The Cult of Khadgaravana

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Abstract

Edition and Translation of the Kriyakalagunottara. Possession is a condition that continues to be a fact of life in most South Asian contexts. The realities of physical and mental illnesses were fertile ground for texts with practical remedies in mind. There is a class of texts, known as Bhutatantras, that is solely concerned with curing possession and related illnesses. An allied genre, whose texts are known as Garudika is concerned with the classification of snakes, treatment of snakebite, and illnesses caused by other venomous creatures. The Kriyakalagunottara is an early Saiva text that combines the two genres. It is, in fact, the locus classicus of the Bhutatantra and Garudika genres. The text survives in a half-dozen Nepalese manuscripts and one partial manuscript held in Jammu. Its thirty-five chapters deal with everything from the warding off of snakes and scorpions to various techniques of combatting childhood and adult possession. In many ways, it is a cross between a religious and folk-medical text. (...)