जगन्मोहनीयं तु वाग्वादिनीयं
सुहृत्पोषिणीशत्रुसंहारणीयम्
You are the power enchanting the worlds,
you are the power proclaiming speech itself,
you are the power which nourish the good-hearted, and you are the power which destroy the inner enemies.
-Kalikashtakam, Shri Adi Shankracharya
Devi Kali is often viewed as a fierce and terrifying goddess with mysterious powers but what most people don’t know about Her is that She is the goddess of speech. The striking imagery of Kali is that She always has Her tongue out. Many people think this is due to Her feeling ashamed of stepping upon Shiva and usually in the vedic tradition, the woman is never on top. This view of Kali is actually a very limiting understanding of the Goddess because it narrates the story of a woman ashamed of being in power. In the tantric tradition, the woman in vipritataratura asana (opposite) union on top is considered the supreme form of divine and in Shakta Mahabhagvatam, Lord Shiva Himself desires to have Her lotus feet on His chest but because He’s so enamoured by this form, Devi laughs and puts Her tongue out to tease Him. Devi’s tongue is extremely sacred because it’s the liminal space between the vishuddha chakra in the throat (the purest, most pristine space) and the spoken word which is already polluted. Kali is never like a trickster goddess because of this tongue being out in full view because the devotee gets what they see with Her and there’s no false pretenses or impressions about Her nature. Matangi is the more benign form of Maa Kali and a fierce form of Saraswati who is more well known as a trickster (Kapati being one of Her names) because She will find novel ways of teaching you the same concepts you struggle with in your spiritual journey. Today marks the auspicious day of Vasant Panchami which is known to be Devi Saraswati’s day and the reason why Maa Kali and Maa Saraswati are so similar yet different in their approach to speech is because they define the creative and destructive aspects of it
A devotee must always hold their tongue and think (Saraswati) before they speak (Kali) because speech is known to be pitta dosha (ayurvedic temperament of fire) which is extremely transformative in nature. It is through speech worlds arise and only through speech empires fall. Kali being the universal truth also makes the devotee cautious of how Her own view is so limited in they eyes of those who don’t know Her which is why many people have a tendency of making up stories about Her mysterious nature. Even when we speak the truth and are the embodiment of it, to those who are blind we’re the piercing dark winters like Kali’s external appearance but those who truly see us with the warmth of love in their hearts we transform into the enchanting spring, the embodiment of sattwa, like Maa Saraswati.
I generate the father on the summit of this (sky). My source is in the waters, in the inner ocean. Thence, I spread among all living creatures, alongside the all-pervading, and with the vertex I touch that sky
-Vaak Suktam, Rigveda
Shri Matre Namah
Jai Kali! Jai Saraswati!
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