Ramakrishna has thus described his first vision of the Mother:
"I felt as if my heart were being squeezed like a wet towel. I was overpowered with a great restlessness and a fear that it might not be my lot to realize Her in this life. I could not bear the separation from Her any longer. Life seemed to be not worth living.
Suddenly my glance fell on the sword that was kept in the Mother's temple. I determined to put an end to my life. When I jumped up like a madman and seized it, suddenly the blessed Mother revealed Herself. The buildings with their different parts, the temple, and everything else vanished from my sight, leaving no trace whatsoever, and in their stead I saw a limitless, infinite, effulgent Ocean of Consciousness. As far as the eye could see, the shining billows were madly rushing at me from all sides with a terrific noise, to swallow me up! I was panting for breath. I was caught in the rush and collapsed, unconscious. What was happening in the outside world I did not know; but within me there was a steady flow of undiluted bliss, altogether new, and I felt the presence of the Divine Mother."
On his lips when he regained consciousness of the world was the word "Mother".
-THE FIRST VISION OF KALI from the introduction to The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna
O Mother of time, space, form, and relativity
Thou hast taken a finite form – the Kali-Divine,
Colossal, symbol-idol of all-sheltering Nature.
The Spirit was invisible and took the shape of a visible Mother Divine –
In whom throbs the heart of all-protecting, mothering kindness.
O Mother Divine! Thy beauty-mark of the moon is set between
Thy two dark eyebrows of twilight and night.
Clouds of Eternity veil Thy Face.
Gusts of prophetic lives often have fitfully dared to blow Thy veil of mystery away,
Momentarily revealing Thy Face hiding behind the stares of ignorance.
O Mother Divine, in the dawn of Creation we beheld Thee on the track of time,
Roaming in the rustic attire of primitive culture,
Crowned with wild nature,
And wearing the garland of unpolished minds and opaque, finite things.
In the noon-day of Creation, I beheld Thee,
Wearing a garment of sunny mentalities, scorching Souls with the heat of their own material fire.
Thy Body of Activity sweated with restlessness.
All Thy children felt the heat of want,
And implored Thee to send the cooling breeze of peace.
In Thy noon-hour of fulfillment, Thou didst equally attend the forsaken slums of misery,
The halls of festive prosperity, and the shrines of peaceful wisdom.
In Thy attire of mid-day mentalities,
Thou didst travel through the fiestas of centuries:
Beholding the dream of human life and death,
Of the evolution and dissolution of plants,
Of the birth and death of civilization,
Of the drama of nebulae-molding worlds –
The dream of new-born planets and earthquakes and partial dissolutions.
Then the dark night approached,
And Thou didst wear the grim, dark veil of mourning,
To put Creation through the terrible but purifying ordeal of destruction’s fire.
The sun burst and belched fire;
The Cosmic earthquake broke the vase of the sky, dropping embers of stars;
And all Creation was a furnace of flames.
Creation came from fire: beneath the ashes of matter, the embers of Creation slept;
And, rocked by the hands of Mother Divine, Creation awoke
With its body of pure flames.
Thy one hand holds the lightning-sword of destruction:
Another clutches the severed head of ignorance:
Thy third hand of power wakes Unseen Creative Force,
To take finite, fairy forms:
The wand of Thy fourth hand stops the storms of Cosmic discord,
Ushering in the soothing rays of Peace.
O Kali, Thou wild Mother of creative activity, wearing a garland of human minds:
The rhythm of Thy wild dance of Creation ceases when Thy footsteps touch the transcendental breast
Of Thy Invisible Husband of Infinity – Shiva,
In whom all Creation rests.
O Mother-Progress, the dance of Thy life we hear in the tinkling bells of little laughing harmonious lives.
On the floor of my tender thoughts,
Thy inspirations softly dance in tune with the music of the spheres.
In the Hall of Creation, everywhere, O Kali, I hear the rhythm of Thy footsteps,
Dancing wildly in the booming thunder, and softly in the song of atoms.
O Mother Divine, in Thy changing robes are woven the dreams of Creation, preservation, and destruction,
Mother Divine, on the beauteous veil of Thy Mind a million cinemas of Cosmic dramas play.
Mother Divine, draw aside Thy glittering veil of Cosmic motion pictures
And show me Thy delusion-driving Face of Mercy.
Sri Devi Khadgamala Stotram is the one mantra, the supreme one in the Sri Vidya tradition (one of the Trantic initiatory paths) and offers number of sacred names of Siddhas, God and Goddess forms, mantras - all under the One Devi, in this case, Sri Sri Tripura Sundari.
It takes you from the outside of Sri Yantra (seen there on the left hand side) into Her inner Reality and if you listen to it on daily bases, with surrender and willingness to advance, change - it may even grant you much more.
"It fulfills all wishes, more than you desire, instantly. Therein lies its power. Regular practice protects you, nourishes you and takes you beyond." - Sri Amritananda
Below I also include open translation of the sacred names and mantras.
May Sri Sri Tripura Sundari Devi guide, bless and protect you, always.
Om Aim Hrim Srim Aim Klim Souh - OM (in the name of God), may you grant us benediction of knowledge, power and grace.
Om Namah Tripura Sundari
Hridayadevi - Compassionate heart
Sirodevi - princely diadem
Sikhadevi - Long flowing hair
Kavacha Devi - protective hands
Netra Devi - graceful look
Astra Devi - protective weapons
Kameswari - Controller of lust
Bhagamalini - Garland of Suns
Nityaklinne - Oozing wet
Bherunde - Terrific
Vahnivasini - Residing in fire
Mahavajreswari - Jewel in lotus
Sivaduti - Llarbinger of joy
Twarite - Speed
Kulasundari - beautiful lotus on a lake
Nitya - Eternal
Nilapatake - Blue flag with red tip
Vijaye - Dominat
Sarvamangale - All auspicious
Jvalamalini - Flames
Chitre - Kaleidoscope
Mahanitye - Eternal Truth
Paramesvara - Goddess of God
Parameswari - Friendly
Mitresamayi - Sexy
Sasthisamayi - Erect
Uddisamayi - Stroking
Charyanathamayi – Happiness
Below given are the Names of the Saints who have worshiped the Divine Mother and thus attained liberation.
Lopamudramayi - Lopamudra - She offered herself for worship
Agastyamayi - Agastya - he drank the water of the oceans, drying them up
Kalatapanamayi - Kalatana - he set time on fire
Dharmacharyamayi - Dharmacharya - he preached the nature of good and evil
Muktakesisvaramayi - Muktakaleisvara - not worrying about his appearace he let the hair flow loose
Dipakalanathamayi - Depakalanada - he gazed on eternal light
Visnudevamayi - Vishnudeva - he expanded himself, took up the whole of space
Prabhakara devamayi - Prabhaharadeva - he became a star called the sun
Tejodevamayi - Tejodeva - he became the light witch was speeding over all space creating space itself
Manojadevamayi - Manojadeva - he was desire
Kalyanadevamayi - Kalyanadeva - he was ever auspicious
Vasudevamayi - Vasudeva - the world grew out of his memory
Ratnadevamayi - Ratnadeva - concentrated like jewels
Sri Ramanandamayi - Sri Ramananda - he enjoyed the Goddess Sri Rama Blissfully
1. Following are the Gods of the nine enclosures of Sri Chakra / the first enclosure.
The passions called : lust, anger, possessiveness, obsession, pride, jealousy, good, and evil. The procedure to control these passions and obtain the powers of: agitating all(Negativities), liquefying all (orgasmic ally), attracting all, controlling all, maddening all, directing all, moving in all space, be the information of all, be the source of all (womb), be tri-fold division of all (the known, the knowing, and the will know). The wheel of the three worlds of waking, dreaming and sleeping, expressing Herself openly without inhibitions. 2. Below are the sixteen attractive powers identified with the sixteen days of the lunar calendar:
According to the Hindu art of love, the erotic zone moves up from feet to head in the bright half of the lunar month and comes down to the dark half of the lunar month; the expression of the love through the various power of the mind described bellow: - the Gods of the second enclosure.
Kamakarshini - Attractive powers of lust
Buddhyakarshini - Attractive powers of discrimination
Ahamkarakarshini - Attractive powers of ego
Sabdhakarshini - Attractive powers of sound
Sparsakarshini - Attractive powers of touch
Rupakarhsini - Attractive powers of form
Rasakarshini - Attractive powers of taste
Gandhakarshini - Attractive powers of odor
Chittakarshini - Attractive powers of mind
Dharyakarshini - Attractive powers of valor
Smrityikarshini - Attractive powers of memory
Namakarshini - Attractive powers of name
Bijakarshini - Attractive powers of semen
Atmakarshini - Attractive powers of self
Amrtakarshini - Attractive powers of immortality
Sarirakarshini - Attractive powers of morality
Sarvasa paripuraka chakra swamini Gupta Yogini - The wheel which fulfills all directions and all desires, the secret Yogini.
3. Following are the eight forms of erotic sentiments: - the third enclosure.
Ananga Kusume - The sentiment of flowering
Ananga Mekhale - The sentiment of girdling
Ananga Madane - The sentiment of love
Ananga Madananture - The sentiment of lust
Ananga Redhe - The sentiment of outlining
Ananga Vegini - The sentiment of the desire of sex
Ananga Kusume - The sentiment of the insistence on sex
Ananga Malini - The sentiment of orgy
Sarva sanksoghana sadhaka chakra swamini Gupta tara Yogini - The wheel that agitates everyone, the esoteric yogini.
4. Follow the descriptions of the fourteen worlds of the fourth enclosure.
Sarva Samksobhini - Agitating all
Sarva Vidravini - Liquefying all
Sarva Karshini - Attracting all
Sarva Hladini - Pleasing all
Sarva Sammohini - Deluding all
Sarva Stambhini - Obstructing all
Sarva Jrumbhini - Expanding all
Sarva Vasamkari - Controlling all
Sarva Ranjani - Enjoying all
Sarvonmadini - Maddening all
Sarvarthasadhini - all prosperous
Sarva Sampattipurani - All full filling riches
Sarva Mantra Mayi - All mantras
Sarva Dvandva Ksayamkari - Eliminating all dualities
Sarva Soubhagya Dayaka Cakra Swamini
Sampradaya Yogini - The wheel of all kinds of union, traditional Yogini.
5. Follow the Gods of the fifth Chakra.
Sarva Siddhiprade - Giver of all achievements
Sarva Sampatprade - Giver of all wealth
Sarva Priyamkari - Giver of all that one like to have
Sarva Mangalakarini - Harbinger of all auspiciousness
Sarva Kamaprade - Fulfiller of all desires
Sarva Duhkha Vimochani - Eliminator of all misery
Sarva Mrityu Prasamani - Eliminator of all accidental deaths
Sarva Vighna Nivarini - Eliminator of all obstacles
Sarvanga Sundari - Beautiful in every part of Her body
Sarva Soubhagya Dayini Sarvartha Sadhaka Chakra Swamini Kulottirna Yogini - The wheel which turns you on to the right path, gives you all wealth, full fills all desirers, and makes liberation possible, the Yogini that has graduated out if all classifications.
6. Follow the Gods of the sixth Enclosure.
Sarvaghne - Omniscient
Sarva Sakte - Omnipotent
Sarvaisvarya pradayini - Omni expressive
Sarva Jnanamayi - Providing the bliss of omniscience
Sarva Vyadhivinasini - Eliminating all maladies
Sarvadharasvarupe - The support of all
Sarva Papahare - The eliminator of notions of all sins.
Sarva Anandamayi - All happiness
Sarva Raksa Swaroopini - All protecting
Sarvepsita Phalaprade - Provider of all desired fruits (Boons).
Sarva Raksakara Chakra Swamini, Nigarbha Yogini - The wheel of all protection, the Yogini protecting the child in the womb.
7. Following are the eight forms of Saraswati, Goddess of knowledge, Gods of the seventh Enclosure:
Vasini - Existing
Kameshwari - Expression
Modini - Pleasure
Vimale - Pure
Arune - Passion
Jayini - Victory
Sarvesvari - Owner
Kaulini - Enjoying all
Sarvarogahara Chakra Swamini Rahasya Yogini - The wheel which eliminates disease, the secret Yogini.
8. Follow are the powerful weapons of the Divine Mother
Baanini - The five flowered arrows of Manmatha (God of love, Kaamdev) representing the five senses of sound (music), touch (feel ), form (beauty), taste (sweetness), smell (fragrance).
Chapini - The sugar cane bow (the mind which likes sweet things of life).
Pasini - The attractive power of love.
Ankusini - The repulsive power to controling evil.
Maha Kameshwari - The thrust of God expressing the desire to see Himself in many forms
Maha Vajreshwari - The ability to obtain the cosmos in seed form
Maha Bhagamalini - The ability to express the cosmos out of the seed
Sarva Siddhiprada Chakra Swamini Ati Rahasya Yogini - The wheel of realizations, the most secret Yogini.
9.1 Follow is the central hub of the wheel of Sri Devi, the Supreme Goddess: - in ninth enclosure.
Sri Sri Maha Bhattarike, Sarvananda Maya Chakra Swamini
Paratpara Rahasya Yogini - The Goddess Sri Devi is present in the whole cosmos. The wheel of all bliss, the transcendental secret Yogini.
9.2 Follow are the nine Goddesses controlling the nine wheels above.
Tripure - Three states of Waking, Dreaming and Sleeping.
Tripureshi - The controller of these three states
Tripurasundari - The beautiful one among all these three states
Tripura Vasini - The one who lives in all these three states
Tripura Sriyah - The riches of all these three states
Tripuramalini - The sequences of all these states experienced by all people
Tripura Siddhe - The achievements possible in all these three states
Tripurambe - The experience of the cosmos in Her three states unifying all the experiences of all life
Maha Maheswari - The great cosmic controller
Maha Maha Raghni - The great cosmic empress
Maha Maha Shakte - The great cosmic power
Maha Maha Gupte - The great cosmic secret
Maha Maha Jnapte - The great cosmic memory
Maha Mahannande - The great cosmic bliss
Maha Maha Skandhe - The great cosmic support
Maha Mahasaye - The great cosmic expression
Maha Maha Sri Chakra Nagara Samraghni - The great transcendental conscious empress of the wheel of Sri Chakra.
Namaste Namaste Namaste Namah - We bow to You, we bow to You, We bow to You in the three states of waking, dreaming, and sleeping states O Divine Mother!
“I know what she wants for me,
Even before I speak the words.
I can taste it,
I know her whisper ever present at the back of my mind.
Kali, what do you want for me?
I tremble knowing what is coming.
Open, she says. Open. Open. Open. Open.
She doesn’t say what
And I know only by opening all
Will I appease her
Like a drumbeat she repeats it
Hitting me like waves against a rocky shore
Pounding against me
Her mission to penetrate the layers
Break down all the walls.
Oh, Kali, what do you want for me?
Open. Open. Open. Open.
Tears at the power of one word
To undo me completely.
I give myself over
And she smiles.”
~Ara
Sri Ramakrishna (on the photo to the left), the Tantric master of Dakshineswar, a temple dedicated to Goddess Kali near Colcuta, India, had many teachers.
One of them was a Vedanta inspirant, who taught Sri Ramakrishna about the formless Divinity, Brahman, the impersonal aspect of Godhead.
Here I share how that Vedanta scholar came to realize the nature of our Goddess Kali:
"...The “Naked One,” as Sri Ramakrishna called Totapuri, remained at the Dakshineswar Kali Temple for eleven months. He did not believe in Kali when he arrived but, when he left, he did. This change of attitude happened as follows.
Totapuri, one day, began to suffer from acute dysentery. Excruciating pain did not allow him to rest or meditate on Brahman.
And, one night, when the pain was especially bad, Totapuri felt he should give up his body. Chanting “Hari Om,” he walked into the Ganges.
Although he walked farther and farther into the river and almost reached the other shore, the water never got higher than his ankles . “Is there not enough water in the Ganges to drown myself!?” cried Totapuri.
Suddenly, in one dazzling moment, he sees on all sides the presence of the Divine Mother. She is in everything; She is in everything. She is in the water; She is on land. She is the body; She is the mind. She is pain; She is comfort. She is knowledge; She is ignorance. She is life; She is death. She is everything that one sees, hears , or imagines. She turns “yea” into “nay,” and “nay” into “yea.”
Without Her grace no embodied being can go beyond Her realm. Man has no free will. He is not even free to die.
Yet, again, beyond the body and mind She resides in Her Transcendental, Absolute aspect. She is the Brahman that Totapuri had been worshipping all his life..."
From the book: Kali: the black Goddess od Dakshineshwar
Darkness, black magick, death and destruction - all of this is attributed to Tantric Goddess Kali, unfortunately.
As we see in the text below, Kali Ma is quite misunderstood here in the West.
People fear Her, it seems, because they fear losing their own illusions. True, She is powerful and impeccable in Her pursuit for perfection and in destroying illusions of Her children and initiates, but She is NOT evil or demonic or dark. Faaaar from it. She is Pure Light, Love, Compassion and Wisdom.
Please, read on:
"Kali comes from the Sanskrit root word Kal which means time. There is nothing that escapes the all-consuming march of time. In Tibetan Buddhism Her counterpart is male with the name Kala. Mother Kali is the most misunderstood of the Hindu goddesses. The notion that She is the goddess of death, sex and violence is simply utter nonsense.
It is partly correct to say Kali is a goddess of death but She brings the death of the ego as the illusory self-centered view of reality. Nowhere in the Hindu stories is She seen killing anything but demons nor is She associated specifically with the process of human dying like the Hindu god Yama (who really is the god of death).
It is true that both Kali and Shiva are said to inhabit cremation grounds and devotees often go to these places to meditate. This is not to worship death but rather it is to overcome the I-am-the-body idea by reinforcing the awareness that the body is a temporary condition. Shiva and Kali are said to inhabit these places because it is our attachment to the body that gives rise to the ego. Shiva and Kali grant liberation by removing the illusion of the ego. Thus we are the eternal I AM and not the body. This is underscored by the scene of the cremation grounds.
Of all the forms of Devi, She is the most compassionate because She provides moksha or liberation to Her children, fast. She is the counterpart of Shiva the destroyer. They are the destroyers of unreality.
The ego sees Mother Kali and trembles with fear because the ego sees in Her its own eventual demise. A person who is attached to his or her ego will not be receptive to Mother Kali and she will appear in a fearsome form. A mature soul who engages in spiritual practice to remove the illusion of the ego sees Mother Kali as very sweet, affectionate, and overflowing with incomprehensible love for Her children.
Ma Kali wears a garland of skulls and a skirt of dismembered arms because the ego arises out of identification with the body. In truth we are beings of spirit and not flesh. So liberation can only proceed when our attachment to the body ends. Thus the garland and skirt are trophies worn by Her to symbolize having liberated Her children from attachment to the limited body. She holds a sword and a freshly severed head dripping blood. As the story goes, this represents a great battle in which she destroyed the demon Raktabija. Her black skin represents the womb of the quantum un-manifest from which all of creation arises and into which all of creation will eventually dissolve. She is depicted as standing on Shiva who lays beneath Her with white skin (in contrast to Her black or sometimes dark blue skin). He has a blissful detached look.
Shiva represents pure formless awareness sat-chit-ananda (being-consciousness-bliss) while She represents "form" eternally supported by the substratum of pure awareness."
Re-posted from FB community page "Shaktism II: Doctrine of Power II
Tantric Master, Sri Ramakrishna, speaks about the fundamental facts which our reality is based upon. He was completely devoted and surrendered to Goddess Kali.
:)
Govinda: "Revered sir, why does the Divine Mother have a black complexion?"
MASTER: "You see Her as black because you are far away from Her. Go near and you will find Her devoid of all colour. The water of a lake appears black from a distance. Go near and take the water in your hand, and you will see that it has no colour at all. Similarly, the sky looks blue from a distance. But look at the atmosphere near you; it has no colour. The nearer you come to God, the more you will realize that He has neither name nor form. If you move away from the Divine Mother, you will find Her blue, like the grass-flower. Is Syama male or female? A man once saw the image of the Divine Mother wearing a sacred thread. He said to the worshipper: 'What? You have put the sacred thread on the Mother's neck!' The worshipper said: 'Brother, I see that you have truly known the Mother. But I have not yet been able to find out whether She is male or female; that is why I have put the sacred thread on Her image.'
That which is Syama is also Brahman. That which has form, again, is without form. That which has attributes, again, has no attributes. Brahman is Śakti; Śakti is Brahman. They are not two. These are only two aspects, male and female, of the same Reality, Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute."
Govinda: "What is the meaning of 'yogamaya'?"
MASTER: "It signifies the yoga, or union, of Purusha and Prakriti. Whatever you perceive in the universe is the outcome of this union. Take the image of Śiva and Kāli. Kāli stands on the bosom of Śiva; Śiva lies under Her feet like a corpse; Kāli looks at Śiva. All this denotes the union of Purusha and Prakriti. Purusha is inactive; therefore Śiva lies on the ground like a corpse. Prakriti performs all Her activities in conjunction with Purusha. Thus She creates, preserves, and destroys. That is also the meaning of the conjoined images of Radha and Krishna. On account of that union, again, the images are slightly inclined toward each other.
To denote this union, Sri Krishna wears a pearl in His nose, Radha a blue stone in hers. Radha has a fair complexion, bright as the pearl. Sri Krishna's is blue. For this reason Radha wears the blue stone. Further, Krishna's apparel is yellow, and Radha's blue.
Who is the best devotee of God? It is he who sees, after the realization of Brahman, that God alone has become all living beings, the universe, and the twenty-four cosmic principles. One must discriminate at first, saying 'Not this, not this', and reach the roof. After that one realizes that the steps are made of the same materials as the roof, namely, brick, lime, and brick-dust. The devotee realizes that it is Brahman alone that has become all these-the living beings, the universe, and so on.
Mere dry reasoning-I spit on it! I have no use for it! (The Master spits on the ground.)
Why should I make myself dry through mere reasoning? May I have unalloyed love for the Lotus Feet of God as long as the consciousness of 'I' and 'you' remains with me!
(To Govinda) "Sometimes I say, 'Thou art verily I, and I am verily Thou.' Again I feel, 'Thou art Thou.' Then I do not find any trace of 'I'. It is Śakti alone that becomes flesh as God Incarnate. According to one school of thought, Rāma and Krishna are but two waves in the Ocean of Absolute Bliss and Consciousness."
The love between the Divine Mother and her human children is a unique relationship. Kali, the Dark Mother is one such deity with whom devotees have a very loving and intimate bond, in spite of her fearful appearance. In this relationship, the worshipper becomes a child and Kali assumes the form of the ever-caring mother.
"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. 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 Symmetry
Kali is represented with perhaps the fiercest features among 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.
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."
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 arms."
