Srividya: the twists and turns of a tantric tradition – I
In the last two issues of my Unfoldings newsletter, I have been engaging in an in-depth analysis of Kenneth Grant’s representation of Tantric mysteries in his books – using his 1999 book, Beyond the Mauve Zone as the main reference point. In support of this series of essays, I thought it would be helpful for those reading the essays to attempt a general overview of the historical development of the Tripurāsundarī traditions, known nowadays as Śrīvidyā. In this first post, I’m going to focus on the roots of this tradition – the Nityā.
The term Śrīvidyā is a compound formed from Śrī – an honorific denoting auspiciousness (also an epithet of the Goddess), and Vidyā – a feminine mantra. Exoterically, Vidyā can denote knowledge or wisdom. The early texts of the tradition do not use this term though, rather, the tradition referred to itself as the traipuradarśana (doctrine of Tripurā) or sometimes, the Saugbhāgyavidyā (Saugbhāgya denotes good fortune, happiness, and success). According to Anna A. Golovkova (2020), the term Śrīvidyā first appears in a fourteenth-century commentary on the Yoginīhṛdaya. The tradition is sometimes referred to as the ‘last sampradāya’ – the most recent of the nine classical Śaiva tantric traditions. The principal or ‘root’ text of the tradition, the Vāmakeśvarīmata tantra has been dated to between the 10th-11th century CE.
The Nityā Tradition
Contemporary scholars have identified the antecedents of the worship of Tripurāsundarī within a lost Kaula tradition, known as the Nityā (‘eternal’). Much of what is known about this tradition has been gleaned from references in tantric scriptures. As Golovkova points out, there are no references to the Nityā in works of the Trika tradition, but there are in the later Kubjika tradition, such as the Kubjikāmata (tenth century), the vast Manthānabhairava Tantra, and the Ciñciṇīmatasārasamuccaya. Only one scripture of the Nityā has survived – the Nityākaula. Chapter 30 of the Manthānabhairava Tantra which largely concerns the rules for writing and transmitting scripture, names the Nityākaula as one of the scriptures it considers valid.
In the Nityā tradition, the principal goddess is Kāmeśvarī, and her consort is the god of love, Kāmadeva, accompanied by eleven subordinate Nityā goddesses (see this long essay for some related discussion of Kāma, his weapons, particularly the Sugarcane Bow).
These Nityā goddesses are placed around a triangle (identified with the yoni) and intermediate points of an enclosing hexagram. The points of the triangle are identified with three pīṭhas (seats) of the goddess: Jālandhara, Pūrṇapīṭha, and Uḍḍiyāna. The fourth pīṭha, Kāmarūpa, is the centre of the triangle and the abode of Kāmeśvarī. Hence Kāmarūpa is considered to be the greatest of the śaktī pīṭhas.
The Kālikāpurāṇa (c.10-11th century) gives a lengthy description of Kāmarūpa (Assam) as a kind of divine wonderland, where death cannot enter; where there are no temples or images, but the deities are present as mountains, ponds, trees, and streams. After the terrible events of Dakṣa’s sacrifice, Śiva’s spouse, Satī took her own life. The grieving Śiva carted her body about with him until the other gods sliced up her body. The goddess’ yonimaṇḍala fell at Kāmarūpa, on Mount Kāmagiri (mountain of desire). The Kāmākhyā temple complex is a centre of Śakta Tantra, and the goddess Kāmākhyā is worshipped there in the form of a yoni-stone, submerged in a natural stream, located in an underground chamber beneath the temple. According to the Kālikāpurāṇa, bathing in the waters of this stream results in release from rebirth and instant liberation. The Kaulajñānanirṇaya says that all of the women who reside in Kāmarūpa are Yoginīs who can reveal secrets and grant siddhis.
Kāmeśvarī is described as being of red hue, bearing weapons the weapons of Kāmadeva (noose, goad, bow, flower-arrows), and extensively ornamented (see these posts for some related discussion of ornamentation).
According to Golovkova, many of these elements appear in the Vāmakeśvarīmata (and later scriptures) – such as the goddess’ red hue; her bearing of the weapons of Kāma; the triangle and her triadic form; and her identification with the pīṭhas. Although, in the later tradition, Kāma has been supplanted by Śiva, there are many references to Kāma – particularly in the names of the groups of subsidiary goddesses populating the layers of the Śricakra (here’s a quick tour through the Śricakra).
In her paper, Golovkova gives a very insightful comparison between a passage she has translated from the Nityākaula and a very similar passage from the Vāmakeśvarīmata. Both passages show that the worship of the goddesses necessitates that the (male) adept should, having installed the goddess in his own body using Nyāsa, must dress in red clothing, adorn himself with flowers, smear his body with red unguent, apply eyeliner (collyrium), chew betel and spices, and equip himself with the weapons of Kāma. He is trying to further identify himself with the goddess by taking on her physical characteristics. Similar practices, albeit directed at emulating the fury of Bhairava are described in the mudrākośa section of the Jayadrathayāmala. This kind of ritualistic male performance of femaleness can be found in early tantric scriptures -even those of the orthodox Śaiva Siddhanta.
The attraction of female partners – human, or otherwise (nāgas, gāndharvas, yakṣinīs, for example) is a core concern of the Nityākaula, and again, as Golovkova shows, this is a focus of the Vāmakeśvarīmata. I concur. There is a great deal of emphasis on not only attracting women but gaining wealth, and power, destroying enemies, and obtaining siddhis in the Vāmakeśvarīmata – and relatively little directed towards what we think of as spiritual liberation.
Locating female agency is always a tricky proposition in regards to the tantras. In this respect, Golovkova argues that in these early scriptures, women have no agency at all – they are highly sexualized, mere objects for the male ritual gaze and acquisition, subjects of practices that aim at attracting and subordinating them.
Sources
Bagchi, P.C., Magee, Mike. 1986. Kaulajnana-nirnaya of the The School of Matsyendranatha. Prachya Prakashan.
Dyczkowski, Mark S.G. (2009). Manthanabhairavatantram Kumarikakhandah (The Section Concerning the Virgin Goddess of the Tantra of the Churning Bhairava In Fourteen Volumes). Indira Gandhi National Center for the Arts and D. K. Printworld Pvt. Ltd.
Golovkova, Anna A. 2020. ‘The Forgotten Consort: The Goddess and Kāmadeva in the Early Worship of Tripurasundarī’. International Journal of Hindu Studies. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11407-020-09272-6
Magee, Mike. 2011. The Mysteries of the Red Goddess. Prakasha Publishing.
Rosati, Paolo E. 2023. ‘Crossing the boundaries of sex, blood and magic in the Tantric cult of Kāmākhyā’ in Acri, Andrea and Rosati, Paolo E. (eds) Tantra, Magic, and Vernacular Religions in Monsoon Asia. Routledge.
