Kali drawing / hinduism.about.com/library/weekly/aa051202a.htm - 31k -

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sans-serif" size="1">"O Mother, even a dullard becomes a poet who meditates upon

thee raimented with space, three-eyed, creatrix of the three worlds, whose waist

is beautiful with a girdle made of numbers of dead men's arms..." (From a

Karpuradistotra hymn, translated from Sanskrit by Sir John Woodroffe) Who is

Kali?Kali is the fearful and ferocious form of the mother goddess Durga. She

assumed the form of a powerful goddess and became popular with the composition

of the Devi Mahatmya, a text of the 5th - 6th century AD. Here she is depicted

as having born from the brow of Goddess Durga during one of her battles with

the evil forces. As the legend goes, in the battle, Kali was so much involved

in the killing spree that she got

carried away and began destroying everything in sight. To stop her, Lord Shiva

threw himself under her feet. Shocked at this sight, Kali stuck out her tongue

in astonishment, and put an end to her homicidal rampage. Hence the common

image of Kali shows her in her mêlée mood, standing with one foot on Shiva's

chest, with her enormous tongue stuck out. The Fearful SymmetryKali is

represented with perhaps the fiercest features amongst all the world's deities.

She has four arms, with a sword in one hand and the head of a demon in another.

The other two hands bless her worshippers, and say, "fear not"! She has two

dead heads for her earrings, a string of skulls as necklace, and a girdle made

of human hands as her clothing. Her

tongue protrudes from her mouth, her eyes are red, and her face and breasts are

sullied with blood. She stands with one foot on the thigh, and another on the

chest of her husband, Shiva. Awesome Symbols!Kali's fierce form is strewed with

awesome symbols. Her black complexion symbolizes her all-embracing and

transcendental nature. Says the Mahanirvana Tantra: "Just as all colors

disappear in black, so all names and forms disappear in her". Her nudity is

primeval, fundamental, and transparent like Nature — the earth, sea, and sky.

Kali is free from the illusory covering, for she is beyond the all maya or

"false consciousness." Kali's garland of fifty human heads that stands for the

fifty letters in the Sanskrit alphabet, symbolizes infinite knowledge.

sans-serif" size="2">Her girdle of severed human hands signifies work and

liberation from the cycle of karma. Her white teeth show her inner purity, and

her red lolling tongue indicates her omnivorous nature — "her indiscriminate

enjoyment of all the world's 'flavors'." Her sword is the destroyer of false

consciousness and the eight bonds that bind us. Her three eyes represent past,

present, and future, — the three modes of time — an attribute that lies in the

very name Kali ('Kala' in Sanskrit means time). The eminent translator of

Tantrik texts, Sir John Woodroffe in Garland of Letters, writes, "Kali is so

called because She devours Kala (Time) and then resumes Her own dark

formlessness."

Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Kali's proximity to cremation grounds

where the five elements or "Pancha Mahabhuta" come together, and all worldly

attachments are absolved, again point to the cycle of birth and death. The

reclined Shiva lying prostrate under the feet of Kali suggests that without the

power of Kali (Shakti), Shiva is inert. Forms, Temples, and Devotees Kali's

guises and names are diverse. Shyama, Adya Ma, Tara Ma and Dakshina Kalika,

Chamundi are popular forms. Then there is Bhadra Kali, who is gentle,

Shyamashana Kali, who lives only in the cremation ground, and so on. The most

notable Kali temples are in Eastern India — Dakshineshwar and Kalighat in

Kolkata (Calcutta) and Kamakhya in Assam, a seat of tantrik practices.

Ramakrishna Paramhamsa, Swami Vivekananda, Vamakhyapa, and Ramprasad are some of

the legendary devotees of Kali. One thing was common to these saints — all of

them loved the goddess as intimately as they loved their own mother. "My

child, you need not know much in order to please Me. Only Love Me dearly. Speak

to me, as you would talk to your mother,if she had taken you in her armsyvonne

Khoo <y25899 > escribió: Para: De:

yvonne Khoo <y25899 >Fecha: Tue, 14 Feb 2006 06:08:25 -0800

(PST)Asunto: [sBOI-post] Kali drawingsairam everyoneThis

was yesterday (post-Thaipusam), on my way home inoticed a drawing on one of the

panthels along theroad. It caught my eye because Mother Kali (in black,tongue

and many arms) was standing on top of LordShiva (he looked defeated). he was

lying on thefloor,eyes closed.i got a shock because i thought Mother Kali

picturedlike this usually stands on a small demon. or a smalldwarf.can someone

please tell me what is the meaning of thisdrawing?why is Kali Amma standing on

top of lord shiva?thank youregardsyvonne dorisainews (AT) (DOT) es

LLama Gratis a cualquier PC del Mundo.Llamadas a fijos y móviles desde 1 céntimo

por minuto.http://es.voice.

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THANKS!

this is enlightening

regards

yvonne