Chinnamasta

02-13-2004, 04:49 AM

>From a desxcription of the Mahavidya Chinnamasta, by Sri Amritananda
Natha Saraswati (Guruji):

CHINNAMASTA

A flash. Thunder, rain, rivers, green fields, flowers, fruits.

The seed of God thrives on the fertility of Mother Earth, and life
springs in the eternal bosom of Prakriti for the vision of God.

The flash separates the head from the body and three streams of
blood sprout forth. The central stream is drunk by the head of the
Goddess held in Her hand, the remaining two streams are drunk by her
aides.

The Goddess is standing on Rati and Manmatha in maithuna. Stark
naked, Her nudity does not strike the eye as She is robed in
dazzling light. She has no head: a headless trunk with two arms held
aloft. From Her headless neck, three streams of blood gush forth.
The middle stream is drunk by Her mouth in the severed head held in
Her hand while the other two streams are drunk by two attendants
standing on either side.

This is Prachanda Chandika or Chinnamasta. She is an invitation for
lightning, for a thunderbolt, to strike the body from head to foot.
She gives kapâla moksha, yet She is living after death.

Prakâsha (Light) and NAda (Sound) are the precursors of creation.
When Prakâsha is delimited as Âkâsha, it is Buhvaneshwari. When the
delimitation takes the form of duration, Time, it is KAli. When
Prakâsha gets involved in creation and at the same time transcends
it, it is Sundari. The unexpressed, unmanifest Sound in concentrated
consciousness is Bhairavi, while the Sound preceiving itself is
TAra. The interaction of Prakâsha and NAda to precipitate creation
is Chinnamastha.

The interaction produces such force and violence that the creation
is almost cut asunder from the creator. The whole purpose of
creation is for the One to delight in separate existences as Many.
This is why Chinnamasta is represented as cutting off the head
(i.e., the source).

In the world of phenomena, the interaction of Light and Sound
results in thunder and lightning. Chinnamasta is the thunder
destroying all the anti-Divine forces. She is the hidden radiance in
the heart of the cloud. Ruling over the cosmic mind, She acts
through the human mind as the sense behind the senses. The most
powerful activity of the senses is sex. The great Goddess is
depicted as trampling with Her feet Rati and Manmatha joined in
amorous union. Worship of Chinnamasta grants complete mastery over
the sex impulse.

Chinnmasta is the indomitable force, the striking power of the
Supreme. What is the difference between Her action and the action of
KAli. When KAli is fierce and terrible, She is Chandi. Chinnamasta
is more terrible than the terrible KAli, hence the name Prachanda
Chandika. KAli works with the aid of KAla (Time). Chinnamasta
destroys instantaneously. KAli is the prâna shakti (vital force)
while Chinnamasta is vidyut shakti (electric force). She has Her
seat between the eyebrows (ajna chakra) and commands the power of
will and vision.

Chinnamasta is the power of lightning (Vajra Vairochani), and
spreads Herself along myriads of channels enveloping the whole
cosmos. When a being is created, this energy enters into the being
through the Bramharandhra. Bramharandhram is the only apperture that
connects the flow of energy in the body with that of the cosmos. The
energy then spreads throughout the psychic body by means of nâdis¹.
Of all the nâdis, the three important ones are Ida, Pingala, and
Sushumna. Sushumna is the central nâdi that terminates in the
Bramharandhram.

Chinnamasta is in Her concentrated form at the ajna chakra. However,
Her activity is in the Sushumna, where She traverses up and down as
the sustaining current of electric energy and power. The flow is
restricted by the granthis. The knots have to be cut by the scissors
which She holds in Her hand. Prachanda Chandika is the current
through the Sushumna, while the charming Varini and the terrific
DAkini are the currents through the Ida and Pingala.

Chinnamasta manifested as the mother of parashurâma, the sixth
avatâr of Vishnu. The story goes that, at the behest of his irate
father Jamadagni, who was displeased with the misdemeanour of his
wife Renuka, Parashurâma cut the head of his mother with an axe.
Then by the virtue of a boon from his father who was pleased with
his unquestioning obedience, Parashrâma got his mother alive.

The mantrâ of the Goddess is the seed-sound Hum, also known as the
Dhenu beeja. The mantrâ gives mastery over the senses and annhilates
the mind completely. One effective way of sâdhana is to imagine a
constant downpour of lightning from the high skies and submit the
whole body, mind, and self to it in absolute dedication and
surrender.

URL: http://www.srividya.org/Dasamahavidya/chandi.html