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Freedom from Death in the Worship of Kl Author(s): David Kinsley Reviewed work(s): Source: Numen, Vol. 22, Fasc.

3 (Dec., 1975), pp. 183-207 Published by: BRILL Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3269544 . Accessed: 20/01/2013 13:22
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Numen,Vol. XXII, Fasc. 3

FREEDOM FROM DEATH IN THE WORSHIP OF KALI


BY

DAVID KINSLEY
Ontario Hamilton,

I. "Extremes"
and of fearfulaspect. She is awful. Her hair is Ki is terrible-faced she wears a garlandof skulls,and has four hands. Her lower disheveled, lefthand holds a freshly cut humanhead,and in her upperlefthand there is a scimitar.Her upper righthand makes the symbolof fearlessnessand her lowerright hand makesthe gesture of conferring boons. assurance, She is dark as the darkestcloud. She is naked. From her neck hangs a of severed human heads from whichflowsblood.Two severed heads garland teethand is She has terrible, dangle fromher ears as ornaments. fanglike She has large, prominent dreadful-faced. breasts.Her waistbandis made of severedhumanhands. She has a smilingface. Blood flows fromthe of her mouth corners whichmakesher lips glisten.She makesloud,horrible sounds.She is awe-inspiring. She dwells in the cremation ground.She has three Her right as the sun. Her teethare formidable. eyes as red and bright side is covered hair.She standson Mahadeva,who disheveled by her flowing, lies like a corpse beneathher. She is surrounded by jackals who make terrific noises. 1) It is sometimes said that Indian culture generally betrays a love for and balance tend to get lost in the Indian extremes, that moderation

to exploiteverything to its ultimate limit.Heinrich Zimmer, tendency of Indian art is "thatamazing for example,says thata typicalfeature to go to the very limitsof delightand terror,and even to tendency both of the wondersof the press ... beyondthem,to the presentation world's sensual charmand of the hair-raising, aspects of horrifying forces."2) destructive of such a general Whetheror not the goddess IKli is illustrative traitin the Indian character, a presence she does appear to represent
of the goddessKili from Agamavagi~a's i) The dhyanamantra Basu Kr.nnanda quotedin "K5li," in Nigendransth (ed.), Vilvakoya(Calcutta: Tantrasara, Basu, I893), Vol. IV, p. 35. Nigendranath The Art of IndianAsia, ed. Joseph Zimmer, (New York: 2) Henrich Campbell
Pantheon Books, I955), Vol. I, p. I35.

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confronts that dramatically and unambiguously one with "the hairof it would seem, reality.She represents, raising,horrifying aspects" that has been pushed to its ultimatelimits,something that something has been apprehendedas unspeakablyterrifying, somethingtotally and irreconcilably "other."She seems "extreme." association with blood-sacrifice(sometimes human), her Kili's as position patrongoddessof the infamousThugs, and her importance in Vm~icira Tantric ritualhave generallywon for her a reputation as a creatureborn of a crazed, aboriginalmind. She seems, in the words of an awe-struck her at the beginning writer contemplating of the of this century, "to have somehowblunderedinto the daylight
twentiethcentury,... unmodified by time and unsoftened by culture." 3)

Even when comparedwith Siva's ghora (terrible) formsKali stands out as a creaturewho is wild, frantic, out of control.And if it were in the Hindu tradition we might not for her extraordinary popularity be able to say, as impartialstudentsof religiousman, that she is an a dark, frightening creatureconjured "extremecase," an aberration, up by a few who existed on the fringesof Indian society,that she of and remarkable, is interesting but irrelevantto the mainstream Indian religiousthought. thatKili, as one of the mostpopular This paper assumes,however, Hindu divinities(in Bengal, at least) says somethingfundamental about the Hindu visionof things.It assumes thatin Kili are summed her history, of the tradition. mythoconsidering up truths By briefly this paper seeks to discernwhat those truths logy, and iconography be. might II. The Prehistory of KalF of India. Kili has not alwaysbeen knownto the "Great" traditions Her appearanceas a goddess havinga cycleof myths and a consistent does not occur until the advent of purinic literature description (ca. This is did not to that not exist to A.D.). say prior Kili 20o0-300 the timeof the puraas. There is good evidencethatshe did. In Mundaka Upanisad The name Kil appears in earlierliterature. I. 2. 4 it is one of the names of the seven tonguesof Agni. As Kili

T. Fisher Unwin, 190o7), p. 22.

3) J. C. Oman, The Brahmanas,Theists and Muslims of India (London:

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and the cremation is laterassociatedwith destruction ground,it might be supposed that this early text formsthe basis for the later, fully developedgoddess. However, it is dangerousto read too much into of thesacrificial a description is simply whichin context thisreference, that the first six names of Agni's fire. There is no clear indication actual beings. tonguesare to be takenas representing in are of early literature Among possibleprototypes Kili Rttridevi (the goddess Night) and the demonessNirrti.As KMl is later associated with the night and is sometimesreferredto as the "terrible a continuity betweenRitridevi and K~li might nightof destruction," be postulated.Ratri's general description, however,does not convey X. I27). She is like the image of a terrible (e.g., RIg-veda being Ktli with darkness, to be sure, but she is supplicatedas closelyidentified the sister of the Dawn, Usas, and the impressionone gets from she X. 127 is that she is a benign figure.Any continuity seems tenuous. have withthe later .Rg-veda might Ktli mentionedin vedic literature. The demoness Nirrti is frequently She is a dread being who is fearedand avoided. She seems to be the and sorrow,and whenevershe of death,destruction, personification of the mantrais to ward her off (e.g., is addressedthe intent .Ig-veda X. 59. 1-4; VII. 37.7; Atharva=veda II. io. 4-8; IV. 36. o10; VI. 29.2). is doubtful,however, insofar as she is Her connectionwith Ktli as V. 7. 9 as she who is "golden-locked," describedin Atharva-veda opposed to K1li, who is always describedas havingblack hair. There are threeimportant passages in theMahabharatathatmention Kali: Sauptika Parva VIII, Virata Parva VI, and Bhisma Parva XXIII. In Sauptika Parva VIII, Kili appears after the sleeping by the Kaurava warriorsA~vatPandava armyhas been slaughtered thima, Krpa, and Krtavarma (the only survivorsfromthe Kaurava side after the great battle of Kuruksetra). As in later descriptions and she holds she is black,her mouthis bloody,her hair is disheveled, a noose with which she leads the dead away (Sauptika Parva VIII. 64 ff.). Her appearance is appropriateto the scene described,and the passage may well be the earliest passage mentioning Kali that we have. or at The othertwo passages are more likelyto be interpolations, least among the very latest additionsto the epic, and thus roughly with the early pur~nas (200oo-4oo A.D.). Both passages contemporary

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are hymnsin praise of Durgi, who is said to have slain Mahisisura. In bothpassages she is said to be a virgin, but in Bhisma Parva she is also called the wife of Kipala (Siva, the skull-bearer) and the mother of Skanda and is thus associatedwith Siva. In Bhisma Parva Durgi is called the youngersister of Krsna the cowherd,a referenceto whomKafhsa triedto murder. In both hymnsK1li Krsna's stepsister, is mentionedas one of Durga's epithets.KIli's mythological deeds are not referredto, however,nor is she describedin recognizable terms.In summary, thesepassages suggestseverallater characteristics of Durga and IKli. KMli's mythological deeds, though,are not mentioned,and there is good evidenceto suggest that the passages are quitelate,if not interpolations. 4) We mustturnto the Devi-mahatmya of the for further early and reliableinformation Markand.eya-purana about K~li. III. Kali in the Devi-mahatmya In the Dev-mnuhatmya 5) a full account of the goddess KMl is deeds are told given. Her birth,appearance,and centralmythological in detail. It is in this text that KIli, as she came to be knownin the makes her debut, her "official" entranceinto the "Great tradition, Tradition" of Hinduism. The Devi-mahatmyais divided into three major episodes. In the firsttwo episodesthe Devi, the Great Goddess, or Durgi, as she is called frequentlyhere, defeats the demons Kaitabha and Madhu (both born from his cosmicsleep) Visnu during and the great demon Mahisasura. It is duringthe third episode, in whichthe Goddess confronts the demonbrothers Sumbha and Nibumbha and theirarmy,that Kili appears. Sumbha and Nibumbhahave subduedthe gods and now rule over them.The gods have collectively
4) For the date of thesepassages see B. C. Mazumdar, "Durg~: Her Origin and History," Journal XXXVIII of the Royal AsiaticSocietyof GreatBritain, edition of theMahabha(1906-7), 355-58.SauptikaParva VIII is in the critical in Virata Parva VI and Bhisma Parva XXIII are not. rata,while the hymns is a separateand completecomposition 5) The Dezi-mahatmya despitethe fact that it is foundinserted in the Markandeya-purana (81-93). It is treated as a separatescripture of the Goddessand is printed as a separate by worshipers text throughout India. The text is popularly knownas the Candi (one of the namesof the Goddess) and the Saptasati,"the seven hundred" to (a reference thenumber of versesin the Devi-mnahdtmya, whichactually has somewhat fewer versesthanthis).

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the Goddess (who previously had promisedto assist them petitioned in difficulty), whenever and she has appeared theyfoundthemselves in the guise of Pirvati, fromwhomshe emergesand presentsherself in all her magnificence(85. 37-40). She calms the worried throng of gods and goes forthto battlethe demon hosts. The first demon heroes sent forthto battle her are Canda and Munda. When they approach Durgi with drawn swords and bent bows, she becomes furious,her face becomingdark as ink. Suddenlytherespringsforth from her brow the terriblegoddess Kli, armed with a sword and noose. She wears a garlandof humanheads, a tiger'sskin,and waves a staffwith a skull handle. She is gaunt,with sunken,reddisheyes, gaping mouth,lollingtongue,and emaciatedflesh. She fills the four roar and leaps eagerly into the fray. quarters with her terrifying She flings demons into her mouth and crushes them in her jaws. She wades throughthe demon hosts decapitatingand crushingall who stand before her. Laughing and howlingloudly,she approaches Canda and Munda, graspsthemby thehair,and in one furiousinstant decapitatesthem both with her mightysword. Returningto Durga with the two heads, she laughs jokingly and presentsthem to the Goddess as a gift.6) A second incidentin this cosmic battle featuresKili. The demon armyhas been nearlydefeated.But thereremainsthe fearfuldemon Raktabija. This demon is nearly invincible,for every time he is woundedand beginsto bleed,otherdemonsin his image and withhis born from his blood. mightand ability to reproduceare instantly strikes him with and arrows cuts him with her repeatedly Durgi sword but soon realizes the situationis thereby becomingworse. She calls upon Kili to defeat the monster.K1i swoops onto the field
has been translated intoEnglishby F. Eden Pargiter, 6) The Markanteya Indica: A Collection of OrientalWorks; Markarn.eya-pur.na Purina (Bibliotheca of Bengal,19o4; reprinted, Calcutta:BaptistMissionPress fortheAsiaticSociety sectionhas been Delhi: IndologicalBook House, I969). The Devzi-mahdtmya The Glorificatranslated separately by VasudevaS. Agrawala,Devi-mahatmyam: tion of the Great Goddess (Varanasi: All-India Kashiraj Trust, I963). The to and versesin Agrawala'stextdoes not correspond of the chapters numbering the DevI-mahdtmya as a separate the Markandeya-purana, since he is treating In his text, therefore, to chapter81 in the scripture. chapterI corresponds to and so on throughchapterXIII, which corresponds Markandeya-purina, numbers of theMarkandeyathispaperI use thechapter chapter 93. Throughout Imrana.

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of battleand opens her giganticmouth.She swallows the blood-born creaturesand drinksup the blood fromRaktabija's wounds. Finally, she sucks the blood fromthe demon,who falls to the grounddead. 7) makes her officialappearanceon the Hindu scene,s) She So Ktli is born from wrath,is horriblein appearance,and is ferociousin and death, she epitomizesthe battle. Taking delightin destruction of the divine. Her role in this scriptureis fearful wild, aspects and is called to the goddess clearlydefined: she is subservient Durgt difficult upon to help or rescue the Great Goddess in particularly circumstances. proceeds from the Goddess and is finallywithKtli The goddess Kali who is worshippedin India (primarilyBengal) thesame goddesswho is bornin theDevi-muYhaitmya. todayis obviously In appearance she is littlechanged.As a total symbolof the divine, fromDurga, she is the object however,she has gained independence her character has become richerand more comof fervent devotion, plex, indeed she has come to representfor millions the highest manifestation of the divinein India. How Ktli succeededin achieving this status,how she grew from a helper of Durgi, an embodiment of the universes, of her wrathwho plays a subservient role,a mistress and it would difficult to determine, the Mother of all, is extremely to suggest that we could understandthis transforbe preposterous
7) 88. 52-59. Cf. the Thuggee version of this myth: Francis Tuker, The Yellow Scarf (London: J. M. Dent & Sons, 1961), p. 62. 8) As has been said, Kili was probably known to the "Great Tradition" prior to her appearance in the Markandeya-purdna (as the reference to her in the Sauptika Parva of the Mahabhdrata may well indicate). It is also most probable that she was worshiped by several tribes or "little cultures" long before her and indeed, that she was originally a tribal "debut" in the kind. In the Markandeya-purana, though, there is a conscious goddess of some Markan.eya-purana, attemptto link her with the so-called Great Goddess and to identifyher with a goddess named Camunda (87. 25). In this sense we can speak of her debut,or her "birth" vis-t-vis the Great Tradition of Hinduism. Just what her pre-purinic historywas is difficult,if not impossible,to determine. ,See Saiibhfisan Disgupta, Bharatre Sakti-sadhana o S~kta Sahitya (Bengali) (Calcutta: Sahitya Sangsad, 1367 B.S. [1961]), pp. 63-89, for some theories about Kali's prehistoryand the various strands that have merged in this scripture.See also N. N. Bhattacharyya, "Indian Mother Goddess," Indian Studies: Past and Present, XI, No. 4 (JulySeptember, 1970), 380-82, for a discussion of Kili and other "blood-thirsty" goddesses in the Indian tradition. Both of these scholars suggest that Kili was originally an indigenous goddess worshiped with blood-sacrifice by "wild" tribes such as the Sabaras.

drawn into the Goddess (90. 4).

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fromthe meagerdata we have at our disposal. this flowering, mation, it seems clear thatat least threemajor factorscombined Nevertheless, that soon to bringabout this change: (I) a growingKili mythology associated her with the god Siva, (2) her popularityin Tantrism, particularlythe Hindu Vamicara Tantric tradition,and (3) the ferventdevotionof a few Bengali poet-saints.These three factors, I thinkwere largelyresponsiblefor "completing" the image of Kali in such a way that she could beas containedin the Devi-mahatmya come what she is today for millionsof her devotees. IV. The Early History of Kalf in Puranic and Dramatic Literature into a major Hindu deitydoes not seem to have Kali's development taken place immediately. Indeed, it seems clear that her acceptance immeand grudging.In much of the literature was often reluctant with or roughlycontemporary diatelyfollowingthe Devz-mahatmya it, Kili continuesto be either a servant of Durga, a particularly of the Devi, or a purelynegative, ferociousand minormanifestation fiend and terrible dark, worshiped onlyby wild tribesor thieves. In the Agni- and Garuda-puratas she is summonedin mantras Her appearinvokedfor success in war and againstenemiesgenerally. She is ance is terrible, and her mantrasare generallyspine-chilling. wears a garland dances frantically, gaunt,fanged,laughs diabolically, of corpses,sits on the back of a giant ghost,lives in the cremation and is asked to crush,trample, break,and burnthe enemy. 9) ground, In the Bhagavata-puranashe is the patron goddess of a band of withthe thieves(an associationshe was to keep, as her identification Thugs demonstrates).The leader of the thieves seeks to gain her blessingso that he mightbe granteda son and capturesa childlike, innocentbrahminto sacrificeto her. The effulgenceof the saintly brahmin,however, scorches Kali, who leaps from her image and the band of thieves. She is describedin the usual way: slaughters she has a dreadfulface, large teeth,and laughs wildly. She and her from all thethieves,becomeinebriated of demonsdecapitate following in theirheads around sport.10o) their blood,and beginto throw drinking to terrible, There are several references blood-thirsty goddesses in
9) Agni-purana 133, I34, and 136; Garuda-purana 38. Io) Bhagavata-purdna 5. 9. 12-20.

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the dramaticliterature of about this time. Kili herselfis mentioned in Kalidisa's Kumarasaktbhava(7. 39), and it is clear (despite the poet's name) that duringhis time (fourth to fifthcenturiesA.D.) she was still a quite minordeity. She is mentioned along with many othergods as part of Siva's weddingprocession.She bringsup the a group of goddesses called the matrkas("mothers"), rear, following and is said to wear a necklaceof skulls. In Subandhu's Vasavadatta (sixth or seventh centuryA.D.) a and her desgoddess named Bhagavati or Kityayani is mentioned, criptionis much like Kii's. She is said to have slain Sumbha and Nifumbha, 11) to live on the banks of the Ganges, and to live surroundedby ghostsin the cremation ground.In Binabhatta's KadamA.D.) the worshipof Canidi (a popular name barn(seventhcentury to Kili) by Sabaras, of the goddess Durga, butalso applied sometimes is described.The worshiptakes place in a tribeof primitive hunters, the depths of the forest,and blood flows freely. 12) In Vakpati's of or early eighth Prakrit work the late seventh Gaucdavaho(a century goddess,as an aspect A.D.) Kili is describedas a non-Aryan of the goddess Vindhyavisini(she who dwells in the VindhyaMounby Sabaras and is clothedin leaves.13) tains). She is worshiped In Bhavabhiiti's or earlyeightcentury Malatimadhava(late seventh is a female the devoteeof heroine, Milati, captured A.D.) by her to the to sacrifice goddess. Camun.da, Kapalakundala,who intends Camund.'s terrible ground.In a hymnof praise to the templeis near a cremation as dancingwildly and makingtheworldsshake. goddessshe is described She is said to have a gaping mouth and a garland of skulls that the worlds,to be covered with snakes, to shower laugh and terrify the worlds,and to be surrounded flamesfromher eyes thatdestroy by mentioned fiendsand goblins.14) As in those references above, Kili, a terrifying, demonic or Camunda as she is called here, is primarily of society. creatureworshipedby those on the periphery 15) She is
and Nigumbha: Devi-bhagavata V. 3o. IJ2) Disgupta, Bharater Sakti-sadhana o SZkta Sahitya, pp. 66-67. 13) Mazumdar, "Durga," p. 357. 14) Bhavabhjti's Malatfmadhava with the Commentaryof Jagaddhara, ed. and trans. M. R. Kale (3rd ed.; Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, I967), pp. 44-48. 15) It is significant to note that in the Manasara-lilpaidstra (sixth to eighth

I1) In at least one puranicaccountit is Kili, not Durga, who slays Sumbha

shouldbe built far fromvillages centuries A.D.) it is said that Kili's temples

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himself. 16)

not identified with the mainstream of Hindu religion,nor does she as a in her own appear great goddess right.In this drama,however, thereis an early indication of thingsto come,an indication of Kali's future in the tradition. For in this drama,despite growingimportance her terrifying and primarily "negative" role, she is said to have an important partnerin her mad dances: the great dancing god, Siva

V. KalU'sAssociationwithSiva Thus far a few thingsseem clear about Kili's early history.Altheauthorof the triedto incorporate Kili into though Devz-rmahatmya the ranksof Hindu deityby associatingher with Durga, or the Great Goddess generally, she was not accepted immediately or unanimously For some time (it is not clear how long or by how by the tradition. a demonic shrew, worshiped by many) she was seen as primarily thievesor by cultsoutside,or on the periphery, of Hindu society. At some point, however,Kili (and Durga as well) began to be associatedwith Siva. 17) Why this came about is largelya matterof conjecture. Perhaps the tradition recognized in Kili and certain of the wilder manifestations of Giva kindredspiritsand so gradually came to associate the two. Whatever the prime motive was in this association,it seems to have taken place fairlyearly and in a variety of ways.
and towns, near the cremation grounds, and near the dwellings of the Chandflas 16) Bhavabhfiti'sMalatimadhava, p. 47. 17) In the Devi-mahatmya it is quite clear that Durgh is an independentdeity, great in her own right, and only loosely affiliated with any of the great male deities. And if any one of the great gods can be said to be her closest associate, it is Visnu rather than Siva. It is from Vi~nu that she is born in the first episode of the Devzi-mahatmya(81. 68-69). She is nowhere in this episode associated with Siva. The same is true of subsequent episodes. When Siva does appear in the second episode, he is simply one among many male gods who contribute their powers to the creation of Durgh (82. 12-13). In the third episode, in which Kili is born, the Goddess appears in the form of Pirvati, emerges from the body of Pirvati, and proceeds to battle. Now while it is clear that Pirvati has been associated with Siva since at least the time of the Mahabharata, in this myth she appears to be independentof him. Indeed, when Siva does make his appearance, he is treated as a mere messenger of the Goddess and plays a very minor role in the combat (88. 22-26). It is importantto note, too, that Pirvati appears only after the gods have gone to the Himalayas and petitioned in unison to the "Goddess who is named Vienu-miyt" (85. 6).

(9. 289).

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The Vamana-puranaassociates the two by making "Kali" (the dark one) one of Pirvati's epithets.In the long accountof Siva and Parvati's wedding (Vamana 25-27) the names Parvati and Kili are used interchangeably. The goddess's appearance,though,has nothing to do with the terriblecreatureborn of Durga's fury in the DevzThe onlycommonfeature is her dark complexion, and it is mahatmya. this dark that is precisely complexion subsequently gottenrid of by to rid herselfof by it and determines Pirvati. (She is embarrassed it when Siva jokinglycalls her Kali, a referenceto, or slur upon, her dark complexion.)The dark complexionitself,Parvati's outward sheath (kosa), then takes on an identity of its own in the goddess Kaudiki (she of the sheath), whichis one of the most popularnames of the Goddess in this version of the mythof the slayingof Canda and Munda. Kili as she is knownto the Devzi-mahatmya, the terrible, born from Kaudiki and defeats blood-thirsty ogress, is subsequently Canda, Munda, and Raktabija as in the Devi-mahatmya. The centralmythological deeds of Kili have been changedverylittle in the Vamana-purana.Kali is still born from Durga's wrath upon theapproachof Canda and Munda and is described as havinga frightful face, a skull-topped staff,a mightysword, a garland of skulls, and emaciatedfleshcoveredwithblood (29. 56-57). She slays Canda and Munda at DurgA's commandand later is called upon to rescue Durga when Raktabija appears to be winningthe battle (30). However, the preludeto the great battleagainst Canda and Munda, Parvati's marriageto Siva, clearly shows that Kali in name, if not in form,has been associated with Siva's consort.Pirvati is repeatedly called Kali, and it is from Parvati-Kil's black skin that Durgt is born,who in turn gives birthto the Kali of terribleappearance.To some extent,of course, the version of the Goddess's victoryover as an Canda and Munda in the Vamana-puranamay be understood artificialattempt on the part of the authorto relate various strands of the Goddess in an attempt to show thattheyare all aspects of the one Mahidevi. Be that as it may, in subsequentHindu historyKili does in fact become associatedwith Siva as his consort-dakti, so that whenever she is shownwitha male god, it is inevitably Giva. Kili is associatedwithSiva in the same way and in the same story in the ?iva-purana (Vayaviyasarihhit. I. 24-25). Elsewhere in this is quite late), though, Kili's associationwith purana (which probably

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are retoldin condensedform of the Devi-mahatmya When the myths 45-49) it is made clear in the text that all goddesses (Umisarhhitt herself of are manifestations spouse. Ktli Umi-Sati-Ptrvati, Giva's in this retelling of is barelymentioned conquest of various Durgt's demons (althoughher name appears occasionallyas one of Durgt's epithets),but appears elsewhereas Giva's helper,and in one place is said to have been createdfromSiva's hair (Rudrasarhhit~i specifically II. 32. 25). It seems clear,that is, that in this text KIli has become affiliated withSiva (as his own creation)or withhis spouse, definitely as one of her manymanifestations. In the Liiga-purana (II. Ioo) Kali's associationwith Pirvati (and affirmed and dramatically withSiva) is firmly by the by implication obtainedsuch Once upon a timethe demoness myth. following Dtrukt asceticism thatshe usurpedthe gods and began to rule powerthrough the world.None of the gods wishedto fighther as she was a woman, and so theyall went to Siva to ask what theyshould do. He in turn if she could save the day for the gods. Hearing her asked Ptrvati created from herself IKli, with matted husband's request Ptrvati hair, threeeyes, black in color, of terribleappearance, and holding a trident and skull. Seeing the terrible goddess the gods flee in panic, sets out with a band of ghosts and but Kali, at Parvati's command, other strange creaturesand defeats Dtruki, thus saving the world for the gods. Afterthe battle,in a curiousscene, Siva appears as an amidst the corpses of the slain. Seeing him infantin the battlefield cryingthereKili picks up and nurses him. When this does not calm him she beginsto dance amongthe dead withher entourageof ghosts until he becomes delightedand calm.18) In this text, then, K~li is clearlyassociated with Pirvati, and even plays a positive,motherly role vis-a-visSiva. and various elsewhere,in different Kali and Siva dance together in dance As has beenmentioned contexts. they together Kapalakundala's Malatimadhava.The scene she picturesis wild, hymnin Bhavabhfiti's The two appear as mad partnersin a and world-shaking. tumultuous,
and Hindu Mythology and Affinity (London: Longman, Rees, Orme, of Ancient
Brown, & Green, 1831), PP. 337-38.
13

retinue of warriors (Rudrasamihita II.

In severalplaces she is part of his established. Siva is moredefinitely


23.

11-12; V. 33. 36-44).

18) The story is summarized in Vans Kennedy, Researches into the Nature

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cosmic dance that is destinedto destroythe worlds. Parvati stands and mustbe comforted by and watches,terrified, by Siva. In South India thereis a tradition of a dance contestbetweenthe two. In everycase Siva is victorious. The contextof the tournament differs.In one case the tournament is arranged to settle a debate about the superiority of the sexes. Parvati takes the form of Kail but is stillnot able to defeatSiva when he does his Urdhva Tindava, a particularly strenuousstep.19) In anotheraccount of the tournament, Kali has just slain the demons Sumbha and Nifumbhaand becomes intoxicatedby drinkingtheir blood. She begins to create the world itself. Siva is summonedto save the havoc, threatening situation.He assumes his terribleform as Bhairava and appears beforethe mad goddess. She threatens to kill him but finallyagrees to a dance tournament, in which she is eventuallydefeated and pacified.20) The same storyis told by Sivaprakisar in the TirukkHi21) but here the scene takes place afterKili has defeated vappuranam, in LiP ga-puranaII. Ioo, above). Finally,thereis a story Daruka (as the originof the Chidambaramtemple,a famous South concerning Indian Saivite holy place. In this temple legend it is said that the site originallybelonged to, or was guarded by, Kili. When some Saivite devoteessoughtto have a vision of Siva there,she drovethem her to a dance tournament, away,whereupon Siva appeared,challenged that can be drawn fromthese There are some obvious conclusions South Indian storiesof Siva's defeatof Kali in a dance contest.The withand accommodastoriesprobablyreflect the Saivite confrontation tion of Kali, and perhapsan indigenousgoddess cult. As Kali is still worshipedas a village deity in South India 23) and has there the of a "deityof the place,"24) it is likelythat she, or a characteristics
Diruka vana-c, II5th carukkam;cited in M. A. 19) Tirupputtirb-puranam, The Religionand Philosophy Dorai Rangaswamy, of Tevaram (Madras: Uniand defeated her. 22)

versityof Madras, 1958), p. 442. cited in ibid., p. 444. 20) Tiruvalainkattu-puranam; 21) Cited in ibid., p. 445.
22) 1964),

R. K. Das, Temples of Tamilnad (Bombay: BharatiyaVidya Bhavan,


p.
I95.

Press, 1921).

23)

The VillageGods of SouthIndia (Calcutta: Association HenryWhitehead,

24) See Kees W. Bolle, "Speakingof a Place," in JosephM. Kitagawa and CharlesH. Long (eds.), Mythsand Symbols:Studiesin Honor of Mircea Eliade of ChicagoPress, 1969),pp. 127-40. (Chicago: University

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goddess (or goddesses) like her, was indigenousto the South. The of a "littletradicontest, then,may mark the Saivite accommodation tion" as well as the accommodation of a growing,all-India Kali and cult. In these stories,moreover, it is clear that Kali mythology is subdued by Siva. She is not accepted on equal terms. All of the storiessmackof the Saivite pointof view. The best thatKili can hope for is marriagewith Siva, never conquestor domination of him.25) There are some other,more specifically to be religious, implications Manikka Vachakar, drawn fromthe storyof the dance tournament. for example, says that had not Siva defeated or calmed Kili, the whole universewould have becomesubject to her blind,bubblingfury and destroyed itself. Her furyis equated with prakrti- the realm of vibratingmatterthat proceeds according to its own laws. Siva by subduing Kili representsPurusa, or the yogin's heroic taming of matter- his defeat of Kali is "a sublimation and deificationof There are other stories,usually in later literature, that depict the confrontation and associationof Kili and Siva in such a way as to A strikingingive Kali the dominantpositionin their relationship. in the Devi-bhagavata. stanceof this is to be found (not surprisingly) Once upon a time, the storygoes, all of heaven's inhabitants were invitedto Daksa's sacrificewiththe exceptionof ~iva. Daksa thought Siva was a bit mad and really unfit to be his daughter's (Sati's) did not want to husband,so he did not invitehim. Sati, nevertheless, miss this important social event,and so asked Siva if she mightattend and in even thoughhe had not been invited.Siva refusedpermission, of this anger Sati assumed the terribleformof Kili. Siva, terrified triedto flee,whereuponKili filledthe ten directions awful creature, with her various (and mostlyterrible) forms. 27) Siva, unable to escape, sat down and in great fear looked at Kili and asked who she was and wherehis lovely Sati had gone. She repliedthat,of course, she was his beloved Sati, only this form (Kili's) was her real form,
Rangaswamy, The Religion of Tevaram, p. 490. 26) Ibid., p. 491. 27) This myth is very common in later literature and tells of the origin of the da.iamahavidyas, the ten great forms or manifestationsof the Devi. While Kali is said to be the source of all the forms in this particular myth, she is usually said to be the first of the ten forms. See D. C. Sircar, The Sakta Pithas (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, n.d.), p. 48n.
25)

matter." 26)

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the formshe assumedfor the tasks of creationand destruction. It was her formas universal She to that she had assumed deity. explained Siva the beautiful formof Sati simply to rewardSiva for his auterities. 28) Anotherstorythat picturesKMli dominating Siva is found in the AdhyatamaRamayana. When Rama returnsfromLaiika he brags to Sita about his conquestof the terrible ten-headed Rtvana. Sit~, howis not impressedand simply smiles. When Rama's boasting ever, a continues, Sita asks him what he would do if he were to confront thousand-headed Ravana. Rama repliesthat,of course,he would slay such a Ravana. Sith looks doubtful and says thatin fact such a demon does exist but that he had betterlet her take care of him. Rama, sets out with his armyto find the new terror.Findingthe indignant, thousand-headed Rivana, Rama and his armyattack.However,when thegiantsees theapproaching armyhe shootsjust threearrows,which driveall of RIma's allies back to theirhomes.Alone on the battlefield with the giant Ravana, Rima is disheartened and begins to weep. the of her husband,smiles and immediately predicament Sita, seeing assumes the formof Kali. She attacksand kills the demonand then begins tossinghis heads and limbsabout. She gulps his blood in her dance. The gods become frenzyand begins to do an earth-shattering alarmed and petitionSiva to intervene.He comes to the battlefield where Kali dances in madness and throwshimselfdown among the corpsesof the slain underher dancingfeet. Brahmi then calls to her, directingher attentionto Siva beneath her. Recognizing him there and embarrassed and (he is called her husbandhere) she is astonished of Kali in stops her dance. (This is a very commonrepresentation Bengal.) She resumes her appearance as Sits and accompaniesthe humiliated Rama to theirhome.29) Now this myth(worthyof Woman's Liberation) presentsus with a very different picture of Kali's association with Aiva. Here she
Candra Vidyarnava Bhattacarya Mahodaya, ed. Arthur Avalon [Sir John Woodroffe] (Madras: Ganesh & Co., I960), pp. 208-13.

in Principlesof Tantra: The Tantratattva Siva 28) Summarized of Sriyukta

(3rd ed. abr.; London: Black, Parbury, & Allen, Booksellers to the Hon. East, India Co., 1817), pp. 146-47. Ward may be mistaken in attributingthis story to the Adhyatma and Hinduism Ramdyana.Sir Monier-Williams, Brahmanism (London: John Murray, 1887), alludes to the same myth and says it is found in the Adbhuta Ramayana, pp. I89-9on.

and Religionof theHindoos 29) W. Ward,A View of theHistory, Literature,

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dominates the action.Siva is summoned to remedy the situation, to be sure,but he can onlydo so by lyingbeneathher feet.He subduesher, but only in the most humiliating certainly, way. Here, clearly,Kili has triumphed over Siva - has movedto the foreground as the more powerfulof the two. And this dominantpositionis to be seen elseand in Bengali kta devotionwhere: in certainTantric literature, alism. VI. KalHand theTantricHero I suggestedabove that among the three most importantfactors as a great deityin her own operativein effecting Kili's "completion" rightwas her popularityin Tantrism. Coincidentwith the rise of in the Indian Tantrismwas the increasing of the feminine popularity tradition. While goddesses were known and worshipedin Hinduism prior to the Tantric "epidemic,"it was in the early medievalperiod (from the seventhcenturyA.D. onward) that the Goddess (or the goddesses) assumed a popularitythat was far more overwhelming in the past. To what extentTantrismencouraged,rethan anything or evenpresupposed theemergence of theGoddess is difficult inforced, blended That the increasing of the feminine to determine. importance is clear. For an essential well withcertainTantricemphases, however, union, aspectof Tantrism(both Hindu and Buddhist) is the interplay, of the male and female aspects of reality and symbiotic relationship (Siva and Sakti in Hinduism,Upaya and Prajfiiain Buddhism). Just when and how Kil became accepted into the Tantric traditionis to sixteenth obscure.30) By late medievaltimes(fourteenth centuries), with associated Tantrism, particularly though, she was intimately or that aspect of the esoterictradition, Tantrismof the left-handed, which emphasizedthe path of the hero (vzra). 31) Tantric tradition
30) The Hindu Tantras are almost invariably set in the context of divine revelation (or divine discourse) in which Siva instructs P~rvati or in which Parvati is the teacher. Never, to my knowledge, does Kili play either role. Pirvati alone seems to play the role of disciple or teacher. in which Ktli comes to play an important,if not central, 31) The Vtmfictra, role, seems to have been most popular in Bengal and Assam, those areas where she is still most widely worshiped, and may suggest that Kili originally came from the northeasternarea of India. However, her place as a village deity in South India and her association with the Vindhya Mountains suggest that she was probably not indigenuous to Bengal alone.

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In manyTantrictexts Kali's positionis unambiguously declaredto be thatof a great deity; indeed,in manytexts she is declaredto be the supremedeity,triumphant over all others,equivalent,in fact,to Brahman.In the Nirvana-tantra the great gods Brahms, Visnu, and Siva are said to arise fromher like bubbles from the sea, endlessly arising and passing away, leaving theirsource unchanged.Compared to Kali, proclaimsthis text, the gods Brahma, Visnu, and Siva are equivalent onlyto the amountof waterin a cow's hoofprint compared to the waters of the sea. 32) The Nigama-kalpataru and the Picchiltantra declare that of all mantras Kali's is the greatest. 33) The the Kdmakhyd-tantra, and Niruttara-tantra all proclaim Yogini-tantra, of the Goddess), Kali the greatestof the Vidyas (the manifestations or divinity declare her to be the essence or own itself; indeed,they form (svabhava) of the Goddess.34) The Kamadd-tantra statesuneneithermale nor female,sinless, quivocallythat she is attributeless, the imperishable saccidananda,Brahman Itself.35) In the Mahanirtoo, "Kali" is one of the most commonepithetsfor the vadna-tantra,
primordial Sakti (e.g., 5. I40-4I;

passage Siva praises her as follows:

6. 68-76; Io. 10o2), and in one

At the Dissolution of things, it is Kala Who will devourall, and by reason of this He is called Mahtkala,and since Thou devourest Mahakala Himself, it is Thou who are the SupremePrimordialKtliki. Because Thou devourest Kala, Thou art Kali, becauseThou art the Originof and devourest all things Thou art called the Adya KMli.Resuming afterdissolution Thine own nature,dark and formless, ineffableand inconceivable Thou alone remainest as theOne. Thoughhavinga form, yetart Thou formless; though multiform Thyselfwithout beginning, by the powerof Mtyi, Thou art the of all, Creatrix, and Destructress that Thou art.36) Protectress, Beginning

As has been said, why and how Kali came to be associated with Tantrismis not clear, nor is it clear how she came to gain such a pre-eminent position. Given certain Tantric philosophicaland ritual line of argument seems quite however,the following presuppositions, probable.
32) Principles of Tantra, pp. 327-28. 33) Hymn to Kall (Karp fradi-stotra), ed. and trans. Arthur Avalon [Sir John Woodroffe] (3rd ed.; Madras: Ganesh & Co., 1965), p. 34. 34) Ibid. 35) Ibid. 36) IV. 29-34; The Great Liberation (Mahanirvana Tantra), trans. Arthur Avalon [Sir John Woodroffe] (4th ed.; Madras: Ganesh & Co., 1963), pp. 69-70.

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Tantrismgenerally oriented.By means of various rituals is ritually and and interior, (exterior mental) the sadhaka (practitioner) bodily seeks to gain moksa (release, salvation). A consistent theme in this endeavoris the unitingof opposites (male-female, microcosm-macrocosm, sacred-profane, Siva-Sakti). In Tantrismthere is an elaborate subtle geographyof the body that must be learned, controlled, and in resolved means of the the both ultimately unity.By body physical and subtle bodies - the sadhaka may manipulatevarious levels of of realityand harness the dynamicsof those levels to the attainment his goal. The sadhaka, with the help of a guru, undertakesto gain his goal by conquest,by using his own body and knowledgeof that world of name and form,the polarized body to bring the fractured worldof male and female,sacredand profane, to wholenessand unity. In Vamicara sadhana this quest takes a particularly dramaticform. In his attempt to realize the nature of the world as completely and thoroughly pervadedby the one Sakti, thesadhaka (the vira, the hero) undertakes the ritual known as paica-tattva (or padica-makdra), the ritualof the five ("forbidden") things(or truths).In a ritualcontext and underthe supervision of his guru the sadhaka partakesof wine, In this way he overmeat,fish,parchedgrain,and sexual intercourse. comes the distinction (or duality) of clean and unclean, sacred and profane,and breaks his bondage to a world artificially fragmented. He affirmsin a radical way the underlying unityof the phenomenal of Sakti with the whole creation.Heroically,he world,the identity over social, moral,and physicalboundariesthat divide the triumphs one Sakti. By partaking of the forbidden, himselfin it by indulging he and masters it. over controls it, ritually, triumphs By affirming the essential worth of the forbidden, the forbiddenloses its power to pollute, to degrade,to bind.37) The figureof Kali conveysthe image of death, destruction, fear, the all-consuming terror, aspect of reality.As such we mightsay she is also a "forbiddenthing,"or the forbidden par excellence,for she is death itself. For the Tantric hero the forbiddenis not to be
37) For the paiica-tattva ritual see Mahanirvana-tantra V and VI; A. Bharati, The Tantric Tradition (London: Rider & Co., 1965), pp. 228 ff.; Mircea Eliade, Yoga, Immortalityand Freedom, trans. Williard R. Trask (New York: Pantheon Books, 1958), pp. 254 ff.; and Henrich Zimmer, Philosophies of India, ed. Joseph Campbell (Cleveland: World Publishing Co., 1956), pp. 572 ff.

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feared, ignored,or avoided. Given the rationaleof the propitiated, is confronted paica-tattva ritual, boldly by the sadhaka and Ktli into a vehicle of therebyassimilated,overcome,and transformed a short salvation.This is particularly clear in the Karpuiradi-stotra, work in praise of that describesthe paica-tattva ritualas perKtli this formedin the cremation ground (imaadna sadhana). Throughout text is describedin familiarterms.She is black (vs. I), with Ktli disheveledhair, blood tricklesfromher mouth (vs. 3), she holds a sword and a severed head (vs. 4), wears a girdle of severed arms, sits on a corpse in the cremation ground (vs. 7), and is surrounded by skulls, bones, and female jackals (vs. 8). And it is she, when confronted who gives the sadhaka great power boldly in meditation, and ultimately salvation.In her favoritedwellingplace, the cremation ground,the heroic sadhaka with his femalecompanion(Jakti) meditates on everyterrible aspect of the Black Goddess and thus achieves his goal.
naked,and withdisheveled He, O Mahtktli,who in the cremation-ground, and with each meditates hair, intently upon Thee and recitesThy mantra, to Thee of a thousand withseed, recitation makesoffering Akanda flowers a Lord of theearth. becomes without any effort makes on Tuesdayat midnight, Thy mantra, havinguttered O Kill, whoever to Thee of a hair of his ?akti in the even but once withdevotion offering a greatpoet,a Lord of the earth, and even goes becomes cremation-ground, mounted upon an elephant. s8)

Here it is clear that is more than a terrible, ferociousslayer Ktli In fact, of demons who serves Durgh (or Siva) on the battlefield. she is by and large disassociatedfromthe battlecontext.She is the with the suprememistressof the universe (vs. 12), she is identified five elements (vs. 14), and in union with ~iva (who is clearly identifiedas her spouse) she creates and destroysthe worlds. Her her exalted positionas appearance has also been modifiedbefitting rulerof the world and the object of meditation by whichthe sadhaka attains liberation.In additionto her terribleaspects (which are insisted upon) there are now hints of another,benign dimension.So, for example,she no longeris describedas emaciatedor ugly. In the Karpiradi-stotrashe is youngand beautiful(vs. I), she has a gently smilingface (vs. 18), and her two righthands make gesturesthat
38) Karp?iradi-stotra15-I6 (Hymn to Kdli, pp. 84, 86).

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dispel fear and offer boons (vs. 4). These positive features are of apt, as Kali no longer is a mere shrew, the distillation entirely wrath,but is she throughwhom the hero achieves success, Durgt's she who grantstheboon of salvation and who,whenboldlyapproached, frees the sadhaka from fear itself. She is here not only the symbol of death but the symbolof triumphover death. In Tantrism Ktli has come to represent the forbidden par excellence,on the one hand, and the bountiful,fear-dispelling, boon-conferring goddess on the other.Throughbold confrontation the heroicpractitioner findswithin the terrifying, forbidden, frightening presenceof Kali the key to his triumphover his own fears. The Tantric hero has refused to flee beforethewrathof theGoddessand in thatrefusalhas gainedmastery over her and over himself.
VII. KalZ in Bengali Devotionalism

The third important factor that was mentionedearlier in Ktli's of Bengal kta devotees. This "completion"is the devotionalism is typified devotion by two of Bengal's most famousreligiousfigures: and Ramakrishna. Ramprasad The eighteenth-century Bengali saint RSimprastdSen saw in Kali not onlythe ferocious, wild aspect of the divine. He saw in her, too, the loving,the comforting. For the benign, Rimprastd worshipedKtli firstand foremost as Mother,as she who scolds and punishes,but who ultimately soothesand protects her children. did not Rtmprasi~d obscure KIli's terribleaspect in the least. He reveled in describing her strange and wild appearance.He recognized her as extraordinarily called her mad. But he was never put off by strangeand frequently her appearance,as the child is never put off by the blustering of his mother.No matterhow uncaringor cruel she may seem, the child's in his mother's onlyhope is finally mercy.So Ramprasad sings:
I shall take refugein my Mother'sfeet; whereshall I go at this timeof If thereis no room for me at Her abode, I will lie outside; thereis no harmin it I will lie outsideHer abode. FastingwithHer name as mysupport, Prasida says: "I will not leave Her even if Umt turnsme out; I will catchholdof Her feetwithoutstretched armsand give up mylife."39)
Sinha (Calcutta: Sinha Publishing House, 1966), no. 12, p. 6. my distress?

39) Rama Prasada's DevotionalSongs: The Cult of Shakti,trans.Jadunath

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Like the Tantric hero,Rimprasad is not afraid of Kali's appearance but fascinatedby it. He makes no attempt to softenher appearance. Rather,he is amazed by it, for he knowswell that she is his Mother.
Thou laughest aloud (striking of bloodflowfrom terror);streams Thy limbs. of safety, O Thrt, doer of good,the good of all, grantor grant O Mother, me safety. O MotherKalI! comenow as Tara witha smilingface and clad in white; As dawndescends on densedarkness of the night. Thee alone so long. O Mother!terrific Kali! I have worshiped is finished; My worship now, O Mother, bringdown Thy sword.40)

In contrast to the Tantric sadhaka, who approachesKali heroically and confidently, means however, Ramprasid approachesKali through of prapatti, self-surrender. He admits before her through helplessness and throwshimselfabjectly on her mercy.The Tantric sddhaka is grantedKili's boon of fearlessnessby boldly conqueringher. Rimprasad is grantedher boon by steadfast,childlikepetition.Both the Tantric sadhaka and Rimprasad tame Kili, or succeed in seeing behindher terrific exterior.The former achieves this by assault and thelatter means of a child'spersistent and all-consuming love. by Perhaps the finalchapterin Kili's "taming,"in her transformation from a shrew to a loving mother,is seen in the biographyof the famous nineteenth-century saint Ramakrishna. In the traditionof to Ramprasad and otherSakta devotees,Ramakrishna'srelationship was him For she was the Kali personal. intensely lovingMotherwho never refusedto pamper her child. Even more than Rimprasad he embodiedthe naive, childlikesimplicity of the ardentdevoteeof the Mother.As a templepriest at the newly establishedKIali templeat Daksineivar near Calcutta he spent his entire life as her full-time He was divorced from worldly servant,doting on her constantly. and was freeto devotehis entirelife to her service.In this problems situationhis childlikenature could express itself fully and freely. When RamakrishnaapproachedKili he did so as the child he was, with uttersimplicity, whole-hearted eagerness,and completenaivet&. He is described his one of by disciplesas follows:
Like a drunkard, he wouldreel to the throne of the Mother, touchher chin his affection for Her, and sing,talk,joke, laugh,and by way of showing dance.... As his spiritual he more and morefelthimself mood deepened to
40) Ibid., no. 221, pp. 118-I19.

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be a childof the Divine Mother.He learntto surrender himself completely to Her will and let her directhim. 41)

And as Ramakrishnawas childlikewhen he approached Kili, she, too, became like a child in response to him. Behind her dreadful appearance she finally revealed to Ramakrishnathat hidden child. himselfrelatesa vision he had of her: "She came to me Ramrnakrishna .. as a (Muslim) girl six or seven years old. She had a tilak on her foreheadand was naked. She walked with me, joking and frisking like a child."42) In Bengal today Kil is extremely popular. Her images are found in thousands of temples the country, and on Kali-pfija day throughout thousands of additional temporaryimages are set up in pandals the state.In South Calcutta,in the Keoratala-Smaiana, one throughout of thelargestcremation an immense groundsin the city, imageof Kali is set up. Large crowds jam the vicinityand jostle the funeralprocessionsthat streamto the burninggroundtwenty-four hours a day. to the sharp staccatobeat of drumsand the Shortlyafter midnight, shouts of the assembly,"Victory to Kili, victoryto the Mother," severalblack goats are beheadedand offeredto the goddess (as they are every day at the nearby Kilighat temple). The funeral pyres blaze in the background, and the Black Goddess is served.Kili retains her fierceappearance and her appetitefor blood, clearly.But alongside manyof her images on this day, Ramakrishnaand his wife are shown sittingplacidly.Kili stands behind them,looking terribleas on theirheads. There she stands, ever,but her hands are placed gently her trusting lollingtongue,bloodied sword,and all - but comforting children. She is tamed. VIII. Summaryand Conclusions Kali breaksinto Hinduismin a battlecontext.She is born of wrath and epitomizesthe fearful,vicious aspects of death and destruction. She is cruel,ferocious, and horrible to look at. She delightsi in slaughter, and her weirdhowl and uncanny her enemies. laughter terrify
41) M. [Mahendranath Gupta], The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, translated fromthe Bengali by Swami Nikhilananda (New York: Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center, I942), pp. I4-I5. 42) Ibid., p. 175.

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In later puranicand Tantric literature none of Kali's rough edges are smoothedor ignored.In the puranas, though,she becomes associated with Siva and an "established"mythological tradition. As his or even antagonist, she is incorporated intothe tradition wife,consort, with a milderdimensionof and, in some cases, becomes identified In the Tantras she maintainsher fierce aspect but is condivinity. fronted withherand thereby fearlessly by thehero,who thusidentifies controls her and wins her boons. In the devotionof Rimprasid and Ramakrishna, Kil is addressed as Mother.Despite her strangeappearanceand weird behavior,these two Bengali saints saw in her a lovingmother.They apparently saw her ferocity behindor beneath an enduring love. They saw her external her as children, appearanceas a mask,and by persistently approaching theysucceededin makingher take off thatmask. What the symbolof Kili signifiesand what her tamingmeans are difficult questionsto answer. Religious symbolsare frequently very to understand difficult to their contentdifficult and, if understood, in whatwe may say about such express ordinary language.No matter symbols,their meaningnever seems to be exhausted by our commentary. There are a few things,nevertheless, that seem quite clear in the divine symbolof Kali and the sequence of eventsthat "tamed" that goddess. In the image of Kili, the Indian spiritual traditionhas affirmed that the divine containswithinitself ferociousqualities. It has affirmed that the divine often reveals itselfas something totally as something uncontrollable other, (indeed,out of control),tumultuous, if not mad. as something intoxicated And as Kali is identifiedwith the world order, particularly the has affirmed process of birth,decay,and death,the Indian tradition that all the ephemeral, fleetingaspects of life are phantasmagoric, in the that a sense these divine, painfulaspectsof reality pervadedby have been sanctified by the divine. The image of Kil, furthermore, teaches man that pain and sorrow,decay, death,and destruction are not to be overcomeor conqueredby denyingthemor by explaining them away. Pain and sorrow are woven into the textureof man's life so thoroughly that to deny themis ultimately futileand foolish. For man to realize the fulness of his being, for man to exploit his potentialas a spiritualbeing, he must finallyaccept this dimension of his existence.

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This is what the various mythsconcerning or Kili's "completion," are This is what the the about. of Tantric hero and "taming," sadhana the devotionof Ramprasld and Ramakrishnaseek to come to terms with.43) Siva's defeat of Kali in the dance tournament dramatically the processof yogiccontrol of flux by heroically portrays annihilating it, subduingit, calming its inherentwill to multiplyand diversify on the other hand, blindly.The mythsthat depictKali as dominant, demonstrate a different, but nevertheless means of coming efficacious, to termswiththisbeingand what she represents. When Klli is shown standingon the prone Siva, or when she otherwisedominatesor terrifieshim, she is dramatically thrustinto the foreground to be confronted and "assimilated."In these mythsand icons the proper of herbut exaltation-presentation of herresponseis notannihilation the devotee or practitioner is invitedto take a long, hard, realistic look. He is forcedto meditate upon she who dramatically represents what HeinrichZimmercalls the "dumb rage of creation,""the tyran43) Admirers of Bengali literaturemight point out that if this interpretation were correct, then such famous Bengali figures as Bankim Chatterjee and Rabindranath Tagore chose not to come to terms with K5l and what she represents,and thereby invited the wrath of the goddess. Both were suspicious of her and tended to interprether negatively. Tagore's drama Sacrifice is a clear denunciation of her cult, while Chatterjee's Kopal-kundala does not tend to see in Kali a redeeming figure but primarilya goddess who belonged to the fringes of society. This is certainly an understandable criticism,and I am not as the only legitimateone. about to insist upon my interpretation I should add here, too, that there are importantaspects of Kali's history that I have not treated thoroughly,or indeed at all, in this paper. Her place in Kashmir Tantrism has still to be studied. The extent of her role in Buddhist Tantrism has not been mentioned and is by and large unknown to me. Kili also has an extremelyimportantrole as a local, village goddess in Bengal, where she is associated with disease and such goddesses (primarily Bengali) as Slitalk and Manass. Kili also played an importantrole in Bengali "nationalism" in the century during the British partitionof Bengal (1905-7). early part of the twentieth (See Al. Carthill, The Lost Dominion [Edinburgh: William Blackwood & Sons, I924]; Valentine Chirol, Indian Unrest [London: Macmillan & Co., I910]; and Ernest A. Payne, The Saktas [Calcutta: Y.M.C.A. Publishing House, 1938].) At this time, for many, she came to symbolize Bengal itself. I have also neglected to discuss Kil's association with the Thugs (George Bruce, The Longmans, Green & Co., 1968], and Tuker, The Yellow Scarf) and other criminal of Kili is also seen in recent attempts interpretation groups. A decidedly different to rationalize or allegorize her fierce appearance (Constance Kapera, The Worship of Kal in Banaras: An Inquiry [Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, n.d.], esp. pp. 94-1lo).

in BritishIndia [London: The Cult of Thugee and Its Overthrow Stranglers,

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nical scream of the newbornfor food and warmth,"the "whip that drives life through the 'nightof all."' 44) He is to realize that he is He is to realize that part of this irresistible, unquenchable thirsting. he is inevitably destinedto perish.By such confrontation the beholder as it were, on those darker,murkier, puts the spotlight, "forbidden" dimensions of his being. He lets the ghostsand frightening monsters of his instinctual and subconscious being emergeinto the light,where theyare aired, studied,and consciously accepted. If the beholderis of heroic nature,he will conquer this terrifying dimension of reality of it, by denying by boldlypartaking dramatically and ritually its power to bind him spiritually; he will pursue the path of the Tantric hero.45) If he is of anothernature,he will accept it
44) Henrich Zimmer,"Die Indische Weltmutter," Eranos Jahrbuch, VI, 208, 217. 45) The heroic response to Kali does not have to take place ritually,or even within the limits of Tantrism, as the following hymn to Kali by Vivekananda shows: The stars are blotted out, Clouds are covering clouds, It is darkness, vibrant, sonant. In the roaring whirling wind Are the souls of a million lunatics,Just loose from the prison house, Wrenching trees by the roots, Sweeping all from the path. The sea has joined the fray, And swirls up mountain-waves, To reach the pitchy sky. The flash of lurid light Reveals on every side A thousand, thousand shades Of Death begrimedand black Scattering plagues and sorrows, Dancing mad with joy, Come, Mother, Come! For Terror is thy name, Death is in Thy breath, And every shaking step Destroys a world for e'er. Thou "Time," the All-Destroyer! Come, O Mother, Come! Who dares misery love, And hugs the form of Death Dance in destruction'sdance, To him the Mother comes. Cited in Sister Nivedita (M. E. Noble), Kalf the Mother (Mayavati, Almora, Himalayas: Advaita Ashrama, 1953), p. 10o5.

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of a child - he will not fightagainst it, he will with the simplicity He will laugh and whine,but will revelin life's moment. not whimper of his and play with the "Mother," secure in both the inevitability own death and the obvious importanceof affirmingthe moment. of the child He will achieve the freedom,naivet6,and spontaneity who lives from day to day, and in so living will have receivedthe grace of the Mother. Kali no doubtexpressesa good deal morethandeathand destruction, but she does express at least these things.So her "taming"or "comof existence, of thisdimension pletion"is thestoryof man's realization and acceptance. and his conquestof deathby confrontation

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