The Kāpālika tradition was a
Tantric, non-
Puranic
Purana (; sa, , '; literally meaning "ancient, old"Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature (1995 Edition), Article on Puranas, , page 915) is a vast genre of Indian literature about a wide range of topics, particularly about legends an ...
form of
Shaivism
Shaivism (; sa, शैवसम्प्रदायः, Śaivasampradāyaḥ) is one of the major Hindu traditions, which worships Shiva as the Supreme Being. One of the largest Hindu denominations, it incorporates many sub-traditions rangi ...
which originated in
Medieval India
Medieval India refers to a long period of Post-classical history of the Indian subcontinent between the "ancient period" and "modern period". It is usually regarded as running approximately from the breakup of the Gupta Empire in the 6th cen ...
between the 7th and 8th century CE.
The word is derived from the Sanskrit term ''
kapāla'', meaning "skull", and ''kāpālika'' means the "skull-men".
[
]
History
The Kāpālikas were an extinct sect of Shaivite ascetics devoted to the Hindu god
Hindu deities are the gods and goddesses in Hinduism. The terms and epithets for deities within the diverse traditions of Hinduism vary, and include Deva, Devi, Ishvara, Ishvari, Bhagavān and Bhagavati.
The deities of Hinduism have evolved ...
Shiva
Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one o ...
dating back to the 8th century CE, which traditionally carried a skull-topped trident (''khaṭvāṅga
A khaṭvāṅga ( sa, खट्वाङ्ग) is a long, studded club originally created as a weapon. It was adopted as a traditional religious symbol in Indian religions such as Tantric traditions like Shaivism and Vajrayana Buddhism. The kh ...
'') and an empty human skull
The skull is a bone protective cavity for the brain. The skull is composed of four types of bone i.e., cranial bones, facial bones, ear ossicles and hyoid bone. However two parts are more prominent: the cranium and the mandible. In humans, th ...
as a begging bowl.[ Other attributes associated with Kāpālikas were that they revered the fierce ]Bhairava
Bhairava ( Sanskrit: भैरव ) or Kala Bhairava is a Shaivite and Vajrayāna deity worshiped by Hindus and Buddhists. In Shaivism, he is a powerful manifestation, or avatar, of Shiva associated with annihilation. In Trika system ''B ...
form of Shiva by emulating his behavior and characteristics,[ smeared their body with ashes from the cremation grounds,][ wore their hair long and matted,][ and engaged in transgressive rituals such as sexual intercourse with lower-class ]women
A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or Adolescence, adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female hum ...
, human sacrifice
Human sacrifice is the act of killing one or more humans as part of a ritual, which is usually intended to please or appease gods, a human ruler, an authoritative/priestly figure or spirits of dead ancestors or as a retainer sacrifice, wherei ...
s, consumption of meat
Meat is animal flesh that is eaten as food. Humans have hunted, farmed, and scavenged animals for meat since prehistoric times. The establishment of settlements in the Neolithic Revolution allowed the domestication of animals such as chic ...
and alcoholic beverages
An alcoholic beverage (also called an alcoholic drink, adult beverage, or a drink) is a drink that contains ethanol, a type of alcohol that acts as a drug and is produced by fermentation of grains, fruits, or other sources of sugar. The cons ...
, and offerings involving orgiastic sexuality and sexual fluids.[
According to David Lorenzen, there is a paucity of primary sources on the Kāpālikas, and historical information about them is available from fictional works and other traditions who disparage them.] Various Indian texts claim that the Kāpālikas drank liquor freely, both for ritual and as a matter of habit. The Chinese pilgrim to India in the 7th century CE, Hsuan Tsang
Xuanzang (, ; 602–664), born Chen Hui / Chen Yi (), also known as Hiuen Tsang, was a 7th-century Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveler, and translator. He is known for the epoch-making contributions to Chinese Buddhism, the travelogue of ...
, in his memoir on what is now Northwestern Pakistan, wrote about Buddhists living with naked ascetics who covered themselves with ashes and wore bone wreathes on their heads, but Hsuan Tsang does not call them ''Kāpālikas'' or any particular name. Historians of Indian religions
Indian religions, sometimes also termed Dharmic religions or Indic religions, are the religions that originated in the Indian subcontinent. These religions, which include Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, and Sikhism,Adams, C. J."Classification of ...
and scholars of Hindu studies
Hindu studies is the study of the traditions and practices of the Indian subcontinent (especially Hinduism), and considered as a subfield of Indology. Beginning with British philology in the colonial period, Hindu studies has been practiced lar ...
have interpreted these ascetics variously as Kāpālikas, Digambara Jains, and Pashupatas.
The Kāpālikas were more of a monastic order, states Lorenzen, and not a sect with a textual doctrine. The Kāpālika tradition gave rise to the Kulamārga, a subsect of Tantric Shaivism which preserves some of the distinctive features of the Kāpālika tradition. Some of the Kāpālika Shaiva practices are found in Vajrayana Buddhism
Vajrayāna ( sa, वज्रयान, "thunderbolt vehicle", "diamond vehicle", or "indestructible vehicle"), along with Mantrayāna, Guhyamantrayāna, Tantrayāna, Secret Mantra, Tantric Buddhism, and Esoteric Buddhism, are names referring t ...
, and scholars disagree on who influenced whom. Today, the Kāpālika tradition survives within its Shaivite offshoots: the Aghori
The Aghori (from Sanskrit '; ) are a monastic order of ascetic Shaivite sadhus based in Uttar Pradesh, India. They are the only surviving sect derived from the '' Kāpālika'' tradition, a Tantric, non-Puranic form of Shaivism which orig ...
order, Kaula Kaula may refer to:
People
* Prithvi Nath Kaula (1924–2009), Indian librarian
* William J. Kaula (1871–1953), American watercolor painter
* William M. Kaula (1926–2000), Australian-born American geophysicist
Other uses
* USS ''Kaula'' (AG- ...
, and Trika traditions.
Literature
Dyczkowski (1988: p. 26) holds that Hāla
(r. 20–24 CE) was a Satavahana king who ruled in present-day Deccan region.Mahajan V.D. (1960, reprint 2007) ''Ancient India'', S.Chand, New Delhi, ,pp.394-95 The Matsya Purana mentions him as the 17th ruler of the Satavahana dynasty.
...
's Prakrit literature poem, the ''Gaha Sattasai
The Gāhā Sattasaī or Gāhā Kośa ( sa, गाथासप्तशती Gāthā Saptaśatī) is an ancient collection of Indian poems in Maharashtri Prakrit language. The poems are about love. They are written as frank monologues usually by ...
'', is one of the first extant literary references to an early Indian Kāpālika ascetic:
One of the earliest references to a Kāpālika is found in Hāla's Prakrit poem, the '' Gāthāsaptaśati'' (third to fifth century A.D.) in a verse in which the poet describes a young female Kāpālikā who besmears herself with ashes from the funeral pyre of her lover. Varāhamihira (c500-575) refer more than once to the Kāpālikas thus clearly establishing their existence in the sixth century. Indeed, from this time onwards references to Kāpālika ascetics become fairly commonplace in Sanskrit ...[Dyczkowski, Mark S. G. (1988). ''The canon of the Śaivāgama and The Kubjikā Tantras of the western Kaula tradition''. SUNY series in Kashmir Śaivism. SUNY Press. , Source]
(accessed: Thursday February 4, 2010)
See also
* Aghori
The Aghori (from Sanskrit '; ) are a monastic order of ascetic Shaivite sadhus based in Uttar Pradesh, India. They are the only surviving sect derived from the '' Kāpālika'' tradition, a Tantric, non-Puranic form of Shaivism which orig ...
* Kashmir Shaivism
Kashmir Shaivism or Trika Shaivism, is a nondualist tradition of Shaiva-Shakta Tantra which originated sometime after 850 CE. Since this tradition originated in Kashmir it is often called "Kashmiri Shaivism". It later went on to become a pan- ...
* Kaula Kaula may refer to:
People
* Prithvi Nath Kaula (1924–2009), Indian librarian
* William J. Kaula (1871–1953), American watercolor painter
* William M. Kaula (1926–2000), Australian-born American geophysicist
Other uses
* USS ''Kaula'' (AG- ...
* Mahasiddha
Mahasiddha ( Sanskrit: ''mahāsiddha'' "great adept; ) is a term for someone who embodies and cultivates the "siddhi of perfection". A siddha is an individual who, through the practice of sādhanā, attains the realization of siddhis, psychic ...
* Mattavilasa Prahasana
''Mattavilasa Prahasana'' (Devanagari:मत्तविलासप्रहसन), ( en, A Farce of Drunken Sport) is a short one-act Sanskrit play. It is one of the two great one act plays written by Pallava King Mahendravarman I (571– 630C ...
* Pashupata Shaivism
Pashupata Shaivism (, sa, पाशुपत) is the oldest of the major Shaivite Hindu schools. The mainstream which follows Vedic Pasupata penance are 'Maha Pasupatas' and the schism of 'Lakula Pasupata' of Lakulisa.
There is a debate about ...
* Vajrayana
Vajrayāna ( sa, वज्रयान, "thunderbolt vehicle", "diamond vehicle", or "indestructible vehicle"), along with Mantrayāna, Guhyamantrayāna, Tantrayāna, Secret Mantra, Tantric Buddhism, and Esoteric Buddhism, are names referring t ...
References
Further reading
* Dictionary of Hindu Lore and Legend () by Anna L. Dallapiccola (London : Thames & Hudson, 2002).
* ''Kapalikas and Kalamukhas: Two Lost Saivite Sects'' () by David N. Lorenzen (Berkeley : University of California Press, 1972).
* ''Mattavilasaprahasana'' by Māni Mādhava Chākyār
* '' Ankalaparamecuvari : a goddess of Tamilnadu, her myths and cult'' () by Eveline Meyer (Stuttgart : Steiner Verlag Wiesbaden GMBH, 1986)
* ''The Blackwell Companion to Hinduism.'' by Gavin Flood. 2003. Malden: Blackwell.
* ''Indian Esoteric Buddhism.'' by Ronald Davidson. 2002. Columbia University Press.
{{Shaivism
7th-century establishments in India
8th-century establishments in India
Hindu tantra
Shaiva sects
Vajrayana