 Early History of Goddess Kali depicts as a fierce form of all other Goddesses. In Indian Puranas like Agni Purana and Garuda Purana she has been mentioned in invocations that aim at success in war against enemies. She is described as having as a gaunt, some one who laughs loudly, dances madly, wears a garland of corpses and lives in the cremation ground. She is asked to crush the enemy.
In Bhagavata Purana she is the patron deity of a group of thieves whose leader wants to attain her blessings as he wants to have a son. Thief kidnaps a young Brahman in order to offer him as a blood sacrifice to Kali. The radiance of the youth burns Kali herself when he is brought near her image. She furiously kills the leader and the group of men. In the seventh century drama Kadambari of Banabhatta a goddess named Chandi is featured who is worshipped by a tribe of primitive hunters. It takes place deep in the forest and she is offered blood. In Vakapati's Gaudavaho Kali is depicted as Vindhyavasini. There also it is shown that she is worshipped by Sabaras. In Bhavabhuti's Malatimadhava, a drama of early eighth century, Chamunda is often identified with Kali. A hymn to the goddess describes her as dancing wildly. In Somadeva's Yasatilaka there is a description of Goddess Chandamari that is as same as that of Kali. In architectural work of seventh and eighth centuries Kali has been associated with the Hindu society. Her appearances in the battle are found in Devi Mahatmyam. In a battle the demons Chanda and Munda approach Goddess Durga with weapons. Durga on seeing this becomes angry and her face becomes dark with anger. Goddess Kali springs from her forehead. She is dark and wears a garland made of human heads and a tiger skin. She tears the demons apart. Later in the battle Kali is called by Durga in order to help her defeat demon Raktabija. The demon can reproduce himself whenever a drop of his blood falls on the ground. As he was bleeding profusely, the battlefield was filled with his duplicates. Goddess Kali sucked the blood of Raktabija and threw the countless duplicates into her mouth. Here Kali appears to depict Goddess Durga's fury. In Linga Purana, Lord Shivaasks her to crush demon Daruka who was given the boon that he can be killed only by a female. Goddess Parvati enters Siva's body and reappears as Kali and defeats the demon. In Vamana Purana, Parvati is known as Kali due to her dark complexion. When Siva uses this name Parvati feels offensive and undertakes penance in order to remove her dark colour. Here Kali plays the role of Parvati's dark and violent nature. It can be considered that Kali is a Goddess who threatens stability. She is called as the slayer of demons. However at times she becomes so frenzy by drinking the blood of the enemies that she sets out to destroy the world which she is supposed to protect. She appears to represent the fury of other Goddesses. Shiva calms Kali. She is considered as the other wife of Shiva. |
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