The Serpent's Tale

In The Serpent’s Tale, authors Sravana Borkataky-Varma and Anya Foxen do not so much tame the serpent as let it slither—uncoiled, unstandardized, and unapologetically plural… it is a dazzling, erudite, and refreshingly unpatronizing exploration of how Kuṇḍalinī has meant many things to many people—sometimes divine, sometimes dangerous, always elusive. * Bitter Winter *
The Serpent’s Tale not only serves as foundational for those seeking to study kuṇḍalinī, but also for those interested in modern yoga studies more broadly, as it exceptionally identifies the presence of kuṇḍalinī in modern yoga with the utmost precision. * Reading Religion *
Rooted in comparison across many cultures and times and actual human experience, here is Kuṇḍalinī as She winds her way through the world. A stunning tale, really tales, that only Sravana Borkataky-Varma and Anya Foxen could tell. – Jeffrey J. Kripal, author of Esalen: America and the Religion of No Religion
Borkataky-Varma and Foxen trace Kuṇḍalinī’s transformation across cultures, from sacred tradition to modern commodity. Their writing, at times subtle and at times direct, reveals Kuṇḍalinī not as a concept to grasp but as a force to sense, and perhaps awaken… with caution. – Elizabeth Rovere, host of the Wonderstruck Podcast
A fascinating and nuanced account of Kuṇḍalinī from its tantric and alchemical roots in South Asia to its entanglements with mystics, scientists, colonial forces, and New Age seekers. Blending historical analysis with lived experience, Borkataky-Varma and Foxen examine the ongoing tension between authenticity and simulation, tradition and reinvention. – Jason Ānanda Josephson Storm, author of Metamodernism: The Future of Theory
This profoundly important and persuasive book at once provides a powerful understanding of Kuṇḍalinī’s multiple forms in the history of South Asian literature and philosophy while complicating and questioning the serpent power’s very nature. – Joseph S. Alter, author of Yoga in Modern India: The Body between Science and Philosophy
An excellent introduction to Kuṇḍalinī from its origins in South Asia to the twenty-first century. – Sophie Roell, cofounder and editor of Five Books

Sravana Borkataky-Varma is an instructional assistant professor of comparative cultural studies at the University of Houston as well as a research affiliate at the Center for the Study of World Religions at Harvard Divinity School. She is coeditor of Living Folk Religions (2023), among other books.

Anya Foxen is associate professor of religious studies at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. Her books include Inhaling Spirit: Harmonialism, Orientalism, and the Western Roots of Modern Yoga (2020).

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