a desired end (ka ̄mya) are integral to the Tantras. The Svacchanda Tantra, for
example, describes rituals for the Sa ̄dhaka to attain the goals of causing the
death of enemies (maran.a), ruining his enemies (ucca ̄t.ana), the subjugation of
women (vas ́ikaran.a), the power of attraction (a ̄kas.an.a), and the tranquilising
of supernatural forces (s ́a ̄nti) (Sva TUd 9. 46. On these powers see Goudriaan
1978: 251–412) through the worship of a particular ferocious form of the god
Svacchanda called Kot.ara ̄ks.a or Aghorahr.daya (Sva TUd 9. 2). For example, the
destruction of enemies and subjugation of a desired woman are achieved
through establishing their names in a magical diagram (yantra), visualizing the
enemy or desired person, and repeating certain mantras (Sva T 9. 65c-70). These
kind of rites are an important part of the Tantras of the left often associated with
the cremation ground traditions.
Non-Saiddha ̄ntika S ́aivism
In contrast to the orthoprax S ́aiva Siddha ̄nta, the second major division of the
path of Mantras comprises the Bhairava Tantras and their various subdivisions.
These texts are concerned with the S ́aivas who worshipped a ferocious form
of S ́iva called Bhairava and which originated in ascetics groups living in crema-
tion grounds. These groups are generally known as Ka ̄pa ̄likas, the “skull-men,”
so called because, like the La ̄kula Pa ̄s ́upata, they carried a skull-topped staff
(khat.va ̄n.ga) and cranium begging bowl. Unlike the respectable brahmin house-
holder of the S ́aiva Siddha ̄nta or Sma ̄rta tradition, the Ka ̄pa ̄lika ascetic imitated
his ferocious deity, covered himself in the ashes from the cremation ground, and
propitiated his gods with the impure substances of blood, meat, alcohol, and
sexual fluids from intercourse unconstrained by caste restrictions (Sanderson
1985: 200–2). He thereby flaunted impurity rules and went against vedic
injunctions. His aim was power through evoking deities in the rites associated
with his particular system, especially ferocious goddesses. In Hindu drama the
Ka ̄pa ̄lika was often lampooned, but his continued existence, although in small
numbers, into the present in the form of the Aghorı ̄ ascetics of Banaras, bears
witness to the power of this tradition (Parry 1994: 251–710).
Within this broad purview of Ka ̄pa ̄lika S ́aivism or the S ́aivism of the left, a
number of distinct traditions developed during the early medieval period, espe-
cially the Kaula, Krama, and Trika traditions, which form part of the Kula
ensemble. These originated in cremation ground asceticism but became incor-
porated into householder life. As Sanderson has clearly demonstrated, while for
the Krama and Kaula there was no conformity to vedic ritual purity, for the Trika
there was some conformity for the householder, although transcendence of
vedic orthopraxy remained at the tradition’s esoteric heart where transcendence
is achieved through transgression (Sanderson 1995: 21–3). But in order to
understand the distance of these S ́aiva groups from the Siddha ̄nta let us look at
the Krama tradition first.
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