Jaskaran Singh
Divosūnupriyaḥ
I recently came across the following verse in the Dvitīyollāsaḥ of the Kulārṇavatantram and it seems to be quite sectarian, a bit ironic since I've heard on these forums that Śākta-s are generally the least sectarian of all Hindu "sects," 
...
Here are the verses in question from the original paper transcript I was reading from the Muktabodha Indological Research Institute site (my hand isn't very steady, so it's hard for me to highlight online, lol):
सर्वे भ्यश्चोत्तमा वेदा वेदेभ्यो वैष्णवं परम्।
वैष्णवादुत्तमं शैवं शैवाद्दक्षिणमुत्तमम्॥७॥
दक्षिणादुत्तमं वामं वामात् सिद्धान्तमुत्तमम्।
सिद्धान्तादुत्तमं कौलं कौलात् परतरं नहि॥८॥
Transliteration:
sarve bhyaścottamā vedā vedebhyo vaiṣṇavaṃ param।
vaiṣṇavāduttamaṃ śaivaṃ śaivāddakṣiṇamuttamam॥7॥
dakṣiṇāduttamaṃ vāmaṃ vāmāt siddhāntamuttamam।
siddhāntāduttamaṃ kaulaṃ kaulāt parataraṃ nahi॥8॥
Clearly, the above verse is declaring a hierarchy among mārga-s (i.e. saying Kaulācāra > Siddhāntācāra > Vāmācāra > Dakṣiṇācāra > Śaivācāra > Vaiṣṇavācāra > Vedācāra), and since this view comes from one of the most prominent Kaula texts and is said to have been stated by the Devī herself, wouldn't it be safe to assume that some Śākta-s (specifically, Bhadrakālī bhakta-s who follow the Kulārṇavatantram) are indeed quite sectarian?
...Here are the verses in question from the original paper transcript I was reading from the Muktabodha Indological Research Institute site (my hand isn't very steady, so it's hard for me to highlight online, lol):
सर्वे भ्यश्चोत्तमा वेदा वेदेभ्यो वैष्णवं परम्।
वैष्णवादुत्तमं शैवं शैवाद्दक्षिणमुत्तमम्॥७॥
दक्षिणादुत्तमं वामं वामात् सिद्धान्तमुत्तमम्।
सिद्धान्तादुत्तमं कौलं कौलात् परतरं नहि॥८॥
Transliteration:
sarve bhyaścottamā vedā vedebhyo vaiṣṇavaṃ param।
vaiṣṇavāduttamaṃ śaivaṃ śaivāddakṣiṇamuttamam॥7॥
dakṣiṇāduttamaṃ vāmaṃ vāmāt siddhāntamuttamam।
siddhāntāduttamaṃ kaulaṃ kaulāt parataraṃ nahi॥8॥
Clearly, the above verse is declaring a hierarchy among mārga-s (i.e. saying Kaulācāra > Siddhāntācāra > Vāmācāra > Dakṣiṇācāra > Śaivācāra > Vaiṣṇavācāra > Vedācāra), and since this view comes from one of the most prominent Kaula texts and is said to have been stated by the Devī herself, wouldn't it be safe to assume that some Śākta-s (specifically, Bhadrakālī bhakta-s who follow the Kulārṇavatantram) are indeed quite sectarian?
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