Mahākālikā, or Kali, is a Hindu goddess associated with death and destruction. The name Kali means "black", but has by folk etymology come to mean "force of time (kala)". Despite her negative connotations, she is today considered the goddess of time and change.
Description[]
Kali's most common four armed iconographic image shows each hand carrying variously a sword, a trishul (trident), a severed head, and a bowl or skull-cup (kapala) catching the blood of the severed head. Two of her hands, usually the left, are holding a sword and a severed head.
The sword she carries 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 abhaya (fearlessness) and varada (blessing) mudras, 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.
Kali is portrayed mostly in two forms: the popular four-armed form and the ten-armed Mahakali form. In both of her forms, she is described as being black in color but is most often depicted as blue in popular Indian art. Her eyes are described as red with intoxication, and in absolute rage, her hair is shown disheveled, small fangs sometimes protrude out of her mouth, and her tongue is lolling. She is often shown naked or just wearing a skirt made of human arms and a garland of human heads. She is also accompanied by serpents and a jackal.
History[]
Origins[]
There are several traditions of how Kali came into existence. One version relates when the warrior goddess Durga, who had ten arms each carrying a weapon and who rode a lion or tiger in battle, fought with Raktabija, the blood demon. However, each time they slay the demon a drop of his blood reproduces into a duplicate of the demon until the entire battlefield has innumerable hoards of Raktabija.
Durga became so enraged that her anger burst from her forehead in the form of Kali. Once born, the black goddess went wild and devoured all the demons she came across, stringing their heads on a chain which she wore around her neck. Raktabija himself was killed when Kali lopped off his head with a sword and then drank all of his blood, making sure none fell to the ground and thereby ensuring no more demons could menace the world.
Kali's Rampage[]
Despite destroying all the demons, Kali was still unsatisfied and continued on with her rampage with no deity being able to stop her. It seemed impossible to calm Kali's bloody attacks, which now extended to any wrongdoers, and both people and gods were at a loss what to do. Fortunately, the mighty Shiva stopped Kali's destructive rampage by lying down in her path, and when the goddess realised just who she was standing on, she finally calmed down. From this story is explained Kali's association with battlegrounds and areas where cremation is carried out.
No Honor Amongst Thieves[]
Another famous story involving the fearsome goddess is her escapade with a band of thieves. The thieves wanted to make a human sacrifice to Kali, and unwisely chose a Brahmin monk as a likely victim. Dragging him to the nearest temple, the thieves prepared to make the sacrifice in front of the statue of Kali when suddenly the statue came to life. Outraged at the thieves' plan to kill a monk, the goddess took swift revenge and decapitated the whole gang, even tossing their heads about for fun, whilst naturally the Brahmin escaped to continue his life of scholarly reflection.