Kameshwara

[Query] Why is worship of Sri Kameswara not popular like ambaal and involving independent aavaranam?
namaH paradevatAyai
paradevatA is described as shivashaktyaikyarUpiNI and hence worship of parameshwarI includes the worship of
parameshwara. The pramANas stating abheda between kAmeshvara and kAmeshvarI are many. Both shrIvidyA
and shrIchakra themselves are shiva-shaktyAtmaka. Hence, I will rephrase the first sentence and say, worship of
lalitA i.e. navAvaraNa Krama, is as much worship of kAmeshvara as of kAmeshvarI and this seems to sound
better with our philosophy. The former interpretation would probably be anya mata, and of significantly lesser
interest to our school of thought. On a deeper thought, how can one worship kAmeshvara?
According to shrIvidyA tantra, Brahman is always shaktivishiShTa:
sarvashakti paraM brahma nityamApUrNamavyayam ||
sa~NkShepashArIraka holds the same view:
chicChaktiH parameshvarasya vimalA chaitanyamevochyate ||
The samaShTi shakti of brahma is what we call tripurasundarI. An analogy to explain the same is as below.
kAmeshvara or nirguNa brahma is like a thin sheet of canvas which is completely white without any colors,
extremely thin and expansive. Now, by coating it with rice paste uniformly across the surface, it gains density
and strength. Now, the canvas is ready to be painted on and this state can be referred to as shakti vishiShTa
Brahman. As the canvas, by itself, cannot even be placed upright, it is the rice paste that is the cause for the
upcoming painting. However, if this rice paste were to be isolated from the canvas, would she be able to create a
painting? No, hence it is said, shivaniShThA shaktireva sR^ishTyAtmanA pariNamate. This is pariNAmavAda in a
nutshell.
According to upaniShad siddhAnta, mAyA is the shakti of Brahman and she is jaDa shakti. And it is this mAya
who is the pariNAma upAdAna of the world [the material cause which undergoes transformation to another form,
like the milk becoming the curd]. Brahma is the vivartopAdAna [the material cause which does not undergo any
change but merely appears as an effect, similar to a rope appearing like the snake]. Due to this, it comes to be
established that the jagat is also falsehood and jaDa. Contrastingly, the view of tripurA tantra, explained earlier,
can be summarized as: chidvilAsaH prap~ncho.yam. In either case, the need of shakti for creation is
indisputable.
With this background on shiva and shakti or kAmeshvara and kAmeshvarI tattvas, one can examine the
following verse from vAmakeshvara:
shaktyA vinA shive sUkShme nAma dhAma na vidyate |
j~nAtenApi mahAdevi sharma karma na ki~nchana ||
parabrahma is without any attributes and upAsanA of such an entity, involving nAma kIrtana etc. is not possible.
Hence, it is shakti vishiShTa brahma who is the upAsya, represented by mahAkAmeshvara mithuna in tripurA
tantra. kAmeshvara, who represents the bindu of shrIchakra, due to abhAva or lack of saguNatva, cannot be
"worshiped" alone and has to be worshiped along with kameshvarI seated on his lap. Hence, it is also said to be
mandatory to worship the Ayudhas of both kAmeshvarI and kAmeshvara outside mahAtryashra.