The Das Mahavidyas

Das means ten, maha means great, and vidya means wisdom. The Das Mahavidyas are considered forms of Divine Mother Kali, who is the first of the then Mahavidyas. Each Wisdom Goddess has her own name, story, quality, and mantras.

Kali – the goddess who represents empowerment and destruction.

Kali is Adi Mahavidya, the primary Mahavidya. She is the first and the foremost among the Mahavidyas. Even before the Mahavidya cult came into being, she was a major goddess with large following of devotees immersed in her mythologies, hymns and songs. She is not only the first but the most important of the Mahavidyas. It is said, the Mahavidya tradition is centered on Kali and her attributes. Kali is the epitome of the Mahavidyas. The rest of the Mahavidyas emanate from Kali and share her virtues and powers in varying shades. The Saktisamgama-tantrasays,“All the Mahavidyas, Siddhi-vidyas, Vidyas, and Upa-vidyas, are different forms that Kali assumes”. She is the exemplary Mahavidya; she alone symbolizes the fully awakened consciousness; and she alone reveals the   ultimate truth.

She is depicted with three eyes, white teeth, garland of fifty human skulls and a girdle of seven severed human hands. Her limbs are adorned with various ornaments. Her tongue hangs out. Her laughter is most fearful. Kali who dwells in funeral pyres stands upon the corpse of a male.Kali is the Supreme Goddess resolving and harmonizing the contrasting attributes of creation and dissolution,. She is the very essence of every existence.All the dualities of life, the light and the dark, the beautiful and the fearsome, are united and reconciled in Kali.

 Kali is the Supreme Goddess resolving and harmonizing the contrasting attributes of creation and dissolution,. She is the very essence of every existence.All the dualities of life, the light and the dark, the beautiful and the fearsome, are united and reconciled in Kali.It is explained that Kali manifests in countless ways, but some aspects of her are more common than others. There are therefore varied descriptions of Kali. Each Tantric and Shakta tradition pictures her in its own light. But all sources tend to agree on her prominent characteristics. Kali is almost always regarded as being dark like the starlit night, with a dreadful appearance, having four arms, holding a bloodied cleaver and a severed head in her left hands, while her right hands gesture blessings (varadamudra) and reassurance (abhayamudra).  

Kali is the symbol of eternal time (Kala) she presides over all stages of the life. Kali is consciousness in motion—the overflowing joy that projects, sustains, and withdraws the universe. And her destructionhas a dual aspect; she gives birth to new life as the old one fades away in the darkness of death.Kali’s four arms represent the complete circle of creation and destruction, which is contained within her.  Her two right hands dispel fear (abhaya) and bestow boons (varada); assuring salvation. She holds out the promise of transformation. With her sword she cuts the knots of doubts (samshaya) and eight types of delusions and negative traits (hatred, doubt, fear, shame, backbiting, conformity, arrogance and status consciousness - Kularnava Tantra). It is also the sword of wisdom and discrimination (viveka) that cuts through ignorance and destroys falsehood. The freshly severed head of a demon dangling from her left hand is the small ego, the false identities, the crippling limitations that bind human thinking.

Her three eyes govern the three forces of creation, preservation and destruction. They are also said to represent the sun, moon, and fire; the three modes of time (kaala): past, present and future which she governs. 

Tara – the goddess of compassion and protection.

 In the group of the Mahavidyas, Tara comes next to Kali. Tara closely resembles Kali in appearance. And just as Kali, Tara too displays gentle (saumya) or fierce (ugra) aspects. She was a prominent goddess well before the Mahavidya cult came into being. Tara has a much wider presence outside the Mahavidya periphery, especially in the Tantric traditions of both Hinduism and Tibetan Buddhism. Tara is associated with the speaking prowess. And, some texts equate Tara to Sarasvathi the goddess of learning; and call her Neela (blue) Sarasvathiseated on a lotus. As she is the goddess of speech, she is related to breathe that manifests sound. Breath is the primal sound of life. Breath in which the sound originates is the carrier (transporter –Tarini) of knowledge conveyed through the sound of speech. Tara is the un-manifest speech that resides in breath and consciousness.


Tripurasundari or Shodashi – the goddess of wealth and beauty.

Tripura Sundari (she who is most beautiful in all the three worlds) also known as Sodasi (the girl of sixteen) is usually listed as the third Mahavidya following Kali and Tara .Tripura Sundari is one of the Adi (primary)Mahavidyas .She was a well known Tantric deity even before she was grouped with the Mahavidyas. The goddess is depicted in three forms: Tripura Bala (the young virgin; Tripura Sundari (the beautiful) and Tripura Bhairavi (the terrible).The last mentioned aspect - Tripura Bhairavi -   is emphasized in the Mahavidya cult. While, her other two aspects are central to the Sri Vidya   tradition rooted in the worship of Sri Chakra.  In Sri Vidya, Tripura Sundari is celebrated as Lalitha, Rajarajeshwari, Kameshwari and Mahatripura Sundari the most magnificent transcendental beauty without a comparison in three worlds, the conqueror of three levels of existence.

Bhuvaneshvari – ruler of the universe and source of creation.

This Great Cosmic Wisdom is worshiped as the Great Goddess who protects all manifested worlds. This attribute of the goddess is also suggested by Her name: the Glorious Queen, or the Governor (Ishwari) of the whole realm of creation, with all the worlds (Bhuvana) which are contained in Her.

In other words, She is the Divine Mother who protects the worlds and consequently the whole universe is Her body on which the numerous beings that exist are like jewels adorning her.
SHE PROTECTS THE SEEN AND THE UNSEEN WORLDS

From a symbolic point of view, Bhuvaneshwari is depicted as a goddess with three eyes, sign of her complete knowledge of the manifested worlds, very big breasts (all the beings are nurtured and extract the essence of life from Her), and a smiling face, once again underlying the maternal aspect of this Great Cosmic Wisdom.

Her glory and greatness are signified by Her brightness filled with goodness that irradiates from Her, just as the rising sun or by the moon that drops the divine nectar (soma) from the goddess’s head.Bhuvaneshwari sustains all the worlds, with the beings and things that are characteristic to all of them, in a gesture of perpetual blossoming of the creation.
In other words, we may say that Bhuvaneshwari is in fact the whole universe embodied as a deity. Her ardent worship attracts the cosmic vision of the Reality, surpassing thus any limits imposed by a certain opinion, or belief.

Bhairavi – the fearsome aspect of the goddess who also represents kundalini energy.

From an etymologic point of view, the name Bhairavi comes from three groups of letters, with a precise semantics: bha symbolizes the act of preservation, in the sense of continuity, ra signifies ramana, the creative divine activity and va coming from vamana, referring to the relaxation, or ceasing a certain activity.

Consequently, Tripura Bhairavi represents Gods extraordinary power to create, sustain, and in the same time destroy the manifested world.

Unlike the governing gods of the Hindu pantheon (Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva) who rule only upon one of these functions, Tripura Bhairavi represents in full harmony two fundamental and apparently contradicting aspects of the manifestation.

These aspects refer to the bright beauty and the terrible action in the creation.

Chhinnamasta – the goddess who decapitated herself and who represents transformation.

Chinnamasta is depicted as a girl of sixteen years adorned with garland of skulls and necklaces of bones. She wears on her naked body a serpent as the sacred thread (yajnopavita) and she has full breasts covered by lotus flowers and strings of beads. but the most gruesome aspect of her is that she has cutoff her own head with a sword and holds in her hands the severed head as also the sword. The blood gushing out of her decapitated head sprouts in three jets. The central Jet streams into the mouth of her own head , usually held in her left hand , while the other two jets fall into the mouths of her two companions Dakini and Varnini - standing on her either side....Read more on chinnamasta


Dhumavati – the widow goddess who represents death.

Goddess Dhumavati is depicted as an old and ugly widow. She is thin, unhealthy with pale complexion. Unlike other Mahavidya(s), She is unadorned with jewelry. She wears old, dirty clothes and has disheveled hair. 

She is portrayed with two hands. In one of her trembling hands, She holds a winnowing basket and makes either boon conferring gesture or knowledge giving gesture with the other hand. The boon conferring gesture and knowledge giving gesture are known as Varada Mudra and Chin Mudra respectively. She rides on a horseless chariot bearing an emblem of a crow.

Bagalamukhi – the goddess who paralyzes her enemies. She is also frequently associated with yogic paranormal powers, or siddhis.

She, according to the praises the sages brought to her,owns (among other things) the amazing power to stop or to suddenly cease any movement or any action that occurs both at a macro cosmic and at a micro cosmic (that of a human being) level.

This extraordinary ability is related to some other aspects of life like the power to fascinate, charismatic influence, etc.Thus, Bagalamukhi grants the speaker the power of making decisive assertions, of expressing final conclusions forcefully and eloquently and of declaring his/her opinions on the fundamental truths of life with great authority and impact.

That is the reason why Bagalamukhi is appealed to with fervor when one looks for inspiration in his/her speeches, debates and assertions.

SHE OWNS THE “WEAPON” OF SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE WHICH REMOVES ALL OBSTACLES
Another very important aspect of Bagalamukhi that she offers to those who worship her with sincerity and devotion is the power to annihilate the forces that oppose our spiritual evolution, which consist of all the thoughts, ideas and feelings deriving from our ego (that is, from our false identity).

For example, a very beautiful,harmonious and vital woman can actually arouse a kind of “still state” or immobility of the senses, of the mind and even of the breath in those who see her.

Matangi – known as the Tantra form of Saraswati, the goddess of knowledge and the arts.

Matangi is closely connected to Saraswati, the goddess of wisdom and the consort of the great god Brahma (the Creator of Macro cosmos) from the Hindi trinity (Trimurti).

Just like Saraswati, Matangi is presented playing a sacred instrument (vina) that symbolizes the fact that She also rules and influences the domain of music and audible sound, not only the uttered word.That is why Matangi is sometimes represented as the manifested form of songs and tunes. She is symbolized (just as Saraswati is) by storm clouds , lightning and also by the rivers that flow into the sea or ocean. Matangi represents the vibratory resonance or nada of the subtle sound, that manifests on different levels in the whole subtle structure of nadi-s found in our being. Nevertheless, there are differences between these two great goddesses. Matangi is the form of Saraswati that implies inner knowledge.In other words, She is the mystic, occult and ecstatic form of Saraswati, because Saraswati is especially known as the goddess of common knowledge, of art and culture. Matangi governs the mysterious and extraordinary domain of divine knowledge, that leads us beyond the limits of conventionalism. We can assert that Matangi is actually the face of Saraswati related to the transforming energy of the Great Goddess Kali.

Kamala – known as the Tantra form of Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and abundance.

Goddess Kamala is portrayed in red dress and lavishly adorned with golden jewelry. She has golden complexion. She is depicted with four arms. In two arms, She holds lotus flowers and with remaining two arms She makes boon-giving and being-fearless gestures which are known as Varada and Abhaya Mudra respectively. 


She is flanked by four elephants who are shown giving Abhishekam to Goddess Kamala who is sitting in the midst of the ocean on a lotus flower. She is not only compared with Goddess Lakshmi but also considered to be Goddess Lakshmi. She is also known as Tantric Lakshmi. The goddess in the form of Kamala bestows prosperity and wealth, fertility and crops, and good luck. Hence She is Devi of both Dhan and Dhanya i.e. wealth and grains.