Mahakali

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Mahakali
Mahakali in the form of Dasa Mahavidya Mahakali.
Mahakali in the form of Dasa Mahavidya Mahakali.
Devanagari महाकाली
Affiliation Kali, Mahadevi, Brahman
Abode Varies by interpretation
Mantra Om Krīṃ Kālikaye Namah,
Om Kapālinaye Namah
Weapon Varies by iconographic form
Consort Shiva
Mount Shiva in inert or corpselike form
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Mahakali (Sanskrit: Mahākālī, Devanagari: महाकाली), literally translated as Great Kali, is a Hindu Goddess, considered by some to be the consort of Shiva, and by others as the basis of Reality (see below). Mahakali in Sanskrit is etymologically the feminized variant of Mahakala or Great Time (which is interpreted also as Death), an epithet of the God Shiva in Hinduism. Mahakali can also simply be used as an honorific of the Goddess Kali, signifying her greatness by the prefix "Mahā-".

Contents

[edit] Meaning

Mahakali's mythology is contained in various Puranic and Tantric Hindu Scriptures (Shastra), where She is variously portrayed as the Adi-Shakti or Primeval Force of the Universe, identical with the Ultimate Reality or Brahman, the (female) Prakriti or World as opposed to the (male) Purusha or Consciousness, or as one of three manifestations of Mahadevi (The Great Goddess) that represent the three Gunas or attributes in Samkhya philosophy; in this interpretation Mahakali represents Tamas or the force of inertia. A common understanding of the Durga Saptashati or Chandi Path (the Devi Mahatmya or "Greatness of the Goddess", a later interpolation into the Markandeya Purana, considered a core text of Shaktism, the branch of Hinduism which considers Devi to be the highest aspect of Godhead) assigns a different form of the Goddess (Mahasaraswati, Mahalakshmi, and Mahakali) to each of the three episodes therein.

[edit] Iconography

Four armed image of Mahakali. The caption reads: "Jaya Mahakali Ma", translated as "Victory to Mahakali the (Universal) Mother".
Four armed image of Mahakali. The caption reads: "Jaya Mahakali Ma", translated as "Victory to Mahakali the (Universal) Mother".

Mahakali is described as being black in color but is most often depicted as blue in popular Indian art.

Her most common four armed iconographic image shows each hand carrying variously a sword, a trishul (trident), a severed head and a bowl or skull-cup (kapala) catching the blood of the severed head. Her eyes are described as red with intoxication and in absolute rage, Her hair is shown disheveled, small fangs sometimes protrude out of Her mouth and Her tongue is lolling. She has a garland consisting of human heads, variously enumerated at 108 (an auspicious number in Hinduism and the number of countable beads on a Japa Mala or rosary for repetition of Mantras) or 50, which represents the letters of the Sanskrit alphabet, Devanagari, and wears a skirt made of human arms.

Her ten headed (dasamukhi) image is known as Dasa Mahavidya Mahakali, and in this form She is said to represent the ten Mahavidyas or "Great Wisdom (Goddesse)s". She is depicted in this form as having ten heads, ten arms, and ten legs but otherwise usually conforms to the four armed icon in other respects. Each of her ten hands is carrying a various implement which vary in different accounts, but each of these represent the power of one of the Devas or Hindu Gods and are often the identifying weapon or ritual item of a given Deva. The implication is that Mahakali subsumes and is responsible for the powers that these deities possess and this is in line with the interpretation that Mahakali is identical with Brahman. While not displaying ten heads, an "ekamukhi" or one headed image may be displayed with ten arms, signifying the same concept: the powers of the various Gods come only through Her grace.

Ekamukhi or "One-Faced" Murti of Mahakali displaying ten hands holding the signifiers of various Devas.
Ekamukhi or "One-Faced" Murti of Mahakali displaying ten hands holding the signifiers of various Devas.

In either one of these images she is shown standing on the prone, inert or dead body of Shiva. This is interpreted various ways but the most common is that Mahakali represents Shakti, the power of pure Creation in the universe, and Shiva represents pure Consciousness which is inert in and of itself. While this is an advanced concept in monistic Shaktism, it also agrees with the Nondual Trika philosophy of Kashmir, popularly known as Kashmir Shaivism and associated most famously with Abhinavagupta. There is a colloquial saying that "Shiva without Shakti is Shava" which means that without the power of action (Shakti) that is Mahakali (represented as the short "i" in Devanagari) Shiva (or consciousness itself) is inactive; Shava means corpse in Sanskrit and the play on words is that all Sanskrit consonants are assumed to be followed by a short letter "a" unless otherwise noted. The short letter "i" represents the female power or Shakti that activates Creation. This is often the explanation for why She is standing on Shiva, who is either Her husband and complement in Shaktism or the Supreme Godhead in Shaivism.

Mahakali Yantra
Mahakali Yantra

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  • Encountering The Goddess: A Translation of the Devi-Mahatmya and a Study of Its Interpretation (ISBN 0-7914-0446-3) by Thomas B. Coburn
  • In Praise of The Goddess: The Devimahatmyam and Its Meaning (ISBN 0-89254-080-X) by Devadatta Kali
  • Hindu Goddesses: Vision of the Divine Feminine in the Hindu Religious Traditions (ISBN 81-208-0379-5) by David Kinsley
  • Offering Flowers, Feeding Skulls: Popular Goddess Worship in West Bengal (ISBN 0-195-16791-0) by June McDaniel
  • Encountering Kali: In the Margins, at the Center, in the West (ISBN 0-520-23240-2) by Rachel Fell McDermott
  • Mother of My Heart, Daughter of My Dreams: Kali and Uma in the Devotional Poetry of Bengal (ISBN 0-19-513435-4) by Rachel Fell McDermott
  • Seeking Mahadevi: Constructing the Identities of the Hindu Great Goddess (ISBN 0-791-45008-2) Edited by Tracy Pintchman
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