About seven thousand years ago Sadáshiva and His wife Kálii did intensive spiritual practice and enjoyed immense bliss. Sadáshiva was the original propounder of Tantric practices. Kálii learned the inner secrets of spiritual practice from her husband. Every day she was absorbed in deep meditation, enjoying the immense bliss of many different samádhis. One day Sadáshiva playfully withdrew her bliss for a long period. Kálii continued to practise meditation regularly, but without the blissful experiences she had previously enjoyed. After some time, the suspended bliss was released suddenly, and Kálii enjoyed the divine sweetness of that accumulated bliss.

She thought, “I shall prepare a kauṋkálamála [garland of human skulls] and remain in a state of perpetual bliss while wearing it, just as Shiva did.” Kálii, when adorned with that garland of skulls, is called Kauṋkálamálinii, and the samádhi in which sádhakas identify themselves with Paramá Prakrti (symbolized by Kauṋkálamálinii) and experience indescribable joy, is described as Kauṋkálamálinii samádhi.

During this samádhi, sádhakas experience indescribable bliss. They totally forget their human existence and feel oneness with Paramá Prakrti or with Paramashiva. One cannot utter anything except some inarticulate sounds through the sides of the mouth. The breathing becomes heavy, the entire nervous system feels immense pressure, and the activities of contraction and expansion in the nervous system become violent.