Essence of Kali & Durga - The Fierce Mother Goddesses

Kali is a form of the mother Goddess - "Shakti". Shakti in sanskrit means "energy/power". She is like the nuclear reactor(with immense energy) which becomes unstable, on irking by evil forces, turning herself into a nuclear bomb. She does this when terrible situations anger her a lot, typically the demons and the bad elements which threaten creation.

The Vedic Trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, who are the phenomenon of creation, time period / lifespan and destruction respectively, have their abiding source of power. This power is feminine. The phenomenon cannot manifest without the power and the power is in turn guided by the phenomenon into the formation of this creation. "Aadi-Shakti"(eternal energy) is the consort of Brahma as "Saraswati"(Goddess of Knowledge), of Vishnu as "Lakshmi"(Goddess of Prosperity) and of Shiva as "Parvati"(Goddess of Strength). 

Parvati also called "Shakti" is also mostly generally referred to as the consort of Shiva, and their union - "ArdhaNareeshwara" (half male-half female form of Shiva-Shakti) is the secret of all creation.They both entwine to form the web of creation, Shiva being the pool of consciousness(the end of all forms) and Shakti being the energy which gives consciousness the medium to create. Which is why she is called Mother. The energy of creation that she is, "Shakti" flows consciously through every particle and is the life force of every being - living or dead. She is the life force of the humans, the ghosts, plants, animals, angels and demons. The whole of creation is her child. She is the nurturer and also the punisher when her child is in danger.

Many forms of Shakti in different
situations & aspects, centre one being Durga,
2 topleft corner ones are forms of  Kaali.
There are still many more forms and Avataars.

HER VARIOUS FORMS : 
Maa Durga, Maa Kaali, Annapurna, and many more.

Maa is kind, benevolent, loving and truly the ultimate mother. She cares and nurtures. In most of her forms, Shakti is in a benevolent state. But when her own creations - the demons, "Asuras", evil spirits, etc go upto the level of destroying nature, killing innocent beings, and creating havoc, she comes into the angry protective mother form. She manifests into "Durga" ("Durg" meaning fortress/ boundary/ protection). Durga is shown as all powerful, skilled in martial arts and with her sheer strength and courage she kills the devils and protects the good people. Till now she is courageous, poised and angry. This can be seen in the story of "Mahishasura" who was a demon who could disguise himself as a buffalo. He was creating havoc. He had got a boon that no man but only a woman could kill him, which he thought was impossible as women aren't as strong enough. 
In his ego he destroyed villages, settlements and entire tribes. His cruel ways were limited by Shakti who transformed into Durga and showed the demon that power and energy itself are feminine in nature. The same energy can become life giving or life taking.

When Evil does not stop at that, and demonic activity continues to anger her even more, Shakti loses it totally. She becomes Raw. She loses her poise. She becomes like the tigress who wants to protect her cubs. She transforms into Kali, the fierce one and does not even try to defeat the demons. Instead she just massacres all of them. She becomes the term - Madness and Wrath in the true sense. She loses her touch of femininity and poise, and becomes only the mad angry Mother taking revenge for her murdered babies and punishing evil. She goes around wild, breathing anger, severing heads of demons and wearing a garland of their skulls and skirt of their chopped hands. It seems like she herself has become a mad demon in nature, but only for a good cause. There are many stories of Kaali, but a famous one is the arrival of this demon called "RaktBeej"(meaning blood-seed). This demon had terrifying powers. The Angels and warriors tried to fight him, but his one drop of blood which fell on the ground would give birth to another demon like him. He could cut his own arm and sprinkle the drops of blood around to create 100's of Raktbeejas like him. This way he went on killing and destroying. When Mother's patience ended, she burst up in massive anger taking the form of Kaali. She wanted blood. She leaped and flung her weapon like a hurricane cutting up all the Raktbeejas, but they wud keep growing more and more as soon as their blood touched the ground. In her fierce madness, mother Kaali opened her mouth wide like a giant and started sucking all the blood that came out of these demons with such a force, that no drop of Raktbeej's blood ever touched the ground. Once all the demons were dead, Kaali was still angry, could not control her wrath, as she is the form of pure wrath. She continued to kill all other evil demons as well, in her madness, to which Shiva and other Gods got worried that she would destroy the meaning of life (good vs evil struggle) if she kills the entire species of demons in her anger. This would harm the balance of life as every creation has an intended purpose of it existing.

Shiva laid himself as a corpse to stop Kali

So Shiva laid himself down as a corpse in the way of Kali who was madly walking over them searching for any demons alive. As soon as her feet touched Shiva's body, which is considered super disrespectful, she got a shock, her tounge stuck out in shame and she realized that she is also a poised Parvati, the wife of Shiva. The anger receded, and she got back to her old form of "Parvati".

Why is Kali so fierce?
We see the essence of Kali in nature everywhere. Try troubling new born cubs or pups, surely their mother won't spare you. The mother of a newborn human baby, if someone tries to kill her baby, she takes the form of Durga first trying her best to protect her child, and sometimes she could even become Kaali, take up weapons, knowing no shame, fight to kill. The mother in this form is so full of love & emotions for her child that she will fight anyone even till her own death to protect her child. This is the true essence of motherhood. She doesnt care about dangers, society, and her feminine poise. She only thinks of attacking anyone who comes close to her child, like an animal.


Why is Kaali naked ?
We see naked images and sculptures of all Gods/godesses in ancient Indian historical sites and art. Clothing was more of an ornamentation back then. Mostly it was worn to segregate people in work, like a jersey is used. 

Shame was seen in a bad task, not a bare body.
(Sculpture of a Goddess)

Painting of a queen.
The servant has cloth but no jewels.
Clothing was a way of  tagging & ornamentation back in time.
(Ajanta cave paintings, India)

Another example of ancient attitudes to nudity
visible in the sculpture

Modern art forms of the same Goddesses,
now covered up, shows the ways of our narrow minded society,
which considers bare bodies shameful & lustful.

So for example, all the queens servant wore a white robe, and the kings guards wore a red head gear. Shame because of a bare body, wasn't existent in people's minds, as is seen in the ancient art. This is also seen in all other art forms from Greek to Egyptian to Meopotamian.

We see this culture even today among the tribals anywhere in the world, who live away from the society, in nature's goodness, knowing no shame. Look at their simple faces. it shows that they are much more pure and logical in their thinking. They respect man, woman and nature equally and do not lust after bare skin which is something every human is born with. Cloth is only used for protection and utility.

The free and open minded attitudes of tribals all around the world, which are remnants of civilizations.
Some form of rigid and vulgar mindset took away this innocence from the world.
In each photo you can see men and women together.

But still why is Kali not even adorned with jewels and ornamentation like other feminine forms shown above? Why is her hair flowing wild? Why doesn't she behave demurely and gracefully like women do? That's because only when she quits her poise of a woman, will she be immune to all fear. The shame of a person is the biggest drawback in a fight. If we feel shameful in a fight because our clothes got torn at the wrong places, or for other reasons, and our opponent starts making fun, our strength, our confidence and will to fight is greatly reduced. And knowing the demons, they would definitely try all possible ways, to bring disgrace to a female warrior(who is also a graceful married wife of Shiva), which is why she gives up all her grace in the beginning itself and transforms into a mad animal like being trying to protect her babies; ie us.

Why is Kaali also benevolent?
Kaali is realized as an eternal truth of Shakti - the feminine power of the cosmos. She runs through our very bodies and mind. She is seen as benevolent to those whom she is protecting. It is very obvious that if someone is fighting madly for a cause, like soldiers who madly and bravely fight for their motherland, not knowing fear of death, they must be extremely loving towards their country, ie. the subject whom they are protecting. The Indian revolutionaries who sacrificed themselves at young ages for the love of their country, people still tell tales of their mad love for their motherland (the subject). Thus if Kaali or even Durga for that matter, is fierce against elements who are harming the creation, including us, it would mean that she must also madly love us. We are her babies whom she loves in the same raw, unpoised, feminine way.

'Ramkrishna Paramhansa' and wife 'Sarada Devi'
(19th cent - in white clothes), considered to be God
incarnate themselves, are one of the greatest loving
devotees of Maa Kali. Many miracles have been 

witnessed around them in their lives. Their teachings have 

touched many lives & their ashram has a vast following today.

Kaali is invoked to protect from evil spirits, evil intentions and negative feelings. She is invoked in particular rituals for various purposes as she brings in the immense raw power of Shakti, which is sometimes difficult to handle. 

Many exorcists often use her mantras and rituals to ward off evil spirits and sometimes even to gain power to control the spirits or to do black magic. However stories and accounts, and even wizards and exorcists themselves have always told us that whenever any of these powers given by her, which are tremendous, are misused, Kaali punishes and even those punishments are tremendous, usually leading to death of the practitioner.

She is the fierce but also the simple minded mother who wants no Tantra wizardry to impress her, but only pure love and thus would prefer a loving devotee over the wisest Tantra wizards. That is the essence of the largely mistaken Maa Kali- the protector, the master of Tantra, the controller of spirits, the destroyer, the fierce mother, the most loving, the most benevolent, the maddest, the kindest...

She makes me feel secure.
She is Pure Wrath... and Pure Love.

TAGS : Hinduism, Hindu, Vedic, om, India, Veda, ancient, natural, Brahma, Hindusthaan, Idol, worship, Philosophy, avataar, body, consciousness, devotee, devotion, existence, hanuman, idol, images, learning, love, meditation, mind, moksha, religious, shiva, soul, tribals, vedas, vishnu, you, Diversity, Harmony, Kaali, Kali, One, Polytheism, Unity, Unity in Diversity, belief, brain, communal, communities, competition, demon, dessert, education, experiment, eyes, food, forest, goddess, happy, indigenous, karma, lakshman, lakshmi, laws, living, loving, me, nirvana, ornament, love, our, pantheism, parvati, people, powers, prosperous, ram, ravan, rebirth, reincarnation, religare, religion, sage, saint, saraswati, save, search, shakti, share, sita, society, soul, searching, still, trinity, us, we, world, worship

Who are Om and the Trinity (Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva) ? - Hinduism / Vedic God’s Hierarchy

Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva / Mahesh. Who are they? What are they? What do they signify? There is certainly a hierarchy in the Hindu pantheon which is quite interesting. But more interesting is the process of understanding Supreme God, and who the Trinity are.

Here’s the Hierarchy (the ones who are Supreme and their forms)

1. Om / Param Brahm (Supreme One – without a second)

Param Brahm is also acknowledged as Om(Frequency of Creation) & Brahmaand(Universe / Entire Creation)

Its Attributes : No forms, no patterns, it is pure consciousness. It curves into itself to create all matter and energy. It is like waves of consciousness (cannot be imagined, can only be realized). Modern science is saying that every atom and every photon of light is basically created out of a conscious wave of nothingness / infinite possibilities) and they call this probably the primary source of everything. Imagining something like "infinite possibilities" is so weird; isn’t it?

CLICK TO ENLARGE

Okay let’s try to understand it this way. Consciousness runs through everything (all matter and all energies). It is not bound by time or space. Time and space are contained within it. It consciously changes its own frequencies(curves into itself) to form opposites in creation(light and dark, up and down, forward and backward, happening and not happening, ). Without these opposites, creation of any kind isn’t possible. We, in our daily lives, use these opposites every second and nano-second to make conscious and sub conscious decisions – lungs breathe in and out, cells create and die, heart pumps and pulls, to be active or inactive, to do or not do something, to say yes or no, to see or not see, to open or close, to attract or distract. This in physics is referred to as the theory that every action has and equal and opposite reaction, and without it no happening is possible. That is why Param Brahm / Om is also Karma(action – reaction theory)itself. Thus what is created will also destroy - Universe created will destroy, life will face death, you do good to others, others will do good to you. Every action will most definitely have an equal and opposite reaction. that is why nothing is constant in our lives.

To be able to realize God in this form is impossible for us guys. Those who do, achieve Moksha (salvation / freedom from being enveloped in form and energy as humans or other species)

Idol worship or rituals, etc of Param Brahm cannot be done, because it cannot be imagined in the first place. You can only close your eyes and pray. It has no specific gender, no specific form, not any specific energy(its not like light, heat, etc because energy has a flow and pattern). At the same time, because of such a nature, it can also be all of them (it is every gender, every form and every type of energy). It can form infinite forms and creatures. It is totally creative. Apart from that, it is the conscious force within every living being that takes decisions and thinks.
It is the force that goes against the brain fed rules, and reaches out to help, love and revolt.

2. The Trinity (Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva)

Om/Supreme consciousness curves into itself to make finite possibilities out of infinite possibilities (as indicated earlier). For that to happen, any possibility, needs to have three attributes in time and space:  Start, Middle and End – also called creation, sustaining period and destruction.
The Trinity represents these three aspects of the spirit.

Without destruction, creation will have no meaning, creation will be ever growing (like cancer cells). Without a period of sustenance (i.e. if immediately after creation comes full destruction), there would be constant creation and constant destruction, nothing will sustain. There will be no concept of time / lifespan / period. There will be no concept of 'past-present-future', which in turn means that there will be no concept of life(as life is the amount of time anything sustains). Sustenance is necessary to make lifespan/timeline/life of anything possible (lifespan of the universe, planets, stars, life of animals, plants, life of bacteria, cells, atoms, life of humans, etc.). Time = Life.

 “Brahma - the creator”(not to be mistaken for Param Brahm or Brahmaand) is basically the creative phenomenon /force, "Shiva / Mahesh - the destroyer" is the destructive phenomenon /force. "Vishnu - the preserver", as a phenomenon, comes in the middle of Brahma and Shiva to sustain this creation. Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva are all phenomenon of the same consciousness in order to make lifespan / life possible in time and space. Every spec of matter and every photon of light gets created, sustains, then it destroys/transforms. It is the basis of anything and everything.

Note: When we say our bodies destroy, what really happens is, that it transforms/breaks down into other elements and then are used to form / create something else. Degradation / death is basically one form transforming to another. That is why Shiva – the destroyer is also seen as The Transformer.

Unlike Om / Supreme consciousness, these three can be imagined and can be realized in and around us, as the process of creation, sustenance, and destruction / transformation unfolds in the universe. All of these forces are conscious like Om and thus to be able to communicate to them through a medium, they have been given forms(the formless have been given forms)

Brahma’s four heads represent the four Vedas (the four categories of knowledge). It does not literally mean that actually the phenomenon called Brahma has four heads. But since human knowledge is contained in the brain, is communicated through the mouth, the head is a sign of knowledge. All these images have been codified in illustration, so that children and others could be explained the presence and attributes of divinity. This way they can understand the basic virtues and philosophical science behind the secrets of life. So Brahma has four heads(not in reality) to explain the scripted and identified knowledge of life given by the Creator.


Vishnu is shown as the preserver dreaming in half sleep mode. His dreaming is the representation of the idea that this Supreme Consciousness is curving into itself delaying its own destruction (and thus creating time and lifespan). I don't think there is a better way to represent that other than Vishnu in a state of dreaming(which is neither activity/creation, nor inactivity/death) in half -sleep. Vishnu holds many items, and since they cannot fit in 2 human like hands, he has been given two more. These items are symbolic of intangible things like virtue, Dharma(righteousness),  ability to destroy and protect. If you want to know what each of these signify, you should research more.

Shiva is shown as the meditating ascetic. Why? Because he keeps reminding that in the end, everything destroys and becomes pure consciousness again, nothing is constant, so keep your mind away from materialism. He is also called Bholenath(the innocent lord), because inspite of being so powerful, he does not engage to plan or shape events like Vishnu(who plans and shapes events so that they can continue to happen, which makes our universe sustain).

Half Vishnu - Half Shiva, showing equal importance and harmony.

Why Vishnu = Shiva ?
Without sustenance, destruction has no meaning (as there would be no fear of destruction) and similarly without destruction, sustenance would be boring and without a purpose. That is why Shiva and Vishnu are bound together, in a particular form representation. They have total love, total understanding and total devoution for each other. This is very evident in many Avataars and many mythological stories(Ram & Hanuman, Shiva & Parashuram, etc).

Why isn't Brahma worshiped ?

Brahma, the creative force on the other hand isn't worshipped. Now why would the creator not be worshipped? The philosophy goes something like this. Brahma is surely respected as "Param Pitah"(First father), and is also invoked in rituals and chants, but is not utterly loved and not worshiped from heart. There are stories/mythology behind this, but the main philosophy as I have understood from these stories is like this :

Brahma is the creator of this illusion that we call as the universe. Before that all creation was Om(only consciousness). The stories say that, it is because of Brahma’s inquisitive nature, that he created the various life forms, in delusion. Brahma was the first delusion to separate from the collective consciousness, and started finding his purpose of being(the same way we do). He got egoistic that he is the first one to be and would create everything for the first time, until he was made to realize by Om that the place he was appearing / being is the cosmos(Om) which is timeless. This crashed his ego.
This phenomenon of Brahma, exists in all of us. The life forms that Brahma created, were pure consciousness before, in a state of bliss. Brahma necessitated them to take forms and created this illusion of being in a physical body. All these forms(plants, animals, insects, humans) fell into the competitive spirit(food, hunting, survival) and humans especially in the search for answers, finding God, finding peace, finding purpose of life, fighting over petty issues, etc. It created ego and self righteous pride. It took away the innocent, blissful state and gave birth to competition, suffering and fear, physical and emotional pain. The good thing that we were given is a chance to arise above this competitive spirit, and listen to our souls. That is why we can go against the call of the brain(survival spirit) and donate, sacrifice, share and feel joy in the joy of others. Only humans have the capability to realize that how they are connected to Om.
And so Brahma (inspite of being a necessary phenomenon in creation) is not worshiped.

Vishnu and Shiva, on the other hand, explain the state of grace, peace and tranquility, because they know the truth and need not create in order to search themselves. Brahma created the Vedas in form of explanations - do’s and don’ts, in phrases and explanations, in rituals and methods, but it is Vishnu and Shiva who transform into that very enlightening force and enter into our lives and steadily enlighten our souls. Thus it is said that, even if one has not read the Vedas(created by Brahma), true loving devotion in Vishnu(or any of his forms) or Shiva(or any of his forms) can provide equal or more bliss.

3. Below them fall the Avataars of the Trinity (manifestations at different periods in time to save and guide people) like Ram, Krishna, Hanuman, etc.
4. Below them are the Dev(Male angels) and Devis(Female Angels) also known as Demi Gods (they control various natural phenomenon like rain, sun, planets, wind, etc), the Rishis(seers and sages) and  Prajapatis(Great kings who gave shape to organised society).
5. Below them are other regular humans, animals and plants

IMPORTANT NOTE :  This hierarchy is in terms of enlightenment and knowledge. It does not give the right to disrespect or be cruel as nobody escapes the law Karma(in Om), not even the Avataars of Vishnu or Shiva.

Thank You
Saurabh Dey