Kālīkrama and Abhinavagupta : The Epistemological Ethos of a Tāntric Tradition

The Krama School of the Trika Œaivism of Kashmir, more familiar as KÀlÁkrama in the contemporary parlance, has turned out to be the most crucial among the monistic Œaiva traditions of medieval Kashmir after the PratyabhijðÀ school, a scenario people could hardly envisage six decades back when it first came to the notice of modern scholarship. The doctrine of KÀlÁkrama, lit. sequential order of consciousness deities called KÀlÁs, constitutes the most pivotal aspect of this school marked by a synchronous resonance between the esoteric/TÀntric and cognitive/metaphysical undercurrents of the system.