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From: tyagi@houseofkaos.abyss.com (nagasiva)
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Subject: Kali and the Great Goddess (Kinsley)
Date: 18 Mar 1999 23:44:40 -0800
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49990318 IIIom
aum aum aum aum aum aum aum
jai ma!

a quote from David R. Kinsley on Kali and 'the Great Goddess':

	     At one extreme are those who would see in Kali simply
	a manifestation of a "Great Goddess," an amorphous being at
	best who reveals herself as early as the *Rg-veda* as Prthivi (the
	earth), Usas (the dawn), Aditi, Ratri, or some other goddess
	with whom Kali has very little in common.

	[AUTHOR'S NOTE: The only goddess who appears in Vedic
		literature who shares important characteristics
		with Kali is Nirrti....]
						   The assumption
	seems to be that there existed in Vedic India a being comparable
	to figures in the ancient Near East or the Mediterranean area,
	although such a being does not actually make her appearance
	in the *Rg-veda*. .

	[AUTHOR'S NOTE: The "Devi," or "Mahadevi" (the "Great
		Goddess"), does appear in later literature,
		particularly in the *Puranas*, and there is a
		conscious attempt at this time to subsume all
		goddesses under her in several scriptures
		(*e.g.* the *Devi-mahatmya*, ...; the
		*Saundaryalahari*, attributed to Sankara, but
		written somewhat later, and the *Lalita-
		sahasranam*, a part of the *Brahmanda-purana*).
		It is as unfair to read the synchronizing
		tendencies of later Hinduism in respect to the
		Great Goddesses back into Vedic literature,
		however, s it is to read the Trimurti of Brahma-
		Visnu-Siva back int the *Vedas*. Even in later
		Hinduism it is important to distinguish between
		epithets, *avataras*, and aspects of various
		deities. While it is quite clear, for example,
		that Kali in many texts is said to arise from
		Durga or to represent the dynamic aspect of
		Siva, she cannot possibly be understood simply
		in relation to these deities. Kali, quite
		clearly, is a being in her own right, and no
		attempt to subsume her under another, perhaps
		more powerful or greater, deity can hide that
		fact.]
			 Another assumption underlying this approach
	seems to be that femaleness is an essentially defining 
	characteristic of any goddess. That is, if two otehrwise
	completely differing deities are both feminine, then it is
	held (on grounds that are never made clear) that they must
	be reducible to manifestations of one "Great Goddess." It
	would seem that femaleness alone (and not maleness) is used
	as such a defining characteristic, for the male beings of the
	the tradition are recognized as individual beings in their
	own right. To my knowledge no one has yet come up with a
	"Great God" theory to explain the differences between early
	and late male deities in the Hindu tradition. No one, for
	example, has tried to show that Ganesa, Krsna, Rama, or
	Karttikeya (all popular in the later tradition but absent from
	the Vedic literature) are really manifestations of a "Great
	God" who manifests himself in the *Rg-veda* as Indra, Agni,
	Varuna, or the like. To do the same thing with Kali is equally
	unjustified. Kali can be shown to have an identity of her own,
	quite distinct from all other deities in the tradition, and
	this identity may not be reduced to her sex.

		At the other extreme is the interpretation of Kali that
	insists on her essentially indigenous, non-Aryan character
	throughout her history. In support of this interpretation it
	is clear that most early references to Kali associate her with
	tribal groups living on the periphery of Indian society. It is
	also clear that Kali is still regarded with suspicion by many
	in the Hindu tradition; her popularity in Bengal, never known
	for its orthodoxy, further suggests her essentially indigenous
	character. While Kali's association with tribal, indigenous
	peoples

	[AUTHOR'S NOTE: There is no convincing evidence that Kali,
		or a goddess resembling Kali, was known in the Indus
		Valley civilization, although there is abundant
		evidence of the worship of feminine deities.]
		cannot be denied, her subsequent popularity in the
	tradition cannot be explained simply from this point of view.
	To say that the Hindu tradition, for social and political
	reasons, recognized Kali as another manifestation of Durga
	or the Great Goddess (Devi) does not explain her rise to
	prominence. It is well known that the brahmanic tradition for
	various reasons accepted into its fold (either willingly or
	unwillingly) many indigenous deities and customs. In just this
	way the Aryan tradition was able to accomodate very diverse
	peoples among the indigenous population. But at some point
	Kali ceases to be an indigenous, tribal goddess, associated
	with the periphery of society, and begins to gain an amazing
	prominence in the pantheon. At this point, I think, one has to
	recognize the fact that Kali has become a Hindu goddess,
	expressing the Hindu vision of things in her own way. The point
	is that Kali's origins do not and cannot adequately explain
	her subsequent history. She eventually transcends her origins.
	______________________________________________________________
	_The Sword and the Flute: Kali & Krsna, Dark Visions of the
	 Terrible and the Sublime in Hindu Mythology_, by David R.
	 Kinsley, University of California Press, 1975; pp. 83-5.
	--------------------------------------------------------------

aum krim namah kali
nagasiva
-- 
tyagi@houseofkaos.abyss.com; http://www.abyss.com/tokus 
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see also http://www.luckymojo.com/mojocatSPELLS.html