Kali Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===Slayer of Raktabīja=== In Kāli's most famous legend, [[Durga]] and her assistants, the [[Matrikas]], wound the demon [[Raktabīja]], in various ways and with a variety of weapons in an attempt to destroy him. They soon find that they have worsened the situation for with every drop of blood that is dripped from Raktabīja, he reproduces a duplicate of himself. The battlefield becomes increasingly filled with his duplicates.<ref name="Kinsley1997" /> Durga summons Kāli to combat the demons. The ''[[Devi Mahatmya]]m'' describes: {{blockquote|Out of the surface of her (Durga's) forehead, fierce with frown, issued suddenly Kali of terrible countenance, armed with a sword and noose. Bearing the strange [[khatvanga]] (skull-topped staff), decorated with a garland of skulls, clad in a tiger's skin, very appalling owing to her emaciated flesh, with gaping mouth, fearful with her tongue lolling out, having deep reddish eyes, filling the regions of the sky with her roars, falling upon impetuously and slaughtering the great [[asuras]] in that army, she devoured those hordes of the foes of the devas and caught the blood of Raktabīja before it could fall to the ground, stopping him from creating more duplicates.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Jagadiswarananda |first1=Swami |title=Devi Mahatmyam |year=1953 |publisher=Ramakrishna Math }}</ref>}} Kali consumes Raktabīja and his duplicates, and dances on the corpses of the slain.<ref name="Kinsley1997" /> In ''[[Devi Mahatmya]]'' version of this story, Kali is also described as a ''Matrika'' and as a ''[[Shakti]]'' or power of [[Durga|Devi]]. She is given the epithet ''{{IAST|Cāṃuṇḍā}}'' (''[[Chamunda]]''), i.e. the slayer of the demons [[Chanda and Munda]].<ref name ="Wangu2003">{{cite book |last1=Wangu |first1=Madhu Bazaz |title=Images of Indian Goddesses |year=2003 |publisher=Abhinav Publications |isbn=978-81-7017-416-5}}</ref>{{rp|72}} ''Chamunda'' is very often identified with Kali and is very much like her in appearance and habit.<ref name="Kinsley1997" />{{rp|241 Footnotes}} In Tantric Kali Kula Shaktism, Kali is the supreme goddess and source of all goddesses. In [[Yogini Tantra|Yoginī Tantra]], Kālī kills [[Kolasura]] and [[Ghorasura]]. Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page