Unravelling Kali

Kali, as we know is the most dramatic goddess in the whole Indian Mythology. Naked , Scary , wearing garland of skulls , full of lust and desires , elongated tongue and unlocked hair ... Kali carries herself in a very different way. Unlike other goddesses Kali does not represent the brighter side of a women but depicts the darker side of the nature (prakriti)

Kali

Kali is much more ancient as we know her now. In the times of Indus Valley Civilisation , World's ancient civilisation, the scriptures shows many models and drawings of a Naked woman similar to Kali. As the civilisation grew the people started to in-figure various gods and goddesses like Indra , Agni etc. Agni was given importance as the source of violence. 

Nirriti (Proto Kali-1)

In the earliest civilisation there is a reference to Nirriti. Nirriti is many times compared to Kali because of her similar characteristics and nature. She was worshipped in the ancient times for sake of staying away for attaining medical and economic prosperity. She was named Nirriti she was destroyer of riti She disrupts the regular rhythms of nature.

 

She was dark and sometimes evil associated with southern Indian region which is usually connected with the Rakshas (the evil power). Nirriti is reffered as proto-kali as Kali in the form of Dakshan kali is also connected to South. 

DirghaA Jihvi (Proto Kali-2)

Jaiminya Brahmana has traces of DirghaA Jihvi (Women of long tongue) licked the soma or divinity born or created from a yagna. This irritated Indra very much. The soma gave devas life long happiness and prosper health and life. 

DirghaA Jihvi

Indra, in order to kill and vanish DirghaA jihvi send a handsome young man to flaunt the lady and seduce her to kill her. DirghaA Jihvi rejected her as she didn't liked him. She was not flaunted by a man of single Manhood. So , Indra sends Sumitra, with many man hoods and he succeeds in flaunting and seducing DirghaA Jihvi. They make love and during sex DirghaA Jihvi devotes herself to Sumitra giving him the opportunity to kill her. 

She is also referred as proto kali because of her long tongue and lustful nature. Her unbridled sexuality easily compares herself to Kali.   

Kali - The Famous telling

As we talk about Kali, we talk about her scary and violent avatar. We get a picture of very powerful women in the lust of blood of the evil. She in the pictures and temples shown with men heads usually said of the demons. She arrives when the Tridev themselves are unable to defeat the evil Rakshas. 

In Mahabharata, Kalaratri appears on the final night of Kurukshetra war, when Ashwathama brutally killed the sons of Draupadi. 

In 300 C.E , when puranas were being put together Kali is said to have been emerged out of the locks of Shiva along with her brother Veerbhadra to kill Daksha and destroy his yagna. Kali in this case is called the daughter of Shiva but in  many other stories from other puranas and vedas Kali is shown as the incarnation of Parvati, Shiva's wife. 

In this time, a book called 'Devi Mahatmaya' retells the very famous story with which Kali is always linked and associated. It tells the story of demolishing of a evil Rakshas called Rakthabeeja by Kali.

Kali killing Rakthabeeja

Rakthabeeja had a boon from Lord Brahma that wherever his blood drop would fall on ground it would become a beeja (seed) which would consequently sprout a copy of himself. Due to this reason it became impossible for the Devas to kill this evil man. So they went to Lord Brahma for seeking help but Brahma showed helplessness and directed them towards Vishnu who further showed helplessness and directed them towards Shiva. 

When the three of the Tridev showed helplessness Shiva requested devi to help the mighty Devas and kill the evil Rakshas. The Devi then took the form of kali which started killing all the copies of Rakhtabeejas by beheading them and drinking the blood with her long tongue preventing it to fall down on the ground.  

The Tantrik World and Kali 

In the mystical or tantrik world we find Kali and Kali like goddesses. Kali Mata , as we call it is widely seen in black magic and the mystical science. The goddesses associated with such stuff are:

Mystical World - Kali

Bhairavi 

Bhairavi is always seen as the other name for Kali but is very different from her. Though both are seen with Shiva but both are seen in very different way. Kali is always seen in anger and scary mood usually with her leg on Shiva but Bhairavi is seen sitting and rejoicing with Shiva. Both are seen naked and full of lust and sexuality.

Bhairavi with Shiva

Bhairavi is usually seen with Bhairav (Angry form of Shiva) with a head of Brahma in hands. It is said that they both take turns to hold that head and when they keep it on the ground the world comes to an end. Both of them is usually seen making love.

Chinmastika

This goddess is very much different and unusual from all the goddesses as she beheads herself and drinks her own blood. She depicts the wild nature of Prakriti or women which involves violence and lust. This goddess defines that Violence is very much important for nourishment and thus for survival. 

    

Chinmastika drinking her own blood

Chinmastika is usually seen sitting on Kama and Rati - The gods of desires and love. She sits on both of them usually doing sex.

Tara

She is both Buddhist and Brahmin Goddess. Though her nature towards violence and lust is very different , she inseparable from Kali. Tara in Buddhism evokes compassion in Buddha and introduces him to this world and make him deal with the same.

Benevolent Tara

In Brahmin Culture similarly , Tara evokes Shiva and connects him to this world. She makes him a householder. 

In Bengal and Orrisa , Tara is the most approachable and mild form of Kali who is not violent but benevolent. She is not be scared and feared of.

Chamunda  

Chamunda depicts decay of nature or women. She has a very frightening form and most scary looks in all of the Kalis. She sits on the corpses and drinks blood. She is distinguished by Kali from her gond form. She is associated with dogs and decayed body masses. She defines epidemic and suffering.

Chamunda

  

Kali with Shiva 

Shiva due to his destructive and violent nature is always linked or connected with goddess Kali. Shiva and Kali are linked together in various forms and stories. One legend say that they both share a husband-wife relationship while other has a story of Shiva becoming a cute baby to evoke Maternal desires in Kali. 

According to Shiv Purana, the legends say that Kali was a fiercing form of nature that had to be transformed into calm and soothing nature of prakriti. To do this Shiva was selected and was given duty of evoking Kali as brighter side of women or prakriti. Shiva make love with Kali and make her indulge with positive side of the world and nature. 

According to Shakta Purana, Devi wants Shiva to pay attention to her for the betterment of this world. She is active and wants to indulge with Shiva as she knows Shiva is no more than a corpse or shava without her. She sits on him and want him to make love with him. She is shown as keeping one leg on the chest of Shiva in order to evoke him. 

Both Shaiva and Shakta literature tell the tale of how the sages stumble upon them and their relationship. There are two version on their involvement in eroticism.

The former one is when the goddess is shy in making love with Shiva and cover her face with full shy. She during all this stops Shiva but he doesn't stop. So sages declared that Shiva would be worshipped only as a symbol called 'Linga' and never in the human form.

The goddess in this story is also named as Lajja Gauri.

Shiv Linga

The Latter one is full of lust and gaze. She initiates the sex and evokes Shiva. She says that sex and desires are very important for the survival. 

  
Kali in the Epics

The major heroines of Ramayana and Mahabharata, Sita and Draupadi are many times associated with Kali. Where Rama kills Ravana with ten heads, Sita kills Ravana with hundred heads showing a very scary and dark side of Sita. In Mahabharata , Draupadi in one of the legend goes naked and runs in the forests and eats elephants. The Kali side of Draupadi makes her to take the vow of washing her hair with blood of man who abused her. This shows her lust for blood like Kali.

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