Kulāṣṭaka Kula-caryāvadāna

A Śaiva tantra manuscript contains incomplete chapters from the Manthānabhairava Kumārikākhaṇḍa. It seems that the manuscript originally included additional chapters from the Kumārikākhaṇḍa, as the extant copy begins only from folio 39a. The text begins with śloka 14 of chapter 11, although Mark S. G. Dyczkowski’s printed edition of the Kumārikākhaṇḍa places the same śloka in chapter 11, but numbered as śloka 7. It is also noteworthy that the manuscript ends abruptly in the middle of the sixteenth chapter, at a point where the śloka venerates Goddess Guhyeśvarī, who eternally resides alongside the God Paśupati in Nepal. The manuscript seems to emphasize themes related to Vidyā, Kaula practices (caryā), and caryāpāda. As Matsunami has observed, the text takes the form of a dialogue between Śrīvakrā and Śrīnātha, with Śrīnātha posing questions and Śrīvakrā (the deity) providing answers. At times, other voices are included in the conversation, reflecting a distinctly Puranic narrative style.