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)

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‘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") Objectivity (prameya).

2. Stasis- (Sthitik#l") 4 powers: emergence, stasis,
dissolution, and their nameless
3. Dissolution- (Sa+h#rak#l")
ground
4. Passion- (Raktak#l")

5. Joyous- (Suk#l") Perception (pram!"a).

6. Beyond- (Yamak#l") 4 powers: emergence,
7. Deadly- (M(tyuk#l") stasis, dissolution, and
their nameless ground
8. Gracious- (Bhadrak#l")

9. Supreme Sun Ray- (Param#rk#) Subjectivity (pram!t#).

10. Sun- (M#rta%$" or M#rta%$ak#l") 4 powers: emergence,
11. Fire of Time- (k#l#gnirudrak#l") stasis, dissolution, and
12. Destroyer of Time (k#lak#l") their nameless ground

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)

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