The tongue of Mother Kali

 Hari Aum.

Mother Kali is a mysterious form of the Divine Mother. Her appearance is wild, dramatic and can be regarded by some as frightening. One curious feature about Mother Kali is Her tongue. She is the only One amongst the well-known avatars of God whose tongue plays a significant role in Her lila.

The tongue of Kali feels relevant in the circumstances in the world today and so I thought I would write a bit about it (especially as Navaratri begins next week). This the legend of how and why the Mother manifested as Kali (described in the scripture relating to the great Lilas of the Goddess, known as the Devi Mahatmyam).

Once during a battle between good and evil forces (this is a representation of the inner battle that occurs within each one of us), the devas (demi-gods representing the forces of good) were greatly distressed. They had been defeated by the forces of evil called the asuras and turned to the Divine Mother for help.

Although the Divine Mother is the mother of all beings in the universe (good, bad and all), She firmly upholds dharma or the forces of righteousness/goodness. She therefore assured the devas that She would grant them Her protection and defeat the forces of evil.

A great battle then ensued between the Mother in Her fierce form as Durga and the asuras or demonic beings. During the course of this battle, seeing the pride, cruelty and other evil qualities of the asuras, the Divine Mother became filled with a terrible fury. Her face darkened to pitch black, and then, something extraordinary happened.

From the middle of Her forehead, there emerged a great Power, a female form who appeared to be the very embodiment of Divine anger-- that form was Mother Kali. 

Mother Kali made short work of the scores of asuras on the battlefield. She destroyed them with ease and it appeared that the battle would be over soon. Victory of the divine forces appeared to be imminent.

However, the asuras or demonic beings, were not prepared to give up so easily. They decided to use a special weapon to counter the Mother-- that weapon was a particularly dangerous and evil being known as 'Rakta beeja'. He was a key general amongst the demonic beings and now advanced upon the battlefield where he faced the Mother.

The specialty about Rakta-beeja was his blood. For every drop of this that was spilled and touched the ground, a new version of himself would immediately spring up. The new versions would be equal to him in every way. (In Sanskrit, 'Rakta' means 'blood' or 'red', and 'beeja' means 'seed' or 'origin'; in other words, he was a monster whose origin/seed was blood).

Rakta-beeja therefore awaited the attack from the Divine Mother with delight. When She cut him with Her weapons, he watched as his blood flowed to the earth and multiple versions of himself manifested. When She finally killed him, and his blood poured onto the earth, again the same thing happened-- scores of Rakta-beejas sprung up, equal to the original version in strength, power and properties.

Soon the Earth was overrun by multiple Rakta-beejas who unleashed havoc upon all living beings and caused the devas to shake in terror. There appeared to be no way to put an end to this monstrous being.

Seeing this spectacle, Mother Durga turned to Mother Kali and addressed Her. 

She said: 

"O Kali! As I strike Rakta-beeja with My weapons, make sure that not a single drop of his blood is able to reach the earth! Make Your tongue so vast that You are able to consume all the drops of blood that fall from this monster! That is the only way by which he can be defeated!"

Mother Kali did as requested and expanded Herself into an extraordinarily large size. As Mother Durga struck Rakta-beeja causing his blood to flow, Mother Kali consumed this, thus preventing any new versions of him from appearing. 

Soon afterwards, the powerful combination of Mother Durga and Mother Kali destroyed Rakta-beeja and also annihilated the remaining demonic beings on the battlefield. The Divine forces were thus victorious.

There was great rejoicing both on Earth and in the heavens upon this auspicious occurrence. The devas were re-established in their respective positions and able to carry out their duties. Peace and justice once again prevailed everywhere.

There is an esoteric meaning behind this story (actually many meanings, but there is one famous one in particular) according to the yogis.

The drops of blood of Rakta-beeja are said to represent human desires. When a desire for something is fulfilled, it often leads to countless more being born (which may be directly or indirectly related to it). In other words, the more one attempts to fulfil the desires of the mind, the more insatiable they become. And these desires obscure the bliss of the soul which is our true nature and birthright.

The Gurus therefore tell us to carefully watch our inner 'Rakta beeja' and avoid letting this out-of-control. Daily worship of the Divine is the only way to conquer this inner force they tell us, and mantra recitation is a particularly powerful method. This is the esoteric meaning of the above story that applies to our inner world, the world of our mind.

There is another meaning to this story which also feels pertinent today (with the onset of the recent war in the Middle East). This is relevant to our external world that we inhabit with its many crises and troubles. 

This meaning is that, for every act of heedless violence that is committed, countless more will be inspired to occur. For every innocent life that is lost, on both sides of the battleground, countless more lives and blood will be lost. And there can never be any justification for the loss of any innocent lives regardless of the side that they are on.

And, as the Buddha famously said: "Hatred is never appeased by hatred in this world. By non-hatred alone is hatred appeased. This is a law eternal".

Anyway, in this world which appears increasingly apocalyptic in nature with increasing wars, natural disasters and disease, let us continue the one thing that we were born to do-- pray, serve and attempt to attain the Divine. It is clear that lasting happiness and peace can never be found here in the material world. As our Gurus rightly say, this can be found only in the lap of the Divine (in the spiritual dimension of human life on Earth).

Let us continue then to recite mantras for peace, both internal and external. May innocent lives be protected on all sides. May the Will of God be done.

Om Shri MahaKalikayai Namah.

Om Shri Durgayai Namah.

Om Namo Narayanaya.

Hari Aum Tat Sat.