Digital Ebook (PDF) — The Sanskrit Text with an English Introduction by Akshaya Kumara Maitra, Edited by Arthur Avalon
Text / Tradition: Kulacūḍāmaṇi Nigama (Kulachudamani Tantra, the "crest-jewel" of the Kulachara division of Tantra) | Edited by Arthur Avalon (Sir John Woodroffe), with an introduction by Akshaya Kumara Maitra, C.I.E. | Ganesh & Co. (Madras) Private Ltd., 1956
Key Features
The Kulachudamani Nigama — the "Crest-Jewel of the Kula" — is a rare and important early scripture of the Shakta-Kaula tradition, presented here in its Sanskrit text with an illuminating English introduction by Akshaya Kumara Maitra, prepared under the editorship of Arthur Avalon (Sir John Woodroffe). According to the Vamakeshvara Tantra, it is counted among the very chief of the works that deal with the worship of Shakti, and it is frequently cited as an authority throughout the tantric literature — a genuine jewel of the tradition made available here in a single volume.
The Kulachudamani is distinctive in its very form. Most tantric scriptures are Agamas, revealed by Shiva in answer to the questions of the Goddess; but this text is a Nigama — the reverse — in which the Shastra is revealed by the Devi herself, in her form as Bhairavi, in answer to the questions put to her by Shiva in his form as Bhairava. Fittingly, toward its close the Goddess addresses her lord with the words "Thou art the Guru of all the Tantras" — a profound expression of the non-dual unity of Shiva and Shakti at the heart of the teaching. The cover of this edition bears the sacred Dakshinakali Yantra, and the presiding deity of the text is Devi Dakshina Kalika.
Across its seven chapters (patalas), the Devi expounds the essence of her worship in colourful and often beautiful language. She reveals the methods (upaya) of attaining liberation which she declares to be the essence of all Tantras, and unfolds the disciplines of the Kula path — the sacred bathing that is "the vehicle of Kula happiness," the great attracting vidya, the rules of nyasa, the worship of the pithas, and the invocation of the Goddess as diffused throughout the body. The text belongs to Kulachara, the secret and most elevated division of tantric practice, concerned with uniting individual consciousness with the whole manifold universe through Shakti — a stage traditionally reserved for those who have graduated through the preceding stages of the path, and guarded with great care from the unworthy.
For the scholar of Sanskrit tantric literature, the devotee of Kali and the Divine Mother, the student of the Kaula and Shakta traditions, and the admirer of Arthur Avalon's monumental work, the Kulachudamani Nigama is an essential and treasured scripture — presented here in its Sanskrit text with a scholarly English introduction in a single volume.
Ebook Details
- Format: PDF (digital download)
- Language: Sanskrit text with an English introduction
- Text: Kulacūḍāmaṇi Nigama (crest-jewel of the Kulachara tradition)
- Editor: Arthur Avalon (Sir John Woodroffe); introduction by Akshaya Kumara Maitra, C.I.E.
- Publisher: Ganesh & Co. (Madras) Private Ltd., 1956
- Content: The complete Sanskrit text with scholarly English introduction, faithfully reproduced from the classic edition
- Ideal For: Scholars of Sanskrit tantric literature, devotees of Kali and the Divine Mother, students and practitioners of the Kaula and Shakta traditions, readers of Arthur Avalon / John Woodroffe, and collectors of rare tantric scriptures
Why You'll Love It
A rare "crest-jewel" of the Kaula tradition in a single download — the Sanskrit Kulachudamani Nigama with a scholarly English introduction, a distinctive Nigama in which the Goddess herself reveals the secret worship of the Kula to Shiva, an authority cited throughout the tantric literature, for the devotee and scholar alike.
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