Mahakali
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{{Hdeity infobox| <!--Wikipedia:WikiProject Hindu mythology-->
Image = Mahakali.jpg
| Caption = Mahakali in the form of [[Mahavidyas|Dasa Mahavidya]] Mahakali.
| Name = Mahakali
| Devanagari = महाकाली
| Sanskrit_Transliteration = Mahākālī
| Pali_Transliteration =
| Tamil_script =
| Affiliation = [[Kali]], [[Mahadevi]], [[Brahman]]
| God_of = <!--eg. god of death-->
| Abode = Varies by interpretation
| Mantra = Om Krīṃ Kālikaye Namah,<br /> Om Kapālinaye Namah
| Weapon = Varies by iconographic form
| Consort = [[Shiva]]
| Mount = [[Shiva]] in inert or corpselike form
| Planet =
}}
'''Mahakali''' ([[Sanskrit]]: '''Mahākālī''', [[Devanagari]]: महाकाली), literally translated as ''Great Kali'', is a [[Hindu]] [[Hindu goddess|Goddess]], considered by some to be the consort of [[Shiva]], and by others as the basis of [[Reality]] (see below). Mahakali in Sanskrit is etymologically the feminized variant of [[Mahakala]] or ''Great Time'' (which is interpreted also as ''[[Death]]''), an epithet of the God Shiva in Hinduism. Mahakali can also simply be used as an honorific of the Goddess [[Kali]], signifying her greatness by the prefix "Mahā-".
==Meaning==
Mahakali's mythology is contained in various [[Puranic]] and [[Tantra|Tantric]] Hindu Scriptures ([[Shastra]]), where She is variously portrayed as the [[Adi-Shakti]] or Primeval Force of the Universe, identical with the Ultimate Reality or [[Brahman]], the (female) [[Prakriti]] or World as opposed to the (male) [[Purusha]] or Consciousness, or as one of three manifestations of [[Mahadevi]] (The Great Goddess) that represent the three [[Gunas]] or attributes in [[Samkhya]] philosophy; in this interpretation Mahakali represents [[Tamas]] or the force of inertia. A common understanding of the [[Devi Mahatmya|Durga Saptashati]] or [[Chandi]] [[Devi Mahatmya|Path]] (the [[Devi Mahatmya]] or "Greatness of the Goddess", a later interpolation into the [[Markandeya Purana]], considered a core text of [[Shaktism]], the branch of Hinduism which considers [[Mahadevi|Devi]] to be the highest aspect of [[Godhead]]) assigns a different form of the Goddess ([[Mahasaraswati]], [[Mahalakshmi]], and Mahakali) to each of the three episodes therein.
==Iconography==
[[Image:Kali 003 copy.jpg|thumb|Four armed image of Mahakali. The caption reads: "Jaya Mahakali Ma", translated as "Victory to Mahakali the (Universal) Mother".]]
Mahakali is described as being black in color but is most often depicted as blue in popular Indian art.
Her most common four armed iconographic image shows each hand carrying variously a [[sword]], a [[Trishul (weapon)|trishul]] (trident), a severed head and a bowl or skull-cup ([[kapala]]) catching the blood of the severed head. Her eyes are described as red with intoxication and in absolute rage, Her hair is shown disheveled, small fangs sometimes protrude out of Her mouth and Her tongue is lolling. She has a garland consisting of human heads, variously enumerated at [[108 (number)#In Eastern religions & traditions|108]] (an auspicious number in Hinduism and the number of countable beads on a [[Japa]] [[japa mala|Mala]] or rosary for repetition of [[Mantras]]) or 50, which represents the letters of the Sanskrit alphabet, [[Devanagari]], and wears a skirt made of human arms.
Her ten headed (dasamukhi) image is known as [[Mahavidyas|Dasa Mahavidya]] Mahakali, and in this form She is said to represent the ten Mahavidyas or "Great Wisdom (Goddesse)s". She is depicted in this form as having ten heads, ten arms, and ten legs but otherwise usually conforms to the four armed icon in other respects. Each of her ten hands is carrying a various implement which vary in different accounts, but each of these represent the power of one of the [[Deva (Hinduism)|Deva]]s or Hindu Gods and are often the identifying weapon or ritual item of a given Deva. The implication is that Mahakali subsumes and is responsible for the powers that these deities possess and this is in line with the interpretation that Mahakali is identical with Brahman. While not displaying ten heads, an "ekamukhi" or one headed image may be displayed with ten arms, signifying the same concept: the powers of the various Gods come only through Her [[Divine grace|grace]].
[[Image:Redkali3.jpg|frame|left|300x201px|Ekamukhi or "One-Faced" [[Murti]] of Mahakali displaying ten hands holding the signifiers of various Devas.]]
In either one of these images she is shown standing on the prone, inert or dead body of Shiva. This is interpreted various ways but the most common is that Mahakali represents [[Shakti]], the power of pure [[Creation (theology)|Creation]] in the universe, and Shiva represents pure [[Consciousness]] which is inert in and of itself. While this is an advanced concept in [[monistic]] Shaktism, it also agrees with the [[Nondual]] [[Trika]] philosophy of [[Kashmir]], popularly known as [[Kashmir Shaivism]] and associated most famously with [[Abhinavagupta]]. There is a colloquial saying that "Shiva without Shakti is Shava" which means that without the power of action (Shakti) that is Mahakali (represented as the short "i" in Devanagari) Shiva (or consciousness itself) is inactive; Shava means [[corpse]] in Sanskrit and the play on words is that all Sanskrit consonants are assumed to be followed by a short letter "a" unless otherwise noted. The short letter "i" represents the female power or Shakti that activates Creation. This is often the explanation for why She is standing on Shiva, who is either Her husband and complement in [[Shaktism]] or the Supreme Godhead in [[Shaivism]].
[[Image:Mahakaliyantra.jpg|thumb|Mahakali [[Yantra]]]]
==See also==
*[[Kali]]
*[[Shaktism]]
*[[Mahadevi]]
*[[Shakti]]
*[[Tantra]]
*[[Hindu Goddess]]
*[[Mahavidyas]]
*[[Brahman]]
*[[Samkhya]]
*[[Kashmir Shaivism]]
*[[Abhinavagupta]]
*[[Advaita]]
==References==
*''The Goddess Kali of Kolkata'' (ISBN 81-7476-514-X) by Shoma A. Chatterji
*''Encountering The Goddess: A Translation of the Devi-Mahatmya and a Study of Its Interpretation'' (ISBN 0-7914-0446-3) by Thomas B. Coburn
*''Dictionary of Hindu Lore and Legend'' (ISBN 0-500-51088-1) by Anna Dallapiccola
*''Kali: The Black Goddess of Dakshineswar'' (ISBN 0-89254-025-7) by Elizabeth Usha Harding
* ''In Praise of The Goddess: The Devimahatmyam and Its Meaning'' (ISBN 0-89254-080-X) by Devadatta Kali
*''Hindu Goddesses: Vision of the Divine Feminine in the Hindu Religious Traditions'' (ISBN 81-208-0379-5) by David Kinsley
*''Tantric Visions of the Divine Feminine'' (ISBN 0-520-20499-9) by David Kinsley
*''The Sword and the Flute: Kali & Krsna'' (ISBN 0-520-03510-0) by David Kinsley
*''Offering Flowers, Feeding Skulls: Popular Goddess Worship in West Bengal'' (ISBN 0-195-16791-0) by June McDaniel
*''Encountering Kali: In the Margins, at the Center, in the West'' (ISBN 0-520-23240-2) by Rachel Fell McDermott
*''Mother of My Heart, Daughter of My Dreams: Kali and Uma in the Devotional Poetry of Bengal'' (ISBN 0-19-513435-4) by Rachel Fell McDermott
*''Kali: The Feminine Force'' (ISBN 0-89281-212-5) by Ajit Mookerjee
*''Seeking Mahadevi: Constructing the Identities of the Hindu Great Goddess'' (ISBN 0-791-45008-2) Edited by Tracy Pintchman
*''The Rise of the Goddess in the Hindu Tradition'' (ISBN 0-7914-2112-0) by Tracy Pintchman
*''Kali Puja'' (ISBN 1-887472-64-9) by Swami Satyananda Saraswati
*''Grace and Mercy in Her Wild Hair: Selected Poems to the Mother Goddess'' (ISBN 0-934252-94-7) by [[Ramprasad Sen]]
*''Aghora, at the left hand of God'' (ISBN 0-914732-21-8) by Robert E. Svoboda
{{Hindu Deities and Texts}}
{{Time in religion and mythology}}
[[Category:Destroyer goddesses]]
[[Category:Time and fate goddesses]]
[[Category:Mother goddesses]]
[[Category:Hindu goddesses]]
[[Category:Mahavidyas]]
[[Category:Shaktism]]
[[Category:Sanskrit words and phrases]]
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