Publisher's Synopsis
Abhinavagupta, a leading figure in Kashmir Saivism is increasingly being recognized as one of the chief contributors to the evolution of Indian thought. In his encyclopedic work the Tantraloka light on the Tantra's, he describes the various tantras of his day and places at their apex the most extreme of them, the Kula ritual which proposes the use of wine and meat and intercourse with women of the lowest castes. In Abhinavagupta's esteem of the Kula ritual just the shadow side of genius an aberration best forgotten? This work is a translation, the first into English of any chapter of the Tantraloka of Abhinavagupta's version of the Kula ritual.
