Kularnava Tantra: The 64 Yoginis and 64 Bhairavas
Among the Kaula scriptures, the Kularnava Tantra stands out for giving us one of the clearest insights into the mysterious connection between the 64 Yoginis and the 64 Bhairavas.
The Sacred Pairing
The text explicitly speaks of “the eight and the sixty-four couples (mithunas)” and instructs that the 64 Yoginis should be envisioned and worshipped in embrace with the 64 Bhairavas. Each Yogini is not independent, nor is each Bhairava solitary—they are pairs of Shakti and Shiva, energy and consciousness, forming a perfect mandala of divine union.
This is not about humanized romance, but about cosmic complementarity:
Yoginis embody the wild, free, unbounded powers of Shakti.
Bhairavas embody the stabilizing awareness of Shiva.
Together, they are mithuna—the eternal embrace of power and consciousness.
Echoed in Other Tantras
The Jnanarnava Tantra also describes the same principle on a smaller scale, where the 8 Matrikas are paired (yugma-yugma) with the 8 Bhairavas. What is seen at the level of eight expands into the grander 64-fold mandala.
Why It Matters
This teaching is foundational for Yogini worship:
In ritual practice, the Yogini circles (Chakra Pujas) are always envisioned around a central Bhairava.
In temple architecture, like Hirapur and Ranipur-Jharial, the Yoginis encircle Bhairava or Shiva, bringing the Kularnava’s verses into stone.
In Tantric symbolism, the Yogini–Bhairava couples represent the eternal dance of creation, preservation, and dissolution.
✨ In essence: The Kularnava Tantra reminds us that the 64 Yoginis and 64 Bhairavas are not two separate pantheons, but one intertwined mandala of cosmic energy and awareness—Shakti and Shiva, forever united.
The Kularnava Tantra, one of the most revered scriptures of Kaula Shaivism, provides a direct link between the 64 Yoginis and the 64 Bhairavas. It describes them not as separate groups of deities, but as cosmic couples (mithunas)—embodiments of Shakti and Shiva in eternal union.
The Sanskrit Verse
The text refers to them as:
“Ashtau cha shashtau cha vaigunah mithunau yuktau…”
— “The eight and the sixty-four couples, joined together in union.”
This is the clearest textual foundation for the pairing of Yoginis and Bhairavas. Each Yogini is envisioned in embrace with her corresponding Bhairava, making the mandala complete.
Meaning of the Union
Yoginis are the radiant expressions of Shakti, the raw energies of transformation, freedom, and movement.
Bhairavas are Shiva’s awareness, the stabilizing consciousness that grounds those energies.
Together, they form the mithuna, the sacred embrace of consciousness and energy.
This union is not physical but symbolic—it represents the inseparability of Shiva and Shakti, the eternal dance of power and awareness that underlies the cosmos.
Echoes in Other Texts
The Jnanarnava Tantra mirrors the same idea at a smaller scale, describing the 8 Matrikas paired with the 8 Bhairavas. What exists at the level of eight expands to the greater sixty-four, showing a fractal vision of cosmic pairs.
Ritual and Temple Traditions
In Tantric rituals, Yoginis are always worshipped with Bhairava at the center of the circle.
In Yogini temples (such as Hirapur and Ranipur-Jharial), the Yoginis are depicted encircling the space where Bhairava resides, embodying this teaching in stone.
✨ In essence: The Kularnava Tantra teaches that the 64 Yoginis and 64 Bhairavas are not separate pantheons but one great mandala of union—Shakti and Shiva as eternal couples, holding the cosmos together.