Part 3.2 - Kula, Krama and Trika: Renovated Expressions

[Full title: (3) De-Saktisation through Interpretations (2) Kula, Krama and Trika: Renovated Expressions]  

De-Śāktisation process is focused on the entire transformation of the real identity of concepts and notions in the early Śakti-centred systems. Hence it is necessary to address the issue of advanced definitions of the former designations of Kula, Trika and Krama.

Kula 

According to earlier Kula doctrine, Kaulikīśakti or Kaulikīsiddhi was the ultimate power to be attained.

Note:

The main shift appeared in the system is the origin of the masculine counter-concept known as Akula, who always transcends all the powers. Akula or Śiva is the absolute without any manifestation and also is beyond differentiation which absolutely is opposite to the totality, group of energies and simply the cosmos-Śakti. 

Refer to Tantrāloka, III. 67:

अकुलस्यास्य देवस्य कुलप्रथनशालिनी ।
कौलिकी सा पराशक्तिरवियुक्तो यया प्रभुः ॥

akulasyāsya devasya kulaprathanaśālinī |
kaulikī sā parāśaktiraviyukto yayā prabhuḥ ||

See also Parātrīśikā, I. 2 and its Vivaraṇa as,

कुलस्य नायिका शरीरप्राणसुखादेः स्फुरत्तादायिनी... कुलं हि अकुलप्रकाशरूपमेव भवति ।

kulasya nāyikā śarīraprāṇasukhādeḥ sphurattādāyinī... kulaṃ hi akulaprakāśarūpameva bhavati |

But as an impact of the evolution, the concepts and notions related to the school of Kula have greatly changed and transformed into the masculine centred philosophy. The later teachers like Abhinavagupta define the term Kula in a complex manner. In accordance with the emphasis on the philosophical nature, K. C. Pandey elaborates twenty three ways by which the term Kula is defined. Kula sometimes indicates the whole subtle and gross manifestations in the universe. On the one hand it is addressed as the thing that shines in the form of consciousness while on the other, known as the rays and freedom of ultimate consciousness. Rarely Kula is mentioned as higher than the highest category. It is also used as synonymous to Ātman, entire manifestations of Bhairava, vital air, body, union of Śiva and Śakti, and sacred days. Kula is rarely termed as Saṃvid and as Piṇḍa the stratum to which all the manifested belongs in an undifferentiated mode.

However every one of these definitions reminds the real earliest meaning of Kula i.e., the clan of women or semi-divine practitioners. So. far from being a mere re-recovery of the systems, the present tendency degenerated the position of Śakti. The major arguments about the nature of Kula are the consideration as something beyond Śiva and Śakti, as the union of Śiva and Śakti and as the supreme consciousness. To be exact, the four-fold interpretation may be proposed as: a) Kula is gross, subtle, ulterior, life-breath, senses and five gross elements. These are postulated both in a collective sense and in the sense of cause effect; b) Related to psychic organs such as body, life breath and eightfold body; c) Highest sense of Jīvanmukti and d) Kaulikī-Kulajātā as the absolute who manifest in and as the world.^[1]

Anyhow these explanations never indicate the real meaning of Kula although they share some ambiguous philosophical ideas. K. C. Pandey views this as a confusing irregularity happened to the authors only because of they accepted the Agamas as such. Nonetheless this irregular way of presentation seems to be a necessary step preferred by the teachers, only by which they can reserve themselves without the complete refusal and the acceptance of the primal importance of Śakti concept.

Krama

Being the most popular term used to connote the entire doctrine, Krama is selected for an analysis about the shift happened to it. The real meaning of succession in this early Kaula system is related to none other than the twelve Kālīs, which act as the steps for the ultimate siddhi. Other popular meaning attributed to the notion is the thought system that teaches about the successive triad of creation, sustenance and dissolution. Later on, exactly following the Sp.Pra, the definitions turned out to the four-fold and five-fold functions. Consequently Krama is found expressed as the reality or awareness (samvid). Every process-whether it may be emanation, reflective awareness or cognition-undergoes a specific succession and it is nothing but the supreme awareness. This transforms the simple Krama into functionally and philosophically complicated one i.e., Mahākrama.

Mahārthamañjarīparimala explains it;

विश्वमयी संवित् भासते ।... सा वक्ष्यमाणवर्त्मानुगुण्येन सर्वथा क्रमभाजनं भवति । सैव महाक्रम इति नयविद्भिर्गीयते ।

viśvamayī saṃvit bhāsate |... sā vakṣyamāṇavartmānuguṇyena sarvathā kramabhājanaṃ bhavati | saiva mahākrama iti nayavidbhirgīyate |^[2]

With this definition, the circle of twelve Kālīs is described in a philosophical way. Navjivan Rastogi observes, 

Because the twelve Kālīs are the epistemic metaphysical-mystic transformation of the four-fold (or five-fold) functionalism with regard to the object, subject and means of knowing or the first three acts, in epistemic and cosmological settings respectively.^[3]

While describing the very term as Kālakrama (not as Kālīkrama), the feminine goddess is forsaken and the creative time which has potential to be the emergent reality of emanation is placed therein. In fact the multiple identities of Kālīs were reduced into the supreme single eternal principle.

As Rastogi again notably views;

“The sole underlying idea is to expatiate upon and account for the phenomenon of succession in our routine experiences ranging from the microcosmic level to the macrocosmic one, and also how the discrete units coming in a series flow from the non-dual supra-sequential source.”^[4]

The attempts are found to be grown rapidly to conjoin Krama with the monistic thought of Śaivism especially the logical epistemological theory. So that Krama is designated with the suffixes such as anupāyakrama, anuttarakrama, mahārthakrama and far ahead, Krama had been replaced by mahārtha. mahānaya and atinaya are termed as indicative of both Krama and Kula.

Trika 

In its earliest usage Trika has represented the triad of goddesses, which itself was a later development. This agreement of threefold arrangement has superimposed the triadic goddesses upon the Yoginī-the central attraction of early Kula system. It was actually necessary for the sustenance of the doctrine. 

In Judit Torzsok’s words,

Siddhayogeśvarīmata is in fact the result of the fusion of two opposite streams: one that attempts to subjugate and control impure focus related to the cult of eight mothers and another that mainly confirms to orthodox Hindu forms of purity adopting in its cult the orthodox goddess, Sarasvatī^[5]

So there is no doubt that the other meanings attached to the term are of course bear new characteristics. Such a shifted paradigm necessitated the new versions of Trika. 

The siddhis and early goddesses are classified into the triad in accordance with their qualities as their characters:

सिद्धिस्तु त्रिविधा ज्ञेया उत्तमाधममध्यमाः ।
अणिमादिगुणावाप्तिर्मौक्षश्चैवोत्तमा स्मृताः ॥

siddhistu trividhā jñeyā uttamādhamamadhyamāḥ |
aṇimādiguṇāvāptirmaukṣaścaivottamā smṛtāḥ ||

(Siddhayogeśvarīmata, XXIX. 8:)

Tantrasadbhāva for instance, classifies seven Yoginīs into three groups viz., sāttvika (heavenly Yoginīs), rājasa (Yakṣa Yoginīs) and tāmasa (rākṣasa Yoginīs). Whereas Tantrāloka speaks about a new triad, abheda, bheda and bhedābheda that corresponding to the pramātṛ, prameya and pramāṇa. This identification of early goddesses with the new epistemological triad, being a later process led the early texts to lean to get interpolated. As a result, passages indicating the new triads got included in the works like Mālinīvijayottaratantra and Jayadrathayāmala.^[6] In spite of these, the term ‘Trika’ in the modified meaning is appended with the newly emerged synthesized systems as Anuttaratrikakula.

Footnotes and references:

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[1]:

Tantrāloka, XXIX.

[2]:

Mahārthamañjarīparimala, p.179.

[3]:

Navjivan Rastogi, Krama Tantricism of Kashmir, p. 13. Subsequently he also argues, by quoting Cidgaganacandrikā (Cidgaganacandrikā), that the tryarthakrama is the proper context where the successive process of cosmic emergence and the trans-successive monistic principle take place. cf. Krama as the synthesis of bhoga and mokṣa.

[4]:

Ibid.,p. 14.

[5]:

This observation does not seem tenable for it is already observed by Trzsok herself that Siddhayogeśvarīmata is one among the earliest literary sources of Kula stream of Tantrism. And she does not speak about the intermixture of the Brāhmaṇic and Tantric materials as the interpolation done in relation with the de-Śāktisation.

[6]:

Aghorā, Ghorā and Ghoraghoratarā; Icchā, Jñāna and Kriyā; Śiva, Śakti and Nara etc are some of the new notions of Trika found in these works. This is an activity of appropriation which ultimately negates the difference between earlier and later characteristics of the principles.

Compare with the Parātriṃśikā, v. 3:

नरशक्तिशिवात्मकं हृदये या विनिधाय भासयेत् ।
प्रणमामि परां अनुत्तरां निजभासां प्रतिभां चमत्कृतिम् ॥

naraśaktiśivātmakaṃ hṛdaye yā vinidhāya bhāsayet |
praṇamāmi parāṃ anuttarāṃ nijabhāsāṃ pratibhāṃ camatkṛtim ||