Kali

(Revision as of 16:08, 30 Nov 2004)

Introduction

The supreme Goddess, Kali, the Mother of the World and Time, the only goddess with power enough to save the Humankind from the evil, sins, disasters, protecting us from all the occurrences that can kill us or make us ill, through her grace there is no limits to Men. The goddess Kali is also associated with Ganga, also a Mother. This two goddess are often connoted to be sisters, but Kali is more powerful that Ganga and likely Ganga could be seen as a daughter of Kali. The worship of Kali in India is very popular, with special relevance in the Eastern, where she’s worshipped both at home in her benevolent aspect, associated with karma ideologies and in shrines associated a tantric rituals. Besides daily deities the Goddess Kali is also object of special worships on special dates like the day of Dipavali. Her Vijamantra is Krim, the mantra of Kriya Yoga, the Yoga of practice. Animal sacrifice is used in some occasions during the worship of Kali.

Historic Background

Kali is regarded as one of the famous deities in India. The earliest reference of Kali can be found in the Mundak Upanishad. Also in the Oriya Ramayana written by Balaram Das in 15 A.D. we can see a vivid description of Kali and in Shyamasaparyavidhi written by Kasinath in the year 1699 A.D. a reference of Kali worship. Hindu Vedic literature associates Kali with the goddess Nirtti since both of them are dark complexioned, but in post-vedic period Nirtti had lost popularity and Kali raise in importance and deities Some believe Kali is the later form of Vedic goddess -Nirtti. The actual forms of Kali worship are based in three texts: Kali Tantra, Tantrasara and Shyamarahasya.

Kali Forms

The four arms of Kali are believed to represent the complete circle of creation and destruction, a energy of transformation and spiritual awakening, both contained within her. In her right hands, making the mudra position of “fear not” and conferring boons, are the creative aspect of Kali. Her left hands, holding sword and a head are her destructive aspect. The bloodied sword and severed head symbolize the destruction of ignorance and apathy, the awakening for the knowledge, in this frame we can assume that the sword that she holds are the sword of knowledge it self, that cuts the roots of ignorance and dismember the false consciousness (the severed head) from the body. Her three eyes represent the sun, the moon, and the fire, with which she sees though the past, the present and the future. This last tree attributes are also the reason of the name Kali, which is the feminine form of ‘Kala’, a Sanskrit term for Time.