Abstract
The paper considers the differences between the various Tantric traditions of Kerala and presents observations that emerged from my field research on the so-called Śākta Tantra of Kerala (also known as Raudra, Śākteya, or Kashmirian sampradāya). This tradition incorporates the ritualistic practices of Kashmirian Śaivism or, more precisely, it integrates Krama-Trika ritualism with the folk mythology of Kerala and Śrīvidyā theology. This study presents the hypothesis that the Śākta tradition of Kerala could have been influenced directly by proponents of Kashmirian Śaivism and indirectly by Śrīvidyā. The Tantric texts of Kerala reveal that Śrīvidyā infiltrated many ritualistic traditions and was held in high esteem by practitioners and devotees. It was a claim of some Tantric practitioners of Kerala that authoritative Tantric treatises such as Śeṣasamuccaya and Mātṛsadbhāva may have been composed by Brahmins, who intended to incorporate the well-established and probably influential and socially attractive Śākteya cults into their own realm. Therefore, the paper attempts to show that Śrīvidyā is a link that unites Tantric traditions of modern Kerala.
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Notes
ŚS, a Tantric manual from the fifteenth century, is a supplement to Tantrasamuccaya, an authoritative text of Kerala Tantra tradition of Nambudiri Brahmins. The tradition of the Nambudiris is called vaidika-tāntrika and is a conjuncture of Vedic orthopraxy and elements of the Tantric way of worship. While the text was once attributed to Krṣṇaśarma, it was recently suggested that author of the text and its commentary was Śaṅkara, the son of Nārāyaṇa, the author of Tantrasamuccaya. It was also deduced from the text of the Śeṣasamuccaya that its author prepared a commentary of Tantrasamuccaya, entitled Vimarśinī. Śeṣasamuccaya deals mostly with rituals and mantras pertaining to deities not mentioned in Tantrasamuccaya (i.e. Brahmā, Ādityā, Kubera, Śrīkṛṣṇa, Sarasvatī, Lakṣmī, Gaurī, Jyeṣṭhā, Bhadrakālī, Mātṛs, Rurujit, Kṣetrapāla, Bṛhaspati, Indra and the lokapālas). Ten chapters (paṭala) explain in detail the modes of worship (pūjāviddhi), installation of idols (pratiṣṭhā), expiatory rites (prāyaścitta), etc., for the abovementioned gods and goddesses.—Pillai (2001), p. i.
MSB is a treatise composed in all probability between the eleventh and the fifteenth centuries by an unknown author, who claims to be well versed in Śaiva scriptures. The text in Malayalam script is available in The Oriental Research Institute & Manuscripts Library (ORI & MSS) Trivandrum (MSS no. 1017a, 13377). MSB is one of the earlier texts that incorporated śākta rites and preached a Tantric mode of worship that necessarily required a dīkṣā.
This article is based on data from my research in Tantric traditions of Kerala, which were more widely discussed in my PhD thesis “Śākta Tantric Traditions of Kerala—its peculiarities and development under the impact of Śrīvidyā”, submitted to the University of Calicut in 2013.
It was in the early seventeenth century C.E. that a new class of texts was introduced in many parts of Kerala.
Composed both in Sanskrit and in local dialects of Malayalam, mostly by anonymous authors, they can be classified as pseudo-historical writings mixed with legends and myths. They were generally titled Keralotpatti (i.e. the history of the origin of Kerala) or Keralanāṭaka, Keralodbhava, Keralasadbhāva, Keralacarita etc. (see Unni 2003).
The word Śākteya is often used in Kerala to designate local Śākta family traditions or Kaula rites. Also, MSB states that a Tantric teacher should be well acquainted with Śaiva and Śākteya tantras:
śaivaśākteyatantreṣu niṣṭhitaṃ tuṣṭamānasam—MSB p. 3.
atiguhyatamatvahetutas tāṃ na vadāmi prathitaprabhāvabhūmim |
sakalāgamavedamūlabhūtām iha vidyāṃ tripurābhidhānayuktām || TSS.
“I shall not reveal the mantra (vidyā) related to Tripurā, because it is the most secret one. [This mantra], which is the root of all Āgamas and Vedas, is the receptacle of celebrated dignity.”
nirmālyañca yathānyāyamācamya ca punarguruḥ arcayetparamāṃ śaktiṃ somasiddhāntapāragaḥ—MSB. p. 102.
In this paper, examples are quoted from the printed edition of ŚS with Vimarśini of Śaṅkara edited by Pillai.
Other manuscripts of the text and its commentaries can be found in various libraries in Kerala:
Śeṣasamuccaya savyākhyā, Trivandrum Manuscript Library, no. 18789–90 (2 MSS), no.33990–91 (2 MSS)
Śeṣasamuccaya, Tripunithura Sanskrit College, MSS no. 699–b, 117.
Śeṣasamuccayavyākhyā of Śaṅkarakavi, Tripunithura Sanskrit College, MSS no. 1608
Śeṣasamuccaya, Private collections: Akkittattu Mana, Mundanattu Mana, Putukkalattu Illam, Tiruvalla Cheru.
atha rurujidgiriśādirūpāṇītyādita eva prasaktānāṃ śivaikaverīmātṛkṣetrapālānāṃ yaugapadyenaikasmin
nāyatane sthāpanapradarśanārthaṃ “mātṛsadbhāvā”‘dyāgamokta kriyākramaṃ vadan svatantrādibhedāṃśca
yojyan bhinnalakṣaṇamāha—Śeṣasamuccayavimarśinī, p. 198.
The auspicious character of śrīcakra is stressed in various Tantric texts and NS, for example, prescribing satiation (abhiṣeka) of place and persons with water sanctified during śrīcakra rites. The water (energised by the very presence of śrīcakra) is supposed to pass from the head (of a person sprinkled with it) inside the opening of brahmāṇḍa and purify the whole body, as with the holy water of Gaṅga and other revered rivers:
śrīcakrābhiṣekodakena śiraḥprekṣṇaṃ pānaṃ ca brahmāṇḍodaragatagaṅgā ‘aditīrthasahasrasnānakoṭiphaladam| NS, III śrīcakramahimā.
Rurujitvidhānapūjāpaddhati (MSS no. R3365, Government Oriental Manuscripts Library, Chennai) is the only known text that deals exclusively with the rituals for Rurujit.
The author of ŚS explains that Rurujit is a name of the Bhadrakālī who killed a demon called Ruru: Rurujiditirurunāmno daityasya hantrī bhadrakālī –Śeṣasamuccayavimarśinī, p. 143.
Similarly, in PKS we may find the siddhis of cakra grouped in the following manner: atha prāthamike catur-asre aṇimā-laghimā-mahimeśitva-vaśitva-prākāmya-bhuktîcchā-prāpti-sarvakāma-siddhy-antāḥ ||PKS 5.1||.
jñeyasya hi paraṃ tattvaṃ yaḥ prakāśātmakaḥ śivaḥ |
nahyaprakāśarūpasya prākāśyaṃ vastutāpi vā || Tantrāloka 1.52||.
The author of ŚS admits that his work is based on TS and other Āgamas:
yo’yaṃ tantrasamuccayo gurukṛto yattantrasāragrahāt
tacchiṣṭāgamasārasaṅgrahatayehārabhyamāṇe tataḥ
grāhyaṃ śeṣasamuccaye sukuśalaiḥ sāmānyakarmākhilaṃ
yo’jādyeṣu viśeṣa eṣa nikhilaḥ suvyaktamatrocyate|ŚS 1.3|
An interpretation suggested by O.P. Krishnan, a researcher in Tantric literature from Calicut University (private communication).
eṣā vidyā mahāvidyā yoginīnāṃ mahodayā |
kulavidyā maheśāni sarvakāryārthasādhakī|| VM 1.86.
Prayogamañjarī (Śaivāgamasiddhāntasāra) is accepted as one of the rare Tantric treatises of Kerala, which explains the peculiarities of the worship of the Śiva liṅga. Prayogamañjarī was composed in approximately the tenth or eleventh centuries by Ravi, a son of Aṣṭamūrti and grandson of the legendary scholar Bhavatrāta. The text is also known as Śaivāgamasiddhāntasāra—(Sarma 2009, pp. 321–326).
The ashram, founded in 1986, belongs to one of the most known Śrīvidyā lineages of Kerala that goes back to Madhavji, the first teacher of Tantra Vidyā Pīṭha (the most famous Tantric seminary of Kerala). The adepts of the ashram, known as Gurupadam, learn mantras and temple rituals and some officiate in temples. The most advanced students are initiated into Śrīvidyā. Also, unlike Tantra Vidyā Pīṭha, which accepts only Brahmin boys, the ashram is open to all devotees interested in Tantric practices. The classes are held in a gurukula system and include lectures on Vedāntic philosophy.
Swami Śrī Vidyānandagiri, Śrīvidyā Ashram, Trivandrum, 2010 (private communication).
Nadanta Ananda Natha Sarswathy, Kannur (private communication, June 2011).
Prasad Erancherry, a priest of Vadakara temples (private communication, May 2012).
oṃ aiṃ klīṃ sau sauḥ oḍḍiyāṇapīṭhāya namaḥ oṃ aiṃ jālandharapīṭhāya namaḥ klīṃ cāmuṇḍe pūrṇagiripīṭḥāya namaḥ sauḥ cāmuṇḍe kāmarūpapīṭhāya namaḥ oṃ hrīṃ cāmuṇḍe parāyai aparāyai parāparayai hṛyauḥ sadāśivapretapadmāsanāya vicce namaḥ iti [….]kṣetrapāla kalpataru pāda pine pīṭhaṅṅaḷ hrīṃ hrīṃ huṃ mahākramagaṇapatināthapāda evaṃ eva mahākramahāgaṇapatinātha […] bhāṃ mahāpradīpti cakramaṅgaḷeśvari ambāpāda mahāmaṃgaḷā diptāṃbāpāda - Pūjāvidhi 1.2.
MSB states that the image of the Solitary Heroine should be prepared according to the prescriptions given in Brahmayāmala:
athaikavīrīṃ pratimāṃ pravakṣyāmi samāsataḥ brahmayāmalatantreṣu yathoktaṃ paramoṣṭhinā— MSB, p. 26.
MSB teaches that the Solitary Heroine came out of the forehead of the Great God (Maheśvara) and her mission was to kill Dāruka.
dārukasya vināśārthaṃ nirmitā viśvamūrtinā maheśvaralalāṭe tu ekavīrī vinirgatā—MSB p.147.
ānandacakraṃ vahnyaśri kanda udbhava ucyate |
kampo hṛttālu nidrā ca ghūrṇiḥ syādūrdhvakuṇḍalī || Tantrāloka 5.111||.
hrīṃ śrīṃ mahātripurasundarī svāha (…) hreṃ hrīṃ śrīṃ hsa khphreṃ ha sau tvāṃ śivāya nivedayāmi mokṣaṃ prārthaya [mi]—Pūjāvidhi 2.
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Karasinski, M. A Goddess Who Unites and Empowers: Śrīvidyā as a Link Between Tantric Traditions of Modern Kerala—Some Considerations. J Indian Philos 48, 541–563 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10781-020-09430-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10781-020-09430-5