Why Are the Skull-Bearers (Kāpālikas) Called Soma?

Abstract

The Kāpālikas or Skull-Bearers, who formed the third group of the Atimārga, alongside the Pāśupatas and the Lākulas,1 were perhaps the most notorious Śaiva ascetics of classical India. They were known for their cremation ground rituals and for wandering around with a skull for an alms bowl. The skull (kapāla), their most conspicuous attribute, also provided their name. But the Kāpālikas are also designated as Somasiddhāntins, "Those of the Soma Doctrine,"2 or the "Soma People with the Skull."3 These appellations seem to have been of some importance because their initiation names also included or ended in-soma in most cases (e.g. Satyasoma, Devasomā,4 Somibhaṭṭāraka5). What was this Somasiddhānta, doctrine of Soma or teaching about (the) Soma?