Mahavidya

1
Mahavidya
Kali, Tara, Shodashi, Bhuvaneshvari, Bhairavi,
Chhinnamasta, Dhumavati, Bagalamukhi, Matangi, and Kamala.
Mahavidyas (Great Wisdoms) or Dasa
Mahavidyas are a group of ten aspects
of the Divine Mother or Devi in
Hinduism. The Ten Mahavidyas are
Wisdom Goddesses, who represent a
spectrum of feminine divinity, from
horrific goddesses at one end, to the
ravishingly beautiful at the other
[1]
.
The development of Mahvidyas
represents an important turning point
in the history of Shaktism as it marks
the rise of Bhakti aspect in Shaktism,
which reached its zenith in 1700 CE.
First sprung forth in the post-Puranic
age, around 6th century C.E., it was a
new theistic movement in which the
supreme being was envisioned as female. A fact epitomized by texts like Devi-Bhagavata Purana, especially its last
nine chapters (31-40) of the seventh skandha, which are known as the Devi Gita, and soon became central texts of
Shaktism
[2]
.
Etymology
Kali
The name Mahavidyas comes from the Sanskrit roots, with maha
meaning 'great' and vidya meaning, 'revelation, manifestation,
knowledge, or wisdom
[2]
.
Names
Shaktas believe, "the one Truth is sensed in ten different facets; the
Divine Mother is adored and approached as ten cosmic personalities,"
the Dasa-Mahavidya ("ten-Mahavidyas").
[3]
The Mahavidyas are
considered Tantric in nature, and are usually identified as:
[4]
1. Kali: The ultimate form of Brahman, "Devourer of Time" (Supreme
Deity of Kalikula systems)
2. Tara: The Goddess as Guide and Protector, or Who Saves.Who
offers the ultimate knowledge which gives salvation(also known as
Neel Saraswati).
3. Lalita-Tripurasundari (Shodashi): The Goddess Who is "Beautiful
in the Three Worlds" (Supreme Deity of Srikula systems); the "Tantric Parvati" or the "Moksha Mukuta".
4. Bhuvaneshvari: The Goddess as World Mother, or Whose Body is the Cosmos
5. Bhairavi: The Fierce Goddess
6. Chhinnamasta: The Self-Decapitated Goddess
7. Dhumavati: The Widow Goddess,or the Goddess of death.
8. Bagalamukhi: The Goddess Who Paralyzes Enemies
Mahavidya
2
9. Matangi: the Prime Minister of Lalita (in Srikula systems); the "Tantric Saraswati"
10. Kamala: The Lotus Goddess; the "Tantric Lakshmi"
The Mahabhagavata Purana and Brhaddharma Purana however, list Shodashi (Sodasi) as Tripura Sundari, her
another name.
[1]
. The Guhyatiguyha-tantra associates the Mahavidyas with the ten avatars of Vishnu, and states that
the Mahavidyas are the source from which the avatars of Vishnu arose. All ten forms of the Goddess, whether gentle
or terrifying, are worshiped as the universal Mother.
Legend
Chhinnamasta: The Self-Decapitated Goddess
The 'Mahabhagvata Purana', describes the origin of Mahavidyas, as the
result of an argument between Shiva and Sati (Dakshayani), an earlier
incarnation of Parvati. When Shiva and Sati were wed, Sati's father
Daksha disapproved of the match and organized a great sacrifice to
which he invited everyone except for the newlywed couple. Sati,
incensed, insisted on attending the sacrifice, which Shiva forbade until
Sati transformed herself into a terrible appearance and multiplied into
the ten Mahavidyas, whereby she subdued Shiva's resistance and
attended the sacrifice.
[2]
Worship
Lalita-Tripurasundari
In their strong associations with death, violence, ritual pollution, and
despised marginal social roles, they call into question such normative
social "goods" as worldly comfort, security, respect, and honor. The
worship of these goddesses suggests that the devotee experiences a
refreshing and liberating spirituality in all that is forbidden by
established social orders.
The central aim here is to stretch one's consciousness beyond the
conventional, to break away from approved social norms, roles, and
expectations. By subverting, mocking, or rejecting conventional social
norms, the adept seeks to liberate her or his consciousness from the
inherited, imposed, and probably inhibiting categories of proper and
improper, good and bad, polluted and pure. Living one's life according
to rules of purity and pollution and caste and class that dictate how,
where, and exactly in what manner every bodily function may be
exercised, and which people one may, or may not, interact with
socially, can create a sense of imprisonment from which one might
long to escape. Perhaps the more marginal, bizarre, "outsider"
goddesses among the Mahavidyas facilitate this escape. By identifying with the forbidden or the marginalized, an
adept may acquire a new and refreshing perspective on the cage of respectability and predictability. Indeed a
mystical adventure, without the experience of which, any spiritual quest would remain incomplete.
Mahavidya
3
Bagalmukhi
Further reading
Tantric visions of the Divine Feminine: The Ten Mahvidys, by
David R. Kinsley. University of California Press, 1997. ISBN
0-520-20499-9. Excerpts
[5]
References
[1] Mahavidyas (http:/ / books. google. co. in/ books?id=ZDquQXm0bDsC&
pg=PA161& dq=Mahavidya) Hindu goddesses: visions of the divine feminine in the
Hindu religious tradition, by David R. Kinsley. University of California Press, 1988.
ISBN 0-520-06339-2. Page 161-165.
[2] The Dev Gt: the song of the Goddess, by Cheever Mackenzie Brown. SUNY
Press, 1998. ISBN 0-7914-3940-2. Page 23
[3] Shankarnarayanan, S., The Ten Great Cosmic Powers: Dasa Mahavidyas. Samata
Books (Chennai, 1972; 4th ed. 2002)., pp. 4, 5.
[4] Kinsley, David. Tantric Visions of the Divine Feminine: The Ten Mahavidyas.
University of California Press (Berkeley, 1997).
[5] http:/ / books. google.co. in/ books?id=gkCsrfghkZ4C& printsec=frontcover&
dq=Mahavidya& source=gbs_book_other_versions_r& cad=8
External links
Wisdom Goddesses - Mahavidyas and the Assertion of Femininity in Indian Thought (http:/ / www.
exoticindiaart. com/ article/ mahavidyas/ )