She is the destroyer. We Hindus believe, our philosophy says that creation comes out of destruction. And, what is created is destroyed again. The prime example would be the seed and the tree and the seed. The seed destroys itself to be able to germinate and sprout, which evolves into a tree, bears fruit, and you destroy the fruit to get to the seed.
Kali then appeared, with Her red eyes, dark complexion, gaunt features, hair unbound, and Her teeth as sharp as fangs. She rode into the midst of the battle on a lion, and it was only then that the demon Raktabija first began to experience fear.
Kali then ordered the Gods to attack Raktabija, while She spread Her tongue over the battlefield, covering it completely, and preventing even one drop of the demon's blood from falling. In doing this, Kali prevented Raktabija from reproducing himself again, and the Gods were then victorious. Kali is the ferocious aspect of Devi Durga perfectly personified. According to the Purana, this image of Durga as Kali, so widely worshipped in eastern parts of India, owes its origin to the battle of Durga with Shumbha and Nishumbha.
She after her victory over these demons was so overjoyed that she started the dance of death. In her great ecstasy Kali continued the destruction. As the prayers of all gods could not calm her, Lord Shiva had to intervene. Seeing no other way of dissuading her, the God threw himself amongst the bodies of slain demons. When Kali saw that she was dancing over the body of her husband, she put her tongue out of her mouth in sorrow and surprise. She remained stunned in this posture and this is how Kali is shown in images with the red tongue protruding from her mouth.
The manifestation of the goddess as Kali is the most shocking appearance. She is depicted standing on the prostrate body of Shiva, who is lying on a lotus bed. She has absorbed the inexorability of Rudra and Shiva as Bhairava. Yet there is both life and death in this form of the Divine Mother. The name Kali comes from the word "kala," or time.
She is the power of time which devours all. She has a power that destroys and should be depicted in awe-inspiring terror.
Kali is found in the cremation ground amid dead bodies. She is standing in a challenging posture on the prostrate body of her husband Shiva. Kali cannot exist without him, and Shiva can't reveal himself without her. She is the manifestation of Shiva's power and energy. While Shiva's complexion is pure white, Kali is the color of the darkest night-a deep bluish black.
As the limitless Void, Kali has swallowed up everything without a trace. Hence, she is black. Kali's luxuriant hair is disheveled and, thereby, symbolizes Kali's boundless freedom.
Another interpretation says that each hair is a jiva individual soul , and all souls have their roots in Kali. Kali has three eyes; the third one stands for wisdom. Kali's tongue is protruding, a gesture of coyness-because she unwittingly stepped on the body of her husband Shiva. A more philosophical interpretation of Kali's tongue is that it symbolizes Rajas the color red, activity and that it is held by her teeth, symbolizing sattva the color white, spirituality. Kali has four arms.
The posture of her right arms promises fearlessness and boons while her left arms hold a bloody sword and a freshly severed human head. Looking at Kali's right, we see good, and looking at her left, we see bad. Kali is portrayed as naked except for a girdle of human arms cut off at the elbow and a garland of fifty skulls. The arms represent the capacity for work, and Kali wears all work action , potential work, and the results thereof around her waist.
The fifty skulls represent the fifty letters of the Hindu alphabet, the manifest state of sound from which all creation evolved.
Kali's nudity has a similar meaning. In many instances she is described as garbed in space or sky clad. In her absolute, primordial nakedness she is free from all covering of illusion. She is Nature Prakriti in Sanskrit , stripped of 'clothes'. It symbolizes that she is completely beyond name and form, completely beyond the effects of maya illusion. Her nudity is said to represent totally illumined consciousness, unaffected by maya. Kali is the bright fire of truth, which cannot be hidden by the clothes of ignorance.
Such truth simply burns them away. Despite Kali's origins in battle, she evolved to a full-fledged symbol of Mother Nature in her creative, nurturing and devouring aspects. Some groups of people, unfamiliar with the precepts of Hinduism, see Kali as a satanic demon probably because of tales of her being worshipped by dacoits and other such people indulging evil acts. The Goddess Kali is represented as black in color. Black in the ancient Hindu language of Sanskrit is kaala. The feminine form is kali.
So she is Kali, the black one. Black is a symbol of The Infinite and the seed stage of all colors. The Goddess Kali remains in a state of inconceivable darkness that transcends words and mind. Within her blackness is the dazzling brilliance of illumination. Kali's blackness symbolizes her all-embracing, comprehensive nature, because black is the color in which all the colors merge; black absorbs and dissolves them. On the other hand, black is said to represent the total absence of color, again signifying the nature of Kali as ultimate reality.
This in Sanskrit, the color black is named as nirguna beyond all quality and form. Either way, kali's black colour symbolizes her transcendence of all form. She appears black because She is viewed from a distance But when intimately known She is no longer so The sky appears blue at a distance, but look at it close by And you will find that it has no colour The water of the ocean looks blue at a distance But when you go near and take it on your hand, you find that it is colourless".
Kali is a great and powerful black earth Mother Goddess capable of terrible destruction and represents the most powerful form of the female forces in the Universe.
Worship of the Goddess Kali is largely an attempt to appease her and avert her wrath. The Goddess Kali constantly drinks blood. She has an insatiable thirst for blood. As mistress of blood, she presides over the mysteries of both life and death. Kali intends her bloody deeds for the protection of the good. She may get carried away by her gruesome acts but she is not evil.
Kali's destructive energies on the highest level are seen as a vehicle of salvation and ultimate transformation. Kali is the central deity of Time. She created the world and destroys it. She is beyond time and space. After the destruction of the Universe, at the end of the great cycle, she collects the seeds of the next creation.
She destroys the finite to reveal the Infinite. She is also accompanied by serpents and a jackal while standing on the calm and prostrate Shiva. There are several forms of Kali that are popularly worshiped. Every avatar of goddess Kali has some significance. Durga as Ambika, battling the asura army, is confronted by a pair of Asura generals named Chanda and Munda. With her tongue lolling out and deep-sunk reddish eyes she filled the regions of the sky with her roars and falls upon the asuras slaughtering their army.
She defeats Chanda and Munda and brings Ambika their heads for which she is known as Chamundeswari. Generally, lemon garlands are offered to the Goddess on the occasion of Kali Chaudas festival. Many people wear black clothes and visit Kali temples to offer flowers and coconuts to the deity. There is another way to think about it, one in which the goddess is not trying to dominate Shiva—she is dancing, celebrating her victory against the demon, and got carried away.
She represents nature at its rawest and most untamed. She is the culmination of all that is strength and power. She is loving without being devoted. She is the ultimate mother—the mother of all power—without being reduced to the role of a mother.
She is, simply, wilderness itself. Like Kali—whatever the human gaze may choose to see in it. We welcome your comments at ideas. By providing your email, you agree to the Quartz Privacy Policy.
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