Dakhshina Kali Mantra

[divinity]

This mantra is depicted in the hymn to kAli named ‘dakhshinA kAli stotram', which is also called the ‘karpurAdi stotram' stemming from its first word ‘karpUr' which literally means camphor. The word ‘dakhshinA' in this context means ‘south' as She is traditionally seen as facing south. One meaning of the word ‘dakhshinA' is ‘a fee paid to a priest', inappropriately alluded to by some in this context. The base word, ‘dakhshin' also means right (as opposed to left), like referring to the right hand. The root ‘dakhsha'means ‘skilled' or ‘ expert'. This is in semblance with the Latin ‘dexter' for right- handed, with the same root giving ‘dexterous' and ‘dexterity'. (The left is ‘sinister').

 

One puja text explains that the departing souls who are heading south towards ‘hell' are rescued by the goddess, who is facing in the same direction. The Southern transit of the sun is also connected to the ‘night of the gods', so She may be said to be facing the ‘night'.

 

‘dakhsha' is also the name of the father of the Goddess in another form as ‘satI'. And in there is the story of the death of Sati because her father did not invite her consort shiva to his great fire-ceremony. The gods ended shiva's ensuing dance of destruction by slicing the body of satI into fifty-one parts. The sites at which her body fell gave rise to the 51 ‘shakti-pithas' all over the Indian sub-continent.

 

The dakhshinA kAli mantra is described in the first six verses of the karpurAdi stotram in terms of its individual parts and letters. The mantra consists of 22 syllables. In Sanskrit, the syllable is the ‘akhshara'. The word could mean letter (vowel or consonant) but also means ‘that which is not dissipated'. The root ‘khsara' means ‘that which is destructible'. So, Brahman, ‘the ultimate reality' is expressed in the ‘akhshara'. The Bhagabat Gita thus refers to ‘akhshara Brahman'.

 

"(aum) krim krim krim, hum hum, hrim hrim,

dakhshinA kAlikay,

krim krim krim, hum hum, hrim hrim, swaha."

 

 

The mantra is preceded by ‘om' or ‘aum'. It consists of three ‘bija' or seeds, krim, hum and hrim, and the name ‘dakhshinA kAlike' and ‘swaha' signifying offering. The Sanskrit script shows the first seven terms of the mantra preceded by the ‘Aum' on the first line. The ‘dakh-shi-nA-kA-lI-ke' (six syllables) on the second line. The last line shows the last nine syllables ending in ‘swA-hA'. The end sound of the seeds are

between ‘m' and ‘ng' and are nasalized; krIm ~ krIng, hUm ~ hUng, hrIm ~ hrIng.

[Shivaduta]

The kali beej mantra is "Kreem" which is pronounced with a nasal sound very close to kring