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The ’12 K!l"s’ of the Krama Lineage The first three generations of KRAMA Masters. I. Jñ!nanetra (fl. ca. 850-900) Lineage founder !r" !ri Jñ#nanetra (‘Eye of Wisdom,’) was initiated in an ecstatic revelation by K#l" and her 12 ‘Cremation Ground Goddesses’ (P!"he#war!s, otherwise known as Yogin!s or K$l!s), in a cremation ground in O$$iy#%a, a region just north of Ka&hmir. He laid the foundation for a powerful, internalized, form of K#l" worship in which the 12 goddess were envisioned as the natural phases of time and awareness itself (see below). II. Key#ravat" (fl. ca. 875-925 AD) Of his 17 known disciples, Jñ#nanetra bestowed the office of lineage holder onto three of his female pupils:

• $r" Key#ravat" (‘The One Imbued with the Coiled [Power]’) • $r" Anik! (‘The Impassioned One’) • $r" Kaly!%ik! (‘The Kind-Hearted One’)

Regarding Key#rvat", we know that she was highly regarded by future Krama masters— *Ar%asi&ha (fl. 1025-1075 AD) called her the embodiment of the ‘highest wisdom of the cremation ground Goddesses’ that initiated Jñ#nanetra (p!"hajajñ$nap$rag$)1 *An anonymous source reports—“I give honor to Key#rvat", that famous goddess of a woman who lived without a home. It is said that because of the flood [of immortal nectar] triggered from repeatedly fixing her inner gaze in the sky of [pure] consciousness, she radiated an effulgence that came from constantly identifying the entire universe as one with her very Self.”2

III. Eraka (fl. ca. 900-950 AD) *co-disciple of the 3 women masters: Key'ravat", Anik#, and Kaly#%ik#

*author of the beloved Kramastotra (‘Praise to the Sequence’ of Internal Goddesses)

1 Mah$nayaprak$#a 154 (‘Light on the Great Way’) 2 Quoted by Jayaratha in his commentary to Tantr$loka 4.173ab.

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KRAMA definitions of K#l" mah!k!l"ti sa&jñ! s! p!ramparyakramodit! | sad-asad-tyakta-sadbh!v! param!nanda-nandin" || “She is called the ‘Great Annihilator (Mah$k$l!),’ because She continually perpetuates the stages of existence in an endless succession. [Yet] her true nature, which is beyond the categories of Being and Non-Being, is the ecstatic delight of unimaginable bliss.” -- !hr" !hr" Jñ#nanetra, from his K$lik$kulapañca#atik$ 5.18 3 k!l"& mah!k!lam ala&grasant"& vande hy acinty!m anil!nal!bh!m ||

“Praise be to K#l", who devours up the great cycles of time. She is inconceivable, indestructible, and unattainable.” --KRAMA master !hr" Eraka from his Kramastotra. Eraka was jointly initiated by k!l"ti k'(%!pi | --“‘K#l"’ just means Dark One.” (Jayaratha, Tantr$loka commentary)

3 ‘500 Verses on [Worshipping the Internalized] Group of K#l"s.’ The K$lik$kulapañca#atik$ is considered to be one of the few core scriptures of the KRAMA,

and one of only 3 attributed directly to Jñ#nanetra. For more on Jñ#nanetra and the place of the KRAMA lineage in the evolution of Tantric Shaivism, see the ‘Intro to Tantra’ handout from week one.

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The 12 K#l"s.

*drawn by CT from the un-translated K$lik$kulapañca#atik$ (‘500 Verses on the Retinue of K#l"’) of !r" Jñ#nanetra

1. Creation- (S()*ik#l") 2. Stasis- (Sthitik#l") 3. Dissolution- (Sa+h#rak#l") 4. Passion- (Raktak#l")

5. Joyous- (Suk#l") 6. Beyond- (Yamak#l") 7. Deadly- (M(tyuk#l") 8. Gracious- (Bhadrak#l")

9. Supreme Sun Ray- (Param#rk#) 10. Sun- (M#rta%$" or M#rta%$ak#l") 11. Fire of Time- (k#l#gnirudrak#l") 12. Destroyer of Time (k#lak#l") 13. Mah#k#l" (‘Great Annihilator,’) a.k.a. the ‘Nameless Ground (an$khy$), a.k.a. ‘Mah#bhairava-ca%$ogra-ghora-k#l"’ Here, K#l" re-absorbs into herself the delimiting states of— ca%)ogra = prameya (objectivity) ghora = pram#%a (perceptuality) Mah!bhairava = pram#t( (subjectivity)

Objectivity (prameya).

4 powers: emergence, stasis, dissolution, and their nameless

ground

Perception (pram!"a).

4 powers: emergence, stasis, dissolution, and their nameless ground

Subjectivity (pram!t#).

4 powers: emergence, stasis, dissolution, and their nameless ground

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