The doctrine of the twelve Kālīs is one of the earliest developments of the Śākta tradition of the Kālīkula/Kālīkrama/Mahānaya and it is well known in the later exegetical works of Abhinavagupta (10th–11th c.), Kṣemarāja (11th c.), and Maheśvarānanda (13th–14th c.). Although the twelve Kālīs have been treated to some extent in secondary literature, a systematic study of the development and reception of this doctrine has not been undertaken yet. This is mainly due to the fact that most of the Kālīkula scriptures are available in manuscript form, and methodical analysis of their contents remains a desideratum. In this article, I intend to examine selected tantric scriptures teaching the doctrine of the twelve Kālīs, focusing on the development of the constituent elements of this doctrine, as they appear in different tantric sources. This article traces the origins of the twelve Kālīs to the esoteric teaching of the Sun-Goddess, linked to the tradition of the Skeleton of Kālī (kālīkaṅkāla/kaṅkāla). It will argue that in the subsequent phase of the doctrine’s development the solar context gradually diminished and an emphasis on the twelve goddesses’ function as the destroyers of time became more and more pronounced. This tendency, in turn, influenced the codification of the twelve Kālīs as the fully-fledged doctrine of time-consumption (kālagrāsa), popular in the Trika and the Trika-inspired Krama sources.

十二法轮的教义是 Kālīkula/Kālīkrama/Mahānaya 的 Śākta 传统的最早发展之一，它在后来的 Abhinavagupta（10-11 世纪）、Kṣemarāja（11 世纪）的释经著作中广为人知。和 Maheśvarānanda（13-14 世纪）。尽管在次要文献中已经对十二个伽利略进行了一定程度的处理，但尚未对该教义的发展和接受进行系统研究。这主要是因为大多数 Kālīkula 经文都以手稿形式提供，对其内容进行有条不紊的分析仍然是一种迫切需要。在这篇文章中，我打算检查一些教导十二卡利教义的密续经典，重点是这些教义的组成元素的发展，因为它们出现在不同的密宗来源中。kālīkaṅkāla / kaṅkāla）。它会争辩说，在该学说发展的后续阶段，太阳的背景逐渐减弱，对十二位女神作为时间毁灭者的功能的强调变得越来越明显。反过来，这种趋势影响了将十二个 Kālīs 编纂为成熟的时间消耗学说 ( kālagrāsa )，在 Trika 和受 Trika 启发的 Krama 来源中流行。