tompkins - krama introduction

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Experiencing the Goddess as the Phases of One’s Own Awareness:

An Introduction to the Kashmirian Krama through the writings of

!r" N#ga

by Christopher Tompkins, © 2009.

The Ecstatic Poetry of the Krama Masters

The experience of rapture indicative of the state of living liberation ( j! vanmukti")is reverentially captured by several generations of Tantric masters belonging tothe !"kta lineage known as the Krama. Their revelations were expressed in

hymns (stotras) that praise the Goddess, Supreme Consciousness (Sa#

vit)Herself, as the highest reality in which one can become consciously and joyfullyimmersed. The Krama is perhaps unique to Tantric !aivism, and indeed to allother gnostic, non-dualistic schools of Hinduism in general, in that its poets,much like those of medieval Sufism, rather that deliberating on the means ofreaching enlightenment (ritual yoga, etc.), seek to encapsulate in their poetry theactual experience of blissful euphoria which characterizes their own enlightenedstate:

My mind, wounded by the frightful sword of craving, became impoverished as itforgot its own glory. Now, it has utterly nothing left whatsoever to possess and

reposes in a [state of] generosity that comes from experiencing the supreme thrillof self-awareness.--A Hymn on “Delighting in Awareness” by !r# N"ga (11th c.e.)

The Lineage of Krama Masters

The Krama lineage (see family tree, below) originates in the early 9th century with the revered Father of the tradition, Jñ#nanetra (ca. early 9th century,c.e.), also known as !iv"nanda, !ivan"tha, and $din"tha (“primeval Lord”). Heis said to have been initiated as the first Krama Master by a consortium of

Cremation Goddesses (Yogin#s) in U%%iy"&a, just north of Ka'mir near the border of Tibet. His official lineage extends over two and half centuries, down toSome'vara (ca. 12th centuries c.e.). As the first recognized guru of the lineage, itis Jñ"nanetra who originated the tradition of praising the Goddess throughhymns (stotras) with the composition of his K $lik $stotra, “The Hymn to K"l#.” Jñ"nanetra, his female disciple Key(rvat#, and Hrasvan"tha, author of the Hymnpresented in this volume, the Svabodhadayamañjar! are the only three Krama



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sudden immersion (sam$ve% ha) into the dynamic purity of consciousness(s$hasam$dhi"). Delighting in Awareness is an auto-biographical celebration ofN"ga’s experience of living liberation ( j! van-mukti), Having suffered like any oneof us, his testimony reveals a man who has discovered in himself what is thebirthright of all human beings to discover—that liberation is a living, realizable

state that floods through the very mind that seemed to trigger all of our suffering before.N"ga’s stunning, visual, and evocative poem is meant to be a great inspirationfor beings of all ages: as we hear his chanted song, revelling in the joyful cadenceof Self-discovery, a forgotten memory of the Self returns to us—we realize: ‘Heiss singing about me, about my own life, and about the Divine Power within me’which can and must be allowed to emerge through the very body, senses, andmind that connect us with all life.N"ga reveals that True Self-Recognition is gained not through laborious effortand hope for a better future, but in a sudden surge of Divine Nectar that can and

will flood through us here and now, in this body, through these senses, throughthese thoughts, when we stop controlling the mind and learn to melt into itssource, which lies behind, beyond, and inside of it. N"ga inspires us to truly‘Delight in our own Awareness,’ and to thus experience the timeless dissolutionof all separation, pain, and suffering.

-Christopher Tompkins, November 2008-March 2009.



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THE LINEAGE OF KRAMA GURUS

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Key$rvat" (a.k.a. Kak#radev"), Madanik# , and Kaly#%ik# 2

Eraka

Kramastotra

“Hymn to the Sequence [ofGoddesses]”

Naverakan#tha Govindar#ja Bh#nuka

Hrasvan#tha3 (a.k.a. V"mandatta ; early 10th century)

Svabodhadayamañjar! , Dvayasa# pattiv$rtika“The Flowering of One’s Own Awakening,”

“Fulfillment through [the experience of] Duality”

The P"&he'var"s of U%%iy"&a1

(Cremation Ground Goddesses)

Jñ#nanetra N#tha (ca. early 9th century)

(a.k.a. !iv"nanda, !ivan"tha)

K $lik $stotra“Hymn to K"l#”

Som#nanda U a a

Udbha&a

???



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Cakrabhanu(early-mid tenth century)

'r! p! thadv$da% ik $ (“[A hymn to] The Twelve

Enthroned, Resplendent Goddesses”) 5

Prabodhan#tha 6

(ca. late 10th to early 11th centuries) A&(ik $

(“Eight Verses [to the Goddess]”)

Jaiyaka

Pa(gu (a.k.a. Pa)kaka)

N#ga

(ca. mid-11th century)Param$rcanatri#% ik $, Cittasa#to&atri#% ik $

“30 Verses on the Greatest [Method] of Worship,”“30 Verses on Delighting in Awareness”

Som#nanda

'ivad)&(i“The Gaze of !iva”

Utpaladeva

*% varapratyabhijñ$k $rik $ “Verses on the Recognition of the Lord”

Lak)ma%agupta

Abhinavagupta 7 ca. 950-1025 c.e.

Kramakeli, Kramastotra“The Play of the Sequence [of Goddesses] ,”

“Hymn to the Sequence [of Goddesses]”

K)emar#ja 8 ca. early to late 11th century

'ivas+travimar% in! -commentary on the 'iva Sutra

Spandasa#doha-commentary on the Spanda K $rik $ One

Pratyabhijñ$h)dayam “Heart of Recognition”

Vijñ$nabhairava commentar (incom lete)



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Family Tree Notes

1.

North of Ka'hmir, on the border of Tibet. Another account has Jñ"nanetrainitiated solely by the Goddess Ma)gal".

2.

These three women are the collective disciples of Jñ"netra. Key(rvat# isconsistently recognized throughout the literature as the Matriarch of the Kramalineage.

3. Hrasvan#tha, a.k.a. V#mandatta, V"rav#ma%aka, V#manav"ra, and V"ran#tha, lived in the court of King Ya'akara, ca. early 10th century Ka'mir. He appears to be the son of Eraka and is the uncle of Cakrabhanu. It is claimed that he had five

or six disciples, including Cakrabhanu, his eventual successor.4. Cakrabhanu is one of fix or six disciple of his uncle, Hrasvan#tha. The names of

the others are unknown to us.

5.

The “twelve” Goddesses represent the twelve phases of awareness that arecelebrated and worshipped as manifestations of K"l# in the Krama scriptures.

6. The A&(ik $ was composed in 975 c.e.

7.

Only Abhinavagupta’s writings that show a particular affinity towards theKrama are listed here.

8. Only K*emar" ja’s writings that show a particular affinity towards the Krama are

listed here.

Ar%asi*ha(ca. late 11th century)

Mah$nayakprak $% a

“The Illumination [that comes] from”

Some'vara

!r"vatsa

Cidganacandrik $ (“The Moonlight within the

Sky of Consciousness”)



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