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O Kali, my Mother full of Bliss! by Kamalakanta (1769? - 1821?) Timeline Original Language Bengali Yoga / Hindu : Shakta (Goddess-oriented) 18th Century O Kali, my Mother full of Bliss! Enchantress of the almighty Shiva! In Thy delirious joy Thou dancest, clapping Thy hands together! Eternal One! Thou great First Cause, clothed in the form of the Void! Thou wearest the moon upon Thy brow. Where didst Thou find Thy garland of heads before the universe was made? Thou art the Mover of all that move, and we are but Thy helpless toys; We move alone as Thou movest us and speak as through us Thou speakest. But worthless Kamalakanta says, fondly berating Thee: Confoundress! With Thy flashing sword Thoughtlessly Thou hast put to death my virtue and my sin alike!     -- from Kali: The Black Goddess of Dakshineswar, by Elizabeth U. Harding Amazon.com	Themes   Bliss   Death   Moon   Smile   Womb Recommended Books Kali: The Black Goddess of Dakshineswar, by Elizabeth U. Harding Singing to the Goddess: Poems to Kali and Uma from Bengal, Translated by Rachel Fell McDermott
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Commentary by Ivan M. Granger

The lines of this ecstatic poem refer to many aspects of the traditional representations of the Hindu goddess Kali.

Kali is the mother aspect of the Divine, beautiful, wild, and terrible. She is depicted dancing in ecstasy upon a battle field, slaying demons in her fierce bliss.

Her skin is black and she is naked, symbolic of the Eternal Void with which she clothes herself.

She wears the moon upon her brow (as does her husband, Shiva), symbolizing the open spiritual eye and spiritual illumination. The crescent moon has the additional metaphorical meaning of mastery over the feminine, cyclical aspect of manifest nature, the way it ebbs and flows, grows full and then diminishes.

Kali wears a garland of severed heads, a shocking image, but one of deep significance. These are the heads of slain demons, each a spiritual impediment that she has removed. Further, each head, severed at the neck, represents a specific sound; collectively, the heads represent the sound of divine speech from which all creation is manifested.

Kamalakanta's final line is a devoted chiding of Mother Kali for destroying both his virtue and sin. In the deep spaces of bliss, when the ego identity has disappeared and thought has ceased, the tensions we associated with doing "good" or "bad" also disappear. This does not mean that one cannot distinguish between right and wrong, quite the opposite; one sees clearly for the first time. But there is no projection of "should" or "shouldn't." Instead, there is a profound sense of what simply is, and what is potential. The feeling of being caught in a tug-of-war between opposites and social compulsions vanishes. To the thinking mind, the mind chained to the ego, this is indeed confounding.

Ivan M. Granger's original poetry, stories and commentaries are Copyright © 2002 - 2009 by Ivan M. Granger.
All other material is copyrighted by the respective authors, translators and/or publishers.