Goddess kali, Ramakrishna and Ramprasad

[Guest guest]

cont'd...

 

The image of a recumbent Shiva lying under the feet of

Kali

represents Shiva as the passive potential of creation

and Kali as his

Shakti. The generic term Shakti denotes the Universal

feminine

creative principle and the energizing force behind all

male divinity

including Shiva. Shakti is known by the general name

Devi, from the

root 'div', meaning to shine. She is the Shining One,

who is given

different names in different places and in different

appearances, as

the symbol of the life-giving powers of the Universe.

It is she that

powers him. This Shakti is expressed as the i in

Shiva's name.

Without this i, Shiva becomes Shva, which in Sanskrit

means a corpse.

Thus suggesting that without his Sh iakti, Shiva is

powerless or

inert.

 

Illustration :

http://www.exoticindiaart.com/marble/ra03.jpg (Siz: 74

kb)

 

Kali is a particularly appropriate image for conveying

the idea of

the world as the play of the gods. The spontaneous,

effortless,

dizzying creativity of the divine reflex is conveyed

in her wild

appearance. Insofar as kali is identified with the

phenomenal world,

she presents a picture of that world that underlies

its ephemeral and

unpredictable nature. In her mad dancing, disheveled

hair, and eerie

howl there is made present the hint of a world

reeling, careening out

of control. The world is created and destroyed in

Kali's wild

dancing, and the truth of redemption lies in man's

awareness that he

is invited to take part in that dance, to yield to the

frenzied beat

of the Mother's dance of life and death.

 

O Kali, my Mother full of Bliss! Enchantress of the

almighty Shiva!

In Thy delirious joy Thou dancest, clapping Thy hands

together!. . . .

Thou art the Mover of all that move, and we are but

Thy helpless toys.

.... Ramakrishna Paramhans

 

Kali and her attendants dance to rhythms pounded out

by Shiva (Lord

of destruction) and his animal-headed attendants who

dwell in the

Himalayas. Associated with chaos and uncontrollable

destruction,

Kali's own retinue brandishes swords and holds aloft

skull cups from

which they drink the blood that intoxicates them.

Kali, like Shiva,

has a third eye, but in all other respects the two are

distinguished

from one another. In contrast to Shiva's sweet

expression, plump

body, and ash white complexion, dark kali's emaciated

limbs, angular

gestures, and fierce grimace convey a wild intensity.

Her loose hair,

skull garland, and tiger wrap whip around her body as

she stomps and

claps to the rhythm of the dance.

 

Illustration :

http://www.exoticindiaart.com/hindu/hp73.jpg (Size :

73 kb)

 

Many stories describe Kali's dance with Shiva as one

that " threatens

to destroy the world " by its savage power. Art

historian Stella

Kramrisch has noted that the image of kali dancing

with Shiva follows

closely the myth of the demon Daruka. When Shiva asks

his wife

Parvati to destroy this demon, she enters Shiva's body

and transforms

herself from the poison that is stored in his throat.

She emerges

from Shiva as Kali, ferocious in appearance, and with

the help of her

flesh eating retinue attacks and defeats the demon.

Kali however

became so intoxicated by the blood lust of battle that

her aroused

fury and wild hunger threatened to destroy the whole

world. She

continued her ferocious rampage until Shiva manifested

himself as an

infant and lay crying in the midst of the

corpse-strewn field. Kali,

deceived by Shiva's power of illusion, became calm as

she suckled the

baby. When evening approached, Shiva performed the

dance of creation

(tandava) to please the goddess. Delighted with the

dance, Kali and

her attendants joined in.

 

 

This terrific and poignant imagery starkly reveals the

nature of Kali

as the Divine Mother. Ramaprasad expresses his

feelings thus:

 

Behold my Mother playing with Shiva,

lost in an ecstasy of joy!

Drunk with a draught of celestial wine, She reels,

and yet does not fall.

Erect She stands on Shiva's bosom, and the earth

Trembles under Her tread;

She and Her Lord are mad with frenzy, casting

Aside all fear and shame.

 

... Ramprasad (1718-75)

 

Kali's human and maternal qualities continue to define

the goddess

for most of her devotees to this day. In human

relationships, the

love between mother and child is usually considered

the purest and

strongest. In the same way, the love between the

Mother Goddess and

her human children is considered the closest and

tenderest

relationship with divinity. Accordingly, Kali's

devotees form a

particularly intimate and loving bond with her. But

the devotee

never forgets Kali's demonic, frightening aspects. He

does not

distort Kali's nature and the truths she reveals; he

does not refuse

to meditate on her terrifying features. He mentions

these repeatedly

in his songs but is never put off or repelled by them.

Kali may be

frightening, the mad, forgetful mistress of a world

spinning out of

control, but she is, after all, the Mother of all. As

such, she must

be accepted by her children- accepted in wonder and

awe, perhaps, but

accepted nevertheless. The poet in an intimate and

lighter tone

addresses the Mother thus:

 

 

O Kali! Why dost Thou roam about nude?

Art Thou not ashamed, Mother!

Garb and ornaments Thou hast none; yet Thou

Pridest in being King's daughter.

O Mother! Is it a virtue of Thy family that Thou

Placest thy feet on Thy husband?

Thou art nude; Thy husband is nude; you both roam

cremation grounds.

O Mother! We are all ashamed of you; do put on thy

garb.

Thou hast cast away Thy necklace of jewels, Mother,

And worn a garland of human heads.

Prasada says, " Mother! Thy fierce beauty has

frightened

Thy nude consort.

 

... Ramaprasad.

 

 

The soul that worships becomes always a little child:

the soul that

becomes a child finds God oftenest as mother. In a

meditation before

the Blessed Sacrament, some pen has written the

exquisite

assurance: " My child, you need not know much in order

to please Me.

Only Love Me dearly. Speak to me, as you would talk to

your mother,

if she had taken you in her arms. "

 

Kali's boon is won when man confronts or accepts her

and the

realities she dramatically conveys to him. The image

of Kali, in a

variety of ways, teaches man that pain, sorrow, decay,

death, and

destruction are not to be overcome or conquered by

denying them or

explaining them away. Pain and sorrow are woven into

the texture of

man's life so thoroughly that to deny them is

ultimately futile. For

man to realize the fullness of his being, for man to

exploit his

potential as a human being, he must finally accept

this dimension of

existence. Kali's boon is freedom, the freedom of the

child to revel

in the moment, and it is won only after confrontation

or acceptance

of death. To ignore death, to pretend that one is

physically

immortal, to pretend that one's ego is the center of

things, is to

provoke Kali's mocking laughter. To confront or accept

death, on the

contrary, is to realize a mode of being that can

delight and revel in

the play of the gods. To

accept one's mortality is to be able to let go, to be

able to sing,

dance, and shout. Kali is Mother to her devotees not

because she

protects them from the way things really are but

because she reveals

to them their mortality and thus releases them to act

fully and

freely, releases them from the incredible, binding web

of " adult "

pretense, practicality, and rationality.

 

(Thus ends the newsletter for the month of August)

 

Nitin G.

http://www.exoticindiaart.com

 

 

 

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