Materials for the contemplation of the Twelve Kālīs, the most important and most ‘secret’ doctrine of the Krama lineage, collated in one place (and translated) for the first time online. (Translations by me unless otherwise noted.) For an overview of the Twelve Kālīs, read this post first. And please note, the materials presented below require the explication of a qualified ācārya to be fully understood. Here the translations alone are presented, for those who already have the necessary background to understand them.
Sṛṣṭikālī – The Kālī of Creation.
The Emanation of Objectivity.
First, [Consciousness] projects (kalayati) an entity or state entirely internally. ~ Abhinavagupta’s Tantrasāra
Sṛṣṭikālī - ‘She who articulates/ideates herself as [internal] emission [of an object of awareness].’ ~ sṛṣṭi of prameya
Tataś ca prāg iyaṁ śuddhā tathābhāsanasotsukā |
Sṛṣṭiṁ kalayate devī tannāmnāgama ucyate || Tantrāloka 4.148 ||
First, this pure [Awareness], endowed with this desire to manifest in that way (as a series of 12), that is, when this radiant Goddess (Kālasaṃkarṣaṇī) has the impulse to manifest an object, She ideates herself as [internal] emission (of an object or field of awareness). [Therefore] She is called by that name in scripture (that is, Sṛṣṭikālī - the ‘ideator of emission’). (after Sanderson)
ERAKA’s Krama-stotra:
kaulārṇavānanda-ghanormi-rūpām unmeṣa-meṣobhaya-bhājam antaḥ |
nilīyate nīla-kulālaye yā tāṃ ṣṛṣtikālīṃ satataṃ namāmi || 1 || (read līnakulālaye)
I constantly offer reverence to that Sṛṣṭikālī who is a wave of undifferentiated bliss in the ocean of the Goddess Clans (kaulārṇava), who contains internally—and enjoys—both the unfolding and dissolution [of all modes of experience], and who is merged in the ground of the Merged Totality.
Which means, the Parapramātṛ-rūpā Saṃvid devī, in the primal state of unmeṣa (appearance) of “Kaula”, i.e. the Śiva-samudra (ocean of Śiva) in the form of Parabodha (Supreme consciousness), is the Wave in the form of the first Spanda (vibration). The one who within her self-form ingests both unmeṣa (unfolding) and nimeṣa (disappearance). Also the devī who is situated as the commencing observation of pot-garment-etc., which is the prameya section, that Sṛṣṭikālī Bhagavatī is always lauded by me, i.e. my regulated pramātṛ daśā on being subordinated to Para-Saṃvitti is the entrance (Samāveśa) into that Para-svarupā. So ends the first expansion of Parā Devī, the description of sṛṣṭi daśā within prameya. ~ Śrī-krama-naya-pradīpikā
ABHINAVA’s Krama-stotra:
purā sṛṣṭir līnā hutavahamayī yātra vilaset
parollāsaunmukhyaṃ vrajati śaśi-saṃsparśa-subhagā |
hutāśendu-sphārobhaya-vibhava-bhāg bhairava-vibho
taveyaṃ sṛṣṭyākhyā mama manasi nityaṃ vilasatām || 15 ||
In the beginning, creativity (sṛṣṭi) is latent. It consists of subtle dancing fire in this [state of potential subjectivity]. Becoming eager to manifest ‘objectivity’, it is made beautiful by its contact with the ‘moon’. O omnipresent Bhairava, possessing the glorious powers of the expansion of both Fire and Moon, may your goddess called Sṛṣṭi always play in my mind!
2. Raktakālī – Red Kālī.
The Persistence of Objectivity.
Then, perceiving (kalayati) it as [if] something distinct from Herself, She becomes passionate (rakti-) towards that very entity. ~ AG’s TS
Raktakālī ~ “the impassioned perceiver (of an external object)” ~ sthiti of prameya
Tathā bhāsita-vastvaṁśa-rañjanāṁ sā bahirmukhī |
Svavṛtti-cakreṇa samaṁ tato’pi kalayanty alam || TĀ 4.149 ||
Sthitir eṣaiva bhāvasya . . .
When She is outwardly focused, that same Goddess (Kālasaṃkarṣaṇī) ideates the coloring of the objective aspect of that reality that has been manifested [by Sṛṣṭikālī], in harmony with the sphere (cakra) of Her own sense-activity (vṛtti), consisting of the perception of forms. It is this alone that constitutes the stasis of an object.
~ Then She extroverts herself fully (bahirmukhī) as Raktakālī by moving from pure subjectivity into the level of the means of knowledge, generating the awareness that She, and the full array of the faculties of Her cognition, are merging with, and being colored by, the sense data that compose the reality that has been manifest in this way. (A. Sanderson)
When she is outwardly focused, that same [Kālasaṃkarṣiṇī] is completely coloring herself with the object aspect of [that reality], which is manifested in harmony with the sphere of Her sense activities. This alone is the persistence of that objective reality. (Ben Williams)
So, She—the Supreme Consciousness who is only Knower or Subject--, becoming extroverted—resting on the state of pramāṇa or knowledge due to Her Freedom—by means of the group of Her own indriya-s (such as power of seeing, etc.), (gives) color to the portions of reality which have been (previously) manifested. After that--i.e. after the emergence of Sṛṣṭikālī--, She is exceedingly the One holding/carrying (kalayantī alam) the ‘sama’ or (wholly homogeneous) reality which has been emitted in the form of the universe (samam). (As a result,) She (eṣā eva) (becomes) maintenance (sthitiḥ) of the (multitude of) object(s) (bhāvasya): in this aspect, the Supreme Goddess is called Raktakālī, the Goddess of the maintenance of the universe. (G. Pradīpaka)
ERAKA’s Kramastotra:
mahā-vinodārpita-mātṛ-cakra- vīrendrakā-sṛg-rasa-pāna-saktām |
raktīkṛtāṃ ca pralayātyaye tāṃ namāmi viśvākṛti-rakta-kālīm || 2 ||
I offer reverence to that Raktakālī who appears as all things, who is reddened [with passion] when dissolution is [temporarily] paused, and who is fond of drinking the essence of the blood of tantric adepts who offer it with great joy to the Circle of Mothers! (Wallis)
Salutations to Rakta-kālī who appears as the universe. With the host of Siddhas and Yoginīs it is She who is fond of quaffing the blood-nectar of the subjective wheel which is offered to Her with excessive happiness when dissolution has totally disappeared! (SLJ)
So, the śloka given above means- Imbued with the bliss of śuddhavidyā of the nature of a miracle in the vinoda-daśā, the highest yogīs become absorbed in the yoginīs of the form of Karaṇeśvarī (Indriyas situated at the level of the face of interiority)- In this kind of Mahāsiddha-yoginī melāpa velā (The time of meeting of Mahāsiddhas and Yoginīs), when the highest yogīs and their Karaṇeśvarī devīs get united, in this state that Parā Pārameśvarī Saṃvit remains ready for Mahā-Pāna-Līlā (Great sport of drinking) in the great assembly of Siddhas and Yoginīs. ~ Śrī-krama-naya-pradīpikā
ABHINAVA’s Krama-stotra:
visṛṣṭe bhāvāṃśe bahir atiśayāsvāda-virase
yadā tatraiva tvaṃ bhajasi rabhasād raktimayatām |
tadā raktā devī tava sakala-bhāveṣu nanu māṃ
kriyād raktāpāna-krama-ghaṭita-goṣṭhī-gataghṛṇam || 16 ||
When the aspect of objectivity begins to lose its exquisite savor, since it appears to be an external creation, You become intensely impassioned (raktimaya-) in relation to it [in order to fully experience it]. When this has occurred, may Your Goddess Raktā, in all [possible] states, make me free from aversion (ghṛṇa) in the ecstatic gathering formed for the rite of drinking [your] blood-essence! (Wallis)
When the aspect of objectivity no longer has an exquisite savor given that it is externally emanated, You become intensely impassioned/colored by that. Then may your Goddess Raktā, in all states of existence, fill me with the warmth of the ecstatic gathering at the drinking party thrown by the Krama! (Ben Williams)
Once the aspect of (phenomenal) existence has been emitted externally and the most excellent (inner) savouring (āsvāda) (of consciousness has become) insipid, if You then assume with force the nature of attachment (rakti), You become the goddess Raktā in all Your emotive states (bhāva). May You indeed make me free from aversion (gataghṛṇa) in the assembly formed (to attend) the rite of drinking Raktā. (Mark D)
3. Sthitināśakālī – Kālī of the Destruction of Stasis.
The Withdrawal of Objectivity.
Then, wishing to reabsorb it within, She begins to internalize (kalayati) that very entity. ~ AG’s TS
Sthitināśakālī ~ She who articulates cessation of [the] stasis [of the object] ~ saṃhāra of prameya
. . . tām antarmukhatā-rasāt |
Sañjihīrṣuḥ sthiter nāśaṁ kalayantī nirucyate || TĀ 4.150 ||
In the next moment, She experiences the urge to withdraw that state of immersion in the object of perception, under the influence of the rapture (rasa) of the introversion that now emerges as Consciousness returns inwards in the knowledge that it is perceiving that object. Thus, since in this moment She is ideating (kalayantī) the cessation (nāśa) of the antecedent stability (sthiti), She is named accordingly, Sthitināśakālī. (Sanderson)
Intent on reabsorbing that [object] out of the intensity of her introversion, inasmuch as she is generating the dissolution of that persistence of the object she is thus semantically understood as Sthitināśakālī. (Ben Williams)
ERAKA’s Krama-stotra:
vāji-dvaya-svīkṛta-vāta-cakra- prakrānta-saṅghaṭṭa-gamāgama-sthām |
śucir yayāstaṃ gamitorciṣā tāṃ śāntāṃ namāmi sthiti-nāśa-kālīm || 3 ||
I bow to that tranquil Sthitināśakālī who is present in the coming and going [of the breaths], the union of which is set in motion by the wheel of the Prāṇa which has made that pair of horses its own. By her radiance, [limited notions of] purity dissolve. (Wallis)
I pay homage to that well appeased Sthitināśakālī who absorbs the destroyer. Established in the unifying center of the conscious and unconscious, which begins at the wheel of the life force (prāṇān), She makes Her own both the outward and inward breath (prāṇa apāna). By Her flame the pure light of subjective awareness sets on the horizon. (SLJ)
Which means, the pair of prāṇa (exhaled breath) and apāna (inhaled breath), in conjunction with the two impulses, has accepted the entire Vātacakra, i.e. the seventy-two thousand nāḍīs have been subordinated to it. In the entry and exit of the pair of prāṇa and apāna, i.e. the union of internal and external dvādaśānta within the ingoing and outgoing breath, is the union of prameya (the known) and pramāṇa (the knowledge) in the realm of pramātṛ (the knower). Situated within this union, the one who through her own radiance, has made “śuci”, meaning the limited pramātā, to set within the self-form, that Sthitināśakālī is void (śūnya) of the agitation of pramāṇa-prameya etc., or in other words is void of agitation of prāṇa-apāna etc., who being extremely quiet, the form of nirvikalpa, is lauded by me i.e. I enter into her. ~ Śrī-krama-naya-pradīpikā
ABHINAVA’s Krama-stotra:
bahir vṛttiṃ hātuṃ citi-bhuvam udārāṃ nivasituṃ
yadā bhāvābhedaṃ prathayasi vinaṣṭormi-capalaḥ |
sthiter nāśaṃ devī kalayati tadā sā tava vibho
sthiteḥ sāṃsārikyāḥ kalayatu vināśaṃ mama sadā || 17 ||
Bringing to an end the fluctuating waves of phenomena, You reveal the nonduality of all existence in order to dissolve external activities and abide in the noble ground of Awareness. O Lord, when that occurs your Goddess activates (kalayati) the destruction of stasis. May that Goddess [Sthitināśakālī] continually destroy my saṃsāric state. (Williams & Wallis)
4. Yamakālī – the Kālī of Inhibition.
The Nameless Ground of Objectivity.
And then She alternately creates and devours a hesitation that constitutes an obstacle to the absorption of that entity. ~ AG’s TS
Yamakālī ~ She who projects and withdraws restraint ~ anākhya of prameya
tato ’pi saṃhārarase pūrṇe vighnakarīṃ svayam |
śaṅkāṃ yamātmikāṃ bhāge sūte saṃharate ’pi ca || TĀ 4.151 ||
Then when the relish of reabsorption is at its height (pūrṇa), She spontaneously brings forth an obstacle on the side of her extroversion: an anxiety in the form of an [inner] barrier that she then dissolves. (Sanderson)
Then, just when the relish of withdrawal is at its height, She spontaneously brings forth on the side of Her extraversion an anxiety in the form of a ‘curb’ (yama) exercised on awareness by the world of Brahmanical observance that is on the very verge of being transcended at this point, and this creates an obstacle to this awakening for a moment. And then, on the side of Her introversion, She withdraws it again. This is why She is called Yamakālī, the ideator of the curb, and the remover of the curb. (Sanderson) ~ Yamakālī is the Kālī who ideates yamam (a curb).[1]
ERAKA’s Krama-stotra:
sarvārtha-saṅkarṣaṇa-saṃyamasya yamasya yantur jagato yamāya |
vapur mahāgrāsa-vilāsa-rāgāt saṅkarṣayantīṃ praṇamāmi kālīm || 4 ||
I offer reverence to Kālī who, out of passion for the divine play of Great Devouring, and for the sake of governing (yamāya) the world, is drawing to herself & resorbing (saṅkarṣa-) the form of Yama the Controller, who controls (saṃyama) the inexorable entropy (saṅkarṣaṇa) of all things. (Wallis)
I offer salutations to [Yama]kālī who assimilates [everything], since She loves the dance of devouring the form of the universe in order to master Death, the one who controls and regulates the dissolution of all objects. (Ben Williams)
I bow to the Kālī Who, out of passion for the joyful sport of the Great (feast of) Devouring (all things), drags/retracts (towards Herself and assimilates) (saṃkarṣayantī) the essential nature (vapus) of the subjugating restriction (yama) that restrains the withdrawal of all things in order to control the universe (jagato yamāya). / . . . (saṃkarṣayantī) the body of the universe in order to regulate (yama) the one who controls the restriction (yama) that restrains and draws all things (together to assimilate them). (Mark D.)
I salute Yamakālī, goddess of the great display and the great swallowing. It is She who attracts everything to Herself by extracting the essence of the ruler of Yama (thoughts) who is Himself ruling the withdrawal of everything. (SLJ)
. . . that limited pramātā which is the ruler of that vikalpa in the form of Yama – the self-forms of both these are brought about by Kālī devī through Mahāgrāsa and Mahāvilāsa, for her own ānanda-rasa-līlā through saṅkarṣaṇa (drawing together), for subduing the world. This Pārameśvarī Yamakālī is lauded by me, i.e. having dissolved the deha-pramātṛtā in that, I enter that Parāsvarūpa only. ~ Śrī-krama-naya-pradīpikā
ABHINAVA’s Krama-stotra:
Jagat-saṃhāreṇa praśamayitukāmaḥ svarabhasāt
svaśaṅkātaṅkākhyaṃ vidhim atha niṣedhaṃ prathayasi |
yamaṃ sṛṣṭvetthaṃ tvaṃ punar api ca śaṅkāṃ vidalayan
mahādevī seyaṃ mama bhava-bhayaṃ saṃdalayatām || 18 ||
Desiring intensely to quieten [everything] by dissolving the [mind-]world, You [first] project into awareness the injunctions and prohibitions [dictated by that world] known [to us] as the plague of self-doubt. Having created this barrier (yama), You once more crush this inhibition. May this great Goddess obliterate my fear of worldliness! (Wallis, after Sanderson)
Desiring to calm everything by powerfully dissolving the world, you manifest the [latent] injunctions and prohibitions [in awareness] that are one’s own anxiety and fear. And bringing forth an inner barrier, you then scatter that anxiety. May that great Goddess destroy my fear of worldly existence. (Ben Williams)
Continued in PART TWO
FOOTNOTE:
[1] According to Monier-Williams, the word ‘yama’ has a range of meanings, including: ‘m. a rein, curb, bridle, a charioteer, the act of checking or curbing, suppression, restraint, restraint of words (silence), self-control, any great moral rule or duty (as opposed to niyama, a minor observance); any rule or observance.’ ~ “It is also the name of the god of death, who judges the actions of the dead, consigning them their appropriate reward or punishment. In this context, ‘yama’ is the mistaken notion (vikalpa) that vacillates between right and wrong, restraining the person subject to it by the restrictions of moral law and regulations. In this, the fourth station of the cycle of perception, which is that of the inexplicable in the domain of objectivity, yama is the uncertainty of what is right and wrong, and as a consequence, what one should do.” ~ Mark Dyczkowski