Kali Puja class/Kali's scriptural origins

[Guest guest]

In researching some origins of the name Kali it is interesting to

see that the name originally appears in the Rig Veda as one of the

seven flickering tongues of Agni the god of fire.

It was later in the Markendeya Purana(Devi-Mahatmyam or Chandi) that

she is said to emanate from the brow of Durga in the battle between

the forces of dark and light.

Kali is a feminine form of the Sanskrit word "kala," meaning "time".

It also means "black". Kali has therefore been translated variously as

"She who is time,She who devours time,She who is the Mother of

time,She who is black," and "she who is black time".

She wears a garland of 51 heads, which represents the Varnamala, or

the Garland of Letters. This represents the 51 letters of the

Devanagari or Sanskrit script. Each of these letters represents a form

of energy, or a form of Kali. Therefore she is generally seen as the

mother of language, and all mantras.

She is often depicted naked with Maya as her only covering and is

shown as very dark,as she has no permanent qualities.She will continue

to exist even when the universe ends. It is therefore believed that

the concepts of color, light, good, bad do not apply to her She is the

pure,un-manifested energy,the Adi-shakti.

Namaste

Surath