O Mother, even a dullard becomes a poet who meditates upon thee raimented with space, three-eyed, creatrix of the three worlds, whose waist is beautiful with a girdle made of numbers of dead men's arms, and who on the breast of a corpse, as thy couch in the cremation ground, enjoyest Mahakala - Karpuradistotra, VII (Woodroffe tr)
Kali's paramount place of worship is in the cremation ground, preferably at the dead of night, on a suitable day of the waning Moon. Here, her nature becomes clear and apparent. For an adept in the worship, the whole world is a cremation ground, and She, the true form of time, who by herself creates and destroys all, is personified as the pyre. There, after life, all mortals and their wishes, dreams and reflections come to their fruition, a pile of worthless ashes.
If you're a six year old child in the West and watch cartoons on TV, you have an idea who Kali is. She appears in various shows - almost invariably as an evil demoness who the badly animated superhero has to conquer. This is highly insulting to many Hindus, who regard her as the Absolute itself.
Alone amongst all the tantrik deities, it is Kali who has captured the imagination of the West. But rather than reviled, she is revered by countless millions of people. Ramakrishna, the famous Indian sage and saint, was one of her devotees; Rabindranath Tagore another. It's no coincidence that both these great men came from Bengal, for it is there that she continues to receive oblations and offerings of flesh. Nevertheless, traces of her worship are found throughout India and former territories of India.
Her bad reputation in the West probably sprang from her association with the cult of the Thuggees, forcefully suppressed by the British during the days of empire. The Thuggees - the word gave rise to our word thug - were actually Muslims who took the goddess Kali as their tutelary deity. They specialised in ensnaring and then robbing and murdering travellers. Originally, they were only supposed to attack male travellers and in their latter days attributed their downfall to the fact they had started to kill woman travellers too.
But Kali pre-dates the Thuggees, quite possibly by several thousands of years. No one truly knows her origin. She does, however, have an uncanny and an ambiguous image. Modern pictures of her show her standing on the dead body of her consort Shiva, with four arms, a necklace of fifty human skulls, a girdle of human arms, holding an axe, a trident, a severed human head and a bowl of blood. Around her rages a battle - she herself is the colour of a thundercloud. Her protruding tongue drips with the fresh blood of her enemies.
But this image is simply one of many, as we shall see. She is the goddess in her form as Dakshina Kalika - one of the most popular Bengali images of the goddess. Her guises are many, and include Bhadra (auspicious) Kali, Shmashana (cremation ground) Kali, Guhya (secret) Kali and a host of others. It is only in the great tantrik traditions that we find a clue to the real meaning of the gruesome images associated with Kalika. Although Hinduism was much reviled by early Western colonisers for its idolatry and pantheistic practices, this was a very narrow view. Tantrik texts repeatedly speak of the Devis or goddesses as being aspects of the one goddess. The same holds true for the male aspects. As individual humans all reflect the macrocosm, it's fair to describe the gods and goddesses of tantra as specialised aspects of ourselves - and, therefore, of life itself.
Yet life has its dark and its light sides. Death and love, in the tantrik tradition, are two sides of the same coin. As we look to the sky, we can see the Sun and Moon as symbols of male and female, of Shiva and Shakti. In the tantras, the Moon is often taken as a symbol of the Devi, whether in its dark or its bright fortnight. When She wanes, her images and her iconography become progressively more dark and fearsome. But when She waxes, so her images brighten. When she is full, She is Devi Tripura. Tripura is a name of the goddess meaning three cities. These allude to her own triple nature as a maiden (Bala) as a fecund woman (Tripura) and as a post-menstruating woman (Tripura Bhairavi).
Sir John Woodroffe (Arthur Avalon), writing in the Garland of Letters, says Kali is the deity in her aspect as withdrawing time into itself. "Kali is so called because She devours Kala (Time) and then resumes Her own dark formlessness." (Garland of Letters, page 235). Woodroffe says some have speculated that Kali was originally the Goddess of the Vindhya Hills, conquered by the Aryans. The necklace of skulls which makes up her image, he adds, are those of white people. Relying on the texts themselves, gives insight into the tantrik idea of Kali. In the Kulachudamani Tantra (KT), Lord Shiva asks questions answered by Devi, the goddess. It is, probably, one of the oldest tantras, according to Woodroffe, who published the Sanskrit text with an English introduction in his Tantrik Texts series.
In eight short chapters, Devi expounds the essence of her worship, sometimes in most beautiful imagery. But the uncanny side of Kaula and Kali worship is dwelt on in great detail, with references to siddhis - magical powers - including a mysterious process where the tantrik adept leaves his body at night, apparently so he can engage in sexual intercourse with Shaktis. Animal sacrifice also has a place in this tantra.
The siddhis play a large part in the worship of the uncanny goddess Kali. The main tantrik rites are called the six acts (shatkarma) of pacifying, subjugating, paralysing, obstructing, driving away, and death-dealing. But the KT includes others such as Parapurapraveshana, which is the power of reviving a corpse, although according to some it means the ability to enter another's living body; Anjana, an ointment which lets a sadhaka see through solid walls; Khadga which gives invulnerability to swords; Khecari, which gives the power of flying and Paduka Siddhi, magical sandals which take you great distances, rather like seven league boots.
Certainly, the importance of having a suitable Shakti is important, according to the instructions Devi gives to Shiva. Devi here takes the form of Mahishamardini, more popularly known as Durga, who destroyed the two arch-demons Shumbha and Nishumbha in an epic battle between the goddess and the throng of demons. It was at this time, according to legend, that Durga created Kali, emanating her out of her third eye.
We learn more of Durga's legends and myths from the Kalika Purana. The Devi, Mahamaya, appeared as Bhadra Kali - identical with Mahishamardini - in order to slay the demon Mahisha. He had fallen into a deep sleep on a mountain and had a terrible dream in which BhadraKali cut asunder his head with her sword and drank his blood.
The demon started to worship Bhadra Kali and when Mahamaya appeared to him again in a later age to slaughter him again, he asked a boon of her. Devi replied that he could have his boon, and he asked her for the favour that he would never leave the service of her feet again. Devi replied that his boon was granted. "When you have been killed by me in the fight, O demon Mahisha, you shall never leave my feet, there is no doubt about it. In every place where worship of me takes place, there (will be worship) of you; as regards your body, O Danava, it is to be worshipped and meditated upon at the same time." (Kalakikapurana, ch.62, 107-108.)
by http://www.shivashakti.com/kali.htm
Kali's paramount place of worship is in the cremation ground, preferably at the dead of night, on a suitable day of the waning Moon. Here, her nature becomes clear and apparent. For an adept in the worship, the whole world is a cremation ground, and She, the true form of time, who by herself creates and destroys all, is personified as the pyre. There, after life, all mortals and their wishes, dreams and reflections come to their fruition, a pile of worthless ashes.
If you're a six year old child in the West and watch cartoons on TV, you have an idea who Kali is. She appears in various shows - almost invariably as an evil demoness who the badly animated superhero has to conquer. This is highly insulting to many Hindus, who regard her as the Absolute itself.
Alone amongst all the tantrik deities, it is Kali who has captured the imagination of the West. But rather than reviled, she is revered by countless millions of people. Ramakrishna, the famous Indian sage and saint, was one of her devotees; Rabindranath Tagore another. It's no coincidence that both these great men came from Bengal, for it is there that she continues to receive oblations and offerings of flesh. Nevertheless, traces of her worship are found throughout India and former territories of India.
Her bad reputation in the West probably sprang from her association with the cult of the Thuggees, forcefully suppressed by the British during the days of empire. The Thuggees - the word gave rise to our word thug - were actually Muslims who took the goddess Kali as their tutelary deity. They specialised in ensnaring and then robbing and murdering travellers. Originally, they were only supposed to attack male travellers and in their latter days attributed their downfall to the fact they had started to kill woman travellers too.
But Kali pre-dates the Thuggees, quite possibly by several thousands of years. No one truly knows her origin. She does, however, have an uncanny and an ambiguous image. Modern pictures of her show her standing on the dead body of her consort Shiva, with four arms, a necklace of fifty human skulls, a girdle of human arms, holding an axe, a trident, a severed human head and a bowl of blood. Around her rages a battle - she herself is the colour of a thundercloud. Her protruding tongue drips with the fresh blood of her enemies.
But this image is simply one of many, as we shall see. She is the goddess in her form as Dakshina Kalika - one of the most popular Bengali images of the goddess. Her guises are many, and include Bhadra (auspicious) Kali, Shmashana (cremation ground) Kali, Guhya (secret) Kali and a host of others. It is only in the great tantrik traditions that we find a clue to the real meaning of the gruesome images associated with Kalika. Although Hinduism was much reviled by early Western colonisers for its idolatry and pantheistic practices, this was a very narrow view. Tantrik texts repeatedly speak of the Devis or goddesses as being aspects of the one goddess. The same holds true for the male aspects. As individual humans all reflect the macrocosm, it's fair to describe the gods and goddesses of tantra as specialised aspects of ourselves - and, therefore, of life itself.
Yet life has its dark and its light sides. Death and love, in the tantrik tradition, are two sides of the same coin. As we look to the sky, we can see the Sun and Moon as symbols of male and female, of Shiva and Shakti. In the tantras, the Moon is often taken as a symbol of the Devi, whether in its dark or its bright fortnight. When She wanes, her images and her iconography become progressively more dark and fearsome. But when She waxes, so her images brighten. When she is full, She is Devi Tripura. Tripura is a name of the goddess meaning three cities. These allude to her own triple nature as a maiden (Bala) as a fecund woman (Tripura) and as a post-menstruating woman (Tripura Bhairavi).
Sir John Woodroffe (Arthur Avalon), writing in the Garland of Letters, says Kali is the deity in her aspect as withdrawing time into itself. "Kali is so called because She devours Kala (Time) and then resumes Her own dark formlessness." (Garland of Letters, page 235). Woodroffe says some have speculated that Kali was originally the Goddess of the Vindhya Hills, conquered by the Aryans. The necklace of skulls which makes up her image, he adds, are those of white people. Relying on the texts themselves, gives insight into the tantrik idea of Kali. In the Kulachudamani Tantra (KT), Lord Shiva asks questions answered by Devi, the goddess. It is, probably, one of the oldest tantras, according to Woodroffe, who published the Sanskrit text with an English introduction in his Tantrik Texts series.
In eight short chapters, Devi expounds the essence of her worship, sometimes in most beautiful imagery. But the uncanny side of Kaula and Kali worship is dwelt on in great detail, with references to siddhis - magical powers - including a mysterious process where the tantrik adept leaves his body at night, apparently so he can engage in sexual intercourse with Shaktis. Animal sacrifice also has a place in this tantra.
The siddhis play a large part in the worship of the uncanny goddess Kali. The main tantrik rites are called the six acts (shatkarma) of pacifying, subjugating, paralysing, obstructing, driving away, and death-dealing. But the KT includes others such as Parapurapraveshana, which is the power of reviving a corpse, although according to some it means the ability to enter another's living body; Anjana, an ointment which lets a sadhaka see through solid walls; Khadga which gives invulnerability to swords; Khecari, which gives the power of flying and Paduka Siddhi, magical sandals which take you great distances, rather like seven league boots.
Certainly, the importance of having a suitable Shakti is important, according to the instructions Devi gives to Shiva. Devi here takes the form of Mahishamardini, more popularly known as Durga, who destroyed the two arch-demons Shumbha and Nishumbha in an epic battle between the goddess and the throng of demons. It was at this time, according to legend, that Durga created Kali, emanating her out of her third eye.
We learn more of Durga's legends and myths from the Kalika Purana. The Devi, Mahamaya, appeared as Bhadra Kali - identical with Mahishamardini - in order to slay the demon Mahisha. He had fallen into a deep sleep on a mountain and had a terrible dream in which BhadraKali cut asunder his head with her sword and drank his blood.
The demon started to worship Bhadra Kali and when Mahamaya appeared to him again in a later age to slaughter him again, he asked a boon of her. Devi replied that he could have his boon, and he asked her for the favour that he would never leave the service of her feet again. Devi replied that his boon was granted. "When you have been killed by me in the fight, O demon Mahisha, you shall never leave my feet, there is no doubt about it. In every place where worship of me takes place, there (will be worship) of you; as regards your body, O Danava, it is to be worshipped and meditated upon at the same time." (Kalakikapurana, ch.62, 107-108.)
by http://www.shivashakti.com/kali.htm
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