| Part ofa series on |
| Shaivism |
|---|
 |
Scriptures and texts |
Philosophy
|
Schools
Saiddhantika Non - Saiddhantika
|
 Hinduism portal |
TheKāpālika (Sanskrit : कापालिक)[1] tradition was aTantric, non-Puranic form ofShaivism which originated inmedieval India between the 4th and 8th century CE.[9] The word is derived from the Sanskrit termkapāla, meaning "skull", andkāpālika can be translated as the "skull-men" or "skull-bearers".[10]
The Kāpālikas were an extinct sect of Shaivite ascetics devoted to theHindu godShiva dating back to the 4th century CE, which traditionally carried a skull-topped trident (khaṭvāṅga) and an emptyhuman skull as a begging bowl.[12] Other attributes associated with Kāpālikas were that they revered the fierceBhairava form of Shiva by emulating his behavior, dress, and characteristics,[13] smeared their body with ashes from thecremation grounds,[14] wore their hair long andmatted,[15] and engaged in transgressive rituals such as sexual intercourse withlower-classwomen,human sacrifices, consumption ofmeat andalcoholic beverages, and offerings involving orgiastic sexuality and sexual fluids.[16]
According toDavid Lorenzen, there is a paucity of primary sources on the Kāpālikas,[1] and historical information about them is available from fictional works and other traditions who disparage them.[3][4][6] VariousIndian texts claim that the Kāpālikas drank liquor freely, both for ritual and as a matter of habit.[3] In the 7th century CE, theChinese Buddhistmonk and scholarHsüan Tsang wrote about the Kāpālikas twice in the travelogue of his journey to theIndian subcontinent (629–645 CE): in his first biographical account, he reportedly metIndian Buddhists living with naked ascetics who covered themselves with ashes and wore bone wreathes on their heads, but Hsüan Tsang does not call themKāpālikas or any particular name.[3] Historians ofIndian religions and scholars ofHindu studies have interpreted these ascetics variously as Kāpālikas,JainDigambara monks, orShaivite Pāshupatās.[3] In the same memoir, Hsüan Tsang retells of a doctrinal conflict between themedieval KingŚīlāditya I (r. 590–615 CE), a follower ofMahāyānaBuddhism and devotee to theNālandā monastery, and a group ofHīnayāna Buddhistmonks; the latter group are mocking him and theMahāyāna Vehicle as heretical by comparing them to the Kāpālikas:[17]
The Buddhist priests of this country all study theHīnayāna and do not have faith in theMahāyāna. They consider that it is [a doctrine only] of the "sky-flower" heretics, not the word ofthe Buddha. When they saw the King after his arrival, making fun of him, they said: "We have heard that the King has made bythe side of the Nālandā Monastery avihāra covered with brass plates, an extremely imposing and admirable work. Why did you not construct it in the monastery of the Kāpālika heretics or in some other [place like that]?" The King answered: "Why such words?" In reply, they said: "Because the Monastery of Nālandā with its "sky-flower" heretics is not different from those Kāpālikas".[17]
In his masterpieceYoga: Immortality and Freedom (1958), the Romanianhistorian of religion andUniversity of Chicago professorMircea Eliade remarks that the "Aghorīs are only the successors to a much older and widespread ascetic order, the Kāpālikas, or "wearers of skulls"."[6] The Kāpālikas were more of a monastic order, states Lorenzen, and not a sect with a textual doctrine.[3] The Kāpālika tradition gave rise to theKulamārga, a subsect of Tantric Shaivism which preserves some of the distinctive features of the Kāpālika tradition.[18] Several of the Kāpālika practices and symbols are found inVajrayānaBuddhism,[6] and scholars disagree over which tradition influenced the other.[19][20] Today, the Kāpālika tradition survives within its Shaivite offshoots: theAghorī order,Kaulā, andTrika traditions.[4][6] Inmedieval India, at least 24 sites of Shaivite pilgrimage venues for the Kāpālikas were listed in theHindu Tantras: among these, Mahākālapīṭha inAvanti (modern-dayUjjain) was a known Kāpālika stronghold, followed by the towns ofVārāṇasī,Tripurā,Khajuraho,Buvaneshvara, andShrīparvata.[20]
Mark S. G. Dyczkowski holds theGaha Sattasai, aPrakrit poem written byHāla (3rd to 4th century CE), to be one of the first extant literary references to an early Indian Kāpālika ascetic:
One of the earliest references to a Kāpālika is found in Hāla's Prakrit poem, theGāthāsaptaśati (third to fifth century A.D.) in a verse in which the poet describes a young female Kāpālikā who besmears herself with ashes from thefuneral pyre of her lover. Varāhamihira (c. 500-575) refers more than once to the Kāpālikas thus clearly establishing their existence in the sixth century. Indeed, from this time onwards references to Kāpālika ascetics become fairly commonplace inSanskrit ...[21]
The Act III ofPrabodha Chandrodaya, aSanskrit andMaharashtri Prakritplay written byKirttivarman's contemporary Shri Krishna Mishra (11th to 12th century), introduces a male Kāpālika ascetic and his consort,[6] a female Kāpālini,[6] disrupting a dispute on the "true religion" between amendicantBuddhist wanderer and aJainDigambara monk.[6][22] The latter ones, convinced by the Kāpālika couple to give up their vows tocelibacy andrenunciation by drinkingred wine and indulging in sensual pleasure withwomen, end up rejecting their former religions and convert toShaivism after having embraced the Kāpālika's faith inShivaBhairava as the Supreme God and his wifeParvati.[22]
| Deities |  | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Texts | |||||||||||
| Mantra/Stotra | |||||||||||
| Traditions | |||||||||||
| Festivals and observances | |||||||||||
| Shiva temples |
| ||||||||||
| Related topics | |||||||||||
