Kali Kuestions.

[Guest guest]

On Tue Feb 19, "Eve _69" wrote

>Has anyone here ever seen Kali?

 

It depends what you mean by 'seen'. I've been privileged to experience her

presence in such a way that I've been enabled and impelled to draw and

paint her. (Examples are on the web at "www.yogamagik.com/ferment")

>Why also does she sport with Shiva when Parvati is his consort.

 

A very interesting question. If Parvati is Shiva's consort, and Kali sports

with Shiva, two conjectures are logically possible. Either Shiva has two

(or more) partners, or else Kali and Parvati are the same person.

 

The first conjecture might seem to be more likely than the second. It is

certainly not unknown in traditional Indian society for a man to have

several wives at the same time.

 

Actually Shiva sometimes _is_ described as having two wives, Parvati and

Ganga, the goddess of the Ganges river. There are references in Indian

literature to a sense of rivalry between these two.

 

However, this doesn't answer the question of Parvati and Kali, because it

is very difficult to find references in Goddess-oriented writings to any

sort of rivalry between Parvati and Kali.

 

The second conjecture, that Parvati and Kali are the same, might seem less

likely, because obviously Parvati and Kali differ in name and appearance.

Yet it is hardly unknown for an Indian deity to have more than one name,

and more than one appearance.

 

Actually, this happens to be the answer supported by the actual writings of

Goddess worshippers.

 

The Kalika Purana states directly that Sati (the earlier incarnation of

Parvati) and Parvati herself are forms of Kali, and it describes in detail

how Kali came to incarnate in these forms.

 

In the Mahabhagavata Purana, there is a scene where Sati reveals herself to

Shiva as Kali, just as Krishna reveals himself to Arjuna as Vishnu in the

Bhagavad Gita.

 

In Chapter 4 of the Mahanirvana Tantra, Shiva and Parvati discuss the

significance of Kali, and he speaks to her of Kali as "you".

 

If anyone is surprised by what I'm saying, I don't blame you. Modern

writers about Kali have generally ignored the idea that Sati and Parvati

are her forms. (Perhaps because they're obsessed with the idea of Kali as

goddess of death, and Parvati doesn't fit in with that.) One honourable

exception is Professor Heinrich Zimmer, whose book _The King and the

Corpse_ contains a partial translation of the Kalika Purana.

 

Does that answer your question, "Eve _69"?

 

Om Shantih,

 

Colin.

[Guest guest]

COLIN,

 

it is always a pleasure to read your responses as a lot of research

goes into all your well-documented responses. we all learn so much

from you. thank you.

 

but seriously, is sat different from parvati ? is durga different

from kali? all these are manifestations of the same divine shakti,

the creartive energy of shiva, the purusha....

 

so to me . gauri, amba, lalita, durga, parvati , kali etc are all

same reresenting different energies or sparks of the the divine!!!!

 

sarva ma.ngala maa.ngalye shive sarvaartha saadhike .

sharaNye tryaMbake gaurii naaraayaNii namostute ..

 

Adorations to Goddess who is the auspiciousness of all that is

auspicious, who is the consort of Lord Shiva, who is the bestower of

every desire of one's heart. Adorations to You O Devi, I have taken

refuge in you.

 

to each his own ishta !

 

did you know that shri ramakrishna maintained that kali and krishna

are the same?

 

when i first read this in the gospel i was totally shocked because as

a krishna devotee this seemed so 'blasphemous' but after reading one

of the tantrik texts, this was confirmed....

 

As beloved shri ramakrishna says....

 

Kali cannot be understood by knowledge or reason or intellect or even

by the six darshanas.

 

love