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! ===Tantra=== [[File:Kali Yantra.jpg|thumb|Kali [[Yantra]]]] Goddesses play an important role in the study and practice of [[Tantra]] Yoga, and are affirmed to be as central to discerning the nature of reality as are the male deities. Although [[Parvati]] is often said to be the recipient and student of [[Shiva]]'s wisdom in the form of ''Tantras'', it is Kali who seems to dominate much of the Tantric iconography, texts, and rituals.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}} In many sources Kāli is praised as the highest reality or greatest of all deities. The ''Nirvana-tantra'' says the gods [[Brahma]], [[Vishnu]], and Shiva all arise from her like bubbles in the sea, ceaselessly arising and passing away, leaving their original source unchanged. The ''Niruttara-tantra'' and the ''Picchila-tantra'' declare all of Kāli's mantras to be the greatest and the ''Yogini-tantra'', ''Kamakhya-tantra'' and the ''Niruttara-tantra'' all proclaim Kāli ''vidyas'' (manifestations of ''Mahadevi'', or "divinity itself"). They declare her to be an essence of her own form (''svarupa'') of the ''Mahadevi''.<ref name="Kinsley1997" />{{rp|122–124}} In the ''Mahanirvana-tantra'', Kāli is one of the epithets for the primordial ''ṥakti'', and in one passage Shiva praises her: {{blockquote|At the dissolution of things, it is Kāla [Time] Who will devour all, and by reason of this He is called Mahākāla [an epithet of Lord Shiva], and since Thou devourest Mahākāla Himself, it is Thou who art the Supreme Primordial Kālika. Because Thou devourest Kāla, Thou art Kāli, the original form of all things, and because of Thou art the Origin of and devourest all things Thou art called the Adya [the Primordial One]. Re-assuming after Dissolution Thine own form, dark and formless, Thou alone remainest as One ineffable and inconceivable. Though having a form, yet art Thou formless; though Thyself without beginning, multiform by the power of Maya, Thou art the Beginning of all, Creatrix, Protectress, and Destructress that Thou art.<ref name="Kinsley1997" />{{rp|122–124}}}} The figure of Kāli conveys death, destruction, and the consuming aspects of reality. As such, she is also a "forbidden thing", or even death itself. In the ''Pancatattva'' ritual, the ''[[sadhaka]]'' boldly seeks to confront Kali, and thereby assimilates and transforms her into a vehicle of salvation.<ref name="Kinsley1997" />{{rp|122–124}} This is clear in the work of the ''Karpuradi-stotra'',<ref>{{cite book |last1=Woodroffe |first1=John |author-link=John Woodroffe |title=Karpuradi Stotra, Tantrik Texts Vol IX |year=1922 |publisher=Calcutta Agamanusandhana Samiti }}</ref> short praise of Kāli describing the ''Pancatattva'' ritual unto her, performed on [[charnel ground|cremation grounds]]. (''Samahana-sadhana''); {{blockquote|He, O Mahākāli who in the cremation-ground, who wear skull garland and skirt of bones and with dishevelled hair, intently meditates upon Thee and recites Thy mantra, and with each recitation makes offering to Thee of a thousand Akanda flowers with seed, becomes without any effort a Lord of the earth. Oh Kāli, whoever on Tuesday at midnight, having uttered Thy mantra, makes offering even but once with devotion to Thee of a hair of his Shakti [his energy/female companion] in the cremation-ground, becomes a great poet, a Lord of the earth, and ever goes mounted upon an elephant.<ref name="Kinsley1997" />{{rp|122–124}}}} The ''Karpuradi-stotra'', dated to approximately 10th century CE,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Beck |first1=Guy L. |title=Sonic Theology: Hinduism and Sacred Sound |year=1993 |publisher=University of South Carolina Press |isbn=978-1-64336-404-9|page=145}}</ref> clearly indicates that Kāli is more than a terrible, vicious, slayer of demons who serves [[Durga]] or [[Shiva]]. Here, she is identified as the supreme mother of the universe, associated with the five elements. In union with Lord Shiva, she creates and destroys worlds. Her appearance also takes a different turn, befitting her role as ruler of the world and object of meditation.<ref name="Kinsley1997" />{{rp|124–125}} In contrast to her terrible aspects, she takes on hints of a more benign dimension. She is described as young and beautiful, has a gentle smile, and makes gestures with her two right hands to dispel any fear and offer boons. The more positive features exposed offer the distillation of divine wrath into a goddess of salvation, who rids the ''sadhaka'' of fear. Here, Kali appears as a symbol of triumph over death.<ref name="Kinsley1997" />{{rp|125}} 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). 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