Which Devi?

[Guest guest]

Dear Family,

 

Can anybody please tell me who this Devi is:

 

She has eight arms. In Her right hands (lowest to highest) She holds: a straight

sword; a bell; something that could be an axe; a trident. In Her left hands

(highest to lowest) She holds: another thing that could be an axe; something

else I have no idea what; a severed head; and what looks like a bowl. Her

breasts are showing and she has either a third eye or it could just be a

tilak/pottu I'm not sure. She sits on a kind of pedestal (which could have

petals) which itself sits on a wider pedestal which definitely has petals. Her

left leg is folded with the sole facing up; whilst Her right leg is hanging down

off the seat. There is a decoration of three severed heads in a row at the

bottom of the pedestal beside Her right foot. Standing on the lower, wider

pedestal, on Her left side, is some kind of quadruped calmly facing forward; it

could be a lion, but it is quite small compared to Her and She is definitely not

sitting on it.

I would very much like to know what her name is. My initial guess was Bhadra

Kali or Durga, but She is atop neither lion or buffalo.

This brings me to another question I have. Is the name " Bhadra Kali "

interchangeable with " Durga " ? If so, can it be applied to all forms of Durga;

for example, can Mahisasuramardini standing over the buffalo demon, and Durga

sitting on Her lion vahana, both be addressed as " Bhadra Kali " ? If true, I would

like to know if it is true in a " strictly speaking " way as well as in a

syncretic one. By " syncretic " I am talking about the way in which Ramprasad Sen

used to use the names " Kali " , " Durga " and " Tara " almost interchangeably (if I

remember correctly, that is).

It occurred to me that the name " Bhadra Kali " would be preferred by Maa Kaali

upasakas who see Kaali as supreme and others as Her forms; whereas " Durga " would

be preferred by Maa Durga upasaks who see Ma Kali as a manifestation of Ma

Durga's wrath out of Her brow. Does this sound right?

I do apologise if my questions sound a bit pedantic. I know that all of these

names and forms are ultimately the same Maa. I just am fascinated by all the

little details. Usually I like simplicity. But sometimes, if the mind wanders, I

like to make things complicated in order to keep the intellect busy; so that the

feelings/emotions can flow unhindered.

 

Durga Mata ki jai !

Kali Mata ki jai !

 

Jai Maa Kaali,

Loladas

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Your description of the Murti could be that of Ashta Bhuja Durga. Not

all forms of Maa Durga are atop Lion or buffalo. The murthis or

statues are made as per the Shilpa Sasthras. The sculptor depends on

a Dhyana Sloka to carve the sculpture. As the Dhyana Slokas are many

(there are hundreds of them) the sculptures also vary. At least in

modern times the painters and calendar artists have also played a

role. You would have seen paintings and sculptures of Maa Durga

riding a Tiger. But there is no Dhyana Sloka describing her as riding

a tiger anywhere. I had raised this question in one of my earlier

postings. By the way if it is a picture could you scan it and send it

to me?

 

I had posted the Bhadra Kali Dhyana Sloka earlier. According to that

she resembles Smasana Kaali. About Bhadra Kaali and Durga, these

forms vary according to her predominant nature and history. The term

Bhadrakali is indicative of the nature of

MAA KAALI

 

Bhadra in Sanskrit means

Auspicious, blessed, fortunate, prosperous, happy, good,

Gracious, friendly, kind, excellent, fair, beautiful, lovely,

pleasant, dear

The term Bhadrakali is used in Mahabharata for MAA. (Monier Williams

Sanskrit dictionary)

In Devi Mahatmyam Bhadrakali is described as

 

< Jwala karala madhyugram ashesasura soodhnam

Trisoolam pathunor bether Bhadrakali namosthudhe >

 

So the soumyam is only in the name and not in the roopa.

 

Maa Durga is the form in which the asura Durgaman was destroyed. In

Devi Mahatmyam MAA is addressed as Durga, Bhadra Kaali, Kaali, Chandi

and many other names. Devi Mahatmyam, which is the supreme book of

Saktha religion, emphasizes the fact that all these forms are one.

The supreme deity is Chandi. Let us see how many times MAA is called

by different names in Devi Mahatmyam.

 

Chandika - 29

Ambika - 25

Narayani- 15

Kali- 14

Bagavathi - 9

Durga - 7

And others.

 

But the most popular name among the people is Durga. Maa Lalitha is

the most popular form in the south of India. The name Bagavathi is

popular in Assam and Kerala.

 

In the beginning of Upasana you pray to your favourite deity in your

favourite form. Again your deity and form will depend in the

beginning, on the Mantra into which you are initiated. As you

progress you see her in all murthis and all forms. From many forms

you progress to one form. You realise that Lalitha, Kaali, Chandi,

Durga and others are all one. Ramprasad Sen had reached that stage.

It is said that Bagavan Ramakrishna Paramahamsa saw Maa Bavatharini

in her form as Lalitha Tripurasundari also.

 

Then ultimately you progress from with form to the formless. Both Sri

Ramakrishna and Ramprasad had realised the formless. That is why they

often referred to MAA as Brahman.

 

It is but natural that a Bhaktha is bothered about little details. I

had often wondered how a katvanga (one of the weapons of Maa) looked

like. I was so happy when I saw the katvanga that the great Guru

Padmasambhava was carrying when I visited Dharamshala.

 

We had earlier discussions about right leg and left leg. We have not

heard from our member Sri. Saravana Kumar for some time now. He can

answer these questions with more authority than myself.

 

Jai MAA KAALI !!!

 

Sankar

[Guest guest]

Namaste Sankar,

 

Thank you for the informative posting.

I cannot upload a picture of this Devi because She is in Murthi form and I don't

have a digital camera However I am very excited because by pure coincidence I

found a photo in my computer from a long time ago (from the internet) of a

Murthi looking almost exactly the same and labeled " Chamunda " . I have uploaded

this photo in the " files " section because it is a bitmap (the photo folder

doesn't accept these). This Murthi is the same as mine except that mine has more

arms and only three severed heads at Her feet instead of five like in the photo.

The trident in Her upper right hand, the sword in Her lower right, the bowl in

Her lower left, and the other thing upper left, are all identical. Oh and also

next to the three heads is the creature which could be a lion that I mentioned.

To me it seems that they are so similar that I am starting to think of calling

Her Chamunda. From what I understand " Chamunda " is the name given to Maa Kaali

for killing the asuras Chanda and Munda.

 

Jai Maa Kaali,

 

Loladas

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

The idol you are referring could be of goddess KALI which is

worshipped in Maurichus.You have not mentioned whether the idol has a

lolling toung or not.But the description that it has a severed head

held by one hand and three others at the feet gives the idea of the

idol being that of Kali.

[Guest guest]

When you say Maurichus are you referring to the island nation of

Maritius? If so I am happy to hear that Maa Kaali is worshipped there

too! To answer your question, no the idol has no lolling tongue.

Regarding the severed heads, I agree with you that they have the feel

of Kali to them, but there are also statues of Durga as

Mahisasuramardini (standing on the buffalo) where She holds a severed

head in one of Her eight hands and has a row of six more heads

adorning the base of the pedestal upon which She and the buffalo

stand.

Of course I admit that Maa Kaali and Maa Durga have many

similarities. Personally I tend towards seeing Durga as a " bright " or

gentle form of Kali (despite all the weapons!) I believe She takes

this form when people are afraid of Her black form. If they are still

afraid, She then takes the form of gentle Parvathi.

Yes everyone I do realise that this is the reverse of the story of

Parvathi's anger producing Durga and Durga's anger in turn producing

Kali; please do not be offended. To explain I would say I believe

that at each step She reveals a Bit more of Herself till we see Kali

in all Her glory and power. Similar to when Krishna revaled His

universal form to Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita and Arjuna was afraid.

I wonder do any of you out there who also have Maa Kaali as their

Ishta share this view of mine? I hope I will not be considered a

heretic for what amounts to reading the story backwards. Again, no

offence intended to anyone's beliefs.

Also do you know any more about Goddess Kali's worship in this

Maurichus place that you mention?

 

Jai Maa Kaali,

Loladas

, " pintu_bh " <pintu_bh> wrote:

> The idol you are referring could be of goddess KALI which is

> worshipped in Maurichus.You have not mentioned whether the idol has

a

> lolling toung or not.But the description that it has a severed head

> held by one hand and three others at the feet gives the idea of the

> idol being that of Kali.