Atkinson/Krishnamacharya, 6. Kuṇḍalinī in Śrīvaiṣṇavism

Chapter 6 will be the first published exploration of teachings about kuṇḍalinī in Krishnamacharya’s religious tradition of Śrīvaiṣṇavism. It examines quotations that T.K.V. Desikachar attributed to the Śrīvaiṣṇava polymath Vedāntadeśika, showing how those quotations misrepresent Vedāntadeśika. The chapter’s conclusions are based on a survey of over 90 texts and confirmed by an interview with the pontiff of a leading Śrīvaiṣṇava organization, who described Krishnamacharya’s position as “unacceptable”. Śrīvaiṣṇavism uses the term kuṇḍalinī as a synonym for the suṣumnā nāḍī (a type of conduit, nerve or artery), not to mean a blockage to it, as Krishnamacharya taught.