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This is in reply to Sri.Sankar Viswanathan's question about the Srikula and

Kaalikula of worship. The Saktha sampradaya of worship of the mother has

different schools within it. Each school has its own texts, philosophical

disposition, lineage of gurus and peculiar ritualistic practices. They all

essentially worship the feminine form of the divine as maa.

 

They can be classified in several ways -

 

1. Based on which guna is more prominent in the worship - satwik, rajasik or

tamasik

 

2. Based on the scripural texts followed - samayachara, kaulachara

 

3. On Regional basis - Purvamnaya, Dakshinamnaya, Paschimamnaya, Uttaramnaya

 

4. Baed on the guru parampara - hayagriva, anandabhairava etc.

 

It can be said in a broad sense that the worship of Lalitha Tripurasundari or

Srikula is more satwik in nature and that of Kaali more rajasik. This difference

is only external and only relevent in the present day practices. There are of

course the rajasik mode of worship of Tripura following the kaulachara and also

satwik form of worship of Kaali following the samayachara. The mode of worship

is chosen based on which guna is more prominent in the Sadhak.

 

The samayachara is based on the agamas and the kaulachara is based on the

tantras. The samayachara is satwik and non violent in nature whereas the

kaulachara is mostly more intense and 'violent' often involving the

panchamakarasadhana (matsya, mamsa, madira, maithuna and mudra). The Samayachara

is generally prescribed for the householder whereas the kaulachara is for the

sadhak who is more advanced and has achieved very good control over his body and

mind.

 

One can easily make out from the forms of Srividya(Lalitha) and Kaali or their

dhyana slokas the essential differences in their nature. There are also tamasik

forms of the goddess such as raktachamundi, rakteswari and yakshini.

 

Once again, it is not true that Tripura is always worshipped in the satwik way.

In Kadi Vidya it is Satwik, in Hadividya it is rajasik and in Sadividya it is

tamasik. She is called the 'Kaulamargatatparasevitha'(worshipped by those

following the kaula sampradaya). The same applies to Kaali also where she is

worshipped in a non violent manner substituting the animal sacrifice with

pumpkin and offering matsya, mamsa, blood etc., symbolically in colour, shape

etc. alone.

 

In astrology, when a devaprasna is carried out to ascertain the presence of a

deity, the same planet (eg:- kuja) in a feminine satwik rasi represents the

satwik form of goddess such as durga, in a rajasik rasi represents the rajasik

form such as kaali and in a tamasik rasi represents the tamasik form such as

raktachamundi. This once again confirms that the difference is only in which

guna is more prominent.

 

As far as the technicalities of the mode of worship are concerened, it is not

within the scope of a mail as it is a very elaborate subject.