Iconography of Kali - Perfect symbolism

[sambya]

Kali is the supreme goddess of eastern tantra school known as Kali-kula sampraday . For many , she is fearsome and destructive goddess . For others she is the compassionate mother . Beneath these diverse concepts and gross misunderstandings lies the true symbolism of this divine power .

Purusha Prakriti of samkhya

Kali is the most successful depiction of the Purusha Prakriti concept of Sankhya darshan . Samkhya seeks to explain the mysteries of cosmos by elaborating on two fundamental concepts--the male or Purusha and the female or Prakriti . Together they constitute the whole or existence . In later ages this Purusha Prakriti concepts were indentified with various principle deities of Hindu pantheon . Thus this Purusha Prakriti concept came to be expressed as Radha Krishna , Laxmi Narayan , Shiva-Parvati , or Kali and Shiva . However among all of them the form of Kali and Shiva is the most satisfactory in terms of iconography .

The attributeless unity called Brahman is basically inactive . His activity starts with the process of creation . During this time the energy of Brahman begins to work . Strictly speaking Brahman cannot be separated from its energy . But this energy is personified as Devi and the inactive component of Brahman as Shiva --the Purusha .

Put in a different way the same Brahman when inactive and attributeless is Purusha , and when it starts to work and create its with attributes and Prakriti .

In Kali , we see her dancing atop the chest of her husband . Shiva , the Purusha lies inactive below . so he is called Shava-Shiva or Shiva the corpse . And this Shiva's divine energy takes the form of Kali and does all the work . Hence she is dancing and is active . But they are not mutually exclusive . They represent two sides of the same reality and are inseperable . Hence they are interconnected . Kali is always standing on her husbands chest .

The union of Purusha and Prakriti results in cosmos . Therefore Shiva's eyes are fixed on the eyes of Kali . And Kali looks down in acceptance .

Her arms - Both sides of almighty

God is not just benevolent but also destructive . This is reflected in the hands of Kali . In her right hand side arms she shows the Abhaya mudra(gesture of fearlessness) and Vara mudra(gesture of benediction) repectively . This is the benevolent aspect of the almighty . But on the other arm in left side she holds a bloody scimitar and a severed head depicting destruction and end .

God is there for both renunciates and grihasta devotees . Kali's left hand arms with severed head and scimitar are for those disciples who intend to break away from material bondage . With the scimitar she cuts off the material bondage of this world and the severed head represents the removal of our ego , which is the main hindrance towards spiritual progress.
With her right hands she blesses those devotees who want material benedictions and sense enjoyments . She is mother to all .

Her lack of clothing

She stands naked because she is brahmaswaroop . no cloth is sufficient to cover her .

Her colour

She is black in color because black is that color which absorbes all other colurs . She is the repository for all the talents and good qualities , hence she is black .

Her tongue

Her tongue is lolls out and is red in color . This symbolises unrestrained Rajo guna or mode of passion . But her white teeth bites this lolling tongue representing control of Rajo guna by Sattva guna or mode of goodness .

Her eyes

Her third eye in the forehead is the Gyana netra or the eye of wisdom . the three eyes represent the past , present and the future ......she is Trikaldarshi .


Garland of human heads

She wears a garland of severed human heads 51 in number . This represents the 51 syllables of Sanskrit script . Starting with the primordial sound ' om ' all sound vibrations emanate from the supreme . Hence each sound has a presiding deity . Kali as the true mother wears the garland of 51 types of sound in her neck .


Girdle of human hands

Around her waist there is a girdle of severed human hands . She is the one who can reduce or take away our karma-phal . When she is pleased she takes away the past samskars and karma phals of the sadhak and thereby help in his liberation . This severed hands symbolises taking away of karma by her .


Her hair

Her flowing hair spreads all over her back and reaches upto her ankles . This symbolises her spread of maya . Her maya spreads over every corner much like this mesh of hair .

Her abode - Crematoriums

Kali's eternal dwelling place is crematoriums or smashans . Apprently this is repulsive and even frightening . But cremtaoriums have been refered to as holy places in scriptures . This is because , a single visit to any such place helps one to realise the temporal nature of this world . The sight of dead person , the relatives lamenting over the loss , the funeral pyre etc makes us realize that this is where we are all going to end up some day , sooner of later , maybe tommorrow itself or after 50 years ! It awakens the sense of vairagya or detachment from worldly thougths . Therefore smashaans are the holiest of places . The only true thing in this universe is that we are all going to die . But the most bewildering truth of this universe is that we all seem to forget this basic truth . Kali , the mother is the resident of this crematorium , the presiding deity of the truth misunderstood as death . She is standing for all of us at the end to take us back to her , back to home , back to the lap of maa .

[sambya]

friends . there have been a problem while posting the thread above . there is an unnecessary repetion of the same text which has appeared and i cannot get rid off by editing . sorry ...

[ranjeetmore]

"Kali,the great Goddess is dark in color because She constantly meditates on Sri Krsna."- Devi Bhagavatam.


Have a good day.

[sambya]

yes , she meditated hard enough and became 'one' with krishna ! so worshipping kali is same as worshipping krishna . ;)

good day to u too !!

[amith vikram]

nice post,sambya.just WOW!the energy of kAli is infinite.i just wish kAli transcends through humans to maintain some law and order.

[ranjeetmore]

^ your signature is confounding.


where is mam ekam sharnam vraja - Surrender to Me alone ?

[ranjeetmore]

yes , she meditated hard enough and became 'one' with krishna ! so worshipping kali is same as worshipping krishna . ;)

good day to u too !!


nah,she doesn't need to become ONE with Sri Krsna.She is aready His energy.

Their worship is not the same in the sense that Kali worshipper goes to Manidvipa and Krsna bhakta goes to Goloka.

Bute they are indifferent yes.

[chandu_69]

@ranjeetmore

Why disturb the thread ?. look forward to more posts by kali maata worshipers.

[amith vikram]

^ your signature is confounding.


where is mam ekam sharnam vraja - Surrender to Me alone ?

because this phrase tells a lot:)

it is definitely not confounding. ease up a bit bro.

[sunyata07]

Namaste Sambya and others,

Wonderful post on describing the symbolism behind Goddess Kali and the meaning of Purusha-Prakriti as the powers behind the cosmos. It is perhaps the most powerful symbolism I have ever come across than any other form of God. For a long time I could not understand why Kali stands atop Lord Shiva - some ignorant people claimed She was a demonic force which had killed Him and stood over His body victoriously. Most likely these people were not Hindus, but merely people trying to incite unrest by undermining the aspect of Mother Goddess. There is a lot more than meets the eye with Maa Kali. Where I once feared Her blood-stained sword and wild appearance, I now understand and respect Her manifestation as Mother Goddess who compassionately destroys the ego. Every part of imagery which serves to represent Her makes complete sense to me now. But Her power really is an incredible thing to feel and experience.

The truly spiritual person will draw no distinction in the mind between God as Krishna and God as Mother. As there is no difference between worship of God and His Shakti, devotion to Maa Kali is the same as devotion to Lord Shiva, which in turn is devotion to Sri Krishna.

OM Shanti

[ranjeetmore]

Kali is the most fascinating for me,becoz for months,I was told that She is a demi goddess and then I would see these verses in vaishnava literature which would indicate otherwise.

My first brush with spirituality was when I'd found this old book on the life of Sri Ramkrishna.
The beautiful,yet terrible image of Kali in that book,gripped me and i refused to believe some of the gross tantric tales that are generally associatd with Her.
I still feel incredibly attracted by the Goddess.When i was a kid,I'd play with a ten armed idol of Sri Durga and I used to Adore Her.

It's safe to say,the magnificent 10 armed form of the Great Goddess Still keeps me spell bound and i still adore Her.

There is just one little thing...Who exacty is the Supreme Goddess ??? Durga or Kali or Paravati...it is so confusing sometimes.
And Who is bhuwaneshwari Who is described as the Empress of Manidvipa ???

[sambya]

there is no distinction between bhuvaneshwari , kali , durga or other forms . as in , the followers of shakti , be it lefthanded tanriks or ordinary householder devotees see no difference in these forms . there are merely thought of as different representations of the one devi . just like vaishnavs make no distinction between narayana and krishna .

whatever distinction is made between these forms are primarily from non-worshippers of shakti --namely some vaishnavas .

now , it is obviously prudent to listen to shakti tatva from a shakta . just like its wise to listen to vaishnav tatva from a vaishnav and christ tatva from a christian .

[ranjeetmore]

there is no distinction between bhuvaneshwari , kali , durga or other forms . as in , the followers of shakti , be it lefthanded tanriks or ordinary householder devotees see no difference in these forms . there are merely thought of as different representations of the one devi . just like vaishnavs make no distinction between narayana and krishna .

whatever distinction is made between these forms are primarily from non-worshippers of shakti --namely some vaishnavas .

now , it is obviously prudent to listen to shakti tatva from a shakta . just like its wise to listen to vaishnav tatva from a vaishnav and christ tatva from a christian .

sure..sure..But the said vaishnava/shakta/shaiva should be realised otherwise it'll be quite baseless...It may be true whatever he is saying,but not always.A conditioned bieng more than often loves to bring his own intelligence in the fray while discussing these things.

But there is a slight difference.The vaishnavas are warned not to add a single thing and not to apply logic...Are shaktas given similar instructions or they can go ahead and make various interpretations ?? For eg. This iconograpgy...this may be given in a shakta scripture,...but aren't there countless such 'iconography's' written by scholars,western and indian alike ??? So what do we make of these ??

Then comes the most important question-In shaktism,Is the Goddess described with a solid Form,above which there is nothing-no tattva ??

Coz if She isn't,it doesn't make sense for a Vaishnava to abandon his core beliefs to accept the Goddess how the shaktas describe Her.Surely he will accept the Goddess as and how She is described in vaishnava literature,no ?

[yajvan]

hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~

Namasté sambya

Thank you for a fine post and the string of ideas that have followed; very useful information.

If I may, let me ask for your thoughts on a few ideas below.

Kālī can be viewed and experienced as Dakṣiṇa Kālī and as Bhadra Kālī. Do you have an opinion on this?

you mention,

She stands naked because she is brahmaswaroop . no cloth is sufficient to cover her .
Do you think this is so, due to Her being Infinite?

you mention,


yes , she meditated hard enough and became 'one' with krishna ! so worshipping kali is same as worshipping krishna

Isn't it interesting (to me at least) that Kālī-ma's bījā (seed) sound/vibration is kṛṃ कृं (the sound kreem) and Śrī Kṛṣṇa's bījā sound/vibration is klīṃ क्लीं ( the sound kleem). I find the simularities uncanny and thought to just all it out. Any ideas from your side?

You offer,


Garland of human heads

She wears a garland of severed human heads 51 in number . This represents the 51 syllables of Sanskrit script . Starting with the primordial sound ' om ' all sound vibrations emanate from the supreme . Hence each sound has a presiding deity . Kali as the true mother wears the garland of 51 types of sound in her neck .

Yes I concur; yet it would be good to point out that anusvāra (nasalization of the preceding vowel) along with visarga (aspiration of the preceding vowel) are not considered 'officially' counted as core to devanāgarī's svara (vowels) + vyañjana (consonants) .
Together svara + vyañjana add to 48. Yet if we add these two 'symbols' in we get to 50. That is we can count 50 symbols - yet there's more to this story. Let me offer the following, if I may.

How is anusvāra depicted? like this - ṁ . And what of this visarga ? like this - ḥ ; both are shown in the transliteration of saṃskṛt.
It is worthy of note that the minimum unit of an utterance is a syllable, called akṣara. This anusvāra and visarga tells the one voicing these akṣara how to sound out ( manage the air coming out) the akṣara (syllable).

We also did not consider anunāsika - a nasalized vowel itself ( not the preceding one) . It is depicted as a crescent with a dot in it.
We see this often in the syllable/akṣara ॐ of praṇava. Sometimes this is not easy to do with software, so a dot above the letter is printed. I have seen above and below the line as I show in 'praṇava' , that expresses this anunāsika instruction.
So if we add them all up we get svara + vyañjana + anusvāra + visarga + anunāsika = 51.

If someone said, I would like to know more about this, study this… the one would look into the mālinīvijayottara tantra i.e. the study of mālinī ( the garland) of letters around Kālī-ma's neck ( this is within the trika system of knowledge). Yet sometime this 'garland' is called mātṛka (coming from or belonging mother, in this case Divine Mother).

Now what to do ? How to understand the importance of both these systems? Then one can read the Parā-trīśikā Vivaraṇa and this will sort all the information out.

Thank you again.

praṇām

[atanu]

friends . there have been a problem while posting the thread above . there is an unnecessary repetion of the same text which has appeared and i cannot get rid off by editing . sorry ...

That somehow happens (appears to happen) with firefox browser. Are you using that?

[SANT]

Even im having problems especially when i qoute atanu.(im using firefox)
Ranjeet Radharani is the supreme form of shakti.
What is wrong with you ?
You only say this.

Considering Shaktism it does not differentiate as sambya said but some left hand tantriks consider the form of kali as the form of brahm ,since ramakrishna has said this and also sambya points this out in his description of kali.
In devi bhagavat there are places howewer where uma maheshwari is described as supreme.
Howewer she is also called buvaneshwari over there.
The devi of soundarya lahiri is i think the supreme god of shaktism.

[sambya]

thanks you yajvan for providing a deep insight into the matter relating to sanskrit varnamala . i never went that deep .

well, dakshina kali and bhadrakali are two different forms of devi . historically speaking the concept of dakshina kali arose in bengal belt . it means one who shows favour to mankind . generally dakshina kali is shown with her right foot placed on the chest of shiva , as opposed to vama-kali who has her left foot on shiva . dakshina kali is worshipped by sadhaks and householders alike whereas vamakali is worshipped only by renunciate tantriks and sadhaks . she is supposed to cut away your material bonds , which is householders generally stay away from her .

we get two different versions od bhadrakali in shastras . as far as i can remeber the puranic bhadrakali is more like mahishasuramardini with 18 arms and the tantric bhadrakali is more like chamunda with skinny body .


your explanation about the varnas and anunasika was wonderful . i never thought in such a great details .


to atanu ,

yes i am indeed using firefox . thanks for making it clear as to why this keeps on occuring . may i ask one more question --- are the post appearing like this only to me or to all ?!:confused:


thanks to all.....jai ma

[lighthouse]

Hi Sambya ji
I am Hindustani from our old forum of Iskcon....
Pranams to you and all rest.This is my first post.
Om Nama: Shivay.

[devotee]

Namaste Lighthouse,

Welcome to the forum ! We already have some knowledgeable ISKCONites here. We are glad to have you in the group. :)

OM

[lighthouse]

Thanks for your warm words devotee ji,I am not Iskconites,no way my thoughts of spirituality fits with them,no way!

Namaste Lighthouse,

Welcome to the forum ! We already have some knowledgeable ISKCONites here. We are glad to have you in the group. :)

OM

[kshama]

Hi Sambya ji
I am Hindustani from our old forum of Iskcon....
Pranams to you and all rest.This is my first post.
Om Nama: Shivay.


Namaskar Lighthouse Ji,

I am glad that you are in the forum. Same goes to Sambya Ji as well both of you have so much to enlighten aspirants like me. Pranam.

[sambya]

welcome welcome , brothers and respected seniors .

although im myself new to thsi forum and do not access it much . nice to see u guys here .

god bless........

[ramprasad]

Sambya, thank you for your description, particularly for the bit about Kali Ma's tongue. I've never been satisfied with explanations I've heard for Her protruding tongue until now. Jai Kali Ma.


Kali is the supreme goddess of eastern tantra school known as Kali-kula sampraday . For many , she is fearsome and destructive goddess . For others she is the compassionate mother . Beneath these diverse concepts and gross misunderstandings lies the true symbolism of this divine power .

Purusha Prakriti of samkhya

Kali is the most successful depiction of the Purusha Prakriti concept of Sankhya darshan . Samkhya seeks to explain the mysteries of cosmos by elaborating on two fundamental concepts--the male or Purusha and the female or Prakriti . Together they constitute the whole or existence . In later ages this Purusha Prakriti concepts were indentified with various principle deities of Hindu pantheon . Thus this Purusha Prakriti concept came to be expressed as Radha Krishna , Laxmi Narayan , Shiva-Parvati , or Kali and Shiva . However among all of them the form of Kali and Shiva is the most satisfactory in terms of iconography .

The attributeless unity called Brahman is basically inactive . His activity starts with the process of creation . During this time the energy of Brahman begins to work . Strictly speaking Brahman cannot be separated from its energy . But this energy is personified as Devi and the inactive component of Brahman as Shiva --the Purusha .

Put in a different way the same Brahman when inactive and attributeless is Purusha , and when it starts to work and create its with attributes and Prakriti .

In Kali , we see her dancing atop the chest of her husband . Shiva , the Purusha lies inactive below . so he is called Shava-Shiva or Shiva the corpse . And this Shiva's divine energy takes the form of Kali and does all the work . Hence she is dancing and is active . But they are not mutually exclusive . They represent two sides of the same reality and are inseperable . Hence they are interconnected . Kali is always standing on her husbands chest .

The union of Purusha and Prakriti results in cosmos . Therefore Shiva's eyes are fixed on the eyes of Kali . And Kali looks down in acceptance .

Her arms - Both sides of almighty

God is not just benevolent but also destructive . This is reflected in the hands of Kali . In her right hand side arms she shows the Abhaya mudra(gesture of fearlessness) and Vara mudra(gesture of benediction) repectively . This is the benevolent aspect of the almighty . But on the other arm in left side she holds a bloody scimitar and a severed head depicting destruction and end .

God is there for both renunciates and grihasta devotees . Kali's left hand arms with severed head and scimitar are for those disciples who intend to break away from material bondage . With the scimitar she cuts off the material bondage of this world and the severed head represents the removal of our ego , which is the main hindrance towards spiritual progress.
With her right hands she blesses those devotees who want material benedictions and sense enjoyments . She is mother to all .

Her lack of clothing

She stands naked because she is brahmaswaroop . no cloth is sufficient to cover her .

Her colour

She is black in color because black is that color which absorbes all other colurs . She is the repository for all the talents and good qualities , hence she is black .

Her tongue

Her tongue is lolls out and is red in color . This symbolises unrestrained Rajo guna or mode of passion . But her white teeth bites this lolling tongue representing control of Rajo guna by Sattva guna or mode of goodness .

Her eyes

Her third eye in the forehead is the Gyana netra or the eye of wisdom . the three eyes represent the past , present and the future ......she is Trikaldarshi .


Garland of human heads

She wears a garland of severed human heads 51 in number . This represents the 51 syllables of Sanskrit script . Starting with the primordial sound ' om ' all sound vibrations emanate from the supreme . Hence each sound has a presiding deity . Kali as the true mother wears the garland of 51 types of sound in her neck .


Girdle of human hands

Around her waist there is a girdle of severed human hands . She is the one who can reduce or take away our karma-phal . When she is pleased she takes away the past samskars and karma phals of the sadhak and thereby help in his liberation . This severed hands symbolises taking away of karma by her .


Her hair

Her flowing hair spreads all over her back and reaches upto her ankles . This symbolises her spread of maya . Her maya spreads over every corner much like this mesh of hair .

Her abode - Crematoriums

Kali's eternal dwelling place is crematoriums or smashans . Apprently this is repulsive and even frightening . But cremtaoriums have been refered to as holy places in scriptures . This is because , a single visit to any such place helps one to realise the temporal nature of this world . The sight of dead person , the relatives lamenting over the loss , the funeral pyre etc makes us realize that this is where we are all going to end up some day , sooner of later , maybe tommorrow itself or after 50 years ! It awakens the sense of vairagya or detachment from worldly thougths . Therefore smashaans are the holiest of places . The only true thing in this universe is that we are all going to die . But the most bewildering truth of this universe is that we all seem to forget this basic truth . Kali , the mother is the resident of this crematorium , the presiding deity of the truth misunderstood as death . She is standing for all of us at the end to take us back to her , back to home , back to the lap of maa .