The great mahavidya- goddess MAHAKALI!

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DEAR DB, our heartfelt thanks to you for these informative posts on

Goddess Kali, The first and foremost among the ten maha-vidyas!

 

yes, dear one, for her devotees she is 'everything.'

 

Devi herself says in devi mahatmyam...(glory of the divine mother)

 

" I am alone in the world here. Who else is there besides me? Set

these goddesses who are but my own powers entering into my own self!"

 

"The Great Goddess contains within herself not only all other deities

but existence itself. Her children and all things reside within her,

are of her substance, and she indwells inside them. The shortest

distance to the Mother is within yourself."

 

here is how the great goddess is described...

 

mahAvidyA mahAmAyA mahAmedhA mahAsmR^itiH .

mahAmohA cha bhavatI mahAdevI mahAsurI ..

 

she is mahavidya- the great knowledge

 

she is mahamaya--the great illusion

 

she is mahamedha- the great intelligence

 

she is mahamoha- the great desire

 

she is mahadvi- the great goddess

 

mahasuri-- the great demoness

 

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as devi bhakta has so eloquently pointed out OUR SUPREME MOTHER KALI

is the ****source**** of all energies and all the different goddesses

are her divine manifestations and appear in innumerable forms

 

 

In fact, there is an interesting story regarding the origin of dasha

mahavidyas or the ten wisdom goddesses...

 

in one version, it is said Shiva grows restless and decides he is

tired of living with KALI. SO, SHIVA DECIDES TO LEAVE 'KALI' AND

takes off on his own... Kali asks shiva where he is going ? shiva

answers "wherever i wish."

 

however,, no matter wherever shiva goes or travels in whichever

direction , a form of 'kali' appears before HIM AS ONE OF THE TEN

MAHAVIDYAS...

 

first Kali herself is constellated, then Tara, Tripurna-sundari, and

Buvanesvari, then Chinnamasta, Tripura-bairavi, Dhumavati,

Bagalamukhi, Matangi, and finally Kamala.

 

" Experiencing the all-pervasive essence of Kali in these goddesses

one by one at every turn, Siva sees through his yearning to leave

Kali and wander about, having gained the wisdom (vidya) that

she"fills the four quarters in the ten directions" so that wherever

he goes, she is there in one of her energetic forms. Siva, at last,

comes home to the reality that She in all her prismatic forms and He

are One. "

 

tHUS, SHIVA REALIZES KALI IS all emcompassing supreme reality - she

is autonomous and powerful unto herself.

 

As devi bhakta says - to accept kali means to accept both her powers

of 'illumination' and 'annihilation.'

 

KALI TEACHES US about all phases of existence- pain, sorrow, death,

decay, destruction and these facts cannot be ignored or denied...

 

kALI TEACHES US ABOUT OUR LOWER SELF SO WE CAN ASCEND TO OUR HIGHER

SELF !

 

AS DEVI BHAKTA HAS emphasised we have to look beyond the physical-

the metaphyscal aspect of Kali.

 

SHE represents the eternal time - "kaal" - the past present and the

future.

 

All names and forms disappear in kali- this is what her 'blackness'

symbolises.

 

Her nakedness (sky-clad- digambari) suggests she is devoid of all

covering of illusion...

 

She is nature (prakriti) - the great creatrix.

 

"Her garland of fifty human heads, each representing one of the 50

letters of the Sanskit alphabet, symbolizes the repository of

knowledge and wisdom, and represents the fifty fundamental vibrations

in the universe."

 

"She wears a girdle of human hands - hands are the principle

instruments of work and so signify the action of Karma or accumulated

deeds, constantly reminding us that ultimate freedom is to be

attained as the fruit of Karmic action."

 

"One left hand holds a severed head, indicating the annihilation of

ego-bound evil force, and the other carries the sword of physical

extermination with which she cuts the thread of bondage.

 

One right hand gestures to dispel fear and the other exhorts to

spiritual strength. "

 

YES, OUR DIVINE MOTHER KALI DESTROYS ALL THE SEEDS OF 'LUST, DESIRE,

ANGER, EGO, ATTACHMENTS ETC" and so that she can give us the 'tree of

knowledge' and wisdom- she is the kaklpavriksha.l

 

SO, OUR KALI GIVES US 'FREEDOM' - FREEDOM FROM WHAT? freedom from

bondage.

 

frredom from lower self and transcending to our higher self.

 

How do we approach this great goddess....

 

BECOME A CHILD - be open, be flexible, be naive... to sit on kali's

lap, you need to to awaken the inner child in you...

 

the mahanirvana tantra says...

 

"i bow only to you

timeless cause of TIME

I bow only to you ,

pure consciousness

that displays all worlds .

i bow only to you

reality without attributes

my sole refuge,

ONLY ADORABLE ONE,

one who purifies,

one who protects

i bow only to you,

the absolute unmanifest,

inconceivable , indescribable,

i bow only to you,

light of meditation,

NON-DUAL AWARENESS .

to you alone

do i bow."

 

JAI MAHAKALI!

 

JAI GURUDEVA!! .

..