KALI : The Goddess of Destruction by CAM

[Dept of PMM Artists & things]

 

 Goddess Kali,Maha Kali,Kali Maa,Hindu Goddess Kali,Maa Kali,Kali ma

 

Goddess Kali is one of the many forms of Shakti or energy, which are the forms that are shown to portray woman power. Maa Kali is the most terrifying of all goddesses to be found in the Hindu religion. The word Kali comes from the Sanskrit word "Kaal". This word means time. This is quite representative as it shows the world and the people who worship her that nothing escapes from time.

 

buzzytimes.com

 

 

Goddess Kali is also figurative of the goddess of death. But, in reality, Kali brings about the death of the human ego. In the scripture's Goddess Kali is shown to have killed evil spirits. Maa Kali is never shown as having killed anyone else.

 

 

http://paganpages.org/content/tag/kali/

 

Kali has never been linked with Yama, who is the Hindu God of Death. Therefore, although Maa Kali looks violent and angry she is nowhere connected with death.Kali maa is considered to be another form of a mother. Maa Kali is one of the few Goddesses in the Hindu religion who have never married and have renounced all the worldly and marital pleasures.

 

When you think of the similarity between Goddess Kali and Lord Shiva both of them are shown living in cremation grounds. The Hindu devotees go to the cremation grounds to be able to contemplate and meditate with the main objective of getting over their ego.

 

 

The cremation grounds tell the devotees that the body is temporary. Kali and Shiva live in the cremation grounds because they have no affection to the human body that they are born in. When one has no connection to the body then one does not have any ego too.

 

Kali and Shiva state that the devotee can release himself if he let's go of the false impression of the ego. The body finally disappears after death leaving behind the soul. This is. What is showcased by Maa Kali in the cremation grounds?

 

Maa Kali is considered to be the kindest and sympathetic toward all the forms of goddesses. Maa Kali is the one who is able to get salvation or liberation for her children. Kali is considered to be in the same position as Shiva as both of them are the destroyers. They bring to destruction all forms of evil, phony and unreal.

 

They say that the moment self-image looks at Maa Kali it trembles with great fear when it comes face to face with her. The way people look and worship kali maa depends on the form of their sense of self. If they are egoistical and attached to the worldly pleasures then they will be frightened of Kali mata. However, if the person is spiritual then the ego will not affect them. Thereby, they will not be afraid of Maa Kali. Therefore, the disciples of Maa kali will get to see her two versions. One in which she is shown as a violent goddess and the other one in which she is kind with a lot of love and sweetness overflowing of her every pore.

 

The image that is always shown of Goddess Kali has four arms and hands that show her overpowering strength. In the other two hands, she has a sword and a fresh severed head. This shows the great battle in which she defeated the fierce demon.

The other two hands of Mata Kali are used to bless her true devotees. This means that those who worship her truly will be saved as she will guide them on this earth and there after too. On mata Kali, you will find a garland that has many skulls and a skirt made of cut off arms. This is because the self-image comes out of recognition with the body.

 

This shows that the physical body is false and spirit is the only truth that we must associate ourselves with. Kali the goddess is shown black or sometimes dark blue in complexion. This represents the womb from where all of creation is born and into which all the creation will ultimately go back to.

That is why the concepts of color be it light or dark, or good or bad do not apply to Kali mata as she is untouched and is the most powerful energy.

 

 

 

   Kali comes from the Sanskrit root word Kal which means time. There is nothing that escapes the all-consuming march of time. In Tibetan Buddhism Her counterpart is male with the name Kala. Mother Kali is the most misunderstood of the Hindu goddesses. The Encyclopedia Britannica is grossly mistaken in the following quote, "Major Hindu goddess whose iconography, cult, and mythology commonly associate her with death, sexuality, violence, and, paradoxically in some of her later historical appearances, motherly love."

 

 

It is partly correct to say Kali is a goddess of death but She brings the death of the ego as the illusory self-centered view of reality. Nowhere in the Hindu stories is She seen killing anything but demons nor is She associated specifically with the process of human dying like the Hindu god Yama (who really is the god of death). It is true that both Kali and Shiva are said to inhabit cremation grounds and devotees often go to these places to meditate. This is not to worship death but rather it is to overcome the I-am-the-body idea by reinforcing the awareness that the body is a temporary condition. Shiva and Kali are said to inhabit these places because it is our attachment to the body that gives rise to the ego. Shiva and Kali grant liberation by removing the illusion of the ego. Thus we are the eternal I AM and not the body. This is underscored by the scene of the cremation grounds.

Of all the forms of Devi, She is the most compassionate because She provides moksha or liberation to Her children. She is the counterpart of Shiva the destroyer. They are the destroyers of unreality. The ego sees Mother Kali and trembles with fear because the ego sees in Her its own eventual demise. A person who is attached to his or her ego will not be receptive to Mother Kali and she will appear in a fearsome form. A mature soul who engages in spiritual practice to remove the illusion of the ego sees Mother Kali as very sweet, affectionate, and overflowing with incomprehensible love for Her children.

Ma Kali wears a garland of skulls and a skirt of dismembered arms because the ego arises out of identification with the body. In truth we are beings of spirit and not flesh. So liberation can only proceed when our attachment to the body ends. Thus the garland and skirt are trophies worn by Her to symbolize having liberated Her children from attachment to the limited body. She holds a sword and a freshly severed head dripping blood. As the story goes, this represents a great battle in which she destroyed the demon Raktabija. Her black skin represents the womb of the quantum unmanifest from which all of creation arises and into which all of creation will eventually dissolve. She is depicted as standing on Shiva who lays beneath Her with white skin (in contrast to Her black or sometimes dark blue skin). He has a blissful detached look. Shiva represents pure formless awareness sat-chit-ananda (being-consciousness-bliss) while She represents "form" eternally supported by the substratum of pure awareness.

By not understanding the story behind Mother Kali it is easy to misinterpret Her iconography. In the same way one could say that Christianity is a religion of death, destruction and cannibalism in which the practitioners drink the blood of Jesus and eat his flesh. Of course, we know this is not the proper understanding of the communion ritual.

Attaching the idea of sexuality to Mother Kali has no basis in Her at all. There is nothing that associates Her with sexuality in the Hindu stories. In fact it is just the opposite. She is one of the few Goddesses who is celibate practicing austerity and renunciation!

 

The notion that She is the goddess of death, sex and violence is simply utter nonsense. When we study the life of the great saint Ramakrishna or the great poet saint Ramprasad (both famous Kali worshippers), or listen to the traditional Hindu devotional songs to Kali, there is no hint of this death-sex-violence notion.

 

This can also be confirmed by going to any of the Hindu websites such as www.hindunet.com and reading about Mother Kali.

 Also recommended is the book Kali: The Black Goddess of Dakshineswar, by Elizabeth Harding.

 Also there is a beautiful and genuine Kali temple in Laguna Beach, California and it may be visited on-line at www.kalimandir.org.

 

Kali is the goddess of enlightenment or liberation.

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