The Secret Doctrine of Goddess Lalita
(Sri LalitaAṣṭottara Rahasyārthamu)
37.kularūpiṇī
She who is the deity of the kaula path.
She who is the personification of culture.
This nāma describes how captivated we are by the kadamba forest. The word kula here refers to the body made up of five elements – space, wind, water, fire, and earth. These five elements manifest from the three guṇa-s or qualities that make up prakṛti (nature) - ṣatva, rajas, and tamas. The mind is made up of ṣatva. The body and life-force are made up of tamas and rajas respectively. Since the body is a combination of these three guṇa-s, tāntriks refer to the body as kula.
Since body is a part of nature, it is subject to the laws of nature. But the jīvā who entered the body is not controlled by nature, since its essential nature is Consciousness. The gross elements have no control over Consciousness. Although its true nature is Consciousness, the jīvā does not realize that. Due to strong tendencies accumulated over lifetimes, it identifies with the body and mind and reduces itself to a finite being. It is this attachment to the body that distances the individual from Devī, the Universal Consciousness. It is this attachment that also keeps the individual imprisoned in his body like a bird in a cage.