Kali

	{{{Name}}}
	; A common scene depicting Kali standing over Shiva.
Affiliation:	Devi (Goddess)
Abode:	Cremation grounds
Mantra:	Om Krīm Kalyai Namah
Weapon:	Sword
Consort:	Shiva
Mount:	Corpse (typically Shiva)

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Kali (Sanskrit meaning "black" or "time") is a Hindu goddess of India with a long and complex history. Largely conceived of as a benevolent mother-goddess, Kali can also be represented as dark and violent. Tantric beliefs sometimes extend her role so far as to be the Ultimate Reality and Source of Being. Kali may be associated with the God Shiva or understood as a manifestation of Devis (goddesses) such as Durga,Parvati, Chinnamasta, Chamunda, Uma, Meenakshi, et al. It was the composition of the Puranas in late antiquity that firmly gave Kali a place in the Hindu pantheon. Kali or Kalika is described in the Devi-Mahatmyam (also known as the Chandi or the Durgasaptasati) from the Markandeya Purana, circa 300-600 C.E., where she is said to have emanated from the brow of the goddess Durga, a slayer of demons or avidya, during one of the battles between the divine and anti-divine forces. In this context, Kali is considered the 'forceful' form of the great goddess Durga. Another account of the origins of Kali is found in the Matsya Purana, circa 1500 C.E., which states that she originated as a mountain tribal goddess in the north-central part of India, in the region of Mount Kalanjara (now known as Kalinjar). However this account is disputed because the legend was of later origin.

In spite of her seemingly terrifying form, Kali is often considered the kindest and most loving of all the Hindu goddesses, as she is regarded by her devotees as the Mother of the whole Universe. Furthermore, because of her terrifying form she is also often seen as a great protector. When the Bengali saint Ramakrishna once asked a devotee why one would prefer to worship the Mother Goddess over him, this devotee rhetorically replied, “Maharaj, when they are in trouble your devotees come running to you. But, where do you run when you are in trouble?”

Meaning

Kali is a feminine form of the Sanskrit word "kala," meaning "time". It also means "black". Kali has therefore been translated variously as "She who is time," "She who devours time," "She who is the Mother of time," "She who is black," and "she who is black time". Kali's association with blackness stands in contrast to her consort, Shiva, who is white, like the ashes of the cremation ground (Sanskrit: 'śmaśan') in which he meditates, and with which they are both associated, hence Kali's epithet 'Śmaśanâ.'

Kali properly transliterated from Sanskrit is Kālī, which should not be confused with the common Sanskrit word properly transliterated as kali, meaning "terrible." They are grammatically unrelated, the first being nominal/ablative the latter adjectival. Frequent confusion comes in interpreting the "kali yuga," or "terrible age," one of the four great ages (yugas) of Hindu cosmology, as conflated with the goddess Kali. This is mostly due to her appearance, which is often described as terrible and fearsome. In fact, the goddess Kali should not be confused with kali yuga, as her name holds separate and unrelated meaning.

Origin

The name Kali first appears in the Rig Veda, not as that of a goddess, but as that of the black tongue of the seven flickering tongues of Agni, the Hindu god of fire. However, the prototype of the figure now known as Kali does appear, in the form of a goddess named Raatri. Raatri is considered to be the antecedent of both Durga and Kali.

In the Sangam era of Tamilakam, a Kali-like bloodthirsty goddess named Kottravai appears in the literature of the period. Like Kali she has dishevelled hair, inspires fear in those who approach her and feasts on battlegrounds littered with the dead. It is quite likely that the fusion of the Sanskrit goddess Raatri and the indigenous Kottravai produced the fearsome goddesses of medieval Hinduism, amongst them Kali being the most prominent.

It was the composition of the Puranas in late antiquity that firmly gave Kali a place in the Hindu pantheon. Kali or Kalika is described in the Devi-Mahatmyam (also known as the Chandi or the Durgasaptasati) from the Markandeya Purana, circa 300-600 C.E., where she is said to have emanated from the brow of the goddess Durga, a slayer of demons or avidya, during one of the battles between the divine and anti-divine forces. In this context, Kali is considered the 'forceful' form of the great goddess Durga. Another account of the origins of Kali is found in the Matsya Purana, circa 1500 C.E., which states that she originated as a mountain tribal goddess in the north-central part of India, in the region of Mount Kalanjara (now known as Kalinjar). However this account is disputed because the legend was of later origin.

Iconography

Fig. A “Kali in Traditional Form.”

Fig. B "Kali Triumphant on The Battle Feild," Punjab, circa 1800-20C.E.

The iconography of Kali can be explained by studying the aesthetic formalities of the Nidanshastra — an authoritative collective on South-Asian symbolism and plastic arts. In Hindu iconography nothing is included without purpose. Starting with their various accompaniments, deities are usually portrayed holding objects in their hands and these objects always have some symbolic significance. The objects or icons that they hold can be roughly grouped into 4 categories: 1) Weapons, 2) Plant forms, 3) Humans, animals and birds, and 4) Everyday objects, like a book or a bowl. Some objects are generally carried by wrathful deities, while others are generally carried by peaceful deities. Some objects are traditionally masculine, while others are feminine. Finally, some objects are considered right-hand proper, while others are left-hand proper.

Deities may hold their hands in a specific, ritualized gesture (known as mudra), or similarly, their legs may be in a ritual pose (asana). The body pose or bhanga can have special significance, as well as the throne or seat, vahana on which the deity rests. Even the dress of the deity can (and often does) have a particular meaning. Virtually, the whole visual ensemble — crown, ornamentation, garments, skin-pigmentation, etc. — have significance and can be a vital aid in the interpretation of the particular deity.

Popular form of Kali

Classic depictions of Kali share several features, as follows:

Kali has four arms and hands. Two of these arms (usually the left) are holding a sword and a severed head. This signifies that in the end she will kill everyone — no one can avoid her as mortal death. The other two hands (usually the right) are in blessing, which means her initiated devotees (or anyone worshipping her with a true heart) will be saved as she will guide them to liberation.

She wears a garland of 51 heads, which represents the Varnamala, or the Garland of Letters. This represents the 51 letters of the Devanagari or Sanskrit script. Hindus believe Sanskrit is a language of dynamism, and each of these letters represents a form of energy, or a form of Kali. Therefore she is generally seen as the mother of language, and all mantras.

She is often depicted naked with Maya as her only covering and is shown as very dark, as she has no permanent qualities — she will continue to exist even when the universe ends. It is therefore believed that the concepts of color, light, good, bad do not apply to her — she is the pure, un-manifested energy, the Adi-shakti.

She is also accompanied by serpents and a jackal while standing on a seemingly dead Shiva, usually right foot forward to symbolize the more popular Dakshinamargi or right-handed path, as apposed to the more infamous and secretive Vamamargi or left-handed path. There is a mythological story for the reason behind her standing on what appears to be Shiva’s corpse, which translates as follows:

Once Kali had destroyed all the demons in battle, she began a terrific dance out of the sheer joy of victory. All the worlds or lokas began to tremble and sway under the impact of her dance. So, at the request of all the Gods, Shiva himself asked her to desist from this behavior. However, she was too intoxicated to listen. Hence, Shiva lay like a corpse among the slain demons in order to absorb the shock of the dance into himself. When Kali eventually stepped upon her husband she realized her mistake and put out her tongue in shame.

However, the symbolism of the above mentioned theological perspective is often seen as antiquated and misogynistic. The more thoughtful (and Tantric) interpretation of Kali standing on top of her husband is as follows:

The Shiv tattava (Divine Consciousness as Shiva) is inactive, while the Shakti tattava (Divine Energy as Kali) is active. Shiva, or Mahadeva represents Brahman, the Absolute pure consciousness which is beyond all names, forms and activities. Kali, on the other hand, represents the potential (and manifested) energy responsible for all names, forms and activities. She is his Shakti, or creative power, and is seen as the substance behind the entire content of all consciousness. She can never exist apart from Shiva or act independently of him, i.e., Shakti, all the matter/energy of the universe, is not distinct from Shiva, or Brahman, but is rather the dynamic power of Brahman.

To properly understand this complex Tantric symbolism it is important to remember that the meaning behind Shiva and Kali does not stray from the non-dualistic parlance of Shankara or the Upanisads. According to both the Mahanirvana and Kularnava Tantras, there are two disticnt ways of perceiving the same absolute reality. The first is a transcendental plane which is often described as static, yet infinite. It is here that there is no matter, there is no universe and only consciousness exists. This form of reality is known as Shiva, the absolute Sat-Chit-Ananda — existence, knowledge and bliss. The second is an active plane, an immanent plane, the plane of matter, of Maya, i.e., where the illusion of space-time and the appearance of an actual universe does exist. This form of reality is known as Kali or Shakti, and (in its entirety) is still specified as the same Absolute Sat-Chit-Ananda. It is here in this second plane that the universe (as we commonly know it) is experienced and is described by the Tantric seer as the play of Shakti, or God as Mother Kali.

From a Tantric perspective, when one meditates on reality at rest, as absolute pure consciousness (without the activities of creation, preservation or dissolution) one refers to this as Shiva, or Brahman. When one meditates on reality as dynamic and creative, as the Absolute content of pure consciousness (with all the activities of creation, preservation or dissolution) one refers to it as Kali or Shakti. However, in either case the yogini or yogi is interested in one and the same reality — the only difference being in name and fluctuating aspects of appearance. It is this which is generally accepted as the meaning of Kali standing on the chest of Shiva.

Throughout India's history, artists have portrayed Kali in a myriad of poses and settings (see figs. A and B) some of which stray far from the popular description provided above, and are sometimes even graphically sexual in nature. Although there is often controversy surrounding these images of divine copulation, the general consensus is benign and free from any carnal impurities in its substance. In Tantra the human body is a symbol for the microcosm of the universe; therefore sexual process is responsible for the creation of the world. Although theoretically Shiva and Kali (or Shakti) are inseparable, like fire and its power to burn, in the case of creation they are often seen has having separate roles. With Shiva as male and Kali as female it is only by their union that creation may transpire. This reminds us of the prakrti and purusa doctrine of Samkhya wherein vimarsa-prakasa has no practical value, just as without prakrti, purusa is quite inactive. This (once again) stresses the interdependencies of Shiva and Shakti and the vitality of their union. Given the popularity of this Goddess, artists will likely continue to explore Kali’s iconography.

Association with Thuggee

Kali's poor reputation in the West is often ascribed largely to the cult of the Thuggee, a group of radical, indigenous and immigrant South-Asians (primarily centered near Kolkata, circa 13th-19th century CE) who took the goddess Kali as their deity. Although much controversy surrounds their habits, it has been widely reported that the Thuggee robbed and murdered travellers as sacrifices to Kali and were eventually broken up by the occupying, British colonists. The common English word thug is derived from this. Many non-Hindus were introduced to Kali by way of the Goddess appearing as a villain deity in the films Gunga Din, Help! and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

Development

In the later traditions, Kali has become inextricably linked with Shiva. The unleashed form of Kali often becomes wild and uncontrollable, and only Shiva is able to tame her. This is both because she is often a transformed version of one of his consorts and because he is able to match her wildness. His methods vary from challenging her to the wild tandava dance and outdoing her, to appearing as a crying infant and appealing to her maternal instincts. While Shiva is said to be able to tame her, the iconography often presents her dancing on his fallen body, and there are accounts of the two of them dancing together, and driving each other to such wildness that the world comes close to unravelling.

Shiva's involvement with Tantra and Kali's dark nature have led to her becoming an important Tantric figure. To the Tantric worshippers, it was essential to face her Curse, the terror of death, as willingly as they accepted Blessings from her beautiful, nurturing, maternal aspect. For them, wisdom meant learning that no coin has only one side: as death cannot exist without life, so life cannot exist without death. Kali's role sometimes increased beyond a chaos who could be confronted to bring wisdom, and she is given great metaphysical significance by some Tantric texts. The Nirvāna-tantra clearly presents her uncontrolled nature as the Ultimate Reality, claiming that the trimurti of Brahma, Visnu and Rudra arise and disappear from her like bubbles from the sea. Although this is an extreme case, the Yogini-tantra, Kamakhya-tantra and the Niruttara-tantra declare her the svarupa (own-being) of the Mahadevi (the great Goddess, who is in this case seen as the combination of all devis).

The final stage of development is the worshipping of Kali as the Great Mother, devoid of her usual violence. This practice is a break from the more traditional depictions. The pioneers of this tradition are the 18th century Shakta poets such as Ramprasad Sen, who show an awareness of Kali's ambivalent nature. Ramakrishna, the 19th century, Bengali saint, was also a great devotee of Kali; the western popularity of whom may have contributed to the more modern, equivocal interpretations of this Goddess. Rachel McDermott's work, however, suggests that for the common, modern worshipper, Kali is not seen as fearful, and only those educated in old traditions see her as having a wrathful component. Some credit to the development of Devi must also be given to Samkhya. Commonly referred to as the Devi of delusion, Mahamaya, acting in the confines of (but not being bound by) the nature of the three gunas, takes three forms: Maha-Kali, Maha-Lakshmi and Maha-Saraswati, being her tamas-ika, rajas-ika and sattva-ika forms. In this sense, Kali is simply part of a larger whole.

Like Sir John Woodroffe and Georg Feuerstein, many Tantric scholars (as well as sincere practitioners) agree though that, no matter how propitious or appalling you describe them, Shiva and Devi are simply recognizable symbols for everyday, abstract (yet tangible) concepts such as perception, knowledge, space-time, causation and the process of liberating oneself from the confines of such things. Shiva, symbolizing pure, absolute consciousness, and Devi, symbolizing the entire content of that consciousness, are ultimately one in the same — totality incarnate, a micro-macro-cosmic amalgamation of all subjects, all objects and all phenomenal relations between the "two." Like man and woman who both share many common, human traits yet at the same time they are still different and, therefore, may also be seen as complementary.

Sadhakas and sadhikas (of all generations) prescribe various benign and horrific qualities to Devi simply out of practicality. They do this so they may have a variety of symbols to choose from, symbols which they can identify and relate with from the perspective of their own, ever-changing time, place and personal level of unfolding. Just like modern chemists or physicists use a variety of molecular and atomic models to describe what is unperceivable through rudimentary, sensory input, the scientists of ontology and epistemology must do the same. One of the underlying distinctions of Tantra (in comparison to other religions) is that it allows the devotee the liberty to choose (from a vast array of complementary symbols and rhetoric) that which suits one’s evolving needs and tastes. From an aesthetic standpoint, nothing is interdict and nothing is orthodox. In this sense, the projection of some of Devi’s more gentle qualities onto Kali is not sacrilege and the development of Kali really lies in the practitioner, not the murthi.

The following passages (A & B) and footnotes are from the "Devi-Mahatyam" and both show two much contrasted descriptions of the divine-feminine.

File:Devimahatmyam excerpt.jpg

excerpt from the Devi-Mahatmyam. A

File:Devimahatyam excerpt2.jpg

excerpt from the Devi-Mahatmyam. B

A Brahma said: You are Svaha1 and Svadha2. You are verily the Vashatkara3 and embodiment of Svara4. You are the Sudha5. O eternal and imperishable one, you are the embodiment of the threefold matra6. You are half a matra, though eternal. You are verily that which can not be uttered specifically. You are Savitri7 and the supreme Mother of the devas.

1 The propitiatory mantra of the devas uttered when an oblation is poured in the fire for them. 2 The propitiatory mantra of the manes (Pitrs) uttered when offerings are made in ceremonies in honor of departed ancestry. 3 Vashatkara in this text signifies Yajna, Vedic sacrifice. 4 all utterances. 5 Sudha, is the nectar of the devas and signifies immortality. 6 sound measures, long, short and unmetered. Also interpreted as omkara, made up of a, u and m, the original three sounds, made with open, intermediate and closed lips 7 The famous Savitri hymn which occurs in the Rigveda.

B Out of the surface of her forehead, fierce with frown, issued suddenly Kali of terrible countenance, armed with a sword and noose. Bearing the strange khatvanga (skull-topped staff ) , decorated with a garland of skulls, clad in a tiger’s skin, very appalling owing to her emaciated flesh, with gaping mouth, fearful with her tongue lolling out, having deep reddish eyes, filling the regions of the sky with her roars, falling upon impetuously and slaughtering the great asuras in that army, she devoured those hordes of the foes of the devas.

File:KaliMother.jpg

A painting of Kali.

External links

Simple:Kali

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