by Jayaratha:
…the [set of three Ms] is to be utilised by the person who has entered
upon the Kula path for the reason that he is in every way committed simply
to manifesting his own bliss. [The set of three Ms] is not [to be utilised] out
of greed. If that were the case, how would [the use of the three Ms] differ
from worldly usages? (TĀV vol. 7, 3357).
10 These six are the five faculties of knowledge (jñānendriya) and the mind (manas), which is the
By courageously rejecting the distinction between pure and impure, and showing that
he does so by making use of impure substances, the vīra shows that his mind
transcends human prejudices. He is not dual. Nothing is improper. All is equally
appropriate to him.
The goddess reserves herself for such a ‘hero’. She recognises him as one like
herself, for she too is destructive, putting an end to all mental categories. She
appropriates the vīra and in turn subjects herself to him. The hero and the goddess
become one; they are Śiva and Śakti united in a lasting embrace.
The other goddesses of the clan (kula) also take delight in him. For that reason
the tāntrika should visit the various sacred sites and enter into relations with the
resident human yoginīs who are assimilated to the divine yoginīs who are
themselves expressions of the supreme Devī. The appropriators are appropriated.
These yoginīs will take part with him in the sexual rituals and provide him with the
menstrual and other fluids that he can use in his daily ritual as a substitute for an
actual dūtī : ‘Being conversant with such signs, if he tours around the sacred sites in
search of super-natural powers, he will quickly acquire whatever is to be obtained
from the “mouth of the yogini”’ (TĀ 29.40). The fluid that arises spontaneously in the
context of pleasure is the symbol of the goddess and the bliss of her consciousness,
and is thus considered to be most pure (TĀ 29.128a), even though the ‘bonded
animal’ will view it as profoundly impure.
What has happened to sexual pleasure? Has it disappeared from the discussion?
the purpose is consciousness. If consciousness can be achieved by using
substitutes, then pleasure is relativised. The attitude criticised by Feuerstein and
Urban, as we have seen above, confused tantra and sexual pleasure. The fact that
substitutes can be used is an important corrective to that mistaken view of tantra.
By consciously drinking it or placing it on his body, the practitioner is taken up into
the goddess.11 The emission, the yogini, Devī and the practitioner are all
appropriated one to the other. All this is secret. The tāntrika remains, according to
Jayaratha’s quotation, ‘Secretly (antaḥ) a kaula, outwardly a Śaiva-[siddhānta], but
publicly a follower of the Vedas’ (TĀV vol. 3, 643 and 894).
In public, his conduct is socially correct. If, in the ritual context, the tāntrika ignores
caste and dharma and uses the three Ms, he does so without wishing to disturb the
social order, not out of respect for it but because it provides him with the means of
acting illicitly. His impropriety is all the more powerful for being secret. He is no
revolutionary.
The dūtī brings her devotee to consciousness in other ways as well. For example,
she affects him by the sound of her voice, as when she cries out ‘HĀ-HĀ’ during
orgasm, which is an appropriation into the ultimate bliss of consciousness. ‘As a
result of savouring everlasting bliss, the [sound] ‘HĀ-HĀ' occurs in the throat [of the
dūtī]. Coming into being of its own accord, it is a pleasurable utterance which
perceives the category of sexual desire’ (TĀV vol. 7, 3400). Note that the tāntrika
11 For a full discussion of the uses of the fluid, see chapter 4 ‘The Mouth of the Yoginī’ in White 2003,
focuses on the dūtī’s experience, not on his own pleasure. He takes pleasure in her
pleasure. She experiences pleasure because of him but he focuses on her and so is
taken into the ānanda of the goddess who is eternally in pleasurable union with
Maheśvara.
The inarticulate [sound, viz. HĀ-HĀ] which comes from the region of the
heart between the breasts and ends at the lips, is [uttered] in the throat.
After hearing [the inarticulate sound] between the two circles [viz. in the
throat]... when the agitation ceases, at that moment [all the audible forms
of sound] vanish. And at that moment, Bhairava as sound [appears]…It is
called the supreme pervasion of the mantra (TĀ 29.158–160).
Being attentive to this sound and observing its arising and its disappearance, he is
taken to the ultimate source of sound and becomes Bhairava.
We have reached the climax of the ritual. Being sound, the practitioner
experiences universal pervasion (vyāpti). Abhinava puts it well: ‘Recalling, in every
action and in every place, the pervasion [of the mantra] in this fashion, being ever
unattached, liberated-while-living, he becomes the supreme Bhairava’ (TĀ 29.161b–
162a).
Conclusion
The theme of appropriation is intimately tied to the notion of non-dualism. Monism
allows only one reality; dualism posits realities that are ultimately irreducible.
Non-dualism is essentially a negative term that rejects both monism and Non-dualism and
Taken to its ultimate conclusion, the Kashmir Shaiva version of non-dualism
implies the identification of pure and impure, licit and illicit. The Kaula tāntrika
deliberately uses the inappropriate to show that he enjoys full non-dual
consciousness beyond all human constructs. He does so particularly through women
who are Devī’s most potent symbol. That is, he enjoys Devī herself who is the
ultimate power since she freely emanates all and reabsorbs all.
While the tāntrika may seem to be the principal actor – along with his dūtī – it is in
fact the Devī who, from the moment of initiation till the final outcome of the ritual,
exercises her freedom. She shows her unbounded power precisely through turning
the impure into a means of purity, that true purity which is consciousness. She
sweeps away all human fears and prejudices and communicates her utter freedom.
She appropriates all because she is all.
Abbreviations
TĀ Tantrāloka of Abhinavagupta, in Abhinavagupta 1987.
TĀV Tantrālokavṛtti of Jayaratha, in Abhinavagupta 1987.
Bibliography
Abhinavagupta. 1975. La Parātrīśikālaghuvṛtti de Abhinavagupta, translated by A. Padoux. Paris: E. de Boccard.
Abhinavagupta. 1987. Tantrāloka; with the Commentary of Jayaratha. R. C. Dwivedi and Navjivan Rastogi (eds). Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.
Dupuche, John R. 2001. ‘Person-to-Person: vivaraṇa of Abhinavagupta on Parātriṃśikā
verses 3–4.’ Indo-Iranian Journal 44: 1-16.
Kṣemarāja. 1982. Pratyabhijñāhṛdayam: the Secret of Self Recognition, edited by Jaideva Singh. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.
Sanderson, Alexis. 1988. ‘Saivism and the Tantric traditions’. In The World's Religions, edited by S. Sutherland, L. Houlden, P. Clarke and F. Hardy, 660–704. London, Routledge.
Sanderson, Alexis.1990. ‘The visualisation of the deities of the Trika’. In L'image divine, 31– 88. Paris: Editions du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique.
Urban, Hugh. 2003. Tantra: Sex, Secrecy, Politics and Power in the Study of Religion, Berkeley: University of California Press,
White, David Gordon. 1996. The Alchemical Body:Siddha Traditions in Medieval India.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
