Ten Mahavidyas. Manifested forms of Shakti

A special place in Hinduism is occupied by the cult of Shakti - the expression of the feminine in the fullness of its manifestations. And the image of the Great Mother of the World can vary from infinitely joyful, light and peaceful, to fierce ruthless and furious. And all this is Shakti.

Shakti has ten main manifestations (mahavidyas). To quote the Vedic treatise ‘The Ten Mahavidyas of the Great Goddess’, Mahavidya (mahavidya) is the causal essence body of the Goddess, the soul of the world, the indestructible spiritual form that is in indissoluble unity with Shiva. Translated from Sanskrit, ‘Mahavidya’ means ‘Maha’ - great, ‘Vidya’ - knowledge. Great knowledge personified as ten female deities.

The ten Mahavidyas are the various forms of the supreme transcendental reality of Shakti (energy) in which the goddess brings enlightenment through liberating knowledge. They embody the holistic knowledge of the universe and are the embodiment of the cycles of life, the essence of all levels of life. They inspire and shock, blossom and wither at the same time.

The Mahavidyas are the universal processes, the great energies that make this world manifest, regulating every movement, the breath of every atom. It is believed that through the Mother the sadhak receives the fruit of the four goals of human life: Dharma, Ardha, Kama and Moksha. She is Being, Consciousness, Happiness or Bliss - Sat-chit-ananda. The Goddess leads the sadhaka to understand and realise his true nature and liberation from the fetters of the material world.

The ten goddesses represent the whole spectrum of aspects of reality, from the most terrible to the mundane and peaceful, from the extraordinarily sublime to the grossest and most polluted. These are the ten basic energies manifesting as a vast variety of universal processes. Dasha Mahavidya is ‘the ten great mantras.’ In the tantras it is said that the goddess and the mantra are one and the same. It is not the mantra that belongs to the deity, but the mantra is the Goddess herself.

It is worth considering each manifestation of the Goddess separately. Kali is the Absolute, only in female form, the beginning and the end of the universe. She is the expression of Time itself. Kali is depicted with four arms, symbolising the four sides of the world. In two hands she holds a sword and a demon's head, the lower left blesses for the fulfilment of all desires, and the upper right banishes fear. Kali's body is blue in colour, she is dressed in a tiger skin and around her neck is a garland of skulls (cutting off the delusions of the mind and false ego). Blood flows from her long-extended tongue (energy of action in the universe). The three eyes of the goddess are past, present and future. And the colour blue symbolises power over death, time and ‘circumstances’.

The second Mahavidya, Tara, symbolises the power of striving, desire, spiritual ascension, potentialities that are realised in the process of transformation. She is the goddess of transformation, indicating the Path and giving knowledge of salvation to anyone who turns to her for help. A distinction is made between Tara in Buddhism and Tara in Hinduism. They are generally similar, but the former has a dominant aspect of mercy, and the latter has a hypostasis of wrathful activity. Tara and Kali are very similar, but whereas Kali destroys and creates the whole system as a whole, Tara cuts off and changes only those parts of it that prevent change in the right direction. In Hinduism is depicted as multi-armed, bare-chested, dressed in tiger skin, on shmashana - a place of burning corpses, trampling a male corpse with her feet. This symbolises illumination, transformation, passing into another quality and overcoming the conditioning of the gross mind. She holds swords in her hands and is girded with a necklace of severed hands.
This is a symbol of cutting off bad intentions and suppression of wrong actions. Her yantra is an eight-petalled lotus around an inverted triangle, the first pattern of cosmic manifestation, symbolically representing the main impulse of the goddess, the pure desire to create. Her bija mantra, like Shiva's mantra, is Om.

Shodashi, the third Mahavidya, represents the power of perfection and sustenance. Its name means ‘sixteen,’ a number associated with perfection and completeness. The embodiment of the realisation of true reality and wisdom, giving power over all worlds and Time: past, present and future. Absolute realisation and purity made this image the perfect embodiment of beauty, harmony and eternal youth.
Tripurasundari is usually depicted seated on a lotus, a symbol of wisdom and purity, sprouting through mud and silt. In her four hands she holds a harness, arrow, bow and arrows. This symbolises the harmony of the masculine Shiva and the feminine shakti energy. Tripurasundari is also honoured as the patroness of warriors and the ‘queen of kings’. The power of absolute harmony has no distortion between intention and action. Therefore Shodashi is omnipotent, she is the complete cycle of creation, when the whole world is like a flower that has fully bloomed, a quality that is expressed in her yantra with her nine ‘cosmic wombs’. She is one of the goddesses from this group who is widely revered in her own right. She is the main deity honoured in Srividya and is invoked either through the great Sri Yantra or through her own yantra, the Nava-yoni Chakra. Her bija-mantras are Aim, Klim, Sauh.

The fourth goddess, transformation, is the Lady of the Celestial Worlds, Bhuvaneshwari, who illuminates the universe with her radiance and beauty. Being the Mother of the entire manifested universe she is depicted as an eternally youthful queen seated on a lotus. With her four hands she holds the arrow and the noose, symbols of control, and with the other two she bestows blessings and the removal of all fears. Devi rewards her devotees with wealth, prosperity, stability and success in all good ventures. The beneficent nature of Bhuvaneshwari is usually expressed in the symbolism of the colour red, which may speak of the process of creation, including it being the colour of rajas. She is manifested in her yantra sitting on a star or hexagon, which is associated with the transcendental incomprehensibility of the unity of the two beginnings (male and female). The colours of the rising sun, with the moon as her crown, her humanoid image is placed in the centre of the yantra and surrounded by two rings of eight- and sixteen-petalled lotuses. Whereas Kali is supreme as the realisation of the Time of the universe, Bhuvaneshwari is the chief representation of the realisation of space, a quality of which her name reminds us (Bhu is space, and also a support). Hence, being the fulcrum of all existing things, she is the extension, expansion and limitless space that contains everything, as well as the lord of the three worlds, earth, atmosphere and sky, the cosmos. Her bija-mantra is Hrim.

The fifth Mahavidya, Chinnamasta is the Indian goddess of desire and insight. Among the gods, goddesses and other characters of the Indian pantheon, it is Chinnamasta who attracts special attention of uninformed persons. And there is something to be surprised about. On the majority of images she looks very strange and even frightening: in her left hand she holds her own severed head with an open mouth, her hair is dishevelled, and she drinks blood, flowing from her own neck. At the same time, the goddess is standing on top of a couple making love. To her right and left are two companions who are also drinking the goddess's blood flowing from her neck. It would seem a frightening sight, but researchers of Indian culture argue that in each part of this image is embedded in a certain meaning. Since, the head is the centre in which all the activities of the mind, the severing of the head symbolises the stopping of the movement of thoughts. And the fact that the goddess tastes her own blood means the destruction of vicious desire, because it is she in its manifestation - the flow of energy Kundalini, burning on its way ignorance and impurity, breaking through the blocks that prevent the free flow of energy in man, and taking consciousness beyond the usual space. In her yantra, the destructive aspect of her image is symbolised by triangles and circles. Her bija mantra is Hum.

Tripura Bhairavi, the sixth hypostasis, the embodiment of the energy of destruction, continuously destroys the world by its incessant activity (rajasika). Bhairavi is the Shakti of Bhairava, the ruthless aspect of Shiva. Tripura Bhairavi represents the Divine Mother who imbues with Her all the three planes of existence: physical, astral and celestial - bhukh, bhuvah and svah (or bhuloku, bhuvarloku and svargaloku) - Tri so means the number ‘three’:-) and pura means ‘plan of existence’, the same as loka. She is the Shakti of Kala-Bhairava (otherwise called Dakshinamurti) and for this reason the image of HER closely overlaps with Kali. Kali is the Kundalini and removes the fear of time (kala) and the death associated with it. Kali and Tripura Bhairavi destroy the nine obscurations of the mind: affliction, weakness, doubt, susceptibility to illusion, indolence, intemperance, misconceptions, unattainability of any yogic state and inability to hold the yogic state. It is these nine obstacles that give rise to fear. As Tripura-Sundari (Shodashi, Sri, Rajarajeshwari), She is the original desire, the ichchha-shakti, and as Tripura-Bhairavi, She is the Kriya-shakti, the active aspect. As Shodashi (Tripura-Sundari), She strives for Oneness, and as Tripura-Bhairavi, She destroys all obstacles that prevent Her from attaining the Great Oneness. Her yantra is a hexagonal star placed in a circle of lotus petals and Her bija-mantra is Hsraim , Hsklrim , Hssrauh . Everything that exists is permeated by the two opposing forces of development and decay; everything that exists is an object of annihilation from the very first moment of its existence. The destroying power of time is represented in the yantra of this goddess by nine triangles, which symbolise the decaying levels of existence.

The all-powerful, destroying Tripura Bhairavi is followed by the ash-coloured Mahavidya Dhumavati, the embodiment of absolute destruction. Her omnipotent destructive drive with which she turns the world into ashes is reflected in her name ‘Smoky’.
She is also known as Vidhya, ‘Widow,’ or Purusha-Shunya, that is, devoid of Purusha. Purusha is the male, This Goddess has no consort - She is Shakti without Shiva, the eternal widow. Shiva without Shakti becomes a shava, a corpse; Shakti without Shiva assumes a terrifying, ferocious, ugly, ugly, devoid of grace, hunched, gloomy, disordered and miserable form. Her hair is grey and tangled, and she is clothed in filthy rags. This goddess rides on a chariot crowned with a banner bearing the image of a black raven. In her left hand she holds a shurpa, and with her right hand she blesses those who are able to see in her a sublime essence, the Divine Mother. It is an energy devoid of charge, an energy that resides in the state that preceded the energy filled with realisation. It bestows the knowledge of the non dual vision that transcends all, it is shuddha-vidya. The sixth level of the union of energies. Chatur-dashar (the 14 ultimate star), which is the 14 bhuvans or realms, the 14 nadis of the subtle system.Chakra Sarva-saubgagya daika. The One who bestows all prosperity. Dhumavati is the night of cosmic sleep, the state of existence when everything in the world is inert, dormant and ‘dead’. She is considered a ‘widow’ and therefore has no spouse. She symbolises the ignorance and darkness hidden within herself; her outward manifestation in the world is hopelessness, despair, horror, poverty, hunger and misery. Dhumavati's yantra is a hexagonal star in an eight-petalled lotus, and her bija-mantra is Dhum.

The eighth manifestation of Kali, the goddess Bagalamukhi, represents the hypnotic power of influencing all processes occurring in the cosmos and among living beings. The word ‘bagala’ literally means ‘rope, whip or bridle’ and ‘mukhi’ means ‘face’. Bagalamukhi is one of the personifications who commands and conquers. Her favourite colour is yellow, the colour of the sun - signifying the bright and pure energy of Knowledge, and hence those who worship Bagala must wear yellow robes. With her left hand the Goddess holds the tongue of the chatterer as a symbol of selfishness, and with her right hand she shakes her mace. This means that the Goddess curbs backbiting and idle talk, which are heavy stumbling blocks on the path to self-realisation, incurring the wrath of the Goddess who sends severe trials. The hypnotic quality of Bagala is manifested in the Divine Word, which drowns out the egoistic impulses in man and silences him. Bagalamukhi endows man with iron logic, the art of irrefutable proof and convincing assertion. Under her influence fire becomes cold and anger is pacified. She is content to suspend the activities of nature. Her yantra is like Dhumavati's except for the additional triangle in the hexagonal star. Her bija-mantra is Hrim.

The ninth Mahavidya, Matangi, has a greenish, dark complexion (hence another of her names-Shyamala ;y;mal;) and attractive forms. Her delicate limbs shine like sapphire. She is a chandala kanya (c;;;;la kany; -literally, a girl of the chandalas - extra-caste, meat-eating, dealing with the dead). The sage Matanga (M;ta;ga) was a chandala by birth, and the goddess of speech manifested as his daughter-hence she is sometimes called the ‘rejected goddess’ or ‘goddess of the rejected.’ Caste, creed and skin colour are no barriers to her upasana-Matangi leads one to overcome all such barriers. (Note that the word chandala is also the symbol for sushumna in sandhy;bh;;;-letter twilight language) Tantra.   Matangi (or Shyama - ‘Dark’), one of the ten Mahavidyas, literally means ‘intoxicated with passion’. Also ‘mata’ can be translated as ‘thinking, mind’ or ‘knowledge’ and ‘matangi’ as an expression of this thought process. Matangi is therefore understood as a manifestation of sound - she symbolises the power of vaikhari speech, being the Tantric form of Goddess Saraswati, and is also seen as the goddess of knowledge (jnana).

Matangi is depicted as a full-breasted sixteen-year-old girl seated on a lotus (or corpse). Her skin colour is green, she has long black hair and her neck is wrapped in a garland of kadamba flowers. In her four hands she holds a sword and a kapala, a musical instrument of wine, with her remaining hand she makes a gesture of blessing. Matangi is sometimes called Sumukhi, ‘mukkha’ is the mouth, that which is connected with speech, and ‘su’ means perfection, this name means ‘perfection in speech’. This can be understood as, for example, abilities in poetry, eloquence, also in recitation of mantras. Matangi bestows mantra-siddhi, the power of submission (vashikarana), and the ability to charm (mohana). It is the Goddess who helps in all impurities to reveal anugraha, or prasada (mercy, grace), hence matangi is the name of the lower jati (castes). The lower castes play a special role in vamachara rituals. One can notice such a tendency in people that over the years, they grow mannerisms, tendencies to live according to patterns, which intentionally kills all creativity in a person, without which there is no room for true spirituality. And Matangi is a symbol of breaking all the patterns that make a person a pasha, a social zombie. It is the power that gives freedom (mukti).

The other form of the Goddess is Uchchishta-Matangi. The word Uchchishta means ‘that which comes out of the mouth’, can also mean scraps. Usually one first offers food to the Deity and then savours the ‘leftovers’ of the food accepted by the Deity. The offering of food eaten by a person to the Deity is almost always regarded as a defilement or offence to the Deity. However, if the sadhaka himself is Deity, the opposite is true: the food he tastes becomes prasad. This also points to the non-divinity that is important in the sadhana of the vamachara. After all, Matangi is also the Goddess of vamachara. Matangi is associated with manas and lunar energy, which is like nectar, which brings inspiration, nourishes the creative forces in man. But creativity is never linear, and excessive ‘dryness’ of discipline is balanced precisely by all that is ‘forbidden’, ‘ignored’, ‘displaced’, etc. Uchishta-Matangi is an inversion of what is generally considered pure and decent. Thus, to serve Matangi, it is recommended to be in a state of pollution by offering her leftovers, and worship during ‘these days’ is prescribed for women. By worshipping Matangi in the form of Chandalini, the sadhaka realises his basest animal tendencies, so that thereby he overcomes the power of dual consciousness. The name ‘Chandalini’ is derived from ‘chandala’ (out of caste, untouchables), according to one legend, Matangi was born into a family of chandals. Chandals are considered impure, but in vamachara there is this principle that if in a Kaula ritual the Goddess is honoured in a woman from the lower strata of society, this is precisely the best situation for vama sadhana. Her yantra is the same as Dhumavati's and is distinguished by her bija-mantra.

The tenth Mahavidya is Kamala, lotus-coloured, she is like a flower blooming in everything, representing the state of reborn unity. She is the embodiment of everything desirable and pleasurable, and so manifests herself as the goddess of good fortune. Everything that brings joy and happiness is associated with her. The yantra of this Mahavidya is also a hexagonal star placed inside a circle of lotuses and is characterised by its bija-mantra Shrim.

Thus, the Ten Great Mahavidyas are the ten great mantras by which Knowledge is transformed, awakened or discovered within. One can attain Knowledge (vidya) only by realising the essence of each goddess. For example, the tradition of the 84 Mahasiddhas who practised Buddhist and Indian Tantra are associated with the fact that it was the Dakini or one of the Ten Mahavidyas who gave the initial initiation into the stream of teachings. Mahavidya is the wisdom that enables one to apply knowledge in all cases of life; it is universal knowledge. Each Mahavidya is revealed first as the practice of worship, then as wisdom, then as luminosity and then manifested as siddhi. The ten Mahavidyas - ‘they are all one’ - are so emphasised in all the sacred texts. They are descended from one goddess; they are different facets, aspects or avatars of that goddess.

The number of Mahavidyas also comes in different numbers. The Niruttara-tantra lists 18 Mahavidyas, while Naradapancharatra says that there are 7 million of them. Thus the Goddess can manifest herself in a great variety of forms. The 10 Avatars of Vishnu also serve as models of the 10 Mahavidyas. One of the myths describes that the 10 Avatars came from the nails of Mahadevi and that the Mahavidyas, who are also her forms, are like the Avatars and were created to overcome adharma. In India, there are 10 avatars and 10 Mahavidyas represented in the temple located in Ramakrishna Math in Varanasi. Thus, according to Guhyatiguhya-tantra and Todala-tantra, Kali manifests as the avatar of Krishna, Tara as Rama, Bhuvaneshwari as Vamana, Chhinamasta as Narasimha, Kamala as Buddha and so on. It is also customary in India to perform a special ritual called Das Mahavidya Yagya, the great fire sacrifice. It is dedicated to the Ten manifestations of the One Universal Power (Shakti) or the ten aspects of the Divine Mother who bestows the Great Wisdom. It is also called the Ten Wisdoms of God.

The individual tantras dedicated to each of the Ten Mahavidyas explain the nature, yantra, mode of behaviour, ritual and benefits she bestows. The two main centres of Dasha Mahavidya worship known are Bengal and Mithila in the state of Bihar, eastern India. In Mithila, when a child is born, the local priest appoints one of the ten Mahavidyas as his chosen deity, and the person usually remains faithful for life to the worship of that deity.

Mahavidya, as a single mother, has many names. In his treatise ‘1000 Names of Lolita’, Sri Adi Shankaracharya describes her as follows: ‘The sacred mother who gives not only all the good things that a loving Mother gives to her child, but also the highest knowledge, the knowledge of the Divine vibrations to those who worship her.’ And in the Devi Upanishad, answering the question of all the gods, ‘Who art Thou, O Great Goddess?’, the Mother herself speaks of Her transcending all essence: ‘I am the essential form of Brahman. From me the whole world, consisting of purusha and prakriti, of emptiness and non-emptiness, originated. I am both in bliss and non-bliss. I am both in comprehension and non-comprehension. I am to be comprehended in both Brahma and Brahmani. I am the five cosmic elements and beyond the five elements. I am the whole of this unmanifested world. I am the Veda and the non-Veda. I am Knowledge and ignorance. I am the unborn and the unborn. From below and above and everywhere around - everywhere I am.’