Kali

For other uses, see Kali (disambiguation).“The black one” redirects here. For the 2005 dronemetal album, see Black One. For the male choral group,see The Black Ones.

Kālī (/ˈkɑːli/; Sanskrit: काली;Telugu: ; Kannada: -; Tamil: காளி; Bengali: কালী), also known as Kālikā

(Sanskrit: का लका,Telugu: ), is the Hindu goddessassociated with empowerment, or shakti. She is themighty aspect of the goddess Durga.[1] The name of Kalimeans black one and force of time,[2] she is thereforecalled the Goddess of Time, Change, Power, Creation,Preservation, and Destruction.[3] Her earliest appearanceis that of a destroyer principally of evil forces. VariousShakta Hindu cosmologies, as well as Shākta Tantric be-liefs, worship her as the ultimate reality or Brahman; andrecent devotional movements re-imagine Kāli as a benev-olent mother goddess.[4] She is often portrayed standingor dancing on her consort, the Hindu god Shiva, wholies calm and prostrate beneath her. Kali is worshippedby Hindus throughout India but particularly South India,Bengal, and Assam.[5]

1 Etymology

Kālī is the feminine form of kālam (“black, darkcoloured”).[6] Kāla primarily means “time”, but alsomeans “black"; hence, Kālī means “the black one” or “be-yond time”. Kāli is strongly associated with Shiva, andShaivas derive the masculine Kāla (an epithet of Shiva)from her feminine name. A nineteenth-century Sanskritdictionary, the Shabdakalpadrum, states: कालः शिवः।तस्य पत्नीति - काली। kālaḥ śivaḥ। tasya patnīti kālī -“Shiva is Kāla, thus, his consort is Kāli”.Other names include Kālarātri (“black night”), as de-scribed above, and Kālikā (“relating to time”), and Kallie(“black alchemist”). Coburn notes that the name Kālī canbe used as a proper name, or as a description of color.[7]

Kāli’s association with darkness stands in contrast to herconsort, Shiva, whose body is covered by the white ashesof the cremation ground (Sanskrit: śmaśāna) where hemeditates, and with which Kāli is also associated, asśmaśāna-kālī.

2 Origins

Hugh Urban notes that although the word Kālī appears asearly as the Atharva Veda, the first use of it as a propername is in the Kathaka Grhya Sutra (19.7).[8] Kali is thename of one of the seven tongues of Agni, the [Rigvedic]God of Fire, in the Mundaka Upanishad (2:4), but it isunlikely that this refers to the goddess. The first appear-ance of Kāli in her present form is in the Sauptika Parvanof the Mahabharata (10.8.64). She is called Kālarātri(literally, “black night”) and appears to the Pandava sol-diers in dreams, until finally she appears amidst the fight-ing during an attack by Drona's son Ashwatthama. Shemost famously appears in the sixth century Devi Mahat-myam as one of the shaktis of Mahadevi, and defeatsthe demon Raktabija (“Bloodseed”). The tenth-centuryKalika Purana venerates Kāli as the ultimate reality.According to David Kinsley, Kāli is first mentioned inHinduism as a distinct goddess around 600 CE, and thesetexts “usually place her on the periphery of Hindu soci-ety or on the battlefield.”[9] She is often regarded as theShakti of Shiva, and is closely associated with him in var-ious Puranas. The Kalika Purana depicts her as the “AdiShakti” (Fundamental Power) and “Para Prakriti” or be-yond nature.There are several traditions of how Kali came into ex-istence. One version relates when the warrior goddessDurga, who had ten arms each carrying a weapon andwhorode a lion or tiger in battle, fought with Mahishasura (orMahisa), the buffalo demon. Durga became so enragedthat her anger burst from her forehead in the form of Kali.Once born, the black goddess went wild and ate all thedemons she came across, stringing their heads on a chainwhich she wore around her neck. It seemed impossibleto calm Kali’s bloody attacks, which now extended to anywrongdoers, and both people and gods were at a loss whatto do. Fortunately, the mighty Shiva stopped Kali’s de-structive rampage by lying down in her path, and whenthe goddess realised just who she was standing on, shefinally calmed down. From this story is explained Kali’sassociation with battlegrounds and areas where cremationis carried out.In another version of the goddess’ birth, Kali appearedwhen Parvati shed her dark skin which then became Kali,hence one of her names is Kaushika (the Sheath), whilstParvati is left as Gauri (the Fair One). This story empha-sises Kali’s blackness which is symbolic of eternal dark-ness and which has the potential to both destroy and cre-ate.

1

2 4 YANTRA

In a third version, men and gods were being terrorisedby Daruka who could only be killed by a woman, andParvati was asked by the gods to deal with the trouble-some demon. She responded by jumping down Shiva’sthroat. This was becausemany years previously Shiva hadswallowed halahala, the poison which had risen from thechurning of the ocean during the creation and which hadthreatened to pollute the world. By combining with thepoison still held in Shiva’s throat, Parvati was transformedinto Kali. Leaping from Shiva’s throat in her new guise,Kali swiftly dispatched Daruka and all was well with theworld once more.Finally, in yet another version of Kali’s birth, there is thestory of the terrible demon Raktabija (Blood-seed). Thisdemon was, like most demons, causing a great deal oftrouble with people and gods alike but even worse was hisability to produce more demons every time a drop of hisblood spilt to the ground. Therefore, each time Raktabijawas attacked, the only result was more demons to dealwith. The gods decided to work together and combineall of their shakti or divine energy and produce one superbeing that could destroy Raktabija; the result was Kali(in another version only Durga produces Kali). Givenall the divine weapons of the gods, Kali swiftly soughtout Raktabija and his demons and proceeded to swallowthem all whole so as not to spill anymore blood in theprocess. Raktabija himself was killed when Kali loppedoff his head with a sword and then drank all of his blood,making sure none fell to the ground and thereby ensuringno more demons could menace the world.Another famous story involving Kali is her escapade witha band of thieves. The thieves wanted to make a humansacrifice to Kali, and unwisely chose a Brahmin monkas a likely victim. Dragging him to the nearest temple,the thieves prepared to make the sacrifice in front of thestatue of Kali when suddenly the statue came to life. Out-raged at the thieves’ plan to kill a monk, the goddess tookswift revenge and decapitated the whole gang, even toss-ing their heads about for fun, whilst naturally the Brahminescaped to continue his life of scholarly reflection.[10]

3 Worship and mantra

Kali could be considered a general concept, like Durga,and is mostly worshiped in the Kali Kula sect of wor-ship. The closest way of direct worship is Maha Kalior Bhadrakali (Bhadra in Sanskrit means 'gentle'). Kaliis worshiped as one of the 10 Mahavidya forms of AdiParashakti (Goddess Durga) or Bhagavathy according tothe region. The mantra for worship is[11]

Sanskrit: सवर्मङ्गलमाङ्गल्ये शवे सवार्थर्साधके । शरण्येयम्बके गौ र नारायण नमोऽस्तु ते ॥

ॐ जयतंी मगंल काली भद्रकाली कपा लनी । दगुार् शवा क्षमाधात्री स्वाहा स्वधा नमोऽस्तु ते ॥

(Sarvama�galamā�galyē śivē sarvārthasādhikē .śara�yē tryambakē gauri nārāya�i namō'stu tē.

O� jayantī mangala kālī bhadrakālī kapālinī . durgāśivā ksamā dhātrī svāhā svadhā namō'stu tē.)[12]

4 Yantra

Kali Yantra

Goddesses play an important role in the study and prac-tice of Tantra Yoga, and are affirmed to be as central todiscerning the nature of reality as are the male deities.Although Parvati is often said to be the recipient and stu-dent of Shiva's wisdom in the form of Tantras, it is Kaliwho seems to dominate much of the Tantric iconography,texts, and rituals.[13] In many sources Kāli is praised asthe highest reality or greatest of all deities. The Nirvana-tantra says the gods Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva all arisefrom her like bubbles in the sea, ceaselessly arising andpassing away, leaving their original source unchanged.The Niruttara-tantra and the Picchila-tantra declare allof Kāli’s mantras to be the greatest and the Yogini-tantra,Kamakhya-tantra and the Niruttara-tantra all proclaimKāli vidyas (manifestations of Mahadevi, or “divinity it-self”). They declare her to be an essence of her own form(svarupa) of the Mahadevi.[14]

In theMahanirvana-tantra, Kāli is one of the epithets forthe primordial sakti, and in one passage Shiva praises her:

At the dissolution of things, it is Kāla[Time] Who will devour all, and by reason ofthis He is called Mahākāla [an epithet of LordShiva], and since Thou devourest MahākālaHimself, it is Thou who art the Supreme Pri-mordial Kālika. Because Thou devourest Kāla,Thou art Kāli, the original form of all things,

3

A benign Kali idol, at Diwali, Bengal, India

and because Thou art the Origin of and de-vourest all things Thou art called the Adya [thePrimordial One]. Re-assuming after Dissolu-tion Thine own form, dark and formless, Thoualone remainest as One ineffable and incon-ceivable. Though having a form, yet art Thouformless; though Thyself without beginning,multiform by the power of Maya, Thou art theBeginning of all, Creatrix, Protectress, and De-structress that Thou art.[13]

The figure of Kāli conveys death, destruction, and theconsuming aspects of reality. As such, she is also a “for-bidden thing”, or even death itself. In the Pancatattvaritual, the sadhaka boldly seeks to confront Kali, andthereby assimilates and transforms her into a vehicle ofsalvation.[15] This is clear in the work of the Karpuradi-stotra,[16] a short praise of Kāli describing the Pan-catattva ritual unto her, performed on cremation grounds.(Samahana-sadhana)

He, O Mahākāli who in the cremation-ground, naked, and with dishevelled hair, in-tently meditates upon Thee and recites Thy

mantra, and with each recitation makes offer-ing to Thee of a thousand Akanda flowers withseed, becomes without any effort a Lord of theearth. Oh Kāli, whoever on Tuesday at mid-night, having uttered Thy mantra, makes of-fering even but once with devotion to Thee ofa hair of his Shakti [his energy/female com-panion] in the cremation-ground, becomes agreat poet, a Lord of the earth, and ever goesmounted upon an elephant.[15]

The Karpuradi-stotra clearly indicates that Kāli is morethan a terrible, vicious, slayer of demons who servesDurga or Shiva. Here, she is identified as the suprememistress of the universe, associated with the five ele-ments. In union with Lord Shiva, she creates and de-stroys worlds. Her appearance also takes a differentturn, befitting her role as ruler of the world and objectof meditation.[17] In contrast to her terrible aspects, shetakes on hints of a more benign dimension. She is de-scribed as young and beautiful, has a gentle smile, andmakes gestures with her two right hands to dispel any fearand offer boons. The more positive features exposed of-fer the distillation of divine wrath into a goddess of sal-vation, who rids the sadhaka of fear. Here, Kali appearsas a symbol of triumph over death.[18]

5 Bengali tradition

Kali Puja festival in Kolkata.

Kali is also a central figure in late medieval Bengalidevotional literature, with such devotees as RamprasadSen (1718–75). With the exception of being associatedwith Parvati as Shiva's consort, Kāli is rarely pictured in

4 6 LEGENDS

Hindu legends and iconography as a motherly figure untilBengali devotions beginning in the early eighteenth cen-tury. Even in Bengāli tradition her appearance and habitschange little, if at all.[19]

The Tantric approach to Kāli is to display courage by con-fronting her on cremation grounds in the dead of night,despite her terrible appearance. In contrast, the Ben-gali devotee appropriates Kāli’s teachings adopting theattitude of a child, coming to love her unreservedly. Inboth cases, the goal of the devotee is to become recon-ciled with death and to learn acceptance of the way thatthings are. These themes are well addressed in Rām-prasād’s work.[20] Rāmprasād comments in many of hisother songs that Kāli is indifferent to his wellbeing, causeshim to suffer, brings his worldly desires to nothing and hisworldly goods to ruin. He also states that she does not be-have like a mother should and that she ignores his pleas:

Canmercy be found in the heart of her whowas born of the stone? [a reference to Kali asthe daughter of Himalaya]Were she not merciless, would she kick thebreast of her lord?Men call you merciful, but there is no trace ofmercy in you, Mother.You have cut off the heads of the children ofothers, and these you wear as a garland aroundyour neck.It matters not how much I call you “Mother,Mother.” You hear me, but you will notlisten.[1]

1. ^ D. Kinsley p. 128.

To be a child of Kāli, Rāmprasād asserts, is to be deniedof earthly delights and pleasures. Kāli is said to refrainfrom giving that which is expected. To the devotee, it isperhaps her very refusal to do so that enables her devoteesto reflect on dimensions of themselves and of reality thatgo beyond the material world.[21][22]

A significant portion of Bengali devotional music featuresKāli as its central theme and is known as Shyama Sangeet(“Music of the Night”). Mostly sung by male vocalists,today even women have taken to this form of music. Oneof the finest singers of Shyāma Sāngeet is Pannalal Bhat-tacharya.In Bengal, Kāli is venerated in the festival Kali Puja, thenew moon day of Ashwin month which coincides withDiwali festival.In a unique form of Kāli worship, Shantipur worshipsKāli in the form of a hand painted image of the deityknown as Poteshwari (meaning the deity drawn on apiece of cloth).

6 Legends

6.1 Slayer of Raktabija

A painting made in Nepal depicting the Goddess Ambika Leadingthe Eight Matrikas in Battle Against the Demon Raktabija, Foliofrom a Devi Mahatmya - (top row, from the left) the Matrikas- Narasimhi, Vaishnavi, Kumari, Maheshvari, Brahmi. (bottomrow, from left) Varahi, Aindri, Chamunda or Kali (drinking thedemon’s blood), Ambika. on the right, demons arising from Rak-tabiīa’s blood

In Kāli’s most famous legend, Devi Durga (AdiParashakti) and her assistants, the Matrikas, wound thedemon Raktabija, in various ways and with a variety ofweapons in an attempt to destroy him. They soon findthat they have worsened the situation for with every dropof blood that is dripped from Raktabija he reproduces aclone of himself. The battlefield becomes increasinglyfilled with his duplicates.[23] Durga, in need of help, sum-mons Kāli to combat the demons. It is said, in someversions, that Goddess Durga actually assumes the formof Goddess Kāli at this time. The Devi Mahatmyam de-scribes:

Out of the surface of her (Durga’s) fore-head, fierce with frown, issued suddenly Kali ofterrible countenance, armed with a sword andnoose. Bearing the strange khatvanga (skull-topped staff ), decorated with a garland ofskulls, clad in a tiger’s skin, very appalling ow-ing to her emaciated flesh, with gaping mouth,fearful with her tongue lolling out, having deepreddish eyes, filling the regions of the sky withher roars, falling upon impetuously and slaugh-tering the great asuras in that army, she de-voured those hordes of the foes of the devas.[24]

Kali consumes Raktabija and his duplicates, and danceson the corpses of the slain.[25] In the Devi Mahatmya ver-sion of this story, Kali is also described as a Matrika andas a Shakti or power of Devi. She is given the epithetCāṃuṇḍā (Chamunda), i.e. the slayer of the demonsChanda and Munda.[26] Chamunda is very often identi-fied with Kali and is very much like her in appearanceand habit.[27]

6.3 Shri Krishna’s appearance as Kali 5

Bhadrakali (a gentle form of Kali), circa 1675. A painting madein India, Himachal Pradesh, Basohli, now placed in LACMA.

6.2 Dakshina Kali

In her most famous pose as Daksinakali, popular legendssay that Kali, drunk on the blood of her victims, is aboutto destroy the whole universe when, urged by all the gods,Shiva lies in her way to stop her, and she steps upon hischest.[28] Recognizing Shiva beneath her feet, she calmsherself. Though not included in any of the puranas, popu-lar legends state that Kali was ashamed at the prospect ofkeeping her husband beneath her feet and thus stuck hertongue out in shame. The Devi-Bhagavata Purana, whichgoes into great depths about the goddess Kali, reveals thetongue’s actual symbolism.The characteristic icons that depict Kali are the follow-ing; unbridled matted hair, open blood shot eyes, openmouth and a drooping tongue; in her hands, she holds aKhadga (bent sword or scimitar) and a human head; shehas a girdle of human hands across her waist, and Shivalies beneath her feet.[29] The drooping out-stuck tonguerepresents her blood-thirst. Lord Shiva beneath her feetrepresents matter, as Kali energy. The depiction of Kalion Shiva shows that without energy, matter lies “dead”.[30]This concept has been simplified to a folk-tale depictinga wife placing her foot on her husband and sticking hertongue out in shame. In tantric contexts, the tongue isseen to denote the element (guna) of rajas (energy andaction) controlled by sattva.If Kali steps on Shiva with her right foot and holds thesword in her left hand, she is considered to be DakshinaKali.[31][32] The Dakshina Kali Temple has important re-ligious associations with the Jagannath Temple and it isbelieved that Daksinakali is the guardian of the kitchen ofthe Lord Jagannath Temple. Puranic tradition says that inPuri, Lord Jagannath is regarded as Daksinakalika. God-dess Dakshinakali plays an important role in the 'Niti' ofSaptapuri Amavasya.[33]

One South Indian tradition tells of a dance contest be-tween Shiva and Kali. After defeating the two demons

Sumbha and Nisumbha, Kali takes up residence in theforest of Thiruvalankadu or Thiruvalangadu. She terror-izes the surrounding area with her fierce, disruptive na-ture. One of Shiva’s devotees becomes distracted whileperforming austerities, and asks Shiva to rid the forest ofthe destructive goddess. When Shiva arrives, Kali threat-ens him, and Shiva challenges Kali to a dance contest,wherein Kali matches Shiva until Shiva takes the “Urd-hvatandava” step, vertically raising his right leg.[34] Kalirefuses to perform this step, which would not befit her asa woman, and becomes pacified.

6.3 Shri Krishna’s appearance as Kali

In places in the tantrik tradition, the Krishna avatar ofVishnu is often identified with Kali.There are many im-ages of Krishna in India which show him as black.Hindu tales narrate a story of how Krishna assumed theform of Kali as a lila or divine play. The plot unfoldsin the puranic forest of Vrindavana where the cowherdYadavas were peacefully residing with their much lovedleader and friend, Sri Krishna. Every night, hearing theflute of Krishna at midnight Srimati Radharani wouldquitely slip out from her home to secretly meet with herlover in the deep forests. However this was eventuallyobserved by the shrewd sisters-in-law of Radha, Jatilaand Kutila who informed her husband Ayan of his wife’s‘adultery’. Infuriated Ayan set off to punish the miscre-ant, into the deep woods. However the lord of all beings,Sri Krishna already knew what was in the air. He quicklyasked Radha to pick up all the wild fruits and flowers thatshe could find and sit down at his feet in an worshupfulgesture. Radha obeyed to his commands and soon Kr-ishna had himself transformed to Kali— the ishta or cho-sen deity of Ayan, when Ayan finally arrived on the spothe found his wife doing puja of their family deity. ThusSrimati Radharani was saved.

Shri Krishna as Kali

6 7 ICONOGRAPHY

In the last 500 years, shakti sadhaks of eastern India per-sonally felt the unity of these two imoprtant forms ofhindu pantheon. A nineteenth century self realized kalisadhak known as Premik Maharaj. The first few lines ofthe song translates as —-” My mother has become Krishna on seeing the enchantingnight of full moon in the season of spring .

my black moon(Kali) has now started the divine play ofholi .

ah ! behold the mesmeric beauty on her body , which isnow covered with coloured holi powders and blood .

Dakini , Sakini , Yogini , Hakini and all her other com-panions have become mad with divine love and thus haveturned to gopinis (cowherd damsels)" [35]

6.4 Smashan Kali

If the Kali steps out with the left foot and holds the swordin her right hand, she is the terrible form of Mother,the Smashan Kali of the cremation ground.[31][32] She isworshiped by tantrics, the followers of Tantra, who be-lieve that one’s spiritual discipline practiced in a smashan(cremation ground) brings success quickly. Sarda Devi,the consort of Ramakrishna Paramhansa, worshippedSmashan Kali at Dakshineshwar.[36]

6.5 Maternal Kali

At the time of Samundra Manthan (churning of theocean), a poison emerged with the potential to destroy theworld. At the request of all the gods, Lord Shiva drankit to save the world. Since he is beyond death he did notdie, but was in severe pain due to the effect of the poison.He then became a child so that Kali could feed him withher milk which soothed the effect of the poison.

6.6 Mahakali

Main article: MahakaliMahakali (Sanskrit: Mahākālī, Devanagari: महाकाली),literally translated as Great Kali, is sometimes consideredas a greater form of Kali, identified with the Ultimate re-ality of Brahman. It can also be used as an honorific ofthe Goddess Kali,[37] signifying her greatness by the pre-fix “Mahā-". Mahakali, in Sanskrit, is etymologically thefeminized variant of Mahakala or Great Time (which isinterpreted also as Death), an epithet of the God Shiva inHinduism. Mahakali is the presiding Goddess of the firstepisode of the Devi Mahatmya. Here she is depicted asDevi in her universal form as Shakti. Here Devi serves asthe agent who allows the cosmic order to be restored.Kali is depicted in theMahakali form as having ten heads,ten arms, and ten legs. Each of her ten hands is carrying avarious implement which vary in different accounts, but

Ekamukhi or “One-Faced” Murti of Mahakali displaying tenhands holding the signifiers of various Devas

each of these represent the power of one of the Devasor Hindu Gods and are often the identifying weapon orritual item of a given Deva. The implication is that Ma-hakali subsumes and is responsible for the powers thatthese deities possess and this is in line with the interpre-tation thatMahakali is identical with Brahman. While notdisplaying ten heads, an “ekamukhi” or one headed imagemay be displayed with ten arms, signifying the same con-cept: the powers of the various Gods come only throughHer grace.

7 Iconography

Kali is portrayed mostly in two forms: the popular four-armed form and the ten-armed Mahakali form. In bothof her forms, she is described as being black in color butis most often depicted as blue in popular Indian art. Hereyes are described as red with intoxication, and in abso-lute rage, her hair is shown disheveled, small fangs some-times protrude out of her mouth, and her tongue is lolling.She is often shown naked or just wearing a skirt made ofhuman arms and a garland of human heads. She is alsoaccompanied by serpents and a jackal while standing on aseemingly dead Shiva, usually right foot forward to sym-bolize the more popular Dakshinamarga or right-handedpath, as opposed to the more infamous and transgressiveVamamarga or left-handed path.[38]

In the ten-armed form of Mahakali she is depicted asshining like a blue stone. She has ten faces, ten feet, andthree eyes for each head. She has ornaments decked onall her limbs. There is no association with Shiva.[39]

The Kalika Purana describes Kali as possessing a sooth-ing dark complexion, as perfectly beautiful, riding a lion,four-armed, holding a sword and blue lotuses, her hairunrestrained, body firm and youthful.[40]

In spite of her seemingly terrible form, Kali Ma is of-ten considered the kindest and most loving of all theHindu goddesses, as she is regarded by her devotees asthe Mother of the whole Universe. And because of her

7.1 Popular form 7

Kali sculpture from Calcutta Art Gallery, 1913

terrible form, she is also often seen as a great protector.When the Bengali saint Ramakrishna once asked a devo-tee why one would prefer to worship Mother over him,this devotee rhetorically replied, “Maharaj”, when theyare in trouble your devotees come running to you. But,where do you run when you are in trouble?"[41]

According to Ramakrishna, darkness is the UltimateMother, or Kali:

My Mother is the principle of conscious-ness. She is Akhanda Satchidananda;indivisible Reality, Awareness, and Bliss. Thenight sky between the stars is perfectly black.The waters of the ocean depths are the same;The infinite is always mysteriously dark.This inebriating darkness is my beloved Kali.—Sri Ramakrishna

This is clear in the works of such contemporary artistsas Charles Wish, and Tyeb Mehta, who sometimes takegreat liberties with the traditional, accepted symbolism,but still demonstrate a true reverence for the Shakta sect.

A Tamil depiction of Kali

7.1 Popular form

Classic depictions of Kali share several features, as fol-lows:Kali’s most common four armed iconographic imageshows each hand carrying variously a sword, a trishul (tri-dent), a severed head, and a bowl or skull-cup (kapala)catching the blood of the severed head.Two of these hands (usually the left) are holding a swordand a severed head. The Sword signifies Divine Knowl-edge and the Human Head signifies human Ego whichmust be slain by Divine Knowledge in order to attainMoksha. The other two hands (usually the right) are inthe abhaya (fearlessness) and varada (blessing) mudras,which means her initiated devotees (or anyone worship-ping her with a true heart) will be saved as she will guidethem here and in the hereafter.[42]

She has a garland consisting of human heads, variouslyenumerated at 108 (an auspicious number in Hinduismand the number of countable beads on a Japa Mala or

8 7 ICONOGRAPHY

rosary for repetition of Mantras) or 51, which representsVarnamala or the Garland of letters of the Sanskrit alpha-bet, Devanagari. Hindus believe Sanskrit is a language ofdynamism, and each of these letters represents a form ofenergy, or a form of Kali. Therefore, she is generally seenas the mother of language, and all mantras.[43]

She is often depicted naked which symbolizes her beingbeyond the covering of Maya since she is pure (nirguna)being-consciousness-bliss and far above prakriti. She isshown as very dark as she is brahman in its supreme un-manifest state. She has no permanent qualities—she willcontinue to exist even when the universe ends. It is there-fore believed that the concepts of color, light, good, baddo not apply to her—she is the pure, un-manifested en-ergy, the Adi-shakti.[44]

7.2 Kali as a symbol of creation, freedom,preservation and destruction

The white teeth of Kali (stands for conscience ) pressing redtongue (stands for greed )

The head that hangs in Kali’s hand is a symbol of Egoand the scimitar which she is holding represents powerand energy.It is believed that Kali is protecting the hu-man race by that scimitar and also destroying the nega-tivity and ego within human being.[45] The body lying un-der Kali symbolizes ruination, is actually a form of Shiva.Kali steps her leg on the chest of the body and suppressruination . Since she is standing on the pure white chest ofLord Shiva who, as pure primal awareness, lays in a pas-sive reclining position, peacefully lies with his eyes half

open in a state of bliss. Her hair is long, black and flow-ing freely depicting Her freedom from convention and theconfines of conceptualization.[46] The white teeth whichKali has stands for conscience and her red tongue rep-resents greed. By pressing her white teeth on her tongueKali refers to control greed.The goddessmay appear terri-ble from outside but every symbol in Kali signifies truth oflife. Since the earth was created out of darkness, the darkblack color of Kali symbolizes the color from which ev-erything was born.[47] Her right hand side arms she showsthe Abhaya mudra(gesture of fearlessness) and Vara mu-dra (gesture of welcome and charity) respectively . But onthe other arm in left side she holds a bloody scimitar anda severed head depicting destruction and end of ego.[48]

7.3 Kali as a symbol of Mother Nature

The name Kali means Kala or force of time. When therewere neither the creation, nor the sun, the moon, the plan-ets, and the earth, there was only darkness and everythingwas created from the darkness. The Dark appearance ofkali represents the darkness from which everything wasborn.[49] Her complexion is deep blue, like the sky andocean water as blue. As she is also the goddess of Preser-vation Kali is worshiped as mother to preserve the nature.Kali is standing calm on Shiva ,her appearance representsthe preservation of mother nature. Her free, long andblack hair represents nature’s freedom from civilization.Under the third eye of kali, the signs of both sun, moonand fire are visible which represent the driving forces ofnature.[50]

7.4 Shiva in Kali iconography

In both these images she is shown standing on the prone,inert or dead body of Shiva. There is a legend for thereason behind her standing on what appears to be Shiva’scorpse, which translates as follows:

Once Kali had destroyed all the demons inbattle, she began a terrific dance out of thesheer joy of victory. All the worlds or lokasbegan to tremble and sway under the impact ofher dance. So, at the request of all the Gods,Shiva himself asked her to desist from this be-havior. However, she was too intoxicated tolisten. Hence, Shiva lay like a corpse amongthe slain demons in order to absorb the shockof the dance into himself. When Kali eventu-ally stepped upon Shiva, she realized she wastrampling and hurting her husband and bit hertongue in shame.[51]

The story described here is a popular folk tale and notdescribed or hinted in any of the puranas. The puranicinterpretation is as follows:

7.4 Shiva in Kali iconography 9

Once, Parvati asks Shiva to choose the oneform among her 10 forms which he likes most.To her surprise, Shiva reveals that he is mostcomfortable with her Kali form, in which sheis bereft of her jewellery, her human-form, herclothes, her emotions and where she is onlyraw, chaotic energy, where she is as terribleas time itself and even greater than time.[52]As Parvati takes the form of Kali, Shiva liesat her feet and requests her to place her foot onhis chest, upon his heart.[53] Once in this form,Shiva requests her to have this place, below herfeet in her iconic image which would be wor-shiped throughout.[54]

This idea has been explored in the Devi-Bhagavata Pu-rana [29] and is most popular in the Shyama Sangeet, de-votional songs to Kali from the 12th to 15th centuries.The Tantric interpretation of Kali standing on top of herhusband is as follows:

The Shiv tattava (Divine Consciousness asShiva) is inactive, while the Shakti tattava (Di-vine Energy as Kali) is active. Shiva and Kalirepresent Brahman, the Absolute pure con-sciousness which is beyond all names, formsand activities. Kali, on the other hand, rep-resents the potential (and manifested) energyresponsible for all names, forms and activities.She is his Shakti, or creative power, and is seenas the substance behind the entire content ofall consciousness. She can never exist apartfrom Shiva or act independently of him, just asShiva remains a mere corpse without Kali i.e.,Shakti, all the matter/energy of the universe,is not distinct from Shiva, or Brahman, butis rather the dynamic power of Brahman.[55]Hence, Kali is Para Brahman in the feminineand dynamic aspect while Shiva is the male as-pect and static. She stands as the absolute ba-sis for all life, energy and beneath her feet lies,Shiva, a metaphor for mass, which cannot re-tain its form without energy.

While this is an advanced concept in monistic Shak-tism, it also agrees with the Nondual Trika philosophyof Kashmir, popularly known as Kashmir Shaivism andassociated most famously with Abhinavagupta. There isa colloquial saying that “Shiva without Shakti is Shava”which means that without the power of action (Shakti)that is Mahakali (represented as the short “i” in Devana-gari) Shiva (or consciousness itself) is inactive; Shavameans corpse in Sanskrit and the play on words is thatall Sanskrit consonants are assumed to be followed by ashort letter “a” unless otherwise noted. The short letter “i”represents the female power or Shakti that activates Cre-ation. This is often the explanation for why She is stand-

ing on Shiva, who is either Her husband and complementin Shaktism or the Supreme Godhead in Shaivism.To properly understand this complex Tantric symbolismit is important to remember that the meaning behindShiva and Kali does not stray from the non-dualistic par-lance of Shankara or the Upanisads. According to boththe Mahanirvana and Kularnava Tantras, there are twodistinct ways of perceiving the same absolute reality. Thefirst is a transcendental plane which is often describedas static, yet infinite. It is here that there is no matter,there is no universe and only consciousness exists. Thisform of reality is known as Shiva, the absolute Sat-Chit-Ananda—existence, knowledge and bliss. The second isan active plane, an immanent plane, the plane of matter,of Maya, i.e., where the illusion of space-time and theappearance of an actual universe does exist. This formof reality is known as Kali or Shakti, and (in its entirety)is still specified as the same Absolute Sat-Chit-Ananda.It is here in this second plane that the universe (as wecommonly know it) is experienced and is described bythe Tantric seer as the play of Shakti, or God as MotherKali.[56]

Kali and Bhairava (the terrible form of Shiva) in Union, 18thcentury, Nepal

From a Tantric perspective, when one meditates on real-ity at rest, as absolute pure consciousness (without the ac-tivities of creation, preservation or dissolution) one refers

10 9 DEVELOPMENT

to this as Shiva or Brahman. When one meditates onreality as dynamic and creative, as the Absolute contentof pure consciousness (with all the activities of creation,preservation or dissolution) one refers to it as Kali orShakti. However, in either case the yogini or yogi is in-terested in one and the same reality—the only differencebeing in name and fluctuating aspects of appearance. Itis this which is generally accepted as the meaning of Kalistanding on the chest of Shiva.[55]

Although there is often controversy surrounding the im-ages of divine copulation, the general consensus is be-nign and free from any carnal impurities in its substance.In Tantra the human body is a symbol for the micro-cosm of the universe; therefore sexual process is respon-sible for the creation of the world. Although theoreticallyShiva and Kali (or Shakti) are inseparable, like fire andits power to burn, in the case of creation they are oftenseen as having separate roles. With Shiva as male andKali as female it is only by their union that creation maytranspire. This reminds us of the prakrti and purusa doc-trine of Samkhya wherein prakāśa- vimarśa has no practi-cal value, just as without prakrti, purusa is quite inactive.This (once again) stresses the interdependencies of Shivaand Shakti and the vitality of their union.[57]

Gopi Krishna proposed that Kali standing on the deadShiva or Shava (Sanskrit for dead body) symbolised thehelplessness of a person undergoing the changing process(psychologically and physiologically) in the body con-ducted by the Kundalini Shakti.[58]

8 Other art

The artwork The Dinner Party features a place setting forKali.[59]

9 Development

In the later traditions, Kali has become inextricably linkedwith Shiva. The unleashed form of Kali often becomeswild and uncontrollable, and only Shiva is able to tameher just as only Kali can tame Shiva. This is both becauseshe is often a transformed version of one of his consortsand because he is able to match her wildness.The ancient text of Kali Kautuvam describes her com-petition with Shiva in dance, from which the sacred 108Karanas appeared. Shiva won the competition by actingthe urdva tandava, one of the Karanas, by raising his feetto his head. Other texts describe Shiva appearing as a cry-ing infant and appealing to her maternal instincts. WhileShiva is said to be able to tame her, the iconography oftenpresents her dancing on his fallen body, and there are ac-counts of the two of them dancing together, and drivingeach other to such wildness that the world comes close tounravelling.

Kali shown sitting on a corpse at a cremation ceremony, withShiva to the left. 18th century Indian watercolour

Shiva’s involvement with Tantra and Kali’s dark naturehave led to her becoming an important Tantric figure. Tothe Tantric worshippers, it was essential to face her Curse,the terror of death, as willingly as they accepted Blessingsfrom her beautiful, nurturing, maternal aspect. For them,wisdom meant learning that no coin has only one side: asdeath cannot exist without life, so life cannot exist with-out death. Kali’s role sometimes grew beyond that of achaos—which could be confronted—to that of one whocould bring wisdom, and she is given great metaphysicalsignificance by some Tantric texts. The Nirvāna-tantraclearly presents her uncontrolled nature as the UltimateReality, claiming that the trimurti of Brahma, Vishnu andRudra arise and disappear from her like bubbles from thesea. Although this is an extreme case, the Yogini-tantra,Kamakhya-tantra and the Niruttara-tantra declare her thesvarupa (own-being) of theMahadevi (the great Goddess,who is in this case seen as the combination of all devis).The final stage of development is the worshipping of Kalias the Great Mother, devoid of her usual violence. Thispractice is a break from the more traditional depictions.The pioneers of this tradition are the 18th century Shaktapoets such as Ramprasad Sen, who show an awarenessof Kali’s ambivalent nature. Ramakrishna, the 19th cen-tury Bengali saint, was also a great devotee of Kali; thewestern popularity of whom may have contributed to themore modern, equivocal interpretations of this Goddess.Rachel McDermott’s work, however, suggests that for thecommon, modern worshipper, Kali is not seen as fearful,and only those educated in old traditions see her as havinga wrathful component. Some credit to the developmentof Devi must also be given to Samkhya. Commonly re-

11

ferred to as the Devi of delusion, Mahamaya or Durga,acting in the confines of (but not being bound by) the na-ture of the three gunas, takes three forms: Maha-Kali,Maha-Lakshmi and Maha-Saraswati, being her tamas-ika, rajas-ika and sattva-ika forms. In this sense, Kali issimply part of a larger whole.Like Sir John Woodroffe and Georg Feuerstein, manyTantric scholars (as well as sincere practitioners) agreethat, no matter how propitious or appalling you describethem, Shiva andDevi are simply recognizable symbols foreveryday, abstract (yet tangible) concepts such as percep-tion, knowledge, space-time, causation and the processof liberating oneself from the confines of such things.Shiva, symbolizing pure, absolute consciousness, andDevi, symbolizing the entire content of that conscious-ness, are ultimately one and the same—totality incarnate,a micro-macro-cosmic amalgamation of all subjects, allobjects and all phenomenal relations between the “two.”Like man and woman who both share many common, hu-man traits yet at the same time they are still different and,therefore, may also be seen as complementary.[60]

Worshippers prescribe various benign and horrific qual-ities to Devi simply out of practicality. They do this sothey may have a variety of symbols to choose from, sym-bols which they can identify and relate with from the per-spective of their own, ever-changing time, place and per-sonal level of unfolding. Just like modern chemists orphysicists use a variety of molecular and atomic modelsto describe what is unperceivable through rudimentary,sensory input, the scientists of ontology and epistemologymust do the same. One of the underlying distinctions ofTantra, in comparison to other religions, is that it allowsthe devotee the liberty to choose from a vast array of com-plementary symbols and rhetoric which suit one’s evolv-ing needs and tastes. From an aesthetic standpoint, noth-ing is interdict and nothing is orthodox. In this sense, theprojection of some of Devi’s more gentle qualities ontoKali is not sacrilege and the development of Kali reallylies in the practitioner, not the murthi.A TIME magazine article of October 27, 1947, used Kalias a symbol and metaphor for the human suffering inBritish India during its partition that year.[61] In 1971,Ms.Magazine used an image of Kali, her multiple arms jug-gling modern tasks, as a symbol of modern womanhoodon its inaugural issue.Swami Vivekananda wrote his favorite poem Kali theMother in 1898.

10 Kali in neopagan practice

An academic study of western Kali enthusiasts noted that,“as shown in the histories of all cross-cultural religioustransplants, Kali devotionalism in the West must takeon its own indigenous forms if it is to adapt to its newenvironment.”[62] The adoption of Kali by the West has

raised accusations of cultural appropriation:

A variety of writers and thinkers havefound Kali an exciting figure for reflection andexploration, notably feminists and participantsin New Age spirituality who are attracted togoddess worship. [For them], Kali is a sym-bol of wholeness and healing, associated espe-cially with repressed female power and sexu-ality. [However, such interpretations often ex-hibit] confusion and misrepresentation, stem-ming from a lack of knowledge of Hindu his-tory among these authors, [who only rarely]draw upon materials written by scholars of theHindu religious tradition. The majority insteadrely chiefly on other popular feminist sources,almost none of which base their interpreta-tions on a close reading of Kali’s Indian back-ground. The most important issue arising fromthis discussion—even more important than thequestion of 'correct' interpretation—concernsthe adoption of other people’s religious sym-bols. It is hard to import the worship of agoddess from another culture: religious asso-ciations and connotations have to be learned,imagined or intuited when the deep symbolicmeanings embedded in the native culture arenot available.[63]

11 Incarnations of Kali

Draupadi, Wife of Pandavas, was an avatar of Kali, whoborn to assist Lord Krishna to destroy arrogant kings ofIndia. There is a temple dedicated to this incarnation atBanni Mata Temple at Himachal Pradesh. The vedic de-ity Nirriti or the Puranic deity Alakshmi is often consid-ered as incarnations of Kali.

12 See also• Shiva

• Durga

• Adi Parashakti

• Kali Puja

• Saraswati

• Ramakrishna

13 Notes[1] Encyclopedia International, by Grolier Incorporated

Copyright in Canada 1974. AE5.E447 1974 031 73-11206 ISBN 0-7172-0705-6 page 95

12 13 NOTES

[2] “Kali - Meaning of Kali, What does Kali mean?". www.babynamespedia.com. Retrieved 2015-08-18.

[3] “Kali Ma”. www.themystica.com. Retrieved 2015-08-18.

[4] “In veneration of Nallur’s Vira Ma Kali”. Sri LankaGuardian. 2011-08-17. Retrieved 2013-01-26.

[5] “Kali”. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 7 Oc-tober 2009.

[6] Pāṇini 4.1.42

[7] Coburn, Thomas; Devī-Māhātmya – Crystallization ofthe Goddess Tradition;i Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 1984;ISBN 81-208-0557-7 pages 111–112.

[8] Hugh Urban, “India’s Darkest Heart: Kali in the ColonialImagination,” Encountering Kali: In the Margins, at theCenter, in the West, edited by Rachel Fell McDermott andJeffrey Kripal (Berkeley: University of California Press,2003)

[9] David Kinsley, Tantric Visions of the Divine Feminine:The Ten Mahavidyas (Berkeley: University of CaliforniaPress, 1997), p. 70

[10] “Kali”. Ancient History Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2016-03-30.

[11] "देवी अर्गलास्तोत्रम् (Durga Argala Stotram)". http://hindi.devotionalonly.com. Retrieved 30 July 2013. Ex-ternal link in |publisher= (help)

[12] "मन्त्र" (in Hindi). http://shrisidhkirana.com/. Re-trieved 30 July 2013. External link in |publisher= (help)

[13] D. Kinsley p. 122.

[14] D. Kinsley pp. 122–123.

[15] D. Kinsley p. 124.

[16] Karpuradi Stotra, Tantrik Texts Vol IX, Arthur Avalon(Sir John Woodroffe), Calcutta AgamanusandhanaSamiti, 1922.

[17] D. Kinsley pp. 124–125.

[18] D. Kinsley p. 125.

[19] D. Kinsley p. 126.

[20] D. Kinsley pp. 125–126.

[21]

[22] MantraOnNet.com:Text & Images of Kali

[23] D. Kinsley p. 118.

[24] Devi Mahatmyam, Swami Jagadiswarananda, Ramakr-ishna Math, 1953.

[25] D. Kinsley pp. 118–119.

[26] Wangu p. 72.

[27] Kinsley p. 241 Footnotes.

[28] D. Kinsley pp. 119, 130.

[29] “The Devi Bhagavatam Index”. Sacred-texts.com. Re-trieved 2013-01-26.

[30] “Explanation of Goddess Kali’s form”. Goddess.ws.2007-10-01. Retrieved 2013-01-26.

[31] Kali: the black goddess of Dakshineswar By Elizabeth U.Harding

[32] “KALI”. Merciangathering.com. Retrieved 2013-01-26.

[33] DAKSHINAKALI TEMPLE

[34] Kanniks Kannikeswaran. “Tiruvalankadu Nataraja Oord-hvatandavamoorthy – Aalankatteesar Temple – Shivasta-lam”. Templenet.com. Retrieved 2013-01-26.

[35] “Radha worships Krishna who turns himself into Kali soher husband will not catch her with Krishna..”. BAULOF BENGAL * Trishula Jyotish Vedic Astrology * Heal-ing Arts, Qigong &Meditation * Vedic Goddess * TRAVELwith TRISHULA. Retrieved 2015-12-16.

[36] Smashan Kali

[37] Offering Flowers, Feeding Skulls By June McDaniel p.257

[38] The Art of Tantra, Philip Rawson, Thames & Hudson,1973.

[39] Sankaranarayanan. S. Devi Mahatmya. p 127.

[40] David Gordon White (ed.), Tantra in Practice, ISBN 81-208-1778-8 p466.

[41] Sri Ramakrishna (The Great Master), SwamiSaradananda, Ramakrishna Math, 1952, page 624,Sri Ramakrishna: The Spiritual Glow, Kamalpada Hati,P.K. Pramanik, Orient Book Co., 1985, pages 17–18.

[42] Tantra in Practice, David Gordon White, Princeton Press,2000, page 477.

[43] Tantra in Practice, David Gordon White, Princeton Press,2000, page 475.

[44] Tantra in Practice, David Gordon White, Princeton Press,2000, pages 463–488.

[45] “Kali - Symbols of kali, What does Kali mean?". www.maakalishwetasarojinimahakali.com. Retrieved 2015-08-19.

[46] “Kali - Steps of Kali, What does Kali mean?". www.goddess.ws. Retrieved 2015-08-18.

[47] “Kali - Darkness of Kali, What does Kali mean?". the-wanderling.com. Retrieved 2015-08-18.

[48] “Kali - Hands of Kali, What does Kali mean?". hindud-harmaforums.com. Retrieved 2015-08-18.

[49] “Kali - Steps of Kali, What does Kali mean?". the-wanderling.com. Retrieved 2015-08-20.

[50] “Kali - Steps of Kali, What does Kali mean?". www.hinduwebsite.com. Retrieved 2015-08-20.

[51] Hindu Gods & Goddesses, Swami Harshananda, Ramakr-ishna Math, 1981, pages 116–117.

13

[52] Kali: The Black Goddess of Dakshineswar – Elizabeth U.Harding – Google Books. Books.google.co.in. 1998-01-01. ISBN 9788120814509. Retrieved 2013-01-26.

[53] http://www.mahavidya.ca/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Olsen-Zack-Siva-and-Kali-Myths-of-the-Pair.pdf

[54] Ascetic Mysticism – Sadhu Santideva – GoogleBooks. Books.google.co.in. 2002-08-01. ISBN9788170209980. Retrieved 2013-01-26.

[55] Tantra (The Path of Ecstasy), Georg Feuerstein, Shamb-hala, 1998, pages 70–84, Shakti and Shâkta, ArthurAvalon (Sir John Woodroffe), Oxford Press/Ganesha &Co., 1918.

[56] Tantra in Practice, David Gordon White, Princeton Press,2000, pages 463–488, Shakti and Shâkta, Arthur Avalon(Sir John Woodroffe), Oxford Press/Ganesha & Co.,1918.

[57] Impact of Tantra on Religion & Art, T. N. Mishra, D.K.Print World, 1997, V.

[58] Krishna, Gopi (1993)Living with Kundalini: (Shambhala,1993 ISBN 0-87773-947-1).

[59] Place Settings. Brooklyn Museum. Retrieved on 2015-08-06.

[60] Tantra (The Path of Ecstasy), Georg Feuerstein, Shamb-hala, 1998, Shakti and Shâkta, Arthur Avalon (Sir JohnWoodroffe), Oxford Press/Ganesha & Co., 1918.

[61] The Trial of Kali, TIME Magazine, October 27, 1947.

[62] McDermott, Rachel Fell, “The Western Kali”, in Hawley,John Stratton & Wulff, Donna M., Devi: The Goddess inIndia, p. 305.

[63] McDermott, Rachel Fell, “The Western Kali”, in Hawley,John Stratton & Wulff, Donna M., Devi: The Goddess inIndia, pp. 281–305.

14 References

• Shakti and Shâkta, Arthur Avalon (Sir JohnWoodroffe), Oxford Press/Ganesha & Co., 1918

• Sri Ramakrishna (The Great Master), SwamiSaradananda, Ramakrishna Math, 1952

• Devi Mahatmyam, Swami Jagadiswarananda, Ra-makrishna Math, 1953

• The Art of Tantra, Philip Rawson, Thames & Hud-son, 1973

• Hindu Gods & Goddesses, Swami Harshananda, Ra-makrishna Math, 1981

• Sri Ramakrishna: The Spiritual Glow, KamalpadaHati, P.K. Pramanik, Orient Book Co., 1985

• Hindu Goddesses: Visions of the Divine Femininein the Hindu Religious Tradition, David R. Kinsley,University of California Press, 1988

• Kali (The Black Goddess of Dakshineswar) Eliza-beth U. Harding, Nicolas Hays, 1993

• Impact of Tantra on Religion and Art, T. N. Mishra,D.K. Print World, 1997

• Indian Art (revised), Roy C. Craven, Thames &Hudson, 1997

• ADictionary of Buddhist andHindu Iconography (Il-lustrated), Frederick W. Bunce, D.K. Print World,1997

• Tantra (The Path of Ecstasy), Georg Feuerstein,Shambhala, 1998

• Oxford Concise Dictionary of World Religions, JohnBowker, Oxford Press, 2000

• Tantra in Practice, David Gordon White, PrincetonPress, 2000

• Encountering Kali: In the Margins, at the Center, inthe West, Rachel Fell McDermott, Berkeley : Uni-versity of California Press, 2003

• Gli strangolatori di Kali. Il culto thag tra immag-inario e realtà storica”, Guidolin Monica, AureliaEdizioni,2012,ISBN 978-88-89763-50-6.

15 Further reading• Shanmukha Anantha Natha and Shri Ma KristinaBaird, Divine Initiation Shri Kali Publications(2001) ISBN 0-9582324-0-7 - Has a chapter onMa-hadevi with a commentary on the Devi Mahatmyamfrom the Markandeya Purana.

• Swami Jagadiswarananda, tr., Devi MahatmyamChennai, RamakrishnaMath. ISBN 81-7120-139-3

• Devadatta Kali, In Praise of The Goddess, The De-vimahatmyam and Its Meaning ISBN 0-89254-080-X

• Rachel Fell McDermott, Encountering Kali: In theMargins, at the Center, in the West (ISBN 0-520-23240-2)

• Ajit Mookerjee, Kali: The Feminine Force ISBN 0-89281-212-5

• Swami Satyananda Saraswati, Kali Puja ISBN 1-887472-64-9

• Ramprasad Sen, Grace and Mercy in Her WildHair: Selected Poems to the Mother Goddess ISBN0-934252-94-7

14 16 EXTERNAL LINKS

• Avalon, Arthur (1922). Hymn to Kali:Karpuradi-Stotra. Luzac & Co., London. ISBN9781606201473.

• Sir John Woodroffe (a.k.a. Arthur Avalon) Hymnsto the Goddess and Hymn to Kali ISBN 81-85988-16-1

• Robert E. Svoboda, Aghora, at the left hand of GodISBN 0-914732-21-8

• Dimitri Kitsikis, L'Orocc, dans l'âge de Kali ISBN2-89040-359-9

• Lex Hixon, Mother of the Universe: Visions of theGoddess and Tantric Hymns of Enlightenment ISBN0-8356-0702-X

• Neela Bhattacharya Saxena, In the Beginning is De-sire: Tracing Kali’s Footprints in Indian LiteratureISBN 81-87981-61-X

• The Goddess Kali of Kolkata (ISBN 81-7476-514-X) by Shoma A. Chatterji

• Dictionary of Hindu Lore and Legend (ISBN 0-500-51088-1) by Anna Dallapiccola

• In Praise of The Goddess: The Devimahatmyam andIts Meaning (ISBN 0-89254-080-X) by DevadattaKali

• Tantric Visions of the Divine Feminine: The Ten Ma-havidyas (ISBN 0-520-20499-9) by David Kinsley

• Offering Flowers, Feeding Skulls: Popular GoddessWorship in West Bengal (ISBN 0-195-16791-0) byJune McDaniel

• Mother of My Heart, Daughter of My Dreams: Kaliand Uma in the Devotional Poetry of Bengal (ISBN0-19-513435-4) by Rachel Fell McDermott

• Seeking Mahadevi: Constructing the Identities of theHinduGreat Goddess (ISBN0-791-45008-2) Editedby Tracy Pintchman

• The Rise of the Goddess in the Hindu Tradition(ISBN 0-7914-2112-0) by Tracy Pintchman

• Elizabeth U. Harding (1993) Kali: The Black God-dess of Dakshineswar ISBN 0-89254-025-7

• Narasimhananda, Swami, Prabuddha Bharata, Jan-uary 2016, The Phalaharini Kali.

16 External links• Kali at DMOZ

15

17 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

17.1 Text• Kali Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kali?oldid=713415540Contributors: AxelBoldt, Dan~enwiki, Bryan Derksen, Ramesh, Olivier,

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