Mahakali and dasamahavidya

April 27, 2002

Respected Sanjayji,

It is very encouraging to get your guidance in our discussions. Please guide us

more, how the planets and dasas represent dasamahavidya. There are 9 vimsottory

dasas for 9 planets. If we take lagna as Vairabi, then why her dasa do not come

in vimsottory dasa. I am also eager to know how the various forms of

dasamahavidya is related to the nature of planets.

Humble regards,

dasgupta

-

Sanjay Rath

sjvc

Friday, April 26, 2002 11:49 PM

Re: [sjvc] Ista Devata Mantra -- To Visti

om gurave namah------------------------Dear Sarabani

Very interesting mail. Your interest in Shakti is the deep rooted desire within

all of us (who are actually feminine) to dominate and dictate terms to God,

like questioning our own parents. Understanding the Shakti is more important

and I admire your knowledge in this regard and directions also. The point here

is that Kali or Mahakali was better known as Kalika in the Nadi's of the

Saptarishi and reference is made to Her as Kalinaasa or the destroyer of the

bondage of time where we get out of the never ending cycle of Bondage. Maha

means a great and greatmess comes from Her great deed of separating the

individual Mana from the Atma after the physical death has occured. She is

Shavaroodha in the sence that She (the Mana) continues in its state of being

even after death in association with the Atma. The separation of the two and

the taking of the Atma to the higher realms is the work of Maheswara. These

things you seem to have understood from Jyotish also.

Question is 'is the path divinity or the goal itself?' If we consider the path,

then definitely all that you say is right and then we find that Shakti is the

means to realisation. If the ability to follow the path, the circumstances and

knowledge and blessings to achieve the objective count, then Shiva / Guru is

definitely the means to realisation and if the objective itself i.e. Moksha is

the most important, then Bhagavan is vital. Shankaracharya, Chaitanya

Mahaprabhu and the ones with the great vision have shown the importance of all

three. Sankara sings 'Gatistvam gatistvam twameka Bhavani.." clearly teaching

that without the right path in this world of illusion, wecan be lost and will

never reach the objective. Sankara also sings 'Nityaaya suddhaaya digambaraaya

Na-Kaaraaya Namah Shivaaya'. Finally Sankara also gives the Bhagavat Gita with

the mantra 'Om Tat Sat'.

So, Sarabani we need to rethink to get the complete picture.

I liked your discussion about the 16 Kala's. Do you think that is the correct

interpretation? If so, then what will be the number of Kalas in the Moon in the

chart of Sri Krishna (Krishna aastami). Thus, this is one of the gray areas of

Jyotish where we all have to work and hope that sometime in the fturure this

will be revealed.

The Dasamahavidya are said to be related to the Dasa's, especially Vimsottari.

But then there are Navagraha and we know the shakti's of these nine. What about

Lagna (Bhairavi)?

Another point. My understanding was that She is called Shodasi not because of

the number of kala's in the Moon but because of the number of akshara in Her

mantra. Do consider.

What has been taught to you is correct about Jagannatha. He is the be all and

end all of spirituality. He is Jagannatha. In the Todala Tantra it is clearly

stated that the highest Tantra is that of Jagannatha Himself!!! In fact Tantra

simply means to protect oneself in this present incarnation. Is it the best

course of action always? I wonder. The forms of the Mother are as many and

perhaps more than the number of types of beings, both animate and inanimate

that are created. since saturn is the root cause of rebirth (i.e. our

sins/Karmic debts), Kali becomes the basic mother of all beings being the

Shakti of Saturn. In this manner you can relate the dasamahavidya to the

planets. Kali is the root and the removal of this root is the only way to

attain salvation.

I was taught that there is a simple litmus test for every religious practise :

there are two ways of praying - one with the palm facing upward (Satwik-begging

or praying) and the other with the palm facing downward (tamasik - commanding).

Check whether the prayer is with the palm up or down, whether it is with the

right or left hand, whether it is for forgiveness and salvation or it is for

fruits..in this manner draw lines for checking and make your choise.With best

wishesSanjay RathWeb: http://sanjayrath.tripod.comServices:

http://sanjayrath.tripod.com/zservices.htmJyotish Digest:

http://jyotishdigest.com/SJVC: http://www.sjvc.org/

-

"Sarbani Sarkar" <sarbani (AT) vsnl (DOT) com>

<sjvc>

Friday, April 26, 2002 2:10 PM

Re: [sjvc] Ista Devata Mantra -- To Visti

> Dear Dasguptaji,> > The debates over bamachar and dakshinachar paths of

worshipping Kali has> ranged for a long time. Most people, including Shri

Ramakrishna,> preferred dakshinachar considering it to be more satvic than the>

bamachar method. Ramakrishna performed shodasi puja to Shri Shri Ma,> which is

of the dakshinachar path. Briefly, bamachar resorts to> panchatattwa shuddhi

differently, with madya, mangsa, matsya, mudra and> milan, which is

objectionable to dakshinacharis. The methods and> extremity differ with the

dakshinacharis preferring the more satvic and> 'pabitra' ways. This is a

simplistic explanation, there being more> detailed and exhaustive ones, which I

have not studied. I believe these> two methods are two out of 7 tantra achars.

Baam means opposite; it also> means adyashakti. Hence Kali is worshipped as

Mahamaya Adyashakti.> Talking of the moon: A month has amavasya and purnima,

each composed of> 16 kalas. In the darkness of cosmos Mahakal and Mahakali are

united. One> side is amavasya, where there is no light. This is the avyakta,

nirguna> Mahakal Shiv. The other side is resplendent in light where there is>

purnima. This is vyakta Mahakali. It takes 16 kalas from shukla pratipad> to

purnima for the moon to become full. This is shodasakala or shodasi.> Kali is

thus worshipped as Shodasi and there is the special shodasi> puja. Shakti is

gunamayi. Taking a cue from Chandi, the three deities> Mahasaraswati,

Mahalakshmi and Mahakali represent the 3 gunas. Kali> represents tamas or tama

guna. Is that why she is dark? All colours, all> matter dissolve in Kali, that

is why she is krishnavarna, ghora. There> is a profound meaning to the darkness

of Kali, which I am aware of but> have not studied. She broke Vishnu's

yoganidra. That is why She is> Vishnumaya. She is the manifestation of Vishnu,

while he was in an> unmanifested, yoganidric state. She is Mahamaya, as she

entices the> world but she is at once the Brahman itself. One of the most

profound> ways to perceive Kali is through varna sadhana. I wish to understand>

this fully someday. Here Kali is worshipped as vac, the emblem of> matrika and

varna, i.e., the alphabet, the syllabary and the syllable.> In this

rahasyamurti, Kali's garland of head is nothing but a garland of> syllabary,

her extended tongue the symbol of syllable and Kali herself> is the manifest

aksharrupini alpahabet. The visharga and bindu are> Shakti and Shiv

respectively. She is scantily dressed as She is> omnipresent, hence She cannot

be limited by clothes. I think one can go> on unfolding deeper and deeper

layers of meanings of her image. If you> take the earlier Assam, Bengal, Orissa

as a unity, it is not surprising> that Orissa is ful of tantric remains. Oriya

brahmins still perform> ceremonial studies of the tantras and there are plenty

of temples> dedicated to the Matrikas, Chamunda and Mahisasuramardini near

Puri,> Bubaneswar Khajuraho, Sambalpur, but I don't know anything more about>

them. I believe the Shakti cult is prevalent in the villages of Orissa> and

that Buddhism played a role in establishing tantrism there. Whenever> I have

travelled to Orissa, I have been too preoccupied with Jagannatha> to pay

attention to anything else. We, in Bengal have been brought up to> believe that

Jagannath is the be all and end all of everything spiritual> in Orissa. So we

don't look outside Him. Krishna and Radha are indeed> purusha and prakrti but

their story I thought teaches us more about the> marg of bhakti and love. But

yes, Lakshmi is the shakti of Vishnu. Myabe> somebody else can illuminate us

better on this. Finally, you are> lucky...I went to tarapeeth as a small child,

and though my mother made> me do puja I have only vague memories of that visit.

Maybe its time for> a second one? Waiting to hear from you,> Your use of

Groups is subject to the

April 27, 2002

Om Namo Naraayanaya

-------------------

Dear List,

Graha Vishnu Avatara Shakti General

Sun Sri Rama Sri Matangi Shiva

Moon Sri Krishna Sri Bhuvaneswari Parvati/Shakti

Mars Sri Narasimha Sri Bagalamukhi Kartikeeya, Hanuman

Mercury Sri Buddha Sri Tripurasundari Vishnu

Jupiter Sri Vamana Sri Tara Sambasiva, Maha

Vishnu(Narayana)

Venus Sri Parasurama Sri Kamadevi Lakshmi

Saturn Sri Koorma Sri Kali Brahma(advise Narayana)

Rahu Sri Varaha Sri Chinnamasta Durga

Ketu Sri Matsya Sri Dhoomavati Ganesh

Lagna Sri Kalkin Sri Bhairavi -

These lists cannot be used loosely for just any purpose, we use the general list

to find deities in any chart, we can then detail the exact one using the other

lists. But there are many lists.

Best wishes, Visti.

-

j.k. dasgupta

sjvc

Saturday, April 27, 2002 2:04 PM

Re: [sjvc] Mahakali and dasamahavidya