One of the earliest references to a Kāpālika is found in Hāla's Prakrit poem, the ''Gāthāsaptaśati'' (third to fifth century A.D.) in a verse in which the poet describes a young female Kāpālikā who besmears herself with ashes from the funeral pyre of her lover. Varāhamihira (c500-575) refer more than once to the Kāpālikas thus clearly establishing their existence in the sixth century. Indeed, from this time onwards references to Kāpālika ascetics become fairly commonplace in Sanskrit ...〔Dyczkowski, Mark S. G. (1988). ''The canon of the Śaivāgama and The Kubjikā Tantras of the western Kaula tradition''. SUNY series in Kashmir Śaivism. SUNY Press. ISBN 0-88706-494-9, ISBN 978-0-88706-494-4 Source: () (accessed: Thursday February 4, 2010)〕

"My charming ornaments are made from garlands of human skulls." says the Kāpālika, "I dwell in the cremation ground and eat my food from a human skull. I view the world alternately as separate from God (Īśvara) and one with Him, through the eyes that are made clear with the ointment of yoga... We (Kāpālikas) offer oblations of human flesh mixed with brains, entrails and marrow. We break our fast by drinking liquor (surā) from the skull of a Brahmin. At that time the god Mahābhairava should be worshipped with offerings of awe-inspiring human sacrifices from whose severed throats blood flows in currents.〔Dyczkowski, Mark S. G. (1988). ''The canon of the Śaivāgama and the Kubjikā Tantras of the western Kaula tradition''. SUNY series in Kashmir Śaivism. SUNY Press. ISBN 0-88706-494-9, ISBN 978-0-88706-494-4 Source: () (accessed: Thursday February 4, 2010)〕