The Hindu Goddess Kali

The Hindu goddess Kali is the ultimate expression of nature, both destructive and benevolent. She protects her people against evil by doing what others cannot to protect those she loves. The Indian goddess Kali embodies the power of creation and destruction in one entity. She transcends good and evil. Kali is Mother Nature, primordial, nurturing, creating, and devouring all at once, always protecting her children from harm.

As the goddess, Kali Ma, Kali, goddess of death, is terrifying and amazing. At the same time, she is the most compassionate of the Hindu pantheon, vested in freeing humans and her fellow gods from what binds them and protecting them from what would harm them. While her destructive power is immense, she never harms the innocent, and her destruction allows for rebirth.

One early myth of Kali’s creation involves Durga/Devi, who created Parvati, a beautiful and composed goddess, to help battle and subdue evil spirits. Parvati confidently marched into combat, but when she was confronted by the demons, she furrowed her brow and her wrathful form, Kali, emerged.

One of the most well-known tales of Kali is that of her conquering the demon Raktabija. The demon Raktabija spawned clones of himself with every drop of his blood that hit the ground. The other gods called Kali in to help after they only succeeded in making an army of Raktabija clones. In her earliest appearances, Kali was frequently associated with violent endeavours on the battlefields of the gods. In one legendary battle with the demon Raktabija, she is manifested by Durga to deal with a situation that has gotten badly out of hand. Every drop of blood spilled by the wounded Raktabija becomes a deadly fighting clone, but Kali turns the battle around and defeats him by draining his blood before it touches the ground, then devours his replicates. In this story she is brought in to play when decisive action is required, when dark deeds must be matched with dark deeds, when resolve must be shown – attributes not always associated in the west with the archetypal woman. In another story, Kali is summoned by a group of criminals who decide to sacrifice a human to her image in order to gain her favour. They unwisely choose a young Brahmin monk of upstanding character, however his saintliness shines so brightly that her statue is scorched in his presence. She manifests but proceeds to horribly kill her erstwhile worshipers by decapitating them and drinking their blood. Here, Kali demonstrates her refusal to be controlled by those who think they understand her and her triumph over the attributes of ignorance and evil, as well as the absolute impartiality of her nature.

Kali is often associated with Shiva. Her very name is the feminine form of Kāla, an epithet of Shiva, thus tying her inextricably to him. She is regarded as the shakti (power) of Shiva, and he her consort. She is closely linked with him in many of the Puranas and when she appears in these writings besides Shiva, she plays an opposite role to that of Parvati. While Parvati soothes Shiva, neutralising his destructive tendencies, Kali actively provokes and encourages him. As scholar David Kinsley states, “it is never Kali who tames Shiva, but Shiva who must calm Kali”.

Kali is the feminine form of Kala, a Hindu word meaning both “black” and “time”. Kali exists outside of time, both before and after, and always. She is also outside of the constraints of good and evil, light and dark. The other names she is known by are exemplary of this relationship with time, blackness, and creation.