In utter disregard of these sublime concepts conveyed by the five constituents of the Panchamakara thathwa of the saktha cult, people took them in the ordinary meanings and began to indulge in reprehensible practices. Mudra is interpreted as gram, Mathsyam is interpreted as fish, Mamsam is interpreted as flesh, Madhyam is interpreted as liquor and Maithunam is interpreted as sexual union. This twisted and perverted interpretation has resulted in a gluttonous orgy of eating cooked gram with fish and meat, helped by sumptuous quantity of liquor at the rituals and the ceremony wound up by sexual indulgence by the devotees among themselves. This is religion taking a wrong turn as was the case with the carpocratian sect of the early christian church who equated christian morality with sexual religious rites.

Panchamakaram is to be understood as a system of progressive spiritual training beginning from the discipline of the Mudra and passing through the stages of control over mind and body and then on to the stage of supreme bliss and finally ending in a state of non-dualism or Adwaita. Those who are addicted to external mada, maithuna and mamsam go to hell. This is said by Mathangisanatha one of the teachers of the Mathsendranath School of thought in the following lines:

"Bahrmada ratho yasthu maithune mamsa bakshane
thesarvam narakam yanthi satyam vache mama."

The ancient seers of India had an uncanny ability of spotlighting the core of many psychic centres inside the brain. The modern medical sciences has testified to this their amazing ability which has been responsible for the formulation of the science of yoga. In the writings about yoga there are references about a lotus with thousand petals and a lotus heart. The lotus referred to, is the brain and the lotus heart is the neural heart within it, which is said to be the seat of Divinity in man. The lotus motif of the Hindu and Bhuddhist icons and the expression Manipadma (lotus jewel) in the Baddha manthra "OM Manipadme Hum" have reference to this metaphor of the lotus heart in man, the jewel being the life principle within.