The central theme of Hinduism is to see the One in the many.

This Catholic all-comprehensiveness of Hinduism is its unique and most vital feature. All modes of worship, all avenues of approach to the Supreme, are justified (Bhagavad Gita, 4:11). Every sincere religious effort, whatever be its outer garb, is a step towards the Most High. The cosmic or transcendent aspect of God is the deepest and highest. It is extremely difficult for a body-bound mortal to contemplate that. He accepts a symbol of Formless God. The impersonal and the personal are not considered contradictory in Hinduism. In the words of Swami Vivekananda: They are the obverse and reverse of the same coin. That affords every one a foothold by which he or she can mount to the realization of the impersonal.

The Hindu does not worship the image (as) God, but he worships God through an image. To worship an image (as) God is idolatry, but to worship God through an image is a valid form of worship.

Where Brahman Himself is the object of worship, the (Pratika, or symbol stands only as a substitute or a suggestion thereof.(C.W. of Swami Vivekananda, p. 3:60) The external symbol is only an aid and a stimulus to the awakening of the spirit of devotion within.

A Hindu image, properly understood, is philosophy objectified into a work of art, pressed into the service of religion..

Kali, the Divine Mother, representing the Cosmic Energy of the ever-changing universe in time and space, is depicted as standing on the prostrate body of Siva. Siva, the Eternal Immutable Spirit, lying tranquil, is Self-absorbed and unaware, as it were, of the dance of Death and Destruction on His breast. The figure expresses the idea that the entire Spatio-temporal cosmic evolution is rooted and sustained by the abiding Reality, the Lord Siva. The world of movement, of clash and catastrophe, of death and disaster, is only an apparent reality. Beyond this reality we find the abiding Reality, Eternal Spirit, in Its transcendental and supra-cosmic glory.

Kali is represented as a nude, dark blue figure. She has three eyes. She wears a necklace of severed heads, and round Her waist is a girdle of human arms. Her tongue sticks out thirsting for blood. In Her lower left hand She holds a decapitated human head, and in the upper left She holds a sword. With Her lower right hand She bestows boons on Her devotees, and the gesture of Her upper right hand signifies,'Fear nothing'. Yet She wears a peculiar smile on Her face. The terrible aspect of Kali does not dishearten us; we appreciate the grandeur and sublimity of the symbol. God is not blissful only. Reality manifests the tragedies of life as well. This Truth was experienced as early as the days of the Vedas . . . when all living beings were considered as food for God, and Death was His condiment . . . Katha Upanishad, 1.2.25). Good and evil are two facets of Truth. That is good which unfolds our divine nature, and that is bad which contracts our soul and eclipses the divinity within. Death does not mean destruction of life; new life emerges and finds fulfillment through struggle in the right direction.

The symbol is full of spiritual significance for the worshipper. One of the most superb attempts of the Hindu mystics in trying to give a visual representation of the Absolute. Truth can be seen in the image of Kali.

Among the most popular symbolic meanings of the image are:
 

The word Kali  is derived from the well-known word Kala,  or Time, which is the prime mover of the universe. Time, the moving picture of eternity, has been perpetually creating and destroying (Bhagavad Gita,  11:32) Being the only source of existence, Kali is the power behind time which devours everything. The dark blue colour is that of Infinity. Kali's  appearance in dark blue suggests that She is the matrix of all colours of the objective world. Sri Ramakrishna tells us that the advanced devotees of Mother do not see any colour in Her, although She appears to us as black due to the impure state of our mind. The nudity signifies the unconditionally self-conditioned nature of the Universal Energy whose joyous dance or sportive play is Life. She is Infinite and hence She must necessarily be imagined as nude. She is also called Digambari  (clad in space). Her dishevelled hair symbolizes Her unchallenged authority. She is also addressed as Muktakesi  for this reason. Her third eye, the eye of wisdom, is eternally riveted on Siva's  face. As She is eternally Satchidanandamayi  (Existence-Knowledge-Bliss), She does not want to be led astray from Her eternal companionship with Siva, the transcendent support and inspirer of all Her thoughts and actions. Her exposed white teeth, pressing the red tongue, gives us a suggestion of controlling the rajas with the help of sattva. Her protruding tongue, smeared with blood, is indicative of Her blood-thirsty attitude. She wants us to undergo hardship if necessary and exert ourselves for the attainment of fulfillment in our life. She is biting Her own tongue with Her teeth in shame and surprise. She is ashamed of Her conduct in dancing on the breast of Her Lord, the ground of all Her powers. Siva  is Brahman, the Absolute, which is beyond all relativity, and hence is depicted as a Sava  (dead body). Brandishing Her sword of dazzling brightness and holding the decapitated head are indicative of Her corrective measures meted out to Her erring children who are violating cosmic laws. Her four hands are spread out in all directions of the cosmos, suggesting thereby Her divine mission of safeguarding the interests of evolutionary creative processes . She wears the garland of skulls or decapitated heads, numbering fifty, to symbolize the fifty letters of the [Sanskrit] alphabet. Kali,  wearing an apron of severed human hands, may suggest her happiness with the offering of our work, and She keeps its results in Her custody. After dissolution of the manifest creation, the Mother preserves the seeds of the actions of Her children in a causal form. The background is suggestive of death and devastation. Unless we destroy our egocentric attitude from our heart, the Mother will not dance in our impure hearts.

The symbols unmistakably point out the Mother's deep love and affection for Her devotees who are invariably assured of Her loving nature, as well as Her supreme concern and sense of obligation in safeguarding the well-being of Her children.

Kali operates in the relative world in two ways, as Vidyamaya (knowledge) and as Avidyamaya (ignorance). If ignorance fortifies worldly bondage, knowledge helps its withdrawal. They can be compared to the centripetal and centrifugal forces of this wheel of the world. Vidya and Avidya, life and death, beauty and ugliness, etc.---all these pairs of opposites that beset our daily life are the manifestation of the Divine Shakti. For She being the only source of all, nothing can be separated from Her. A Sakti worshipper is expected to see the Divine behind all these expressions of nature. The contradictions are experienced in the relative plane, in Maya. Beyond Maya they have no existence at all. So the Divine Mother, who is both transcendent and immanent, wears not only an amiable form, but also a form that is dreadful and all-devouring. In Her lower left hand She holds the bleeding head of the asura (demon). This points to Her alertness and sense of justice in vindicating Her pledge to protect Her creation from destruction. The pains and aches of life, when viewed from a higher moral plane, provide us an opportunity to develop our spiritual maturity in life. The higher the life, the greater is the struggle.

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Books by Swami Tathagatananda:

1. The Vedanta Society of New York -- A Brief History, 2000
2. Mahabharat--Katha (Bengali), 1998
3. Ramayan Anudhyan (Bengali), 1996
4. Healthy Values of Living, 1996
5. Meditation on Swami Vivekananda, 1994
6. Meditation on Shri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda, 1993
7. Glimpses of Great Lives, 1989
8. Shubha Chinta (Bengali), 1988
9. Smaran--Manan (Bengali), 1987

You can order these books from The Vedanta Society of New York.

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