Daśa-mahāvidyā Episode 1.0—Goddess Kālī
Channel: Consciousness Research Centre
Date: 09/03/2021

Kāla means Śiva. It also means various factors of time, including the time of death. And it also means black. If we take this to mean Śiva, then Kālī refers to His Consort Kālan-Kālī (like Bhairava and Bhairavi). If we take this to mean time, then Kālī is the Goddess who controls the time factor of the universe, as opposed to the infinity of Śiva. The vastness and light of Śiva is bounded by Kālī as Māyā-śakti. She is Māyā-śakti because of Her intrinsic darkness. 
Her incarnation is described in Śrīmad Devī Bhāgavata Purāṇa (Fifth Skandha, Chapter 21). The story goes like this: All gods and goddesses prayed to Supreme Divine Mother Parāśakti to complain about two demons Śumbha and Niśumbha, as they were persistently troubling gods and goddesses. Parāśakti created a Śakti from Her body, and named Her as Kauśika. Kauśika means ‘one having paws’. 
According to the Devī Bhāgavata, She is also known as Bhadrakālī (sometimes identified with Durgā) and Kālarātrī, the night of all-destroying time, the night of destruction at the end of the world. Kālarātrī also refers to a particular night in the life of a man on the seventh day of the seventh month of the seventy-seventh year, after which period, a man is exempt from attending to ordinances prescribed by dharma-śāstras.)
She is described in different forms. Her unique futures are Her black complexion and a garland of skulls. She has four arms and in these four arms She holds a sickle in Her top left hand, and a chopped head in Her lower left hand. The description of Her right hands varies. In some of the descriptions She is said to carry a cup containing blood, and in the other hand She shows varadā-mudrā (granting of boons). 
1. Navakālī mantras mahākālasaṁhitā are published here:
http://www.manblunder.com/articlesview/navakali-mantras-nine-kali-mantras

2. Kāmakalākālī Trilokya Mohana Kavacham is published here.
https://www.manblunder.com/articlesview/kamakala-kali-trilokya-mohana-kavacham

This series is classified Vivartha-vāda | Rāja-yoga | Suśupti | Viśuddhi-cakra
She is often described as standing on a corpse. Mahānirvāṇa-tantra describes Her with two hands, one with abhāya-mudrā (removal of fear, and contextually refers to fear from death) and another with varadā-mudrā (granting of boons). She is seated on a crimson-colored lotus. She has a protruding tongue, which signifies that She consumes all evil things and gives only the purest to Her devotees.
Her complexion describes both death and infinity: death for the sinners and eternity is Her Nature. She is beyond kāla (time), hence She is eternal. Her garland of skulls explains the entire population of the universe. The entire creation is symbolically explained as skulls. Why skulls? The skulls represent the reality of existence culminating in inevitable death. The garland is said to have 50 skulls, representing the 50 letters of the Sanskrit alphabet (mātrikā). 
She is wearing a skirt made of chopped hands, which represents destruction of the karmas of those who surrender unto Her. In a short of span of human existence, one’s ego plays an important role. Unless one’s ego is destroyed, realization is impossible. When She is worshipped correctly, She removes one’s ego. This is symbolically expressed through the chopped head. The sickle represents Her Grace and the chopped head represents one’s ego. 
When She showers Her Grace, the first thing She does is to remove one’s ego. Why She chooses to annihilate our ego and what is the need? Tattvabodha explains ego as ahaṁkartā ahaṁkāraḥ: “the thought of doership is ego.” Unless ego is destroyed, the spiritual journey cannot be pursued. She stands on a corpse, and often this corpse is depicted as Śiva, which subtly conveys that without Śakti, Śiva is a corpse. 
Saundarya-laharī explains this concept: “Śiva becomes inert without Śaktī. When Śiva is not united with Śaktī, He cannot manifest as the universe. Because of Her dynamic nature, Divine Mother becomes supremely important.” One important relationship other than being Mahākālā and Mahākālī is Their abode; they live in a crematorium and burial grounds. This is mainly to convey that, irrespective of one’s status, our ultimate destination is only the crematorium.”
“She is the destroyer of time, terrible in form but beneficent. She is the pride of Kaliyuga, the ocean of compassion without any limitation because She is Kālī, the One who liberates, destroyer of sins in Kaliyuga. She is fond of virgins. She has soft and subtle voice, destroys fear and loves those who worship Her with musk. Her body is fully adored with camphor and sandalwood paste. 

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Dharmasār Video Series Index:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EZFqp9G893-LMYSm-ucUt3CylMTbfLV2/view?usp=drivesdk

Four States of Consciousness Diagram: 
https://drive.google.com/file/d/13OWr_2V857yq7AjS59yhF4ub2q9k8Kl9/view?usp=sharing

Dharmasār Complete Archive Library:
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