Kaul
Every question on the site tagged Kaul, each answered from a timestamped source rather than a summary written from memory.
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A Tantric tradition (Kaula marga) emphasizing internalized, non-ritualistic worship of Shakti.
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Ganpati and Kula Shakti first, then Kula Bhairava, then the 24 of the triangle
After the Sankalpa, light two ghee lamps for Ganesha and the family's Kula Shakti, then the Kula Bhairava coconut lamp, then the 24 triangle lamps one by one in a clockwise direction while reciting Deepdaan mantras or Dattatreya's name.
Why is Lord Dattatreya described as Smartagami, and what does that mean for the deepdan?
Smartagami means "attainable by mere remembrance" — Dattatreya, the Supreme Guru of the Kaula, Vaishnava, Shaiva, and Nath traditions, is said to become fully present wherever this Deepdaan is performed with sincere remembrance.
Why are Tantric practices like Mudra display and Patra Sadhana kept secret?
Tantra is inherently esoteric — numerous procedures, including the display of Mudras, are explicitly instructed to remain confidential, because uninitiated observers misinterpret and ridicule what they don't understand.
Kaula practitioners stay wholly secret, because a public that cannot grasp these states labels authentic practitioners, Brahmins and Tantriks hypocrites
Because a false belief spread that Tantrik practitioners never attain liberation and instead wander as spirits, genuine Kaula practitioners stay entirely secret to avoid ridicule and disdain from a public that cannot comprehend these high spiritual states.
Who should observe Aghor Amavasya and Mahavidya Tara Amavasya?
The speaker says this day is very important for everyone connected with the tantra sampradaya: those in the Nath Sampradaya parampara, the Kaula Sampradaya parampara, the Shakta parampara or any other parampara. He adds that it matters just as much for someone doing tantra-related kriyas on their own, without any guru parampara, and for anyone worshipping any mahashakti by the Tantrokta method, even if their vidhan is sattvik.
Self-styled Kaulas bar householders from even a lemon or clove offering while performing extreme rites themselves
Depending on how a subject is presented, one's mind can be swayed toward or against it — some who call themselves Kaula practitioners even prohibit ordinary householders from simple lemon or clove offerings while engaging in extreme practices themselves.
How can a genuine practitioner in any legitimate tradition liberate multiple generations, and why does sectarian criticism disqualify someone from this?
Scriptures state that an authentic Shakta, Kaula, Vaishnava, or Shaiva practitioner born into a lineage can liberate multiple generations — but this requires genuinely realizing the underlying unity of Hari and Hara, since criticizing other divine manifestations while claiming supremacy for one's own path shows a lack of true philosophical realization (Tattva Darshana).
Who is the Adi Guru worshipped across all authentic Shakta, Kaula, and Vaishnava lineages?
Lord Mahasiddha Dattatreya — the Adi Guru and first Guru of all sects, worshipped in his original form or an aspect/incarnation in every authentic lineage; if a tradition claims otherwise, it simply means their Guru never imparted that knowledge.
Which scriptures should be studied together for a correlated understanding of Tantra and the Puranas?
Mahakala Samhita should be paired with the Linga Mahapurana; the Mundamala Tantra with the Kalika Purana and Devi Bhagavata; the Yamala Tantras with relevant Vaishnava Puranas; and in Kubjika Tantra, the presiding manifest deity is associated with Devi Renuka, worshipped through Panchanga Vidya.
In what bhava are Radha and Krishna held?
Some serve Shri ji, Bhagavati or Krishna in dasya bhava, some in sakha bhava; some hold Bhagavati in the bhava of a sakhi; some in the form of a son, giving the affection due to a son. In the same way, the speaker says, we serve them in the form of guru and hold them to be Mahakaul: that Radha Rani is Shiva himself in that swaroop, and Bhagavan Krishna is the swaroop of Bhagavati Parvati, the swaroop of Bhagavati. In that swaroop we hold them as Mahakaul — so for us they became our Gurudev and Guru Maa.
Why does the teacher discuss this openly instead of keeping it for eligible sadhikas only?
Because those who are Kaul and Shakta sadhaks know that there are subjects which cannot be said publicly — and even on true subjects people make negative comments, which makes a strange situation and spoils the mind, so it is better to tell them to whoever is eligible and authorised. But here that is not possible; he is saying it publicly so that the sadhikas, the mothers who perform sadhana, may obtain the benefit. Whoever wants to say what may say it and carry his sins upon their own head; it makes no difference to him.
Follow the Vaishnava rule inside the Vaishnava parampara if you must — but in the devi parampara, under a Kaul or Shakta guru, do not cook a khichdi.
If you must follow the Vaishnava parampara and in it there is that it is not done at night — although, he adds, it is done at night — then follow it there. But if you are in the devi parampara, and if your guruji is a Kaul sadhak, is in the Shakta, then do not cook a khichdi.
What harm do garlic and onion do in sadhana?
They increase heat, he says: there will be pain in the waist, pain in the stomach, pain in the liver — he notes he said liver pain, not labour pain. So there is difficulty. And the greatest difficulty from garlic and onion is that tamasik vritti certainly increases. The state of swapna dosha increases much more in men. The more heat there is, that much more difficulty; the process of spandan above the Muladhara begins to happen in such a way that a man cannot understand it. So garlic and onion do harm; garlic and onion should be given up.
Their prayoga kaal is the Aghor Navratri around this Chaturdashi and Amavasya, when Shakta and Kaul tantrics complete their sadhanas at Tarapith and Tarachandi.
The prayoga kaal for them falls on precisely this Aghor Chaturdashi, Tara Chaturdashi, Amavasya and so on. The Chaturdashi and the navratra around it are also called the Aghor Navratri, which has already begun; in Bengal especially at Tarapith, and at Tarachandi in Bihar, Shakta and Kaul tantrics complete their sadhanas within these nine days.
Why do Kaul and Shakta sadhaks wear ornaments in the jata?
Not merely to adorn themselves. However many sadhaks of the Kaul sampradaya there are, you will see that they wear ornaments and the like upon their jata as well; sadhaks of the Shakta sampradaya also adorn themselves. But that ornament was never merely for adorning, nor is it only that even now — siddhis of many kinds are held within the jata.
Why does a goddess present from beginningless time have a Jayanti at all?
Because it is said she arose in a portion — one Kala of her thousand, that much of a portion descended, and she divided even that into three parts. She is in fact divided into nine; the remaining six of that thousandth part are not generally known.
Is a wife or lover the Devi's direct form, as the Kaul marga claims?
He gives as an example the nautanki running among sadhaks of the Kaul marga who bring up repeatedly that whether in Navratri or at any other time, if you have a wife or a lover then she is the Devi's own direct form; so if she says she wants the pleasure of the bed at that time, you should give it, since the Devi is saying it. What lowness could be greater than this, he asks. A person committing such wrongdoing, doing sadhana in Navratri with such a base mentality, whether by night or by day — if he is not punished, what else will he get?
What is given importance in tantra — and are there only two paramparas?
After the age of fourteen or fifteen, whether a man or a woman, importance in tantra has been given to bhavas, the speaker says. There is the Kaul parampara, called the Vamamargi parampara, and the Dakshinamargi parampara — but you should know that the parampara is not only this much. The acharas of which you hear, Dakshinachar and Vamachar, have been classified, and in that classification importance is given to the bhavas.
What are the three bhavas, and what is pashu bhav?
Three kinds of bhav have been spoken of: pashu bhav, veer bhav, and divya bhav. In pashu bhav the state of a sadhak is the state up to fifteen years of age — because up to fifteen years there is not very much kaam bhav in the body, nor do you know how to be very envious of anyone, nor do you know right from wrong; in a manner of speaking you have no knowledge of worldly affairs, and so the state up to fifteen years is called pashu bhav.
Which paths are held to belong to pashu bhav?
In that very state of pashu bhav, according to the Kaul parampara, the Vaidik paddhati has been held; the Vaishnav parampara has been held, the Shaiv parampara has been held, and Dakshinachar has been held. All these four acharas have been placed in pashu bhav, the speaker says, because the person situated in that bhav has no kamanas within him — what desire would there be up to the age of fifteen? No particular desire, so it was held.
Who reaches that principal pind, and can ordinary people go?
On the other side of the Nilanchal parvat, and in its north-eastern part, when you go towards the Kadali van, there you will find the principal pind, where the entry of ordinary persons is forbidden even today, the speaker says — so many misconceptions have been spread that nobody is able to go there. Sadhaks served in the Kula paramparas reach that far and perform darshan and pujan. The principal thing, he says, has somewhere been kept secret even now.
What does a proper guru have a disciple do first in the Kaul or Shakta marga?
Whenever you do the seva of any Shakti Peeth, or whenever you receive the deeksha of any shakti, the speaker says, the properly traditional gurus — go into the Kaul marg, go into the Shakta marg — first of all have you do, after guru sadhana, the sadhana of Bhairav ji. In Bhairav sadhana such capacity and such experience are obtained that afterwards, when women come before you, your bhav will simply be different; in the traditional way your bhav before everyone will be different.
Can sadhana succeed without remaining a brahmachari, as the new manmukhi panths claim?
One who does not properly know the chakra pujan can say anything at all, the speaker says. Nowadays a manmukhi vidhan is running, in which anything can go. Just as the Vaidik vidhan has its own importance, so the Kaul and the Shakta have their own; you may tamper with it and make up anything of your own. A new parampara is being formed nowadays — mukta panth, this panth, that panth — and in it people are even saying that you may do sadhana and puja without remaining a brahmachari and your gati will still occur. A person should never tamper with it, he says.
Where can the deeksha of Mata Kamakhya be obtained?
By all means take the information properly from some sadhak of the Shakti Peeth and take deeksha, the speaker answers. Take deeksha in the Kaul marg and do it — only then will it be correct.
Does a janeu-wearing Brahmin cease to be a Brahmin on taking deeksha in the Kaul marg?
Asked whether a janeu-wearing Brahmin, on being initiated in the Kaul marg, is finished as a Brahmin on account of Panchamakara, the speaker exclaims and then answers: now tell me, who is a greater Brahmin than Bhagwan Rishi Vashishtha and Mata Arundhati? And Bhagwan Guru Vashishtha attained siddhi by worshipping Bhagavati Tara by the Vamachara paddhati. What more, he asks, is to be said than this.
Can a Gayatri anushthan be done after using Panchamakara?
When you are initiated in the Kaul parampara, the speaker tells the questioner, at present you are doing Gayatri; there, according to the Kaul parampara, the Gayatri relating to that in which you are initiated is given to you.
The deva shaktis give samarthya of wealth, strength, fame and position, and with it the vivek to judge what is permanent.
The deva shaktis take a very stiff examination at this stage, he says. They will give you samarthya — of wealth, of strength, of fame, of position. And along with samarthya they will give one more thing: the vivek, the capacity to analyse whether what is coming into your life is permanent or not. If you misuse that vivek — you understand that these lovers who have come into your life have come to deceive, but you think, what is to be done, let us take the pleasure — then take the pleasure. From the decay that pleasure brings you will afterwards get paramananda, and then you will not have to search for that ananda anywhere; you may sit and enjoy it.
Who is worshipped in the principal kaul pujan, and is she changed?
In the sadhanas that take place on the kaul marga, he says — not naming the pujan and asking listeners to relate it themselves — in that principal pujan it is not one's own wedded wife who is worshipped; in her place the other, who is a yogini, in the Bhairavi form, is worshipped. But keep one more thing in mind: she is not changed again and again. She will be one. Whoever she is in life, she will be one alone. The right to change repeatedly is not obtained by everyone; by a guru's adesh that subject is different, and to go that far up is the punya of many births.
It gives the common rules for ordinary householders, not for the Shakta and Kaul parampara
A video on Sutak-patak has been put out today, he says; everyone should listen to it, because this question comes again and again — what the rules will be for those who are jaswala, and what rules apply when someone's death or birth has occurred. He states the common rules there. Now nobody should comment that we are Shakta, we are Kaul, and that at the time of death and birth there is a vidhan of japa in the sutika griha itself: then that video is not for you, and you should certainly do japa according to your own parampara, in which there is no restriction. The rules discussed are those for ordinary grihasthas, so that no confusion remains and they can set their sadhana, asana and mala in order after sutak-patak.
Sadhana done during Ambubachi becomes infallible: the greatest festival for Kaul and Shakta sadhaks
The speaker says that whatever mantra Purashcharana or anushthan a sadhak does in the four days of Ambubachi, whatever extra japa and Havan, whatever attempt at reciting a Kavach and gaining its siddhi, Bhagavati makes it amogha, infallible. For every sadhak in the whole Kaula Sampradaya and Shakta community, he says, this is the greatest festival period, and it is said to carry thousands of times the merit of even Navratri.
Sadhaks of the Kaul and Ghor sampradaya do sadhana nightly on the parikrama path below Kamakhya
The path that goes down leads towards Bhairavi — Bhagavati Bhairavi and Ma Dhuma — and it is the parikrama path. On the parikrama path, the speaker says, sadhaks of the Kaul or Ghor sampradaya are seen doing sadhana for Bhagavati; for as many days as they themselves stayed, these sadhaks were stopping there every day and performing sadhana. The footage is of the night time.
Other mazhabs promise apsaras after death; in Sanatan they are obtainable while alive
He refers to a video that went viral of the chief acharya of the Kaulantak Shakti Peeth in our Sanatan culture, in which the acharya said a very good thing, and which he says listeners will relate to: that in the other mazhabs that have been made, it is said that you should do karma in this birth and after death you will get apsaras in heaven — seventy-two kinds, as you will understand. But Sanatan culture alone is such that in it, it is said that while living you can do such sadhanas that apsaras may come to you upon the earth, may come for you.
The Kaul sampradaya states its panchamakar openly instead of doing two kinds of work at once
He says he sees people connected with the Gayatri Parivar who, while eating meat, will still ask whether they may touch him, and who answer that nothing has been forbidden about eating. He asks how people, being Brahmins, do acts of this kind, and says he does not know what those people are taught. Better than that, he says, is at least the Kaul sampradaya, where they do say openly, yes brother, we will advance by eating meat, my panchamakar is such — they say it thumping their chest and go forward, and there you cannot call them wrong. Here people are doing two kinds of work at once.
How did high shaktis come to be installed against epidemics?
Speaking of what spreads in the form of a mahamari in different places, he says that for their shanti the sadhaks of that time laboured very hard — whether Kaul sadhaks, or sadhaks of the Nath sampraday, or upasaks of Bhagwan Datta. So in place after place such shaktis were established, which were shaktis of a high order, and in the course of time they became worshipped by society. Those who came to be worshipped were then accepted in the form of Bhavani; the name of Bhavani was given to them, the word Bhavani was attached before their name, and they became worshipped.
Why do people go to whoever looks most like a tantric?
What happens here, he says, is that whoever makes his outward dress look like a tantric — wearing a mundmala, wearing kade of different kinds, of which there are very many types — and whoever puts on more of a show of himself, doing havan in the shamshan, doing masanik kriyas, will look to you like a real tantric. They will talk of a hundred sadhanas, and then you will go to them and get initiated, or wish to receive diksha from them.
Under what circumstances are such herbs administered at all?
One who can do it without any intoxicant is a separate subject, the speaker says; but in hatha yoga, and for attaining certain particular states which are not coming about by ordinary practice, it is then that consumption of it is administered there by the guru. Now in the Kaul parampara and in all these, he adds, this whole subject becomes somewhat apart — and since mothers and sisters are listening too, he avoids these subjects a little, and will tell them some other time.
What do Kaul and Shakta sadhaks do with the moonj janeu on Bhadrapada Amavasya?
Just as at Hal Shashthi the gramin bhagatvaals give their disciples all the things that come by upadesh, so on the day of the Bhadrapada Amavasya those sadhaks in particular of a Kaul parampara or a Shakta parampara who now wish it — whatever siddhis related to the ang vidyas they hold, or upadeshatmak siddhis — either renounce them through this very moonj janeu, or bestow them on some fit disciple of theirs.
How should one seek diksha in the Kaul marga, in the Kali kula?
Vishal Bharti ji wishes to go into the Kaul marga. Then, he says, stay in the contact of some good sadhak related to the Shakta sampradaya, or at whichever Shakti Peeths there are, learn the vidhi-vidhan, examine and see how far they can go with you, or whether you are suited to them and they to you — having seen all this, then do it.
The motion runs upward for moksha, and the Kaul-Shakta view takes the downward
Two kinds of motion have been held: upward and downward. When it goes upward, the path of our moksha is formed. In the Kaul, Shakta and the like, the downward too has been held to give moksha; bhoga has been shown above moksha. But when one is a householder and is walking on a path of sadhana of this kind, then for him it has been said that all these things happen only because of the chemicals being made inside the body, in our brain, the chemical changes taking place, the hormones being made.
Dattatreya as the guru-swarup accepted across all paths
For one who wants to go further still, the speaker says what he would recommend as best is the sadhana of Bhagwan Dattatreya, because he is the samyak swarup of Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh; the sadhaks of every path, Shakta, Kaula Sampradaya, Shaiv or Vaishnav, accept him, and he has full importance in every panth and sampradaya. Whatever swarup one follows, Dattatreya integrates into it, and if his kripa is obtained one gets a Guru in physical form too, advances on the spiritual path, and receives the kripa of the Guru Mandala. One may take refuge in his swarup, or, if not that, take one of the Navnath.
Not a set of practices but a state — every word mantric, every act beneficial: kaulat parataram nahi
Kaulacara is described not as a set of practices but as a state of realization in which the practitioner becomes fully identified with their ishta devata — every word carrying mantric potency, every action naturally beneficial — with tantra shastras declaring "kaulat parataram nahi": nothing exists beyond the Kaula state.
Immaturity, instability or an appetite for power brings a swift fall; real attainment takes lifetimes of preparation
The author warns that those who enter the Kaula path driven by immaturity, emotional instability, or a desire for power — or who mistake it as license to indulge their desires — tend to fall spiritually, often swiftly and disastrously, and that real attainment of this state takes preparation across many lifetimes.
Why did Shiva give the Agama vidhans?
It is for exactly that reason, he says, that Bhagavan Shiva somewhere provided the vidhans stated in the Agama. All the many different panths and sampradayas that arose are themselves divisions within the Agama.
Who is called Mahakaul in the tantra kshetra?
If you know anything at all of the Kaul marga, he says, you will know that Bhagavan Shri Krishna has been called Mahakaul, and Bhagavan Shri Hanuman ji too comes among the Mahakauls. Just as among the nitya upasakas of Bhagavati Shri Vidya you will know of Indra Dev, Varuna Dev, Kuber Dev, Maharshi Agastya Muni and Bhagavati Lopamudra, so among the Mahakauls, those who daily perform the upasana of the maha forms of Bhagavati are Bhagavan Shri Krishna Chandra ji Maharaj and Bhagavan Shri Hanuman ji.
A twelve-year dacoity case ended after one trikon, in an account of a disciple of Kinaram Baba
He recalls a post he will put up, of a story he cannot recall correctly — it was of the disciple of Kinaram Baba, of Bhagavan Ram, or perhaps of Vishal Baba, one of the two — in which someone had a case of dacoity or something running against him for twelve years, and only one trikon was performed, and in that single trikon everything was done. It could have run another twelve years, he says, but by performing the trikon the prarabdha was destroyed at once, because its fruit is immediate.
Which is superior, Dakshinachara or Kaulachara?
The speaker answers the question with a question of his own: which is superior, gulab jamun or kala jamun?
In their kula guru parampara Bhagavan Shri Krishna, as Narayan, is the greatest kaul
The speaker says that in the sampraday to which they belong — Bhagavati Vindhyavasini Mahadurga being in their region — and in their kula guru parampara, Bhagavan Shri Krishna himself has been held to be the Mahakaul. There is no kaul above him; he has been called the Mahakaul. And the whole definition of Shakta, that in the middle of the assembly there is the Vaishnav form, has been taken from Narayan himself. There is no greater kaul than Narayan, who at different times performed the param siddhi of the Dus Mahavidyas. It is these whom they hold to be the Param Guru — that is, our guru is in the very form of Narayan.
Is Lankini only a rakshasi?
The speaker asks in what form Bhagavati Lankini was established in Lanka, and why she said nothing before Hanuman ji, how she let him enter. Lankini is not only a rakshasi: Mai too is there in a Lankini form. Recite the Sahasranama and you will find the Lankini form there to read — and you will say that this is the name of Lankini the rakshasi. But in the Sahasranama, he says, "mutra sudhani" is also written: that is, the place where mal and mutra are, in that place too is a form of Jagadamba. Nothing has been left out anywhere. This is Kaul, he says; this is the truth, and there is much to be known.
Can a sadhak who is a Shudra perform the Chandi path?
The speaker says: leave the word brahman aside — people are troubled by the name of brahman these days. If a sadhak, even if he is a Shudra, is kaul-dikshit — and in kaul there is no varna description — and he recites Bhagavati Chandika very well, or if any sadhak at all is reciting, and you are there, then it is done.
How an unmarried girl gets her kul shakti's blessing for sadhana without doing the puja herself
The speaker says that when an unmarried girl wants to begin sadhana, her father prays and does the Kul Shakti puja for her while she sits with folded hands and prays; if she knows who her kul's shaktis are she may light a single lamp for them, but must not do the whole puja arrangement. In some places, he says, unmarried girls are barred even from entering where the kul devata is worshipped. Because a kanya's energy is very important in tantra, and the Kaul path especially honours her as the direct form of shakti, she has her father, elder brother or younger brother do whatever puja she wants at the kul shakti's sthan, handing them the flowers and items to offer, and they do it in her name, asking the shaktis to protect and bless the daughter of the lineage who wishes to do sadhana. She must not offer Bhog or do the puja with her own hand, especially where a chauka or than is made and the Kuldevi is jagrit.
What does the beej mantra of Kamakhya contain?
He says a friction of the mantra takes place. In the beej mantra there are ta, ra and the long ee. Ta is for Bhagavati Tara; ra is of Agni; ee is directly of the Mahashakti. So consider, he says: Bhagavati Tara, and that too in the form of fire, and that too together with Mahamaya — which is why it has been held to be a trikonatmak shakti. In the Kaul parampara the chief mahapujan too takes the trikon in just this manner.
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