Kapala
Encyclopedia
A kapala or skullcup is a cup made from a human skull used as a ritual implement (bowl) in both Hindu
Tantra
and Buddhist Tantra
(Vajrayana
). Especially in Tibet, they were often carved or elaborately mounted with precious metals and jewels.
Many of the deities of Tibetan Buddhism
, including Mahasiddha
s, Dakini
s and Dharmapala
s are depicted as carrying the kapala, usually in their left hand. Some deities such as the Hindu Chinnamasta and the related Buddhist Vajrayogini are depicted as drinking blood from the Kapala.
, Kālī
and Shiva
, especially in his Bhairava
form. Even Ganesha
, when adopted into Tibetan Buddhism as Maharakta Ganapati, is shown with a kapala filled with blood.
Some of the Hindu deities pictured thus are:
a) Kālī
, pictured in the most common four armed iconographic image shows each hand carrying variously a sword, a trishula
(trident), a severed head and a bowl or skullcup (kapala) catching the blood of the severed head.
b) The Chamunda
, a form of Durga
, seen in Halebidu
temple of Hoysala architecture, in black or red colour, is described as wearing a garland of severed heads or skulls (Mundamala). She is described as having four, eight, ten or twelve arms, holding a Damaru
(drum), trishula (trident), sword, a snake (nāga
), skull-mace (khatvanga
), thunderbolt (vajra
), a severed head and panapatra (drinking vessel, wine cup) or skullcup (kapala), filled with blood.
or Kapalik means bearer of the skull-bowl, and a Tantric
worshipper of Kali or Shiva. It is a reference to Lord Bhairava
taking the kapala vow.
A famous novel called the Kapala Kundala written by Bankim Chandra Chatterji of Bengal
is about the story of the mystery surrounding the kapalik who used to visit the author. The narration in the novel is about a girl brought up by a kapalik in complete isolation from the civilized world. The original Sanskrit play Malati-Madhava provided the title for the novel Kapala Kundala, in which Aghora Ghanta was an evil person and Kapala was his associate. Kapala was also projected as heinous as her mentor. In the novel by Chatterrji, even though Kapala was also brought up by an evil Kapalik, but is shown as personification of human affection and kindness.
A popular adaptation of the novel is the children's story book titled Kapala Kundala which omits certain events and characters from the original text of the novel but presents the fascinating romance.
, a town in Tamil Nadu
, is derived from the two Tamil words ‘Eera‘ and ‘Odu’, whose literal translation in the English language means wet skull. According to the legends of the Bhairava Purana, Shiva's father-in-law Dakshaprajapathi is stated to have performed a Yagya for which Shiva was not invited. When Dakshayini, Shiva's wife, arrived to attend the Yajna
, against the wishes of Shiva, her parents did not welcome her. Frustrated Dakshayini is said to have jumped into Yaga kundam fire and turned to ashes. Infuriated by this incident, Shiva severed the fifth head of Brahma
which resulted in the skull getting stuck to his palm and Shiva getting Brahmahatyadosham (an outcast for killing a Brahmin). Shiva then wandered throughout India to get rid of the Dosham (curse) and finally when he reached Erode, the skull which was stuck to his palm fell to the ground, shattered and formed the Kapala Tirtham (Skull with Holy Water). To this day, the holy water of Kapala Tirtham is found in the form of a well adjoining the Arudra Kapaleeswara temple to its left. As a further attestation of the legend, the presence of the other bits of the shattered skull are claimed to be the Vellodu (little white skull), Perodu (little big skull) and Chittodu (little small skull), located around Erode.
According to a Tibetan legend, Achi Chokyi Drolma
arrived at a place of her choice seeking marriage and met the great saint Ame Tsultrim Gyatso and proposed to marry him. She counseled that their union in marriage would result in her bearing many enlightened children who would propagate the teachings of the Buddha
. Since Ame Tsultrim Gyatso did not have any possessions to arrange for the ceremony, Drolma proposed to help, and miraculously a damaru from her right pocket and a kapala from her left materialized. She performed a mystic dance beating the damaru (small hand drum), holding the kapala (skull cup) in her hand and gazing into the sky and magically materializing finest food, drink and rich garments in the house. The marriage ceremony was thereafter solemnized. The couple raised a family and she had children and grand children who brought name and fame to the family.
, and wine instead of blood and flesh as offerings to wrathful deities, such as the ferocious Dharmapāla
("defender of the faith"). The dough cakes are shaped to resemble human eyes, ears and tongues. The kapala is made in the form of a skull specially collected and prepared. It is elaborately anointed and consecrated before use. The cup is also elaborately decorated and kept in a triangular pedestal. The heavily embossed cup is usually made of silver-gilt
bronze with lid shaped like a skull and with a handle made in the form of a thunderbolt.
Kapalas are used mainly for esoteric purposes such as rituals. Among the rituals using kampalas are: higher tantric meditation to achieve a transcendental state of thought and mind within the shortest possible time; libation to gods and deities to win their favor; by Tibetan Lamas as an offering bowl on the altar, filled with wine or blood as a gift to the Yidam Deity or all the Deities; and the Vajrayana
empowerment ceremony.
Charnel ground, an ancient Tibetan burial custom, is distinctly different from the customs of graveyards and cremation, but all three of them have been a part of the home ground of tantric
practitioners’ such as the yogis and yoginis, Shaiva Kapalika's and Aghoris, shamans and sadhus. The Charnel ground, interpreted as the Sky burial by the Western society, is an area demarcated specifically in Tibet, defined by the Tibetan word Jhator (literal meaning is ’giving alms to the birds’), a way of exposing the corpse to nature, where human bodies are disposed as it were or in a chopped (chopped after the rituals) condition in the open ground as a ritual that has great religious meaning of the ascent of the soul to be reincarnated into another circle of life. Such a practice results in finding human bones, half or whole skeletons, more or less putrefying corpses and disattached limbs lying scattered around. Items made from human skulls or bones are found in the sky burial grounds by the Sadhus and Yogins of the tantric cult. The charnel grounds are also known by the epithets the "field of death" or the "valley of corpses". In Tibet, a class distinction in the burial practices is also noted. The dead High Lamas are buried in Stupa
s or cremated but the dead commoners are disposed of in the Charnel ground or in a Sky burial.
The products from the charnel ground are the charnel ground ornaments such as the i) Crown of five skulls, ii) Bone necklace, iii) Bone armlets, iv) Bone bracelets, v) Bone skirt and vi) Bone anklets which decorate many images of dakinis, yoginis, dharmapalas and a few other deities (as may be seen in some of the pictures and stone images depicted in the gallery here), and other products such as the Bone trumpet, the Skull cup and Skull drum used by the tantric practitioners. Kapala or the skull cup is thus a produce from the Charnel ground.
In the tantric or kundalini
forms of yoga the energy is aroused and caused to rise back up through the increasingly subtler Chakra
s, until union with God is achieved in the Sahasrara
chakra at the crown of the head. This sahasrara
has been explained in Q&A form by Brahmachari Uddhav Chaitanya Brahmachari of the Chinmaya mission which is quoted below:
Brahmarandhra also known as Dasamadvara, referred in the above quote, is stated to be the hole of Brahman
, which is said to be the dwelling house of the human soul and is the tenth opening or the tenth door. It is said that when a Yogi detaches him self from his physical body at the time of death, this Brahmarandhra bursts open and Prana comes out through this opening, which is called the Kapala Moksha.
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
Tantra
Tantra
Tantra , anglicised tantricism or tantrism or tantram, is the name scholars give to an inter-religious spiritual movement that arose in medieval India, expressed in scriptures ....
and Buddhist Tantra
Tantra
Tantra , anglicised tantricism or tantrism or tantram, is the name scholars give to an inter-religious spiritual movement that arose in medieval India, expressed in scriptures ....
(Vajrayana
Vajrayana
Vajrayāna Buddhism is also known as Tantric Buddhism, Tantrayāna, Mantrayāna, Secret Mantra, Esoteric Buddhism and the Diamond Vehicle...
). Especially in Tibet, they were often carved or elaborately mounted with precious metals and jewels.
Nomenclature, orthography & etymology
'Kapala' is a loan word into Tibetan from Sanskrit 'kapāla' (Devanagari: कपाल) and it denotes the 'skull' or 'forehead' (most often of the human) and by implication the ritual item, the skullcup, crafted from the human cranium.Tibetan deities
Tibetan Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism is the body of Buddhist religious doctrine and institutions characteristic of Tibet and certain regions of the Himalayas, including northern Nepal, Bhutan, and India . It is the state religion of Bhutan...
, including Mahasiddha
Mahasiddha
Mahasiddha is a term for one who cultivates those teachings that lead to becoming perfect. They are a type of eccentric yogini/yogi in both Sanatan Dharma and Vajrayana Dharma, given by Siddhartha. Mahasiddhi are those practitioners, or tantrikas who have gained sufficient understanding and are so...
s, Dakini
Dakini
A dakini is a tantric deity described as a female embodiment of enlightened energy. In the Tibetan language, dakini is rendered khandroma which means 'she who traverses the sky' or 'she who moves in space'. Sometimes the term is translated poetically as 'sky dancer' or 'sky walker'. The dakini, in...
s and Dharmapala
Dharmapala
In Vajrayana Buddhism, a dharmapāla is a type of wrathful deity. The name means "Dharma-defender" in Sanskrit, and the dharmapālas are also known as the Defenders of the Law , or the Protectors of the Law, in English....
s are depicted as carrying the kapala, usually in their left hand. Some deities such as the Hindu Chinnamasta and the related Buddhist Vajrayogini are depicted as drinking blood from the Kapala.
Hindu deities
Hindu deities that may be depicted with the kapala include DurgaDurga
For the 1985 Hindi Film of Rajesh Khanna see DurgaaIn Hinduism, Durga ; ; meaning "the inaccessible" or "the invincible"; , durga) or Maa Durga "one who can redeem in situations of utmost distress" is a form of Devi, the supremely radiant goddess, depicted as having eighteen arms, riding a lion...
, Kālī
KALI
KALI may refer to:* KALI , a radio station licensed to West Covina, California, United States* KALI-FM, a radio station licensed to Santa Ana, California, United States...
and Shiva
Shiva
Shiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
, especially in his Bhairava
Bhairava
Bhairava , sometimes known as Bhairo or Bhairon or Bhairadya or Bheruji , Kaala Bhairavar or Vairavar , is the fierce manifestation of Lord Shiva associated with annihilation...
form. Even Ganesha
Ganesha
Ganesha , also spelled Ganesa or Ganesh, also known as Ganapati , Vinayaka , and Pillaiyar , is one of the deities best-known and most widely worshipped in the Hindu pantheon. His image is found throughout India and Nepal. Hindu sects worship him regardless of affiliations...
, when adopted into Tibetan Buddhism as Maharakta Ganapati, is shown with a kapala filled with blood.
Some of the Hindu deities pictured thus are:
a) Kālī
KALI
KALI may refer to:* KALI , a radio station licensed to West Covina, California, United States* KALI-FM, a radio station licensed to Santa Ana, California, United States...
, pictured in the most common four armed iconographic image shows each hand carrying variously a sword, a trishula
Trishula
A trishula is a type of Indian trident but also found in Southeast Asia. It is commonly used as a Hindu-Buddhist religious symbol. The word means "three spear" in Sanskrit and Pali....
(trident), a severed head and a bowl or skullcup (kapala) catching the blood of the severed head.
b) The Chamunda
Chamunda
Chamunda , also known as Chamundi, Chamundeshwari and Charchika, is a fearsome aspect of Devi, the Hindu Divine Mother and one of the seven Matrikas . She is also one of the chief Yoginis, a group of sixty-four or eighty-one Tantric goddesses, who are attendants of the warrior goddess Durga...
, a form of Durga
Durga
For the 1985 Hindi Film of Rajesh Khanna see DurgaaIn Hinduism, Durga ; ; meaning "the inaccessible" or "the invincible"; , durga) or Maa Durga "one who can redeem in situations of utmost distress" is a form of Devi, the supremely radiant goddess, depicted as having eighteen arms, riding a lion...
, seen in Halebidu
Halebidu
Halebidu is located in Hassan District, Karnataka, India. Halebidu was the regal capital of the Hoysala Empire in the 12th century. It is home to one of the best examples of Hoysala architecture in the ornate Hoysaleswara and Kedareswara temples. Halebidu literally means ruined city...
temple of Hoysala architecture, in black or red colour, is described as wearing a garland of severed heads or skulls (Mundamala). She is described as having four, eight, ten or twelve arms, holding a Damaru
Damaru
A damaru or damru is a small two-headed drum shaped like an hourglass. The drum is typically made of wood, with leather drum heads at both ends; the damaru might also be made entirely out of human skulls...
(drum), trishula (trident), sword, a snake (nāga
Naga
Naga or NAGA may refer to:* Nāga, a group of serpent deities in Hindu and Buddhist mythology.-People:* Nayan / Nayar/Nair people of Kerala Society* Naga people, a diverse ethnic identity in Northeast India...
), skull-mace (khatvanga
Khatvanga
Khatvanga is a long, club-like instrument originally created to be used as a weapon. It is a divine weapon of polysemic significance and accoutrement of chthonic deities and 'left-handed path' holy people in Dharmic Traditions such as Shaivism and Esoteric Buddhism...
), thunderbolt (vajra
Vajra
Vajra is a Sanskrit word meaning both thunderbolt and diamond...
), a severed head and panapatra (drinking vessel, wine cup) or skullcup (kapala), filled with blood.
Kapalik or Kapalika
In Hindu culture, KapalikaKapalika
In Hindu culture, Kapalika means bearer of the skull-bowl, and refers to Lord Bhairava taking the kapala vow. As penance for cutting off one of the heads of Brahma, Lord Bhairava became Bhikshatana, an outcast and a beggar...
or Kapalik means bearer of the skull-bowl, and a Tantric
Tantra
Tantra , anglicised tantricism or tantrism or tantram, is the name scholars give to an inter-religious spiritual movement that arose in medieval India, expressed in scriptures ....
worshipper of Kali or Shiva. It is a reference to Lord Bhairava
Bhairava
Bhairava , sometimes known as Bhairo or Bhairon or Bhairadya or Bheruji , Kaala Bhairavar or Vairavar , is the fierce manifestation of Lord Shiva associated with annihilation...
taking the kapala vow.
A famous novel called the Kapala Kundala written by Bankim Chandra Chatterji of Bengal
Bengal
Bengal is a historical and geographical region in the northeast region of the Indian Subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Today, it is mainly divided between the sovereign land of People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, although some regions of the previous...
is about the story of the mystery surrounding the kapalik who used to visit the author. The narration in the novel is about a girl brought up by a kapalik in complete isolation from the civilized world. The original Sanskrit play Malati-Madhava provided the title for the novel Kapala Kundala, in which Aghora Ghanta was an evil person and Kapala was his associate. Kapala was also projected as heinous as her mentor. In the novel by Chatterrji, even though Kapala was also brought up by an evil Kapalik, but is shown as personification of human affection and kindness.
A popular adaptation of the novel is the children's story book titled Kapala Kundala which omits certain events and characters from the original text of the novel but presents the fascinating romance.
Legend
Etymology of ErodeErode
Erode is a city, a municipal corporation and the headquarters of Erode district in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu.It is situated at the center of the South Indian Peninsula, about southwest from the state capital Chennai and on the banks of the rivers Cauvery and Bhavani, between 11° 19.5"...
, a town in Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
, is derived from the two Tamil words ‘Eera‘ and ‘Odu’, whose literal translation in the English language means wet skull. According to the legends of the Bhairava Purana, Shiva's father-in-law Dakshaprajapathi is stated to have performed a Yagya for which Shiva was not invited. When Dakshayini, Shiva's wife, arrived to attend the Yajna
Yajna
In Hinduism, yajna is a ritual of sacrifice derived from the practice of Vedic times. It is performed to please the gods or to attain certain wishes...
, against the wishes of Shiva, her parents did not welcome her. Frustrated Dakshayini is said to have jumped into Yaga kundam fire and turned to ashes. Infuriated by this incident, Shiva severed the fifth head of Brahma
Brahma
Brahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...
which resulted in the skull getting stuck to his palm and Shiva getting Brahmahatyadosham (an outcast for killing a Brahmin). Shiva then wandered throughout India to get rid of the Dosham (curse) and finally when he reached Erode, the skull which was stuck to his palm fell to the ground, shattered and formed the Kapala Tirtham (Skull with Holy Water). To this day, the holy water of Kapala Tirtham is found in the form of a well adjoining the Arudra Kapaleeswara temple to its left. As a further attestation of the legend, the presence of the other bits of the shattered skull are claimed to be the Vellodu (little white skull), Perodu (little big skull) and Chittodu (little small skull), located around Erode.
According to a Tibetan legend, Achi Chokyi Drolma
Achi Chokyi Drolma
In Tibetan Buddhism, Achi Chokyi Drolma is the Dharma Protecter of the Drikung Kagyu.- Prophecy :According to prophecy in the Chakrasamvara tantra it is said, "The head of the Karma Dakinis will come to the area of Tidro cave in Drikung...
arrived at a place of her choice seeking marriage and met the great saint Ame Tsultrim Gyatso and proposed to marry him. She counseled that their union in marriage would result in her bearing many enlightened children who would propagate the teachings of the Buddha
Buddha
In Buddhism, buddhahood is the state of perfect enlightenment attained by a buddha .In Buddhism, the term buddha usually refers to one who has become enlightened...
. Since Ame Tsultrim Gyatso did not have any possessions to arrange for the ceremony, Drolma proposed to help, and miraculously a damaru from her right pocket and a kapala from her left materialized. She performed a mystic dance beating the damaru (small hand drum), holding the kapala (skull cup) in her hand and gazing into the sky and magically materializing finest food, drink and rich garments in the house. The marriage ceremony was thereafter solemnized. The couple raised a family and she had children and grand children who brought name and fame to the family.
Uses
The kapala is considered a legacy of ancient traditions of human sacrifice. In Tibetan monasteries it is used symbolically to hold bread or dough cakes, tormaTorma
Torma are figures made mostly of flour and butter used in tantric rituals or as offerings in Tibetan Buddhism. They may be dyed in different colors, often with white or red for the main body of the torma. They are made in specific shapes based on their purpose, usually conical in form...
, and wine instead of blood and flesh as offerings to wrathful deities, such as the ferocious Dharmapāla
Dharmapala
In Vajrayana Buddhism, a dharmapāla is a type of wrathful deity. The name means "Dharma-defender" in Sanskrit, and the dharmapālas are also known as the Defenders of the Law , or the Protectors of the Law, in English....
("defender of the faith"). The dough cakes are shaped to resemble human eyes, ears and tongues. The kapala is made in the form of a skull specially collected and prepared. It is elaborately anointed and consecrated before use. The cup is also elaborately decorated and kept in a triangular pedestal. The heavily embossed cup is usually made of silver-gilt
Silver-gilt
Silver-gilt or gilded/gilt silver, sometimes known in American English by the French term vermeil, is silver gilded with gold. Most large objects made in goldsmithing that appear to be gold are actually silver-gilt; for example most sporting trophies, medals , and many crown jewels...
bronze with lid shaped like a skull and with a handle made in the form of a thunderbolt.
Kapalas are used mainly for esoteric purposes such as rituals. Among the rituals using kampalas are: higher tantric meditation to achieve a transcendental state of thought and mind within the shortest possible time; libation to gods and deities to win their favor; by Tibetan Lamas as an offering bowl on the altar, filled with wine or blood as a gift to the Yidam Deity or all the Deities; and the Vajrayana
Vajrayana
Vajrayāna Buddhism is also known as Tantric Buddhism, Tantrayāna, Mantrayāna, Secret Mantra, Esoteric Buddhism and the Diamond Vehicle...
empowerment ceremony.
Charnel ground or Sky burial
The kapala is one of several charnel ground implements made from human bone found by tantrics at sky burial sites.Tantra
Tantra , anglicised tantricism or tantrism or tantram, is the name scholars give to an inter-religious spiritual movement that arose in medieval India, expressed in scriptures ....
practitioners’ such as the yogis and yoginis, Shaiva Kapalika's and Aghoris, shamans and sadhus. The Charnel ground, interpreted as the Sky burial by the Western society, is an area demarcated specifically in Tibet, defined by the Tibetan word Jhator (literal meaning is ’giving alms to the birds’), a way of exposing the corpse to nature, where human bodies are disposed as it were or in a chopped (chopped after the rituals) condition in the open ground as a ritual that has great religious meaning of the ascent of the soul to be reincarnated into another circle of life. Such a practice results in finding human bones, half or whole skeletons, more or less putrefying corpses and disattached limbs lying scattered around. Items made from human skulls or bones are found in the sky burial grounds by the Sadhus and Yogins of the tantric cult. The charnel grounds are also known by the epithets the "field of death" or the "valley of corpses". In Tibet, a class distinction in the burial practices is also noted. The dead High Lamas are buried in Stupa
Stupa
A stupa is a mound-like structure containing Buddhist relics, typically the remains of Buddha, used by Buddhists as a place of worship....
s or cremated but the dead commoners are disposed of in the Charnel ground or in a Sky burial.
The products from the charnel ground are the charnel ground ornaments such as the i) Crown of five skulls, ii) Bone necklace, iii) Bone armlets, iv) Bone bracelets, v) Bone skirt and vi) Bone anklets which decorate many images of dakinis, yoginis, dharmapalas and a few other deities (as may be seen in some of the pictures and stone images depicted in the gallery here), and other products such as the Bone trumpet, the Skull cup and Skull drum used by the tantric practitioners. Kapala or the skull cup is thus a produce from the Charnel ground.
Sahasrara chakra
Kundalini
Kundalini literally means coiled. In yoga, a "corporeal energy" - an unconscious, instinctive or libidinal force or Shakti, lies coiled at the base of the spine. It is envisioned either as a goddess or else as a sleeping serpent, hence a number of English renderings of the term such as 'serpent...
forms of yoga the energy is aroused and caused to rise back up through the increasingly subtler Chakra
Chakra
Chakra is a concept originating in Hindu texts, featured in tantric and yogic traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism. Its name derives from the Sanskrit word for "wheel" or "turning" .Chakra is a concept referring to wheel-like vortices...
s, until union with God is achieved in the Sahasrara
Sahasrara
Sahasrara/ Sahastrara is the seventh primary chakra according to Hindu tradition.-Location:Sahasrara is either located at the top of the head in that one area, or a little way above it .-Appearance:Sahasrara is described with 1,000 multi-coloured petals which are arranged in 20 layers each of them...
chakra at the crown of the head. This sahasrara
Sahasrara
Sahasrara/ Sahastrara is the seventh primary chakra according to Hindu tradition.-Location:Sahasrara is either located at the top of the head in that one area, or a little way above it .-Appearance:Sahasrara is described with 1,000 multi-coloured petals which are arranged in 20 layers each of them...
has been explained in Q&A form by Brahmachari Uddhav Chaitanya Brahmachari of the Chinmaya mission which is quoted below:
In AitareyaAitareyaAitareya may refer to:*Aitareya Brahmana, a Vedic shakha*Aitareya Upanishad*Aitareya Aranyaka...
UpanishadUpanishadThe Upanishads are philosophical texts considered to be an early source of Hindu religion. More than 200 are known, of which the first dozen or so, the oldest and most important, are variously referred to as the principal, main or old Upanishads...
, there is a reference to the jiva entering the body through the
tenth hole—the top of the skull, which is known as kapala. This tenth hole is also known
as SahasraraSahasraraSahasrara/ Sahastrara is the seventh primary chakra according to Hindu tradition.-Location:Sahasrara is either located at the top of the head in that one area, or a little way above it .-Appearance:Sahasrara is described with 1,000 multi-coloured petals which are arranged in 20 layers each of them...
and Brahmarandhra. All jivas enter the body through the kapala, but their
exit can technically be from any one of the other nine holes, or golakas—orifices of the
sense organs (two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, genital organ, and anus).Generally, if a jiva leaves the body from the lower orifices, then the gati, or path, of the jiva is bound for the lower worlds (below Earth, as given in the Puranas). If the jiva leaves from the orifices in the head (eyes, nose, ears, mouth), then he is bound for the higher worlds (above Earth). The jiva thus goes to its destined field of experience, undergoes various experiences, and comes back to Earth. When the point of exit from the body is the same as the point of entry—through the kapala—it is deemed as ‘a perfect exit’. When the final exit is from the skull, it is called kapala-moksha, which is how highly evolved beings leave the body. From the absolute standpoint, for a realized master (liberated while living), there is no death of, or final departure from, the physical body, but if we have to verbalize his attaining mahasamadhi, it could also be called kapala moksha.
Brahmarandhra also known as Dasamadvara, referred in the above quote, is stated to be the hole of Brahman
Brahman
In Hinduism, Brahman is the one supreme, universal Spirit that is the origin and support of the phenomenal universe. Brahman is sometimes referred to as the Absolute or Godhead which is the Divine Ground of all being...
, which is said to be the dwelling house of the human soul and is the tenth opening or the tenth door. It is said that when a Yogi detaches him self from his physical body at the time of death, this Brahmarandhra bursts open and Prana comes out through this opening, which is called the Kapala Moksha.