Chamunda or Kali (or someone else?)

[Guest guest]

Many years ago, I purchased the first of many bronze

murthies which I have worshipped and collected over

the years. It was a statue of Parvati, and I fell in

love at first sight. I asked the proprietor of the

import store if I could see "that statue" (pointing at

it). He smiled and told his assistant, "Bring me the

Kali."

 

Now, I had done a lot of reading about iconography,

and I was puzzled. I said, "This statue has only two

arms. She is not holding a weapon, nor the head of a

demon. She is dressed in folds of cloth, not in a

skirt of hands, and her hair is tucked up into her

headdress, not worn long and wild. Surely this is a

statue of Parvati. Why do you call her Kali?"

 

The proprietor smiled again, and whispered to me, "ALL

the goddesses are Kali!"

 

And to a Bhakta, indeed, the form doesn't matter.

 

(But, since I too have a strong leaning towards Jnana,

I'd certainly love to see a book or essay which

explains all of the myriad names and forms of the Dark

Mother! I've read that Chamunda is portrayed as a

withered old woman, dressed in an elephant-skin, with

bulging eyes, a sagging bosom, and a cave-like hollow

belly as she is forever hungry.)

 

-- Len/ Kalipadma

 

 

Mon, 09 May 2005 03:29:48 -0000

"Nanda" <chandimaakijai

353--Q&A WITH SWAMIJI--Chamunda Puja

 

Question from Aravind:

I have a poster of Chamunda. I do not perform my Kali

Puja to it, even

though I love it dearly, because it does not match the

Dakshina Kali

dhyanam. Is it OK to perform the puja to this image

without the

dhyanam matching, or is there a Chamunda dhyanam I

should use instead.

Would then the sankalpa and mula mantra for the puja

need to change?

 

Swamiji's response:

It is perfectly okay to perform puja to a deity, even

though the exact

details of that deity do not correspond to the

dhyanam. There is no

need to only worship the image whose characteristics

you are reciting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

_______

 

 

 

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