Each drop of his blood that touched the ground turned into another Raktabija. Thus, every time he was struck, millions of his duplicates appeared all over the battlefield. At this point the Gods were totally desperate, and they then turned to Shiva for help.
Shiva, though, was so deep in meditation that he could not be reached. The Gods then turned to Shiva's consort Parvati for help. The Goddess Parvati immediately set out to do battle with the demon, and it was then that She took the form of Kali.
Kali then appeared, with Her red eyes, dark complexion, gaunt features, hair unbound, and Her teeth as sharp as fangs. She rode into the midst of the battle on a lion, and it was only then that the demon Raktabija first began to experience fear.
Kali then ordered the Gods to attack Raktabija, while She spread Her tongue over the battlefield, covering it completely, and preventing even one drop of the demon's blood from falling. In doing this, Kali prevented Raktabija from reproducing himself again, and the Gods were then victorious. Kali is the ferocious aspect of Devi Durga perfectly personified.
According to the Purana, this image of Durga as Kali, so widely worshipped in eastern parts of India, owes its origin to the battle of Durga with Shumbha and Nishumbha. She after her victory over these demons was so overjoyed that she started the dance of death. In her great ecstasy Kali continued the destruction. As the prayers of all gods could not calm her, Lord Shiva had to intervene.
Seeing no other way of dissuading her, the God threw himself amongst the bodies of slain demons. When Kali saw that she was dancing over the body of her husband, she put her tongue out of her mouth in sorrow and surprise. She remained stunned in this posture and this is how Kali is shown in images with the red tongue protruding from her mouth. The manifestation of the goddess as Kali is the most shocking appearance. She is depicted standing on the prostrate body of Shiva, who is lying on a lotus bed.
She has absorbed the inexorability of Rudra and Shiva as Bhairava. Yet there is both life and death in this form of the Divine Mother. The name Kali comes from the word "kala," or time. She is the power of time which devours all. She has a power that destroys and should be depicted in awe-inspiring terror. Kali is found in the cremation ground amid dead bodies. She is standing in a challenging posture on the prostrate body of her husband Shiva.
Kali cannot exist without him, and Shiva can't reveal himself without her. She is the manifestation of Shiva's power and energy. While Shiva's complexion is pure white, Kali is the color of the darkest night-a deep bluish black.
As the limitless Void, Kali has swallowed up everything without a trace. Hence, she is black. Kali's luxuriant hair is disheveled and, thereby, symbolizes Kali's boundless freedom.
Another interpretation says that each hair is a jiva individual soul , and all souls have their roots in Kali. Kali has three eyes; the third one stands for wisdom. Kali's tongue is protruding, a gesture of coyness-because she unwittingly stepped on the body of her husband Shiva. A more philosophical interpretation of Kali's tongue is that it symbolizes Rajas the color red, activity and that it is held by her teeth, symbolizing sattva the color white, spirituality. Kali has four arms.
The posture of her right arms promises fearlessness and boons while her left arms hold a bloody sword and a freshly severed human head. Looking at Kali's right, we see good, and looking at her left, we see bad. Kali is portrayed as naked except for a girdle of human arms cut off at the elbow and a garland of fifty skulls.
The arms represent the capacity for work, and Kali wears all work action , potential work, and the results thereof around her waist. The fifty skulls represent the fifty letters of the Hindu alphabet, the manifest state of sound from which all creation evolved. Kali's nudity has a similar meaning. In many instances she is described as garbed in space or sky clad. In her absolute, primordial nakedness she is free from all covering of illusion.
She is Nature Prakriti in Sanskrit , stripped of 'clothes'. It symbolizes that she is completely beyond name and form, completely beyond the effects of maya illusion. Her nudity is said to represent totally illumined consciousness, unaffected by maya.
Kali is the bright fire of truth, which cannot be hidden by the clothes of ignorance. Such truth simply burns them away. Despite Kali's origins in battle, she evolved to a full-fledged symbol of Mother Nature in her creative, nurturing and devouring aspects.
Some groups of people, unfamiliar with the precepts of Hinduism, see Kali as a satanic demon probably because of tales of her being worshipped by dacoits and other such people indulging evil acts.
The Goddess Kali is represented as black in color. Black in the ancient Hindu language of Sanskrit is kaala. The feminine form is kali. So she is Kali, the black one. Black is a symbol of The Infinite and the seed stage of all colors. The Goddess Kali remains in a state of inconceivable darkness that transcends words and mind. Within her blackness is the dazzling brilliance of illumination.
Kali's blackness symbolizes her all-embracing, comprehensive nature, because black is the color in which all the colors merge; black absorbs and dissolves them.
On the other hand, black is said to represent the total absence of color, again signifying the nature of Kali as ultimate reality. This in Sanskrit, the color black is named as nirguna beyond all quality and form. Either way, kali's black colour symbolizes her transcendence of all form. She appears black because She is viewed from a distance But when intimately known She is no longer so The sky appears blue at a distance, but look at it close by And you will find that it has no colour The water of the ocean looks blue at a distance But when you go near and take it on your hand, you find that it is colourless".
Kali is a great and powerful black earth Mother Goddess capable of terrible destruction and represents the most powerful form of the female forces in the Universe. Worship of the Goddess Kali is largely an attempt to appease her and avert her wrath. The Goddess Kali constantly drinks blood. She has an insatiable thirst for blood. As mistress of blood, she presides over the mysteries of both life and death. Kali intends her bloody deeds for the protection of the good.
She may get carried away by her gruesome acts but she is not evil. She is completely nude, save for a garland of flowers, ornate jewelry and a garland of the heads of decapitated men. An erotic persona, with lascivious energy revolving around Her, She is one who devours all things. Kali is the quintessential embodiment of Shakti feminine power ; she is bloodthirsty, fearless, monstrous and scary.
She is the embodiment of empowerment. Despite Her nakedness, She wins respect in a country that hates any kind of expression of sexuality.
With four arms, she is equally terrifying and magnificent. She is regularly revered and worshipped in West Bengal and other parts of our subcontinent. I have always looked up to Her as a warrior Goddess , a woman who gives me the inspiration to fight louder and more fiercely. She has the audacity to have her tongue out. Kali gives me hope, encourages me to forget the laws of morality prescribed for women by men and live life independently. Kali is the true representation of a badass as a Supreme Being.
I have grown up in a household where my grandmother was an ardent devotee of Maa Kali, and I listened to all kinds of stories regarding her transformation.
Some stories depicted Her to be a woman, who after killing Daruka was on the hunt and literally killed innocent humans and had to be stopped. However, I choose to believe the story of how She was summoned to kill Raktabija blood-seed who was a demon and kept on multiplying as each drop of his blood touched the ground. So, Kali unfurled Her tongue and, spread it entirely on the battlefield, and killed the demon by swallowing his blood.
Throughout my life, I have worshipped Goddess Durga, burst firecrackers during Diwali which we Bengalis celebrate by praying to Goddess Kali , and been awed at the hypocrisy of people who dared to show reverence towards such Goddesses and still be misogynists. These men and women ask you to not touch the idols when you are bleeding during your periods , even though Kali is the embodiment of Naari Shakti female power.
Editions Quartz. More from Quartz About Quartz. Follow Quartz. These are some of our most ambitious editorial projects. From our Series. A new generation of women is bringing a new set of priorities and expectations to the workplace—and changing business for the better. By Annalisa Merelli Senior reporter. Published January 8, Last updated on September 28, Consider Kali, the Hindu goddess. Her two breasts from the power of the moon, her middle from Indra, her calves and thighs from Varuna, and from Mother Earth her behind;.
Her feet from Brahma, her toes from the power of the Sun, her fingers from the Ashta Vasus and from Kubera, her nose;. Her brows from the power of dawn and dusk, from the wind her ears; together the powers united in her.
Varuna Upholder of the Cosmic Order gave her the conch, Agni the spear, Vayu the Wind God gave her a quiver filled with inexhaustible arrows;.
Yama God of Death gave her a part of his death staff, Varuna gave her a part of his rope, Brahma gave her a japa mala and kamandalu water pot ;. Surya the Sun God gave her his rays taken from every pore of his body, Time gave her his sword and a sparkling shield;.
Vishwakarma the architect of the Gods gave her a crest jewel choodamani , ear studs, bangles, the crescent moon, armlets for all her arms, and toe rings, and axe, several types of arrows, and an unbreakable shield;. The sea god gave her a garland of unfading flowers and a lotus flower; Himavan the Himalayas personified gave her a lion to ride and various gems;.
Emerging from the forms of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva, equipped by the devas , she filled the earth and skies with a powerful sound that reverberated through the universe. Mahishasura, in the form of a buffalo, heard her. He saw her spread over all three worlds—pushing down on the earth with her feet, touching the skies with her crown, shaking the underworld with the twang of her bow, her arms encompassing it all. She fought them like it was a game, without any sign of fatigue. Each breath of hers manifested millions of chandikas female soldiers who fought with her.
Facing Mahishasura, Kali threw a noose and tied him. The asura morphed into a lion. Using swift arrows, she decimated him. He transformed into a large elephant and attacked her vehicle, the lion.
0コメント