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The Problem of Kuṇḍalinī in the Context of Yogic Aspects of the Bengali Tantric Vaiṣṇava (Sahajiyā) Tradition

Issue: Vol 12 No. 2 (2018)

Subject Areas: Religious Studies Buddhist Studies Islamic Studies

Abstract:

This article investigates the possible existence of the concept of kuṇḍalinī in medieval Bengali Tantric Vaiṣṇava Sahajiyā tradition. Various source materials from Vaiṣṇava Sahajiyā literature which might refer to the popular Tantric concept kuṇḍalinī are esoteric and very obscure. Nevertheless, the concept of kuṇḍalinī probably was not completely absent from Eastern Indian Tantric Vaiṣṇava sources, though it was not very prominent and did not play as crucial a role as in many Śaiva-Śākta traditions. It functioned more on a structural level, for example, the 'crooked river' (baṅka nāḍī) from the Yogic subtle body physiology of the Vaiṣṇava Sahajiyās might be viewed as an equivalent of the kuṇḍalinī concept. Other possibilities are also critically analysed, particularly the figure of Gandhakāli as suggested by P. Dāsa.

Author: Robert Czyżykowski

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