hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~

Namasté

I wrote some time back¹

Yet one may think that Kālī is only associated with the death of the individual and viewed somewhat negatively. This is the beauty of this knowledge - Kālī can be viewed and experienced as Dakṣiṇa Kālī and as Bhadra Kālī.
Dakṣiṇa is defined as the right ,straightforward , candid , sincere , pleasing , i.e. right action or right facing. So Dakṣiṇa Kālī is that śakti that brings the delight of vanquishing that is right action, straight forward.
Mother Divine's actions here are uplifting, evolutionary in nature, upholding ( dharma) for the individual or society. One can see the 'death' of bad habits, the ending of negative attributes, the removal of obstacles. She is seen as the might of the Supreme no doubt, but this might is done with discernment - right action , skill.
Without something being destroyed, consumed, there is no room for creation or advancement to occur. Even during ones meditation, one comes back from turiya anew, fresh. Something was given up, destroyed - fatigue, stress, etc.
In fact the correct way to write Dakṣiṇa as it is applied to Mother Divine would be dakṣiṇā. A beautiful word that also means right facing, a gift or reward given to the priest, and is another name for Mother Durgā. More on this word and its application in the next post.

So, the question is why do we see Kālī black? One view is black is the total absence of color - and that then is nirguṇa निर्गुण devoid of all qualities or properties, attribute-less. Dakṣiṇā Kālī is representing the Absolute, akṣara. She is akṣara, the imperishable, indestructible , undying, She does not perish.

Another view is black is that which absorbs all , the merging of all and hence even ignorance is destroyed by Her. Her bloody sword is the might of sattvia, that ignorance is severed ( Her holding a severed head in hand). Her might is so great that even Yama the lord of death ( who resides in the south or dakṣiṇa) runs away in fear. That is she destroys death for her devotees.


I find it worthy of note that that Kṛṣṇa and Kālī are depicted as black in color - the association to the transcendence and akṣara. Their bījā ¹mantras are also quite similar. Kṛṣṇa's bījā is that of Klīm ( sounding like kleem) and Dakṣiṇā Kālī's is krīm ( sounding like kreem).

More in the next post…


praṇām

words and references
HDF post http://www.hindudharmaforums.com/showthread.php?t=3226
bījā बीजा- seed; in this application it is the 'seed' sound or mantra.