which involve practicing sexual rituals, eating
beef, and drinking alcohol. It focuses on raising
the KUNDALINI serpent at the base of the spine
up through the CHAKRAS toward the place above
the head where it meets its lover Shiva to create
ADVAITA (non-dual) consciousness and bliss.
Further reading: J. C. Chatterji, Kashmir Shaivism
(Albany: State University of New York Press, 1986);
Mark Dyczkowski, The Doctrine of Vibration: An Analy-
sis of the Doctrines and Practices of Kashmir Shaivism
(Albany: State University of New York Press, 1987).
Kauravas
The 100 Kauravas (descendants of KURU) are the
chief villains in the great Indian epic the MAHAB-
HARATA. They also descend from the ancient king
Bharata. These sons of the blind king Dhritarashtra,
led by Duryodhana, the eldest, conspire to steal
the throne of the land from its rightful heirs, their
cousins the PANDAVAS. Kaurava is only a convenient
designation, as the Pandavas are also descendents
of King Kuru via Pandu, Dhritarashtra’s brother.
The story tells that Dhritarashtra’s wife, Gand-
hari, receives a boon that she will bear 100 sons.
She is pregnant for two years, when she hears
that Kunti, wife of Pandu, has given birth. She
then aborts herself, yielding a hard ball of flesh.
The ball is sprinkled with water and severed into
101 parts, which are incubated and put into sepa-
rate pots. From these come forth the 100 sons of
Gandhari and Dhritarasthra, plus one daughter
named Duhshala. (Dhritarashtra also incidentally
has one bastard son, Yuyutsu.)
After his older brother Pandu dies, Dhri-
tarashtra becomes regent and his sons (always
called “the 100” although in actuality 101), led
by Duryodhana, begin plotting to destroy their
cousins, the five Pandavas. The story of the epic
revolves around the struggle for the kingdom
between these sets of brothers, culminating in the
“Mahabharata” war, in which the Pandavas are
triumphant, but with frightening losses.
Further reading: Peter Brook, director, The Mahab-
harata (videorecording), produced by Michael Prop-
per (Chatsworth, Calif.: Image Entertainment, 2002);
William Buck, trans., The Mahabharata (Berkeley:
University of California Press, 1973); J. A. B. van
Buitenen, trans., The Mahabharata, 3 vols. (Chicago:
University of Chicago Press); P. C. Roy, trans., The
Mahabharata, 12 vols. (Bombay: Bharata Karyalaya,
1888–1896).Kautilya (Chanakya) (c. 300 B.C.E.) See
ARTHASHASTRA.Kaveri River See CAUVERY RIVER.
Kedarnath
Kedarnath is a famous Shaivite (see SHAIVISM) PIL-
GRIMAGE site in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh;
one of India’s svamyambhu, or “Self-generated”
LINGAMS is located there. As in Amarnath the focus
is upon an ice lingam. Pilgrimage can take place
only during the middle of the summer, because of
the inaccessibility of the mountainous location.
Kedarnath has been a pilgrimage site at least
since the 12th century; it is listed in the eighth
chapter of the text Krityakalpataru of Bhatta
Lakshmidhara, a chief minister to King Govin-
dachandra of the Gahadvala dynasty of Kanauj. It
is usually said that there are four abodes of sanc-
tity in all of India: BADRINATH, Puri (see JAGAN-
NATH TEMPLE, PURI), RAMESHVARAM, and DWARAKA.
In North India alone Kedarnath is considered
one of the additional three abodes of sanctity; the
other two are Yamnotri and Gangotri.Further reading: Anne Feldhaus, Connected Places:
Region, Pilgrimage, and Geographical Imagination in
India (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003); Subhadra
Sen Gupta, Badrinath and Kedarnath, the Dhaams in the
Himalayas (New Delhi: Rupa, 2002).K 232 Kauravas