Kāpālika is an ancient tradition of Tantric practitioners who live at the periphery of society and challenge the notions of sacred and profane. They bear insignia of kapāla (skull bowl), kunḍala (earrings), and a staff – all made from bones of the dead . Wandering almost naked, they smear their bodies with bhasma, the sacred ash from the cremation ground.  This poem depicts the image of a Kāpālika who performs his spiritual practice in the cremation grounds

Śiva Kāpālika

I hold the begging bowl
of skull
in my worn-out flesh
 
the hole in my navel
fills my vital-breath
 
I mate with yoginis
in the sky of my
own consciousness
 
the three guṇas
-sattva, rajas and tamas
are my sacred thread
 
I wear them as moods
of illumination, anger and
indulgence
all with equal reverence
 
I sit in the core of my heart
illumined in body,
speech, and thought.
 
I am beyond sacred
and non-sacred
I am Śiva
wandering in cremation grounds
as Kāpālika