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! ==Iconography and forms== The goddess has two depictions: the popular [[Chaturbhuja|four-armed]] form and the ten-armed Mahakali avatar. In both, she is described as being black in colour, though she is often seen as blue in popular Indian art. Her eyes are described as [[Red eye (medicine)|red]] with intoxication and rage. Her hair is disheveled, small fangs sometimes protrude out of her mouth, and her tongue is lolling. Sometimes she dons a skirt made of human arms and a [[Mundamala|garland of human heads]]. Other times, she is seen wearing a tiger skin. She is also accompanied by [[Serpent (symbolism)|serpents]] and a jackal while standing on the calm and prostrate Shiva, usually right foot forward to symbolize the more popular ''[[dakṣiṇācāra]]'' ("right-hand path"), as opposed to the more infamous and transgressive [[vamachara]] ("left-hand path").<ref name="Rawson">{{cite book |last1=Rawson |first1=Philip |title=The Art of Tantra |url=https://archive.org/details/tantra00phil |url-access=registration |year=1973 |publisher=Thames & Hudson }}</ref> These serpents and jackals are shown to drink the blood of [[Raktabīja]] head, which is dripping while the goddess carries it in her hand, and preventing it from falling on the ground. In the ten-armed form of Mahakali, she is depicted as shining like a blue stone. She has ten faces, ten feet, and three eyes for each head. She has ornaments decked on all her limbs. There is no association with Shiva.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sankaranarayanan |first1=Sri |title=Glory of the Divine Mother: Devi Mahatmyam |year=2001 |publisher=Nesma Books India |isbn=978-8187936008|page=127}}</ref> The ''Kalika Purana'' describes Kali as "possessing a soothing dark complexion, as perfectly beautiful, riding a lion, four-armed, holding a sword and blue lotus, her hair unrestrained, body firm and youthful".<ref name="White2000">{{cite book |last1=Gupta |first1=Sanjukta |editor-last1=White |editor-first1=David Gordon |editor-link=David Gordon White |chapter=The Worship of Kali According to the Todala Tantra |title=Tantra in Practice |year=2000 |publisher=Princeton Press |page=466 |isbn=0-691-05778-8 |ref=refWhite2000}}</ref> When [[Ramakrishna|Sri Ramakrishna]] once asked a devotee why one would prefer to worship Mother over him, this devotee rhetorically replied, "Maharaj, when they are in trouble your devotees come running to you. But, where do you run when you are in trouble?"<ref name="Saradananda1952">{{cite book |last1=Saradananda |first1=Swami |title='Sri Ramakrishna: The Great Master |year=1952 |publisher=Ramakrishna Math }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Hati|first1=Kamalpada|title=Sri Ramakrishna: The Spiritual Glow|last2=P.K.|first2=Pramanik|publisher=Orient Book Co.|year=1985|pages=17–18|ref=refHati1985}}</ref> ===Popular form=== [[File:Goddess Kali.jpg|thumb|upright|A Tamil depiction of Kali.]] Classic depictions of Kali share several features, as follows: Kali's most common four armed iconographic image shows each hand carrying variously a Khadga (crescent-shaped sword or a giant sickle), a [[Trishul (weapon)|trishul]] (trident), a severed head, and a bowl or skull-cup ([[kapala|kapāla]]) collecting the blood of the severed head. This is the form of Bhima Kali. Two of these hands (usually the left) are holding a sword and a severed head. The sword signifies divine knowledge and the human head signifies human ego which must be slain by divine knowledge in order to attain [[moksha]]. The other two hands (usually the right) are in the [[mudra#Abhaya Mudrā|abhaya]] (fearlessness) and [[mudra#Varada Mudrā|varada]] (blessing) [[mudra]]s, which means her initiated devotees (or anyone worshipping her with a true heart) will be saved as she will guide them here and in the hereafter.<ref name="White2000" />{{rp|477}} This is the form of Dakshina Kali. She wears a [[Mundamala|garland of human heads]], variously enumerated at [[108 (number)|108]] (an auspicious number in Hinduism and the number of countable beads on a [[japa]] [[japa mala|mala]] or rosary for repetition of [[mantras]]) or 51, which represents Varnamala or the Garland of letters of the Sanskrit alphabet, [[Devanagari]]. Hindus believe [[Sanskrit]] is a language of [[dynamism (metaphysics)|dynamism]], and each of these letters represents a form of energy, or a form of Kali. Therefore, she is generally seen as the mother of language, and all mantras.<ref name="White2000" />{{rp|475}} She is often depicted naked which symbolizes her being beyond the covering of [[Maya (Hinduism)|Maya]] since she is pure (''nirguna'') being-consciousness-bliss and far above Prakriti. She is shown as very dark as she is Brahman in its supreme unmanifest state. She has no permanent qualities—she will continue to exist even when the universe ends. It is therefore believed that the concepts of color, light, good, and bad do not apply to her.<ref name="White2000" />{{rp|463–488}} ===Mahakali=== {{Main|Mahakali}} [[File:Goddess Mahakali - National Museum, Delhi.jpg|thumb|Mahakali, goddess of time and death, depicted with a black complexion with ten heads, arms and legs.]] Mahakali ([[Sanskrit]]: Mahākālī, [[Devanagari]]: महाकाली, [[Bengali language|Bengali]]: মহাকালী, [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]]: મહાકાળી), literally translated as "Great Kali," is sometimes considered as a greater form of Kali, identified with the Ultimate reality of [[Brahman]]. It can also be used as an honorific of the Goddess Kali,<ref name="McDaniel"/>{{rp|257}} signifying her greatness by the prefix "Mahā-". Mahakali, in Sanskrit, is etymologically the feminized variant of [[Mahakala]] or ''Great Time'' (which is interpreted also as ''Death''), an epithet of the God Shiva in Hinduism. Mahakali is the presiding Goddess of the first episode of the ''[[Devi Mahatmya]]''. Here, she is depicted as Devi in her universal form as [[Shakti]]. Here Devi serves as the agent who allows the cosmic order to be restored. Kali is depicted in the Mahakali form as having ten heads, ten arms, and ten legs. Each of her ten hands is carrying a various implement which varies in different accounts, but each of these represents the power of one of the [[Deva (Hinduism)|Devas]] or Hindu Gods and are often the identifying weapon or ritual item of a given Deva. The implication is that Mahakali subsumes and is responsible for the powers that these deities possess and this is in line with the interpretation that Mahakali is identical with Brahman. While not displaying ten heads, an "ekamukhi" or one headed image may be displayed with ten arms, signifying the same concept: the powers of the various Gods come only through her [[Divine grace|grace]]. The name ''Mahakali'', when ''kali'' is rendered to mean "black", translates to Japanese as [[Daikokuten#Goddess Daikokutennyo|''Daikoku'' (大黒)]]. ===Dakshinakali=== [[File:Goddess Kali dancing on Shiva. Wellcome L0043631.jpg|thumb|upright|Dakshina Kali, with Shiva devotedly at her foot.]] Dakshinakali is the most popular form of Kali in Bengal.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Harper |first1=Katherine Anne |last2=Brown |first2=Robert L. |title=The Roots of Tantra |year=2012 |publisher=SUNY Press |isbn=978-0-7914-8890-4|page=53}}</ref> She is the benevolent mother, who protects her devotees and children from mishaps and misfortunes. There are various versions for the origin of the name ''Dakshinakali''. ''[[Dakshina]]'' refers to the gift given to a priest before performing a ritual or to one's guru. Such gifts are traditionally given with the right hand. Dakshinakali's two right hands are usually depicted in gestures of blessing and giving of boons. One version of the origin of her name comes from the story of [[Yama]], lord of death, who lives in the south (''dakshina''). When Yama heard Kali's name, he fled in terror, and so those who worship Kali are said to be able to overcome death itself.<ref name="Kinsley1998pp86-90">{{cite book |last1=Kinsley |first1=David R. |title=Hindu Goddesses: Visions of the Divine Feminine in the Hindu Religious Tradition |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hgTOZEyrVtIC |year=1988 |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |isbn=978-8120803947 |pages=86–90}}</ref><ref name="Dold2003" />{{rp|53–55}} Dakshinakali is typically shown with her right foot on [[Shiva]]'s chest—while depictions showing Kali with her left foot on Shiva's chest depict the even more fearsome Vamakali. Vamakali is usually worshipped by non-householders.<ref name="Pravrajika Vedantaprana 2015 p.16">Pravrajika Vedantaprana, Saptahik Bartaman, Volume 28, Issue 23, Bartaman Private Ltd., 6, JBS Haldane Avenue, 700 105 (ed. 10 October 2015) p.16</ref> The pose shows the conclusion of an episode in which Kali was rampaging out of control after destroying many demons. Lord Vishnu, Kali's brother, confronted Kali in an attempt to cool her down. She was unable to see beyond the limitless power of her rage and Lord Vishnu had to move out of her way. Seeing this the devas became more fearful, afraid that in her rampage, Kali would not stop until she destroyed the entire universe. Shiva saw only one solution to prevent Kali's endless destruction. Lord Shiva lay down on the battlefield so that Goddess Mahakali would have to step on him. When she saw her consort under her foot, Kali realized that she had gone too far. Filled with grief for the damage she had done, her blood-red tongue hung from her mouth, calming her down. In some interpretations of the story, Shiva was attempting to receive Kali's grace by receiving her foot on his chest.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kinsley |first=David R. |editor1-last=McDermott |editor1-first=Rachel Fell |editor2-last=Kripal |editor2-first=Jeffrey J. |chapter=Kali |title=Encountering Kali: in the margins, at the center, in the West |year=2003 |publisher=University of California Press |page=36 |isbn=978-0-520-92817-6}}</ref> [[File:Daksina Kali clay statue of Bengal.jpg|thumb|upright|The goddess is generally worshipped as Dakshina Kali (with her right feet on Shiva) in Bengal during Kali Puja.<ref>{{cite book |last=Pattanaik |first=Devdutt |author-link=Devdutt Pattanaik |year=2014 |title=7 Secrets of the Goddess |publisher=Westland |page=62 |isbn=978-93-84030-58-2}}</ref>]] There are many different interpretations of the pose held by Dakshinakali, including those of the 18th and 19th-century bhakti poet-devotees such as [[Ramprasad Sen]]. Some have to do with battle imagery and tantric metaphysics. The most popular is a devotional view. According to Rachel Fell McDermott, the poets portrayed Shiva as "the devotee who falls at [Kali's] feet in devotion, in the surrender of his ego, or in hopes of gaining ''moksha'' by her touch." In fact, Shiva is said to have become so enchanted by Kali that he performed austerities to win her, and having received the treasure of her feet, held them against his heart in reverence.<ref name="Dold2003">{{cite book |last1=Dold |first1=Patricia |editor-last1=McDermott |editor-first1=Rachel Fell |editor2-last=Kripal |editor2-first=Jeffrey J. |chapter=Kali the Terrific and Her Tests |title=Encountering Kali: In the Margins, at the Center, in the West |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bMUJyU_C-LkC |year=2003 |publisher=University of California Press |page=54 |isbn=978-0-520-92817-6}} </ref> 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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