The Mother Goddess Known As Kali

The worship of a mother goddess, as the source of life and fertility, has very prehistoric roots, but the transformation of that deity into a great goddess of cosmic powers, which was achieved with the composition of the Devi Mahatmya, who was also known as the glory of the goddess.

This was a text that was written during the fifth or sixth century, when the worshiping of the female principle took on a dramatic new dimensions. The goddess was not only the mysterious source of life, but she was also considered the very soil, which was all creating and all consuming. Kali makes her official debut in the Devi Mahatmya, where she is said to have emanated from the brow of the Goddess Durga, who was the slayer of demons, during one of the battles between the divine and anti divine forces.

Etymologically, Durga's name, which means beyond reach, is why she was considered as an echo of the woman warrior's fierce virginal autonomy. In this context, Kali was actually considered the forceful form of the great goddess Durga. Kali was represented as a strong black woman, who had four arms. In one of her hands she has a sword, while in another she has the head of a demon she has slain, then with the other two hands she is encouraging her worshipers. She also has two dead bodies as her ear rings and she wears a necklace created of skulls. Her only clothing is a girdle that is made from the hands of dead men, and she is seen with her tongue protruding from her mouth. Her eyes are red, while her face and breasts are besmeared with blood as she stands with one foot on the thigh, and another on the breast of her husband.

Kali's fierce appearances have been the subject of extensive descriptions in several earlier and modern works. Though her fierce form is filled with awe inspiring symbols, their real meaning is not what it first appears, because they have equivocal significance. Kali's blackness symbolizes her all embracing, comprehensive nature, because black is the color in which all other colors merge, because black absorbs and dissolves them.

Just as all colors disappear in black, so do all names and forms disappear in her. Black is also said to represent the total absence of color, which signifies the nature of Kali as ultimate reality. In Sanskrit, this is named as nirguna, which is beyond all quality and form. Either way, Kali's black color symbolizes her transcendence of all form.

Ramakrishna Paramhansa said, "Is Kali, my Divine Mother, of a black complexion? 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 color. The water of the ocean looks blue at a distance, but when you go near and take it in your hand, you find that it is colorless."

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