标题：迦梨女神
起源
传说有一天，三界中出现了一个法力强大的恶魔。这只恶魔法力高
  强，它每滴一滴血在地上，地上就会出现一千只和他一样厉害的化身去遗祸人间。三大神之一湿婆大神的妻子——雪山神女帕尔瓦蒂得知消息后大怒，就化身迦梨女神去消灭这头恶魔。迦梨女神恐怕这头恶魔会在决斗的时候把自己的血滴在地上，使其出现一千只法力同样高强的恶魔化身，就先把它的血吸干，一滴不剩。后来，迦梨终把这恶魔消灭，可是却因为过于愤怒而不能自制，她的双脚不由自主地大力践踏土地，令三界众生的生活都受到影响。其伴侣——湿婆为减轻众生的苦痛，就躺在迦梨的脚下，任其践踏以泄恨。这也是在印度教画像或雕塑中，湿婆总是躺在迦梨脚下的原因。
在孟加拉传统中
卡利在中古后期的孟加拉宗教文献中同样是一个中心角色，其崇拜者包括Ramprasad Sen(1718-75). 直到18世纪早期孟加拉式崇拜开始之前，由于不同于湿婆的配偶帕尔瓦蒂，卡利很少在印度神话和偶像描绘里被描绘为母亲角色。
密宗方法接近卡利是在死夜的焚尸场上遇到卡利的勇气，而不畏惧其恐怖面容。与密宗不同，孟加拉崇拜者采纳了卡利的教会、接纳儿童的态度。相同的是，他们都要寻求与死亡和解的方法，这在Ramprasad的作品中都有提及。
Ramprasad在他的一些其他诗歌中写到，卡利不关心他的福祉，使他痛苦煎熬，让他在尘世的享用和所得化为灰烬。他还写道卡利的行为并不像一个母亲，她也无视他的呼求：
仁慈何以寻诸于彼冰铁之心？（将卡利引申为喜马拉雅的女儿）伊岂有情，将横踹神主之怀欤？吾母，人呼尔仁善，却无点滴慈悲能查汝断儿童之首，编之为装饰之环千次呼汝“母亲、母亲”亦无益，汝必逆颈而忽略 因此Ramprasad强调，要做卡利的孩子，就要弃绝尘世的享乐。卡利并不会给与人们所要求的东西。对崇拜者来说，也许正是由于卡利女神拒绝赐予，她的崇拜者才会因此而对他们自己做出深层的反思并超越物质世界的诱惑。
肖像
迦梨的肖像
  Fig.C “迦梨和湿婆联合
常见形象
Kali - Black Earth Mother, Conqueror of Time, Goddess of fertility, death and regeneration. Dark Mother, Hindu triple Goddess of creation, preservation and destruction. Birth and Death Mother. Treasure house of Compassion, Giver of Life to the World. Her mantras brought into being the very things whose names She spoke for the first time, Originator of the creative word or Logos. A triple Goddess - Maiden, Mother, Crone. Lady of the Dead. The Ocean of Blood at the beginning and end of the world. Also known as Jagadamba.
卡莉——黑色的地球母亲，时间的征服者，丰产女神，死亡和再生。黑色的母亲，印度三个一组（三位一体）的创造女神，保护和破坏。诞生和死亡的母亲，怜悯的财富，世界的生命给予者。她的颂歌在每个生命里面，她首先说它们的名字，创造性言词或理则（道）的创造者，一个三位一体的女神——少女，母亲和老太婆，死亡的女神，世界开始和终结的血的海洋，也被称为杰加达巴。
From Wikipedia: Kali is a destructive and creative aspect of God as the Divine Mother in Hinduism. 
卡莉是神毁灭性和创造性的面貌，是印度教的神圣母亲。 
Kali is the fierce aspect of Devi, God's energy, i.e., Shakti or God as the Divine Mother, who is fundamental to all other Hindu deities. 
卡莉是朵维的凶猛外貌，神的能量，与萨克提或神一样，是神圣的母亲，是印度所有其他神的基础。 
The continuous, ongoing work of Creation is described as "the play of Kali". 
持续的，正在进行的创世工作被描绘为“卡莉的游戏”。 
Kali is considered to be the destroyer of evil spirits and the preserver of devotees. [This brought voodoo to mind.] 
卡莉是邪恶精神的毁灭者，也是皈依者的保护者。[这也带来伏都教（巫毒教）的思想。
] She is the consort of Shiva. 她是湿婆的配偶。 Her name seems to be a female version of the word 'kala' (Sanskrit for 'dark' or 'time' - time in this form being a euphemism for death). It also means Black Female, in contrast to her consort, Shiva, who is white. [Yin/yang]
她的名字看来是“卡拉”（梵语的“黑暗”或“时间”——时间在这里是对死亡的一种委婉说法）的阴性词。它也是黑色女性的意思，与她的配偶湿婆相反，湿婆是白色的。[阴/阳]
Kali is the common name for Energy in her form as Shiva's wife, or Shakti. 
卡莉是能量的普遍名字，她的形态是作为湿婆的妻子或萨克提。
Many people also believe her to be the same as Durga, even though this is not true as Durga is the terrible aspect of Devi, not the Shakti of Shiva. Other names are: Bhowani Devi, Sati, Rudrani, Parvati, Chinnamastika, Kamakshi, Uma, Menakshi, Himavati, Kumari. These names, if repeated, are believed to give special power to the worshipper. 
很多人都相信她与杜迦女神一样，甚至认为杜迦才是朵维恐怖的一面，而不是湿婆的萨克提。其他的名字是：布瓦尼朵维，萨提，鲁达尼，帕娃蒂，支那玛提卡，卡玛克什，乌玛，曼拿克什，喜马瓦提，卡玛里。这些名字，如果再三重复，据说会给予崇拜者特殊的力量。 Kali makes her 'official' debut in the Devi-Mahatmya, where she is said to have emanated from the brow of Goddess Durga (slayer of demons) during one of the battles between the divine and anti-divine forces. Etymologically Durga's name means "Beyond Reach". She is thus an echo of the woman warrior's fierce virginal autonomy. In this context Kali is considered the 'forceful' form of the great goddess Durga. 
卡莉在朵维—摩诃玛雅里“正式”登场，那里说她是在一次神与反神力量的战役中，从杜迦女神（魔鬼的宰杀者）的眉毛散发出来。“杜迦”这个名字从词源学上意思是“延伸到较远处”。她因此是女战士的投射，凶猛的处女。在这篇文章里，卡莉被认为是伟大的杜迦女神的“有力”形态。 
Skulls, cemeteries, and blood are associated with her worship. 
头骨，墓地和血与她的崇拜相连。 
She is black and emaciated. Her face is azure, streaked with yellow, her glance is ferocious; her disheveled and bristly hair is usually shown splayed and spread like the tail of a peacock and sometimes braided with green serpents.
她是白色和虚弱的，她的脸是天蓝色的，有黄色的斑纹，她的目光是凶恶的，她凌乱和如刚毛似的头发经常张开着，就像孔雀尾巴那样地伸展，有时候辫成绿色的大毒蛇。 
She wears a long necklace (descending almost to her knees) of human skulls. She may be shown wearing a girdle of severed arms. Children's corpses as earrings (likeliest representing natural infant mortality and childhood mortality from causes such as disease), and cobras as bracelets or garlands add to her terrifying adornments. 
她戴着长长的人类头骨项链（几乎延伸到膝盖）。她可能是展示出腰带上的厉害武器。儿童的尸体是耳饰（很可能是代表婴儿的自然死亡率和由某些疾病引致的儿童死亡），眼镜蛇是手镯，加在她身上的花环是极大的装饰品。
Her purple lips are often shown streaming with blood; her tusk-like teeth descend over her lower lip; and her tongue lolls out. She is often shown standing on the inert form of her consort, Shiva. She is sometimes accompanied by she-demons. Her four arms hold weapons or the severed head of a demon: these objects symbolize both her creative and her destructive power, for Kali personifies the ambivalence of deity, which manifests itself, according to Indian tradition, in the unceasing cycle of life and death, creation and destruction.
她的紫色嘴唇经常表现出血液的流动；她长牙状的牙齿下降到她的下唇上；她的舌头伸出外面。她经常站在她的配偶，无活动性的湿婆上面。她有时候陪伴着魔鬼。她的四臂握着武器，或者严厉的魔鬼的头；这些物品既象征着她创造性的力量，也象征着她毁灭性的力量，因为卡莉使正反感情并存的神性人格化，显示出它自身，依照印度教的传统，是生命与死亡，创造与毁灭的不断循环。梵文Kali意为“黝黑的”迦梨女神是印度教神话中湿婆之妻女神提毗（或难近母）的异体之一，被视为湿婆的“萨格蒂”（神圣动力）之破坏范畴的化身；又称“时母”。据说，劫末之时迦梨女神将以黑暗笼罩寰宇，促使其归于毁灭，因而又称“迦罗罗陀利”（意即“时光之暗夜”）。对迦梨女神的崇拜，溯源于非雅利安人，同所谓血祭不无关两，同正统的印度教大相径庭，在性力派的信仰中却居于至关重要的地位。孟加拉地区将迦梨女神奉为降魔者和有强大威力的保护神。