MahavidyaDiety - God and Goddess

Mahavidya

The Dasa (Ten) Mahavidyas

The name Mahavidyas comes from the Sanskrit roots, with maha meaning 'great' and vidya meaning, 'revelation, manifestation, knowledge, or wisdom’. 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. The development of Mahvidyas represents an important turning point in the history of Shaktism as it marks the rise Bhakti aspect in Shaktism.

The Mahavidyas are usually identified as:

1. Kali: The Goddess as Cosmic Destruction, Death or "Devourer of Time" (Supreme Deity of Kalikula systems), the Eternal Night.

2. Tara: The Goddess as Guide and Protector, or Who Saves, the Compassionate Goddess.3. Tripura Sundari - Lalita – Shodashi: The Goddess Who is "Beautiful in the Three Worlds"; the "Tantric

Parvati", the Goddess who is Sixteen Years Old.4. Bhuvaneswari: The Goddess as World Mother, or Whose Body is the Cosmos, the Creator of the World.5. Chinnamasta: The Self-Decapitated Goddess, the Goddess who cuts off her Own Head.6. Bhairavi - Tripura Bhairavi: The Fierce Goddess, the Goddess of Decay.7. Dhumavati: The Widow Goddess, the Goddess who widows Herself.8. Bagalamukhi: The Goddess Who Paralyzes Enemies, the Goddess who seizes the Tongue.9. Matangi: The Outcaste Goddess (in Kalikula systems); the Prime Minister of Lalita (in Srikula systems); the

"Tantric Saraswati", the Goddess who Loves Pollution.10. Kamalatmika: The Lotus Goddess; the "Tantric Lakshmi", the Last but Not the Least.

Birth of Mahavidyas

Once during their numerous love games, things got out of hand between Shiva and Parvati. What had started in jest turned into a serious matter with an incensed Shiva threatening to walk out on Parvati. No amount of coaxing or cajoling by Parvati could reverse matters. Left with no choice, Parvati multiplied herself into ten different forms for each of the ten directions. Thus however hard Shiva might try to escape from his beloved Parvati, he would find her standing as a guardian, guarding all escape routes.

Each of the Devi's manifested forms made Shiva realize essential truths, made him aware of the eternal nature of their mutual love and most significantly established for always in the cannons of Indian thought the Goddess's superiority over her male counterpart. Not that Shiva in any way felt belittled by this awareness, only spiritually awakened. This is true as much for this Great Lord as for us ordinary mortals. Befittingly thus they are referred to as the Great Goddess's of Wisdom, known in Sanskrit as the Mahavidyas. Indeed in the process of spiritual learning the Goddess is the muse who guides and inspires us. She is the high priestess who unfolds the inner truths.

1. Kali - the Eternal Night

Kali is mentioned as the first amongst the Mahavidyas. Black as the night (ratri) she has a terrible and horrific appearance. The word 'ratri' means "to give," and is taken to mean "the giver" of bliss, of peace of happiness.

In her most famous pose as Daksinakali, it is said that Kali, becoming drunk on the blood of her victims on the battlefield, dances with destructive frenzy. In her fury she fails to see the body of her husband Shiva who lies among the corpses on the battlefield. Ultimately the cries of Shiva attract Kali's attention, calming her fury. As a sign of her shame at having disrespected her husband in such a fashion, Kali sticks out her tongue.

2. Tara - the Compassionate Goddess

Literally the word 'tara' means a star. Thus Tara is said to be the star of our aspiration, the muse who guides us along the creative path.

The oral tradition gives an intriguing origin to the goddess Tara. The legend begins with the churning of the ocean between the Devas (Hindu Gods) and Asuras (Hindu Demons). The Deva Shiva drank the poison that was created from the churning of the ocean (in the process turning his throat blue and earning him the epithet  Nilakantha), thus saving the world from destruction, but he fell unconscious under its powerful effect. Tara Ma appeared and took Shiva on her lap. She suckled him, the milk from her breasts counteracting the poison, and he recovered.

3. Tripura Sundari (Lalita, Sodasi) - the Goddess who is Sixteen Years Old

The word 'Shodashi' literally means sixteen in Sanskrit. She is thus visualized as sweet girl of sixteen and is believed to embody sixteen types of desire. In human life sixteen years represent the age of accomplished perfection after which decline sets in. This girl of sixteen rules over all that is perfect, complete, beautiful. Tripura Sundari, also called Shodashi, Lalita and Rajarajeshvari.

4. Bhuvaneswari - the Creator of the World

The beauty and attractiveness of Bhuvaneshwari may be understood as an affirmation of the physical world, the rhythms of creation, maintenance and destruction, even the hankerings and sufferings of the human condition is nothing but Bhuvaneswari's play, her exhilarating, joyous sport.

Bhuvaneswari is the fourth of the ten Mahavidya goddesses and an aspect of Devi. Bhuvaneswari, who is known for her beauty. Bhuvaneswari means Mistress of the World. Bhuvaneswari's beauty is mentioned often. Her dhyana describes her as having a radiant vermilion complexion resembling the sunrise and a beautiful face. She has three eyes and a pleasant, nurturing smile. She has four arms, in two of which she holds a noose and a goad. With her lower left hand, she makes the gesture (varada-mudra) of offering a boon, and with the lower right she signals fearlessness (abhaya mudra).

5. Chhinnamasta - the Goddess who cuts off her Own Head

The image of Chinnamasta is a composite one, conveying reality as an amalgamation of sex, death, creation, destruction and regeneration. It is stunning representation of the fact that life, sex, and death are an intrinsic part of the grand unified scheme that makes up the manifested universe.

Chinnamasta (also called Chinnamastiaka), is one of the mahavidyas, and an aspect of Devi. Chinnamasta, having severed her own head with her own sword, holds her severed head on one of her hands. Three jets of blood spurt out of her bleeding neck, and one streams into her own mouth of her severed head, while the other two streams into the mouths of her two female associates.

6. Tripura Bhairavi - the Goddess of Decay

Bhairavi embodies the principle of destruction and arises or becomes present when the body declines and decays. She is an ever-present goddess who manifests herself in, and embodies, the destructive aspects of the world. Destruction, however, is not always negative, creation cannot continue without it.

Bhairavi is a fierce and terrifying aspect of the Goddess virtually indistinguishable from Kali. Bhairavi is also identified with Kalaratri, a name often associated with Kali that means aœblack night (of destruction) and refers to a particularly destructive aspect of Kali.

7. Dhumavati - the Goddess who widows Herself

Dhumavati is the embodiment of "unsatisfied desires." Her status as a widow itself is curious. She makes herself one by swallowing Shiva, an act of self-assertion, and perhaps independence.

Dhumavati is one the of mahavidyas (Great Wisdoms); she is one of the many aspects of Devi. She acts as the divine smoke screen in the form of old age and death. Only the ardent devotee is able to see beyond the fear of mortality to the Goddess's promise of immortality.

8. Bhagalamukhi - the Goddess who seizes the Tongue

The pulling of the demon's tongue by Bagalamukhi is both unique and significant. Tongue, the organ of speech and taste, is often regarded as a lying entity, concealing what is in the mind. The Bible frequently mentions the tongue as an organ of mischief, vanity and deceitfulness. The wrenching of the demon's tongue is therefore symbolic of the Goddess removing what is in essentiality a perpetrator of evil.

Bagala or Bagalamukhi is the eighth Mahavidya in the famous series of the 10 Mahavidyas. Bagalamukhi means "The Crane-Headed One". This bird is thought of as the essence of deceit.

9. Matangi - the Goddess who Loves Pollution

Texts describing her worship specify that devotees should offer her uccishtha (leftover food) with their hands and mouths stained with leftover food; that is, worshippers should be in a state of pollution, having eaten and not washed. This is a dramatic reversal of the usual protocols.

Matangi is the aspect of Devi who is the patron of inner thought. She guides her devotee to the uncaused primordial sound. Matangi has a dark emerald complexion and has three eyes.

It is said that once Vishnu and Lakshmi went to visit Shiva and Parvati. Vishnu and Lakshmi gave Shiva and Parvati fine foods, and some pieces dropped to the ground. From these remains arose a maiden endowed with fair qualities. She asked for leftover food (uccishtha). The four deities offered her their leftovers as prasada (food made sacred by having been tasted by deities). Shiva then said to the attractive maiden: "Those who repeat your mantra and worship you, their activities will be fruitful. They will be able to control their enemies and obtain the objects of their desires." From then on this maiden became known as Uccishtha-matangini. She is the bestower of all boons.

10. Kamalatmika - the Last but Not the Least

The name Kamala means "she of the lotus" and is a common epithet of Goddess Lakshmi. Lakshmi is linked with three important and interrelated themes: prosperity and wealth, fertility and crops, and good luck during the coming year.

Kamalatmika is the Goddess Devi in the fullness of her graceful aspect. She is shown as seated on a lotus, symbol of purity. Kamala is a beautiful young woman with a shining complexion. Kamalatmika is the 10th Mahavidya. She is also known as Kamala. Kamala like Lakshmi is a goddess of fortune, riches, fertility and conception of children, fame, and material well bein