***The **Self-Decapitated **Goddess ***
Victory to the light of the world, giver of a good ending to the universe, to her whose forehead is lovely with charming locks.1
I meditate upon the Goddess Chinnamasta who is seated in the centre of the Sun’s disk and holds in her left hand her own severed head with gaping mouth, her hair is dishevelled and she is drinking the stream of blood gushing out from her own neck. She is seated on Rati and Kamadeva who are engaged in sexual dalliance, and she is rejoicing with her friends Dakini and Varnini.2
She stands in an aggressive manner with her leg put forward. She is holding her own severed head in one hand and a sword in the other. She is naked and happily drinks the blood that gushes from her headless body. She has three eyes and is adorned with a blue lotus at her heart. One should meditate on Chinnamasta, who has the complexion of a red hibiscus flower. She stands on Kama and Rati, who are joined in sexual intercourse. To her right is Varnini, who is possessed by *rajas **guna, *who is white in color, with loose hair, and who holds a sword and a skull cup. She happily drinks the blood gushing from the *devi’s *severed neck. On her left is Dakini, who also drinks blood flowing from Chinnamasta’s headless body. She is possessed by *tamas **guna *and enjoys the world in its state of dissolution. One should meditate on this goddess who bestows blessings on her devotees.3
Possible Prototypes
Chinnamasta does not have a widespread independent cult in Hinduism and does not seem to have had a very developed history prior to her appearance as one of the Mahavidyas. Like Tārā, however, she also appears in tantric Buddhism, where she is known as Vajra-yogini (discussed below). Although we are unable to find early references to Chinnamasta or evidence of an early cult associated with her, certain goddesses, or images of female beings, have been suggested as her prototypes because of some peculiarity they share with her, such as being headless, naked, bloodthirsty, or violent.4
Several examples have been discovered in India of nude goddesses squatting or with their thighs spread to display their sexual organs. These figures, some very ancient, usually depicted in stone bas-relief, often have their arms raised above their bodies and are headless or faceless. Their headless condition is not the result of subsequent damage but an intentional part of the image. The combination of nudity and headlessness, it has been suggested, may indicate that Chinnamasta had an ancient prototype in India.5 The arresting iconographic feature of these images is their sexual organs, which are openly displayed. If the headlessness of the figures suggests death or self-destruction, it lacks the force of the Chinnamasta icon. More likely, the headlessness of the nude figures simply focuses attention on their generative physiology and creativity. Although the Chinnamasta image includes an emphasis on sexual activity, life, and nourishment (discussed below), the central iconographic characteristic of the goddess is her shocking self-decapitation.
Other nude goddess figures have been suggested as possible prototypes of Chinnamasta. One of these is the fierce, wild goddess Kotavl. Kotavi is usually associated with battlefields and is sometimes included among the lists of Matrkas.6 Sometimes she is an opponent of Visnu, and the *Visnu**purana *(5.32-33) and *Bhagavata-purana *(10.63.20) describe her as naked, disheveled, and of such disgusting appearance that Visnu has to turn his head away from her lest he become incensed by her. In this myth she tries to protect the demon Banasura, who is her son in the *Bhagavata-purana *account. Although descriptions of Kotavi emphasize her nudity and wild appearance, she seems quite different in character from Chinnamasta. Her typical haunt is the battlefield, not the cremation ground (although both are places of death), and she seems to be a fierce demoness whose primary role is to terrify or distract enemies during battle. Her character is usually malevolent. Chinnamasta’s character is fierce, but not necessarily malevolent, and although in her thousand-name hymn she is associated with the battlefield,7 she is rarely shown there in her iconography.
A South Indian hunting goddess called Korravai is similar in name and character to Kotavl. She is fierce, bloodthirsty, and wild. She receives blood sacrifices and haunts the battlefield, where she grants victory. Again, it has been suggested that she may be another expression of the type of goddess that inspired Chinnamasta.8 Chinnamasta, however, is not usually described as a warrior goddess, and what rivets the viewer’s attention is her self-decapitation. Although in her thousand-name hymns Chinnamasta is said to like blood, and at her few shrines and temples she receives blood sacrifices, the emphasis with Chinnamasta, unlike Korravai, is not so much on her demanding and receiving blood as on her giving her own blood to her devotees.
There are, in fact, many goddesses and spirits in the Hindu tradition who haunt battlefields, are nude, fierce, and bloodthirsty, or have a strong association with fertility, all of which relate to aspects of the goddess Chinnamasta. Chinnamasta, however, seems to be the only goddess who decapitates herself in order to nourish her devotees.
Origin Myths
I have discovered four accounts of Chinnamasta’s origin or emergence. The first two are in written texts and are very similar, while the third and fourth, both very brief, I have found only in oral versions.
Version 1 is found in the *Pranatosini-tantra, *which in turn attributes the story to the *Ndrada-pdncardtra. *
One day ParvarJ went to bathe in the Mandakini River . . . with her attendants, Jaya and Vijaya. After bathing, the great goddess’s color became black because she was sexually aroused. After some time, her two attendants asked her, “Give us some food. We are hungry.” She replied, “I shall give you food but please wait.” After awhile, again they asked her. She replied, “Please wait, I am thinking about some matters.” Waiting awhile, they implored her, “You are the mother of the universe. A child asks everything from her mother. The mother gives her children not only food but also coverings for the body. So that is why we are praying to you for food. You are known for your mercy; please give us food.” Hearing this, the consort of Siva told them that she would give anything when they reached home. But again her two attendants, Dakini and Varninl, begged her, “We are overpowered with hunger, O Mother of the Universe. Give us food so we may be satisfied, O Merciful One, Bestower of Boons and Fulfiller of Desires.”
Hearing this true statement, the merciful goddess smiled and severed her head with her fingernails. As soon as she severed her head, her head fell on the palm of her left hand. Three bloodstreams emerged from her throat; the left and right fell respectively into the mouths of her flanking attendants and the center fell into her mouth. After performing this, all were satisfied and later returned home. (From this act) Parvati became known as Chinnamasta.9
The second version of the origin of Chinnamasta is also from the *Prdnatosini-tantra, *which in this case attributes the story to the *Svatantra**tantra. *The story is told by Siva:
I shall tell you of the emergence of Chinnamasta. In the Krta Yuga on Mt. Kailasa, the best of mountains, Mahamaya was engaged in Mahavrata with me (sexual intercourse). At the time of my seminal emission, she appeared fierce and from her body two *s’aktis *emerged who became her two attendants known as Dakinl and Varnini. One day Candanayika with her two attendants went to the bank of the Puspabhadra River. When it was noon, her hungry attendants asked Candika, “Please give us food.” Hearing this, the smiling and auspicious Candika looked in all directions and severed her head. With the left bloodstream, she satisfied Dakini, with the right one, she satisfied Varnini and from the center one, she drank her own blood. After playing in this way, she replaced her head on her body and assumed her original form. At dusk, they returned home. When I saw her pale appearance, I suspected that she was abused by another. This infuriated me. From this anger a portion of me arose and became known as Krodha Bhairava. This happened on the day of Viraratri. Thus Chinnamasta was born on Viraratri.10
This version is also told in the *Saktisamgama-tantra *(which attributes it to the *Prdnatosmi-tantra), *but with a few additional details. According to this text, the goddess was in reverse sexual intercourse with Siva (she was on top), and she dismounted Siva before he ejaculated. Her attendants appeared when she went outside. This text says that at the river the goddess and her attendants played in the water for some time. The rest of the story is the same as the *Prdnatosini *account.11
A third version was told to me by Rama Shankar Tripathi of the Kasi Visvanath temple in Varanasi, who said that it had been told to him by a friend of his who is a tantric *sadhaka. *In a war between the gods and demons, the gods realized they could not win, and so they prayed to Mahasakti, the Great Goddess, for help. She was pleased with their prayer and asked Pracandacandika to help them. After killing all the demons, Pracandacandika remained enraged and cut off her own head and drank her own blood. Pracandacandika is the first name given to Chinnamasta in her thousand-name hymn in the *Sdkta-pramoda. *
Swami Sadhananda Sastri, a *sdkta *practioner in Varanasi, told me the fourth version. Chinnamasta appeared, he said, after the gods and demons churned the ocean. Chinnamasta took the demons’ share of the resulting *atmta *(the nectar of immortality) and drank it herself. Then she killed herself by cutting off her own head, to deprive the demons of their share of immortality. This is how she enabled the gods to achieve their superior position.
Implications of the Origin Myths
These origin myths highlight certain themes that are important in interpreting Chinnamasta. Like several other Mahavidyas, she is associated with Siva. In the first two stories, she is said to be Parvati. She also acts independently of Siva or dominates him. In the second version of the story, she engages in reverse sexual intercourse with him and dismounts him before he ejaculates. There is no explicit mention of tension between the two (although this might be implied in her dismounting Siva before he ejaculates), but she is depicted as dominant sexually.
In the third version of her emergence, Chinnamasta slays demons for the benefit of the world. A common theme in goddess mythology, as in the *Devi-mahdtmya, *stresses the impotence of the male deities, who must call on the goddess for help. Chinnamasta assumes the protective role of an *avatara. *In this particular case, though, she is described as becoming so enraged that she loses control and cuts off her own head. This theme of a goddess getting out of control after battle, usually because she is intoxicated from drinking the blood of her victims, is also familiar. Kali sometimes dances in a drunken frenzy after battle and has to be brought to her senses by her husband, Siva. The Saptamatrkas (seven mothers) who help Durga defeat Sumbha and Nisumbha in the third episode of the *Devi-mdhdtmya *also are said to dance wildly after killing demons and becoming drunk on their blood (8.62).12 In version 3, Chinnamasta is understood as an ambivalent figure. She is powerful and effective in battle, able to defeat the demons and rescue the gods, but she is dangerous. When her fury is unleashed, it can be indiscriminately destructive, indeed, self-destructive. In this account Chinnamasta is not directly connected with Siva. She is more closely connected with Durga, Kali, and the Matrkas and with the theme of preserving cosmic order.
In the fourth account of Chinnamasta’s origin, the theme of maintaining cosmic stability by combating demons remains central. But this version introduces the theme of self-sacrifice. In version 3 the goddess decapitates herself inadvertently, in a fit of frenzy, while in version 4 she does so as a gesture of self-sacrifice for the gods. Her action here is reminiscent of Siva’s saving the world by drinking the poison stirred up at the churning of the ocean. In both cases a deity acts selflessly to protect the world, at the cost of personal harm.
The first two accounts emphasize maternal self-sacrifice. In both accounts, the reason for Chinnamasta’s act of self-decapitation is the hunger of her two companions. Although initially she tries to put them off, eventually she feeds them on her blood, which she releases by cutting off her own head. In demanding to be fed, the companions address her, in the first account, as Mother of the Universe, challenging her to satisfy them. What is striking about the myth is that she chooses to feed them, not from her breasts, but with her blood, released in an act of violence. Instead of drinking her maternal milk, they drink her life blood.
Closely related to the theme of self-sacrifice in the first two versions is the theme of nourishment. These accounts stress the hunger of her companions. They look to her for satisfaction, which they receive in dramatic fashion. The myths tend to downplay the violence or drama of her cutting off her own head. In both accounts, after having a nice meal, which Chinnamasta herself partakes of by drinking from the middle stream of blood, she puts her head back on, and they all go home. The only aftereffect seems to be that she has acquired a somewhat pale complexion, which upsets Siva. The story is mainly about hunger and its satisfaction. The self-sacrificing, nourishing intent of Chinnamasta is emphasized by P. Pal: “The obvious implication here is of primal sacrifice and renewal of creation. The goddess sacrifices herself, and her blood, drunk by her attendants, renews or resuscitates the universe. . . . Therefore beheading her own head is a temporary expedient to provide food and appears to be a more sanguinary manifestation of the goddess as Sakambhari [she who bears vegetables] and Annapurna [she who is full of food].“13
The origin (or emergence) myths of Chinnamasta touch on several themes that are significant in her symbolism and worship. Other important themes in her iconography, however, are not mentioned in her myths. Her iconography and worship, although elaborating on some of the themes above, also suggest new ones that further enrich her religious significance.
Head Offerings
The Chinnamasta icon is dominated by severed heads. Particularly arresting is the goddess’s own severed head, which she herself has cut off. Her two companions, Dakini and Varninl (sometimes referred to as Jaya and Vijaya), standing on either side of her, are also often holding severed heads. All three heads are typically on platters of the type used in making offerings. In fact, the imagery of offering a head is unmistakable in many iconographic representations of Chinnamasta.
Animal sacrifice is fairly common in the Hindu tradition, and the typical way of killing the victim is to decapitate it. Indeed, since the Vedic period (when animal sacrifice to both male and female deities was common), most blood sacrifices have been to goddesses. In contemporary Hinduism, which inherits a tradition that is many hundreds of years old, blood sacrifice almost invariably is associated with certain goddesses. Daily sacrifices are made at many goddess temples, usually of goats and chickens. In almost all cases, the animal’s head is cut off and offered to the image of the goddess, often on a platter. Hindu texts sometimes mention human sacrifice, and there are examples of its having been done in the past for certain goddesses.14
There is also a tradition of voluntarily offering one’s head to a goddess. The eleventh-century C.e. Tamil text *Kalingattuparani *contains a gruesome description of a Kali temple in South India: “Like the roaring sound of ocean waves, the shouts of heroes offering their heads in return for the bestowal of boons were echoing all over the area.“15 In another passage from this text, “the process of offering a head is portrayed. The sacrificer cut his head at the bottom of the neck and placed it on the hands of Kali. The head thus presented sang the greatness of Kali while the remaining trunk stood saluting the Goddess.“16 In Pallava sculpture particularly, but elsewhere as well,17 the theme is quite common, although whether the sculptures depict actual devotional suicide by self-decapitation is not certain. In Ksemendra’s *Brhatkathamanjari, *a washerman and his brother-inlaw cut off their heads in a fit of devotional fervor to the goddess Gauri. An inscription dated 991 C.e. from the Kannada area tells of a loyal subject named Katega, who offered his head to the goddess Gundadabbe to fulfill a vow when the king succeeded in fathering a son.18 In the Tamil epic *Silappadiharam, *the goddess Aiyai, who is worshiped by hunters, receives blood sacrifices and accepts the blood that flows from the severed heads of her devotees.19
There is also a story associated with the Jvalamukhl temple in Himachal Pradesh that features a head offering. A devotee of the goddess Jvalamukhi named Dhyanu wished to visit her temple but was prohibited by the emperor Akbar, who claimed the goddess had no power. The emperor permitted Dhyanu to proceed if he agreed to leave his horse behind and permit Akbar to kill it. If the goddess was able to revive the horse, Akbar said, he would spare Dhyanu’s life. Dhyanu accepted the challenge. Akbar duly killed his horse and locked the body in a room. At Jvalamukhi’s temple, Dhyanu did devotion to the goddess, but she did not appear or answer his pleas to prove her power to the emperor. In desperation, Dhyanu decided to offer his own head to the goddess. Taking a sword, he was about to cut off his head, when she appeared and granted him the boon of restoring his horse to life. In some versions of the tale, Dhyanu actually cuts off his head, which the goddess subsequently restores. This is the version usually shown in pictures, Dhyanu kneeling in front of the goddess, offering her his head on a platter. Just outside the entrance of the Bajresvari-devi temple in Kangra is a sculpted head said to be that of Dhyanu. A large tableau in a recessed niche of the temple also depicts this incident. Dhyanu kneels before the goddess holding his severed head in his two hands. The practice of cutting out one’s tongue, I was told, is done to this day at Jvalamukhl temple. Just as the goddess restored Dhyanu’s head, so she is supposed to restore the devotee’s tongue in recognition of his or her devotion.
A story similar to Dhyanu’s is associated with the Maihar-devi temple near Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh. Once upon a time, there was a wrestler who wished to achieve supremacy in his chosen vocation. He propitiated the goddess for a long time, but she did not appear to him. In desperation and determination, he cut off his own head as a final act of devotion to her. The goddess then appeared and, pleased with his devotional sincerity, reattached his head.
In the Chinnamasta icon, the theme of devotional head offering to a goddess is, of course, reversed. It is the goddess who offers her head to her devotees, who in turn sometimes seem to be offering heads to her. The self-decapitating impulse is attributed to the goddess herself rather than to her devotees.
Heads as Power Objects
The Chinnamasta icon raises questions about detached heads,20 which also play an important role in the iconography and *sadhana * of other Mahavidyas. Kall, Tārā, and others often wear garlands of severed heads or skulls. Tara’s crest is decorated with skulls. Kali and Tārā nearly always hold a freshly severed head in one hand. The heads are often said to have belonged to enemies who were killed by the goddess in question. But sometimes they are said to represent the letters of the alphabet, particularly when the heads number fifty or fifty-two and are threaded as a garland around a goddess’s neck. As sounds or letters they are sometimes referred to as *matrkas, *“mothers.” They give birth to the creation in the form of sound, that is. They are also said to represent, especially in the case of Kali and Tārā, who hold heads in their lower left hands, the chopped off bonds that prevented a *sadhaka *from achieving spiritual success.
Heads, or more usually skulls, are also commonly used in tantric *sadhana. *The cremation ground at Tarapith in Bengal is highly favored by *tdntrikas, *partly because of the ready availability of both skulls and corpses (as many as 60 percent of the dead here are buried rather than cremated). One scholar comments:
The disruption of graves [the same ground is used repeatedly for burialsl also leads to the digging up of many human skulls. *Munddsanas, *or seats on skulls, are the most favoured *asanas *for Tantric *sadhana, *and their availability in a place heightens the attraction to *sadhakas. *In Tarapith about ten *sadhus *of various kinds reside in and around the cremation ground, some of whom collect the skulls for use in their daily routines. Most have five neatly arranged skulls in their huts, each decorated with flowers and a *tilaka *(coloured marking between the eyebrows, or sockets in this case). One *sadhu *had built an entire wall of his hut out of skulls using mud as mortar, and another wandered about the village with a skull as a begging bowl.21
It seems clear that in some sense skulls and severed heads are power objects containing special qualities, particularly for ritual purposes. Their use in iconography to represent letters or sounds, the “seeds” from which all creation proceeds, is no doubt connected to the head and mouth as the source of language or sound. The head as the chief of the body’s parts also houses the person’s essential being. Without the head, a person is without identity. This is made clear in stories concerning transposed heads in which the identity of the person follows the head, not the rest of the body.22 In some cases devotees may use skulls as seats, bowls, or ritual implements, in imitation of Siva himself as Kapalika, “the one who bears a skull.” In this case, the skull represents something powerfully polluted, because in Saivite mythology the skull is that of Brahma, whom Siva has decapitated. It represents the heinous crime of Brahmacide and sticks to Siva’s hand until, after eons, he atones for the act.23 Skulls and severed heads also may represent “the forbidden.” They are “out of place,” liminal objects. They belong somewhere else, with a body. They are “out of bounds,” which is where tantric *sadhakas *want to get. There, “out of bounds,” *sadhakas *can transform themselves, unhampered by social limits and constraints.
The chopped-off head also may represent liberation, a particular state of expanded, awakened consciousness. This interpretation is particularly likely in the Buddhist context, which we will discuss below.
Overcoming Desire
Another particularly striking feature of the Chinnamasta icon is often mentioned in her *dhydna *mantras and *stotras: *she stands on the copulating couple Kama and Rati. Kama (whose name means “sexual desire”) and Rati (whose name means “sexual intercourse”) are almost always shown having sex with Rati on top, the same position Kali assumes with Siva. They are usually shown lying on a lotus, but sometimes on a cremation pyre. There are two quite different interpretations of this aspect of Chinnamasta iconography. One interpretation understands it as a symbol of control of sexual desire, the other as a symbol of the goddess’s embodiment of sexual energy.
Certainly the most common interpretation of Chinnamasta’s standing (or sometimes sitting) on Kama and Rati is that she is defeating what they represent, namely, sexual desire, sexual energy, sexual force. She symbolizes self-control, which must be achieved before undertaking successful yogic practice. Swami Annapurnananda of the Ramakrishna Math in Varanasi told me that Chinnamasta sacrifices herself to her devotees in a great act of love for them and is able to do this because she has overcome or controlled sexual and selfish desires, as is symbolized by her standing on Kama and Rati.24 She represents yogic control and repression of sexual energy. In her hundred-name hymn in the *Sdkta-pramoda, *she is called Yoginl (female yogi) and Yoganirata (she who practices yoga).25 The same hymn also calls her Madanatura (she who cannot be overcome by Kama),26 suggesting her control of sexual desire. In her hymn of one-thousand names, she is called Yogamargapradayinl (she who bestows the yogic path, name 745), Yogagamaya (follower of yoga, name 747), Yogamayl (she who embodies yoga, name 751), and Yoganandapradayinl (she who gives bliss through yoga, name 759).27
One commentator on this aspect of the Chinnamasta icon has argued that her worship is particularly appropriate for those in the military. An effective warrior must overcome lust and the desire to indulge in sexual play before committing himself to battle. In battle, he must cultivate an attitude of self-surrender so that he can give his life freely for the benefit of others. Both of these themes are embodied in Chinnamasta, he says. Her control of lust is represented by her standing on Kama and Rati, and her perfection of self-surrender, fearlessness of death, and self-sacrifice for others is seen by her cutting off her own head to feed her hungry companions.28 The same commentator says that devotion to Chinnamasta is both dangerous and rare. It is dangerous because it demands much of the devotee, namely, renouncing sexual desire and cultivating self-surrender for the benefit of others. He also says that only those of heroic nature worship Chinnamasta, and those of heroic nature are particularly apt to be found in the military.29 Her nudity, according to this commentator, represents truthfulness and heedlessness, yielding oneself to danger for others. The worshiper of Chinnamasta perfects self-control, if not selfannihilation, and in this way becomes a very effective warrior. Her thousand-name hymn, in fact, calls her Ranotkantha (battle cry, name 768), Ranastha (battlefield, name 769), and Ranajaitri (victorious in war, name 772).30 It also calls her the slayer of various demons.
Sexual Vitality
A quite different interpretation of the presence of Kama and Rati in the Chinnamasta icon emphasizes that the goddess is being charged with the sexual power of the copulating couple. On the analogy of a lotus seat conferring its qualities and power on a deity, Chinnamasta may be thought of as acquiring the sexual energy of the copulating couple upon whom she stands or sits. Surging up through her body, which is usually described as a naked, sixteen-year-old girl’s, that energy gushes out of her head in the form of blood to feed her devotees and replenish herself. In this interpretation the copulating couple is not opposed to the goddess but an integral part of a rhythmic flow of energy symbolized by sex and blood.
Reinforcing this interpretation are images or descriptions of Chinnamasta sitting, rather than standing, on Rati and Kama (figure 23).31 In this type of image, it is less likely that Chinnamasta is to be understood as overcoming or suppressing the copulating couple. In still other renderings of Chinnamasta, she is shown squatting above Siva, having sexual intercourse with him (figure 24). In these images Kama and Rati have been replaced with Siva. It is clear that Siva is not being suppressed, defeated, or overcome. The goddess is on top of him, to be sure, but this is typical in tantric imagery, indicating the priority of the goddess; there is no suggestion of yogic suppression of sexual desire. Siva is not being suppressed by the goddess; he is being energized by her.
The sexual themes in Chinnamasta’s iconography are reinforced by the fact that *klim, *the seed syllable of the deity Kama, the god of sexual lust (and also, appropriately, the seed syllable of Krsna), features in Chinnamasta’s mantra: “Srim hrim klim aim Vajravairocanlye hum hum phat svaha.“32 It is equally relevant to note that the invocation of this mantra is said to attract and subjugate women.33 Chinnamasta’s erotic nature is also suggested in some of the names contained in her hundred- and thousand-name hymns. In her hundred-name hymn she is called Kamesvari (goddess of desire, name 76), Kamarupa (she whose form is desire, name 79), and Kamakautukakarinl (she who creates the eagerness of desire, name 81).34 In her thousand-name hymn she is called Madonmattasvarupinl (she whose form is intoxicated with delight, name 725), Ratiragavivrddhini (she who is engaged in the realm *of **rati *[sexual intercourse or desire], name 762), and Puspayudhadhara (she who holds a flower weapon [that is, who is like Kama-deva, the god of lust], name 896).35
Symbol of the Living Creation
The Chinnamasta icon conveys the idea of reality as the coincidence of sex and death, creation and destruction, giving and taking. Chinnamasta is probably the most stunning representation in the Hindu pantheon of the truth that life, sex, and death are part of an interdependent, unified system. One writer says: “She simply represents the continued state of self-sustenance of the created world in which are seen continuous self-destruction and self-renewal, in a cyclic order.“36 The stark contrasts in this iconographic scenario—the gruesome decapitation, the copulating couple, the cremation ground, the drinking of fresh blood, all arranged in a delicate, harmonious pattern—jolt the viewer into an awareness of the truths that life feeds on death, is nourished by death, and necessitates death and that the ultimate destiny of sex is to perpetuate more life, which in turn will decay and die in order to feed more life. As arranged in most renditions of the icon, the lotus and the copulating couple appear to channel a powerful life force into the goddess, who is standing or sitting on the back of the copulating woman. The couple enjoying sex convey an insistent, vital urge to the goddess; they seem to pump her with energy. And at the top, like an overflowing fountain, her blood spurts from her severed neck, the life force leaving her, but streaming into the mouths of her devotees (and into her own mouth as well) to nourish and sustain them. The cycle is starkly portrayed: life (the couple making love), death (the decapitated goddess), and nourishment (the flanking *yoginis *drinking her blood).
Certain other fierce Hindu goddesses, such as Kali, sever the heads of others to nourish themselves, or devotees offer heads and blood to the goddesses. The offerings may be voluntary (in the case of devotees) or involuntary (in the case of sacrificial victims), but the message is clear that such goddesses like, and probably need, blood. These goddesses, representing the vital forces of the cosmos, need regular nourishment; sacrificing oneself to them is a way of acknowledging that one is obliged to give life back to them because one has received life from them. This imagery conveys the truth that such goddesses are ever hungry, as Kali’s lolling tongue indicates, and demand blood in order to be satisfied.
The Chinnamasta image reverses some of these motifs but ultimately teaches similar truths. She simply represents the alternate phase of an ever-recurring sequence. The cosmic process—the rhythms of creation and destruction, the universal economy—is a harmonious alternation of giving and taking, of life and death. Kali’s need for blood, or conversely the ever-fecund, ever-bountiful nature of goddesses such as Annapurna or Sataksi, represents only one aspect of the process of giving and taking. Chinnamasta shockingly presents both aspects together and in such a way that the viewer can grasp the interconnectedness of the different stages in the process. Chinnamasta takes life and vigor from the copulating couple, then gives it away lavishly by cutting off her own head to feed her devotees. Such is the way of a world where life must be sustained by organic matter, where metabolism is maintained only by ingesting the corpses of other beings.
The Upward Flow of the Kuṇḍalinī
The Chinnamasta icon also suggests certain aspects of *kundaliniyoga, *in which spiritual energy is awakened, traverses the subtle body, pierces the different centers of energy called *cakras *in its ascent to the top of the skull, unites with Siva in the thousand-petaled lotus *cakra, *and then creates a flood of nectar that flows downward, drenching the practitioner in bliss. Chinnamasta, in her hymns and *stotras, *is identified or associated with the *kundalin i *and this process of spiritual ascent. She is called, for example, Susumnasvarabhasinf (she who understands the sound of the *suswmia **nadi *[the central channel up which the *kundalin i *travels], name 803), Sahasradalamadhyastha (she who is established in the thousand-petaled lotus, name 804), and Sahasradalavarttinl (she who abides in the thousand-petaled lotus, name 805).37
A contemporary author is explicit in his identification of Chinnamasta with this process, specifically with the awakened *kundalin i **s’akti. *He says that there are knots in the body called *granthis *that keep a person weak, ignorant, and sorrowful. They are located in the *cakras. *When the kundaliniis awakened, she rises through the *cakras *and cuts these knots, freeing the person from their binding effects.38
The Chinnamasta icon can be understood as a dramatic representation of this yogic process. In this interpretation, the copulating couple, Kama and Rati, represent the awakened *kundalin i *in the *mulddhara **cakra. *
Like Kama and Rati, the *kundalini **has *been aroused. Normally, she sleeps curled up there in the form of a serpent. She is roused by tantric yogic exercises, such *asjapa *mantra, *nydsa, *and *piija. *This also might be thought of as the first awakening of one’s spiritual consciousness in preparation for a spiritual ascent that will result in infinitely expanded awareness. The blood spurting from Chinnamasta’s severed throat represents the upwardflowing *kundalini *that has broken through all the knots *(granthis) *of the *cakras *and has cleared the central passage, the *susumna **nadi. *Her severed head, which she holds in her left hand, in this interpretation represents transcendent consciousness (see also the Buddhist interpretation below). The power of the upward-flowing *kundalini, *the power of the rising spiritual consciousness, hits the topmost *cakra, *the thousand-petaled lotus, with such force that it blows her head right off, that is, it transforms all conventional, habitual, limited mental structures. The three jets of downward-flowing blood going into the three mouths, her own and those of her two flanking companions, represent the flow of nectar that drenches the *sadhaka *after the union of kundaliniand Siva in the topmost *cakra. *
Another related interpretation of Chinnamasta and her two flanking figures, Dakini and Varnini, is that they represent the three principal channels, the *nddis, *in the subtle spiritual body. Chinnamasta, the central figure, represents the opened and flowing *susumna **nddi *achieved by means of spiritual techniques, while Dakinl represents the *idd **nadi *and Varnini the *pirigald **nadi.*39
It is tempting to see in the Chinnamasta icon a further possibility, related to the interpretation of it as a symbol of the rising *kundalini. *A common theme in Hindu spirituality is the retention of semen as necessary for spiritual awakening and maturity or as a symbol of spiritual progress. The idea is often expressed in terms of redirecting sexual energy upward instead of downward. The retained semen becomes spiritually potent energy, by means of which a male gains expanded consciousness, spiritual powers, and enlightened awareness.40
But what might be the female equivalent of this? In some cases, menstrual blood is seen as the corresponding sexual fluid of women and its release as an expression of sexual power, similar to the release of semen.41 In some Indian traditions, the flow of menstrual blood is believed to signify that a woman is fertile and desirous of sex. If menstrual blood is the equivalent of male semen for a woman, then the retention of menstrual blood might also result in spiritual awakening and power. When a woman becomes pregnant, menstrual blood ceases to flow, and the result of the retained blood is dramatically evident: a new being is formed inside her. Another dramatic result of retained menstrual blood and pregnancy is the creation of milk in the breasts. It is as if the blood has been transformed into milk. Might not the Chinnamasta image represent the generation of spiritual power in a female, the rising of the *kundalini, *by means of the retention of her sexual fluids and the transformation of them into nourishing fluid?
Chinnamundā and the Buddhist Meditative Tradition
Chinnamasta is prominent in tantric Buddhism and probably was known in Buddhism before her appearance in Hinduism.42 Buddhist materials usually refer to her as Chinnamunda or as a form of Vajrayoginl or Vajra-varahi, but she is clearly identifiable as Chinnamasta. She has decapitated herself, holds her severed head in her left hand, and is feeding her head and two flanking female attendants with three jets of blood from her severed neck. As in Hindu iconography, she and her companions are naked, have disheveled hair, and wear garlands of skulls. Unlike the Hindu depiction of Chinnamasta, however, she is not shown standing or sitting on a copulating couple.
Certain stories concerning Buddhist spiritual masters suggest that Chinnamunda in the tantric Buddhist context symbolizes spiritual accomplishment, especially the ability to control the “internal winds” or the *kundalini *power. This is clear in the story of two female devotees of Krsnacarya, Mekhala and Kanakhala. The two were sisters and resisted the attempts of their parents to marry them off. Instead they retreated from the world to become Buddhist spiritual practitioners. Under the guidance of Krsnacarya, they soon mastered the most difficult spiritual accomplishments. Subsequently, while trying to convert Lalitacandra, the king of Bengal, to Buddhism, Krsnacarya asked the two girls to chop off their own heads to demonstrate their spiritual mastery and impress the king. They did so and then danced off on a heavenly path through the sky. Following this incident, many spiritual practitioners tried to repeat this feat. Indeed, according to the story, Vajra-varahi herself appeared in a self-decapitated form, thus lending the practice a certain prestige.43
Another Buddhist story describes a female adept’s self-decapitation as a magical spiritual power. In the story, a woman devotee of Padmasambhava tells of an incident from one of her past lives. Once upon a time, she displeased her father, who was a king, and he sentenced her to severe punishment. She told him, however, that he need not inflict punishment on her, as she would do so herself. She thereupon decapitated herself with a golden razor and walked around the city holding her head. The citizens of the town called her Chinnamunda.44
In the *Trikayavajra-yogini, *a Buddhist text dealing with the worship of Chinnamunda, the goddess is interpreted, in typically Mahayana Buddhist fashion, as a symbol of compassion who destroys worldly suffering: “The red blood which gushes from her severed neck symbolizes compassion and she drinks for peace. She extinguishes the sufferings of the worlds, destroys the four Maras, and severs with her scimitar the mental difficulties.“45 Although the text does not specifically relate the theme of compassion to Chinnamunda feeding her two female companions with her own blood, its emphasis on her compassion calls to mind the Hindu stories about Chinnamasta’s origin, in which she decapitates herself as the direct result of her starving devotees’ plea for food.
Getting Rid of False Consciousness
It is tempting to interpret the Chinnamasta icon, particularly the central feature of self-decapitation, in terms of removing false notions, ignorance, and limited consciousness. The iconography and the myths that refer to it are unanimous in asserting that the violent act does not result in the death or destruction of the goddess. Indeed, the Buddhist sources emphasize the magical or spiritual ability involved in being able to cut off one’s head without destroying oneself. Particularly in the Buddhist materials, the themes of offering one’s head to a goddess and of the goddess’s self-sacrifice are weak. The principal interpretation seems to focus on self-decapitation as a spiritual or meditative ability. It is rarely stated in either Hinduism or Buddhism that this ability is related to getting rid of false notions, although this is implied when the self-decapitation is associated with the awakening of the *kundalini. *One Buddhist text, however, explicitly links cutting off one’s head and gaining spiritual wisdom. The tale concerns a disciple of Milarepa, Gam-popa, and his attempts to gain enlightenment.
Thereupon Gam-po-pa set up his hermitage three miles removed from Milarepa’s cave and began meditating. After six weeks, he had visions; the first day the Buddha appeared, the second day a *mandala, *and so on. Each time, he reported his visions to Milarepa, who kept on saying, “It is nothing! Go back to your practise.” After a few more weeks, Gam-po-pa had a vivid vision of all six worlds, and naturally he thought that he had hit the mark. He ran to Milarepa to report, but Milarepa was at the time sleeping. The excited meditator woke up the master, and narrated the wonderful vision. Milarepa merely said, “Let me sleep! I am not a scholar like you. But I know that the Prajnaparamita says all this is mere illusion. I suggest that you go back and practise!” Gam-po-pa, crestfallen and frustrated, returned to his meditation. At length, he dreamt one day that he had cut off his own head and that he saw it rolling down the hill. Thereafter there were no more visions, for the root of “atmagraha” [egoism] was cut off.46
In both Hinduism and Buddhism, false consciousness represents the obstacle to liberation or enlightenment. To awaken, to become enlightened, to realize the underlying nature of reality, is to overcome an egocentered view of the world, according to which the individual is at the center of the universe and reality is understood as specially arranged to be at the ego’s disposal. To be ego ridden is to be under the veil *oimaya *(self-infatuation). The image of cutting off one’s own head might be taken as a dramatic rendering of the enlightenment process: the adept or devotee completely destroys false consciousness by “decapitating” himself or herself, getting rid of his or her own ego-ridden mind, which was the hindrance to a true apprehension of reality.
Worship of Chinnamastā
Tantric manuals such as the *Sakta-pramoda, **Tantrasara, *and *Mantra-mahodadhih *give the details for worship of Chinnamasta, just as for all Mahavidyas and other deities. The invocation of her mantra, the meditation on her form, the construction and worship of her yantra, and so on, are more or less the same as for the other goddesses in the group. It is easy to get the impression that her worship is not much different from what is prescribed for other deities and that it might be as widespread. The usual rewards for her worship are cited: poetic speech, wellbeing and security, control over one’s enemies, the ability to attract others (specifically women), the ability to influence kings, and liberation *(moksa *or *mukti). *
In fact, however, worship of Chinnamasta, at least at the public level, is extremely rare. It is probably also uncommon at the private level. This is not so surprising, given Chinnamasta’s particularly fierce nature. In her hundred-name hymn, for example, she is called: Mahabhima (great terrible one, name 3), Candesvar i (fierce goddess, name 5), Candamata (mother of fierce beings, name 6), Mahacanda (great fierce one, name 8), Krodhinl (wrathful one, name 12), Krodharupa (wrathful in form, name 14), Kopatura (afflicted with rage, name 17), Pretasana (who sits on a ghost, name 31), Ghorarupa (of terrific form, name 37), Ghorattista (terrific to behold, name 38), Ghorarava (having a terrific roar, name 39), Raktapanaparayana (gulping blood continuously, name 61), Bhairavl (formidable one, name *66), *Bhutabhairavasevita (served by fierce ghosts, name 68), and Drstisamharakarini (she who causes destruction by her glance, name 09).47 Her thousand-name *stotra *invokes many more names in a similar vein: Mahabhayarikari-devi (very frightening goddess, name 19), Bhayarupa (who has a fearful form, name 22), Ghoraghurghurnadinl (whose fierce roar is frightening, name 182), Ghorasattva (who embodies fierceness, name 189), Ghorattattvamayi-devi (the goddess who embodies a fierce form, name 199), Ghoramantrayuta (who is worshiped with a fierce mantra, name 209), Naramansapriyanitya (who is always pleased with human flesh, name 622), Nararaktapriyasada (who is always pleased with human blood, name 623), Pretasananivasinl (who lives among ghosts, name 642), Lomamansaprapujita (who is worshiped with body hair and flesh, name 810), and Palaladipriyanitya (who is always pleased with meat, name 930).48
Some other Mahavidyas are also fierce, particularly Kali and Tārā, and Dhumavatl is clearly a goddess with many inauspicious connotations and associations. Chinnamasta, though, seems to have the strongest reputation for being a dangerous goddess to worship or approach, and her many fierce epithets indicate this. She has exceedingly few temples or shrines, and it is often said that those who do worship her must be either yogis or world renouncers or of a particularly heroic nature. The only shrine I have been able to find to Chinnamasta in the Varanasi area, which is a veritable ocean of Hindu temples, is very small and located in the northeast corner of the compound of the Durga temple in Ramnagar (across the Ganges River from Varanasi). The *pujari *(priest) there told me that the goddess is only worshiped by *tdntrikas *and that when she is worshiped the *sadhaka *uses a corpse. The shrine is said to have been built by a *tantrika *from Madras. The goddess’s image is of white marble, and she is flanked by the usual two figures (see figure 25). There are also temples of Chinnamasta in Bihar. One is located on top of a hill, Nandan Parvat, northeast of Vaidyanath.49 Another is located in Ranchi, where there are shrines to all ten Mahavidyas. There are shrines to each of the other Mahavidyas, including Chinnamasta, at the Kamakhya-devi temple at Kamarupa in Assam.50I have also been told of a Chinnamasta temple in Vishnupur in West Bengal at which daily worship takes place.
Chinnamasta generally is not casually approached, and some texts indicate that this might be because of the inherent dangers of her worship. The *Bhairava-tantra, *as cited in the *Sakta-pramoda, *says in reference to Chinnamasta’s worship: “Whoever performs this worship without meditating on Chinnamasta, the Goddess will sever one’s head and drink one’s blood.“51 The *Sdkta-pramoda *also distinguishes between the worship of Chinnamasta by renouncers and householders,52 implying that there are different styles of worship and that renouncers pursue a more heroic path. Indeed, many people have told me that only those of particularly heroic nature dare worship Chinnamasta.
The *Saktisamgama-tantra *stipulates which path is appropriate for worshiping each of the Mahavidyas. Chinnamasta is to be worshiped by the left-handed path alone.53 The only other goddess to be so worshiped is Bhairavl. The others are to be worshiped by the right-handed path or by both paths. A consistent theme in tantric texts is that only those with the nature of the *vira *(hero) are qualified to undertake *sadhana *of the lefthanded type and that those who are not qualified should not attempt it. Left-handed worship of Chinnamasta involves sexual intercourse with a woman who is not one’s wife, according to both the *Mantra-mahodadhih54 *and the *Sdkta-pramoda.55 *The *Sdkta-pimnoda *also says that, in making fire offerings to Chinnamasta, one should offer her meat and wine at night.56
In conclusion, Chinnamasta has few shrines or temples and is probably worshiped in tantric fashion by a few particularly brave individuals who are bold enough to engage this fearsome deity.