02 The Māhavidyās as a Group

  1. *Kalika-purana *74.90-94.

  2. S. C. Banerjee, *A **Brief **History **of Tantric **Literature *(Calcutta: Naya Prokash, 1986), p. 30.

  3. Ibid.

  4. The list of the goddesses in one manuscript of the *Mundamala-tantra, *for example, varies in both number and sequence from the corresponding list in another. In the first list the Mahavidyas are given as follows: Kali, Tārā, Sodasi, (Tripura-sundari), Bhuvaneśvarī, Bhairavl, Chinnamasta, Dhumavati, Bagala, Matarigi, and Kamala. The second manuscript names thirteen: Kali, Tārā, Tripura-sundari, Bhairavi, Bhuvaneśvarī, Chinnamasta, Bagala, Dhumavati, Annapurna, Durga, Kamala, Matarigi, and Padmavati. *Mundamala-tantra *(Calcutta: Nava Bharat, 1980), i.7ff., 1.14ft.

  5. Upendra Kumar Das, *Bharatiya **Saktisadhand, *2 vols. (Santiniketan: Ranjit Rai Praksan, Visvabharati, 1967), p. 471, n. 5.

  6. Narendra Nath Bhattacharyya, *History **of **the **Tantric **Religion: **A **Historical, **Ritualistic **and **Philosophical **Study *(New Delhi: Manohar Publishers, 1982), p. 348.

  7. *Brhaddharma-purdna, *Madhya-khanda 25.58-68; *Brhaddhar?na **Purdnam, *ed. M. M. Haraprasad Sastri (Varanasi: Chaukhamba Amarabharati Prakashan,

1974). p. 379.

  1. The group is the standard one, with the goddesses depicted in the following order, clockwise from left to right: Kali, Tārā, Sodasl, Bhuvanesvarl, Bhairavi, Chinnamasta, Dhumavatl, Bagala, Matarigi, and Kamala.

  2. The group consists of the usual ten: Kali, Tārā, Tripura-sundarl, Bhuvanesvari, Tripura-bhairavi, Chinnamasta, Dhumavati, Bagalamukhi, and Kamala.

  3. See D. C. Sircar, *The **Sdkta *Pithas(Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1973). The *s’dkta **pithas *are places sacred to the goddess because pieces of Sati’s body fell on them. Visnu dismembered Sati after she killed herself to avenge her father’s insult to her. Traditionally there are said to be fifty-two such *pithas. *

  4. The pictures are actually numbered and show the Mahavidyas in the following order: Kali, Tārā, Sodasi, Bhuvaneśvarī, Chinnamasta, Tripura-sundarl, Dhumavatl, Bagalamukhi, Matarigi, and Kamala, which is the usual group often in a relatively common order.

  5. They include the usual group and from left to right are: Kali, Tārā, Sodasl, Bhuvanesvarl, Chinnamasta, Tripura-bhairavl, Dhumavati, Bagala, Matarigl, and Kamala.

  6. My description of the place of the Mahavidyas at Kamakhya is based on a paper by Patricia Dold, “The Mahavidyas at Kamarupa” (presented at the annual meeting of the Canadian Association for Asian Studies, Ottawa, June 1993).

  7. The *Mahdbhdgavata-purdna, *ed. Pushpendra Kumar (Delhi: Eastern Book Linkers, 1983), 77.9-11, which tells the origin of the Mahavidyas, locates them at Kamarupa, saying that Kali is in the center there, surrounded by the other goddesses.

  8. At the larger of the two temporary *pandals *housing the Mahavidyas, located on S. N. Banerjea Road, ten goddesses were arranged as follows, from left to right: Dhumavati, Chinnamasta, Tārā, Bhuvaneśvarī, Kali, Matarigini (Matarigi), Sodasi, Bagala, and Kamala. At the other shrine, nine goddesses were arranged, from left to right, as follows: Kamini (Sodasi), Dhumavatl, Bhairavi, Kamala, Kali (in the center and much larger than the others), Bhuvaneśvarī, Tārā, Bagala, and Kamakhya-devi. The goddesses Matarigi and Chinnamasta were absent, and the goddess Kamakhya was added to the usual group.

  9. See David Kinsley, *Hindu **Goddesses: **Visions **of **the **Divine **Feminine **in **the **Hindu **Religious **Tradition *(Berkeley: University of California Press, 1986), chap. 9: “The Mahadevi.”

  10. For example, *Devi-mdhdtmya *11.38-50.

  11. For example, Vedamurti Taponista, *Tantra-mahavijnana, *2 vols. (Bareli, U.P: Sarhskrti Sarhsthan, 1971), vol. 2, p. 389, says of the Great Goddess: “All women are your different forms.”

  12. Sircar, *The **Sdkta **Pithas, *p. 48.

  13. Teun Goudriaan and Sanjukta Gupta, *Hindu **Tantric **and **Sdkta **Literature *(Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, 1981), p. 81.

  14. Govinda Sastri, “Karunamayi tārā,” *Candi **6, *no. 7 (1946): 231.

  15. Kali is Krsna, Tārā is Rama, Bhuvaneśvarī is Varaha, Tripura-sundari is Nrsirhha, Dhumavati is Vamana, Chinnamasta is Parasurama, Kamala is Matsya, Bagalamukhi is Karma, Matarigi is the Buddha, and Sodasi is Kalki.

  16. As follows: Kali is Krsna, Tārā is Rama, Chinnamasta is Narasirhha, Bhuvanesvari is Vamana, Bagala is Kurma, Dhumavati is Matsya, Sundari is Parasurama, Bhairavi is Hali (a personified and deified constellation), and Laksmi is the Buddha. Taponista, vol. 2, p. 390.

  17. Laksmi Narayana Sarma, *Tantra **Vidyd *(Delhi: World Book Co., 1986), P. 37.

  18. Dhumavati’s spreading of disease might be understood on the analogy of the Buddha as an *avatdra *of Visnu. When the Buddha is included as an *avatdra, *as he is in some late Vaisnava texts, the purpose of his incarnation is to delude wicked people so that they will get their just deserts.

  19. See Sircar, *The **Sdkta **Pithas. *

  20. The accounts are found in *Brhaddharma-purdna, *Madhya-khanda 6.73133, and *Mahdbhdgavata-purdna *8.45-9.82.

  21. 6.78.

  22. *Brhaddharma-purdna, *Madhya-khanda 6.12 8-31. The locations and names of the Mahavidyas in the *Mahdbhdgavata-purdna *account (77.31-34) are somewhat different: Tārā is to the east, Sodasi to the southeast, Dhumavati to the south, Bhairavi to the southwest, Bhuvaneśvarī to the west, Chinnamasta to the northwest, Bagalamukhi to the north, Tripura-sundari to the northeast, and Matarigi above. Kali is said to be present in all the directions.

  23. As follows: Tārā is to her left (east), Bhuvaneśvarī to her right (west); in the southeast is Sodasi; in the southwest, Bhairavi; in the northwest, Chinnamasta; in the north, Bagala; in the northeast, Sundari; and in the south, Dhumavatl.

  24. Madhya-khanda 8.66-67.

  25. *Mahdbhdgavata-purdna *8.71.

  26. Madhya-khanda 6.132.

  27. *Brhaddharma-purdna, *Madhya-khanda 6.133.

  28. Ibid. 6.139-40.

  29. 9.79.

  30. Madhya-khanda 6.124-26.

  31. William Sax, *Mountain **Goddess: **Gender **and **Politics **in **a **Himalayan Pilgrimage *(New York: Oxford University Press, 1991), pp. piff.

  32. Another example of a group of goddesses personifying magical powers is found in the tale of Biroba, a regional deity of western India. In his wanderings, Biroba encounters seven female deities, from whom he acquires magical powers. “But in a broader sense, the seven goddesses are also the personified, supernatural, feminine powers, the seven—or rather, eight—*siddhis, *who serve the one who wins them by his asceticism or in some other way.” Gunther-Dietz Sontheimer, *Pastoral **Deities **in **Western **India, *trans. Anne Feldhaus (New York: Oxford University Press, 1989), pp. 92-95.

  33. Madhya-khanda 6.132.

  34. *Saktisamgama-tantra, *vol. 4: *Chinnamasta **Khanda, *ed. B. Bhattacharyya and Vrajavallabha Dvivedi (Baroda: Oriental Institute of Baroda, 1978), 2.89-91.

  35. Vibhuti Narayana Dvivedi and Harisankara Upadhyay, *Sri **Tdrd-sddhand *(Vindhyacal: Sri Tārā Mandir, 1988), p. 14.

  36. *Vdmana-purdna *29.1-30.73; *Siva-purdna *5.47.1-48.50; *Skanda-purdna *7.3.24.1-22; and several *upa**purdnas. *

  37. For the nine Durgas, see Diana Eck, *Banaras, **City **of **Light *(Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1982), pp. 268-69.

  38. Sarma, *Tantra **Vidyd, *p. 37.

  39. See Thomas B. Coburn, *Encountering **the **Goddess: **A **Translation **of **the DeviMahdtmya **and **a **Study **of **Its **Interpretation *(Albany: State University of New York Press, 1991).

  40. The classic statement of Vaisnava *avatdra *theology is in *Bhagavad-gita *4.7-8.

  41. This characteristic of the Matrkas is found in other *puranic *accounts of them, for example, *Matsya-purdna *179.8-90 and *Vardha-purdna *17.33-37.

  42. *Sdkta-pramoda *(Bombay: Khemraja Srikrsnadasa Prakasan, 1992), p. 268.

  43. *Sahasrandma **stotra *from the *Rudraydmala; *Rajes Diksit, *Bhuvanesvari **evam **Chinnamastd **Tantra **Sdstra *(Agra: Braj Printers, 1988), pp. 46-52.

  44. The Mahavidyas are closely associated with Durga in Nepal. A recent scholarly work refers to them as “an unstable set of Durga manifestations,” by which the author means that the number and identity of the group vary, including at times Annapurna and Mahisamardini, a form of Durga herself. Mary Shepherd Slusser, *Nepal **Mandala: **A **Cultural **Study **of **the **Kathmandu **Valley, *2 vols. (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1982), vol. 1, p. 322.

  45. See “The Mahavidyas as Forms of the Mahadevi” in Part I.

  46. The magical power that enables one to become small is called *anima siddhi *and is sometimes represented as a goddess, along with other *siddhis; *see Douglas Brooks, *Auspicious **Wisdom: **The **Texts **and **Traditions **of **Srividyd **Sdkta **Tantrism **in **South **India *(Albany: State University of New York Press, 1992), p. 142.

  47. Diksit, *Bhuvanesvari **evam **Chinnamastd, *v. 36, p. 49.

  48. Ibid., v. 7, p. 47.

  49. *Devi-bhdgavata-purdna *7.28; *The **Sri **Mad **Devi **Bhagavatam, *trans. Swami Vijnanananda (Allahabad: Sudhindra Nath Yasu, 1921-23), pp. 688-92.

  50. For a discussion of the *Devi-bhdgavata-purdna, *see C. Mackenzie Brown, *The **Triumph **of **the **Goddess: **The **Canonical **Models **and **Theological **Visions **of **the DeviBhdgavata **Purana *(Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990).

  51. Goudriaan and Gupta, p. 195.

  52. Diksit, *Bhuvanesvari **evam **Chinnamastd, *pp. 45-51.

  53. Eck, *Banaras, **City **of **Light, *p. 360.

  54. Private communication from Hillary Rodrigues.

  55. Taponista, p. 73.

  56. Pranab Bandyopadhyay, *The **Goddess **of **Tantra *(Calcutta: Punthi Pustak, 1990), pp. 19-24.

  57. Diksit, *Bhuvanesvari **evam **Chinnamastd. *

  58. Sir John Woodroffe, *Sakti **and **Sdkta, **Essays **and **Addresses *(Madras: Ganesh & Co., 1987), p. 361. The same grouping of the Mahavidyas is given in Sarbeswar Satpathy, *Dasa **Mahavidya **and **Tantra **Sastra *(Calcutta: Punthi Pustak, 1992), pp. 56"57.

*66. **Mahanirvana-tantra *13.4; N. Bhattacharyya, *History **of **the **Tantric **Religion, *p. 348.

  1. *Kdlikd-purdiw *60.5 5ft; Bani Kanta Kakati, *The **Mother **Goddess **Kamdkhyd *(Gauhati, Assam: Lawyer’s Book Stall, 1948), pp. 36-37.

  2. *Kalika-purdna *78.86; Kakati, pp. 51-52.

  3. For examples, see the works by Pushpendra Kumar listed in the Bibliography

  4. See Banerjee, *A **Brief **History **of **Tantric **Literature, *p. 28.

  5. *Saktisamgama-tantra, *Tara-khanda 1.84-90; N. Bhattacharyya, *History **of **the **Tantric **Religion, *p. 343.

  6. There are often said to be three types of aspirants, each of whom reflects a different *bhava *(mentality): *divya *(said to be superior and associated with the *sattva **guna), **vira *(said to be the appropriate type of spirituality for engaging in left-handed tantric rites and sometimes associated with the *rajas **guna), *and *pasii *(the lowest, “beastly,” type of person or spirituality). There are appropriate paths for each type of aspirant, and perhaps appropriate types of goddesses, although I have not yet found clear examples of the Mahavidyas being related to the three *bhavas. *See Sures Chandra Banerji, *Tantra **in **Bengal: **A **Study **of **Its **Origin, Developme7it **and **Influence *(Calcutta: Naya Prokash, 1977), pp. 155-56.

  7. See Kamalakar Mishra, *Significance **of **the **Tantric **Tradition *(Varanasi: Arddhanarisvara Publications, 1981), pp. 38, 76-77, and Satpathy, *Dasa **Mahavidya **and **Tantra **Sastra, *p. vii.

  8. For a detailed interpretation of Kali and the other Mahavidyas according to this approach, see the treatment of the individual Mahavidyas in Part II.

  9. See June McDaniel, *The **Madness **of **the **Saints: **Ecstatic **Religion **in **Bengal *(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1989), pp. 132-33, where she discusses the famous Bengali *s’akta *saint, Bamakhepa.

  10. This is exactly the interpretation proposed by K. Mishra, *Significance **of **the **Tantric **Tradition, *pp. i4off. See also Sarbeswar Satpathy, *Sakti **Iconography **in **Tantric **Mahavidyas *(Calcutta: Punthi Pustak, 1991), pp. 151-53, where the Mahavidyas and the seven *cakras *are said to reflect the evolution-devolution of consciousness in much the same way as in Sarhkhya philosophy.

  11. Taponista, vol. 2, p. 470.

  12. Ibid., p. 471.

  13. *Sdkta-pramoda, *p. 270.

  14. Kali-khanda 3.32; Banerjee, *A **Brief **History **of **Tantric **Literature, *p. 31.

  15. *Mahanirvana-tantra *10.112; Banerjee, *A **Brief **History **of **Tantric **Literature, *p. 31.

  16. Brooks, *Auspicious **Wisdom, *pp. 136, 141-42.

  17. N. Bhattacharyya, *History **of **the **Tantric **Religion, *pp. 322-25.

  18. In the *Mundamdld-tantra, *in the *Dasamahavidya-stotra, *chap. 11, there is an implied hierarchy. Kali and Tārā are called Mahavidyas; Sodasl, Bhuvaneśvarī, Bhairavi, Chinnamasta, and Dhumavati are called Vidyas; and Bagalamukhi, Matarigi, and Kamala are called Siddhi-vidyas; *Knlyana, **TirthaArik *(Gorakhpur: Gita Press, 1957), pp. 696-97. Pushpendra Kumar, *Sakti **Cult **in Hinduism, *p. 155, also identifies the Mahavidyas with these categories but does not cite any textual reference. In neither the *Munda?ndld-tantra *nor Kumar, however, is there any comment on the meaning of these three designations or the distinctions they denote. It is likely that Kali and Tārā as Mahavidyas are understood to be superior in some sense to the other Mahavidyas, but this is not made explicit.

  19. *Sdmanya **puja *to the goddess is described in K. R. Van Kooij, *Worship **of **the **Goddess **according **to **the **Kdlikdpurdna *(Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1972), pp. 72-90; tantric worship is also described in *Kauldvali, *ed. Arthur Avalon (Delhi: Bharatiya Vidya Prakashan, 1985), chaps. 2-8.

  20. The importance of purification in tantric worship is discussed by K. Mishra, *Significance **of **the **Tannic **Tradition, *pp. 148-50.

  21. Uccista-matarigi, a form of the Mahavidya Matarigi, may be related to such goddesses insofar as she is often described as fierce and is said to prefer leftovers, *uccista, *for offerings.

  22. See K. Mishra, *Significance **of **the **Tantric **Tradition, *pp. 6off.

  23. For the achievement *oisiddhis and other powers as distractions from the spiritual quest in yoga, see Alain Danielou, Yoga: **The **Method **of **Re-integration *(New York: University Book Publishers, 1955), pp. 118-22, and Mircea Eliade, *Yoga: **Immortality **and **Freedom *(New York: Pantheon Books, 1958), pp. 85-90.

  24. *Ddmara-tantra, *ed. and trans. Ram Kumar Rai (Varanasi: Pracya Prakashan, 1988), pp. 15, 18, 51, and passim.

  25. Chap. 3; Goudriaan and Gupta, p. 116.

  26. Goudriaan and Gupta, p. 117.

  27. Ibid., p. 119.

  28. Ibid., p. 121.

  29. Ibid., p. 122.

  30. V B. Alishra, *Religious **Beliefs **and **Practices **of **North **India *(Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1973), p. 56.

  31. *Brhaddharma-purdna, *Madhya-khanda 6.133.

  32. Brooks, *Auspicious **Wisdom, *p. 142.

  33. See *puja **vidhi *(rules on worship) for Matarigi in *Sdkta-pramoda, *p. 332.

  34. See Goudriaan and Gupta, pp. 193-94.

  35. *Sdkta-pramoda, *p. 285.

  36. Ibid., p. 226.

  37. Acarya Pandita Sri Sivadattamisra Sastri, *Bagaldmukhi-rahasyam *(Varanasi: Thakur Prasad Pustak Bharadar, 1951), pp. 11-13.

  38. *Sdkta-pramoda, *pp. 173-74.

  39. Hemendra Nath Chakravarty and Mark Dyczkowski.

  40. T V Kapali Sastry, *Sidelights **on **Tantra *(Pondicherry, 1971), p. 16; cited in Brooks, *Auspicious **Wisdom, *p. 82.

  41. Jan Gonda, “The Indian Mantra,” *Oriens, *vol. 16 (1963); reprinted in J. Gonda, *Selected *Studies IV(Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1975), p. 252; cited in Brooks, *Auspicious **Wisdom, *p. 81.

  42. See Harold G. Coward, *Bhartrhari *(Boston: Twayne, 1976), for a discussion of the Sphota school and the creative role of sound generally in Hinduism.

  43. Swami Harshananda, *Hindu **Gods **and **Goddesses *(Mylapore: Sri Ramakrishna Math, 1988), p. 107.

no. Ajit Mookerjee and Madhu Khanna, *The **Tantric **Way: **Art, **Science, **Ritual *(Delhi: Vikas Publishing House, 1977), p. 190.

in. Pushpendra Kumar, *Sakti **Cult **in **Ancient **India *(Banaras: Bharatiya Publishing House, 1974), p. 155.

  1. Banerjee, *A **Brief **History **ofTantric **Literature, *p. 28.

  2. Taponista, vol. 2, pp. 384-89.

n4. *Devi-mdhdtmya *1.60, 4.4, 5.14, n.7.

  1. For example, Ganesa-khanda 45.4; Krsnajanma-khanda 41.78, 86.97, 109.20.

  2. Cheever MacKenzie Brown, *God **as **Mother: **A **Feminine **Theology **in India *(Hartford, Vt.: Claude Stark & Co., 1974), p. 165.

  3. *Lalitd-sahasrandma **with **Bhdskarardyas **Commentary, *trans. R. Ananthakrishna Sastry (Madras: Theosophical Publishing House, 1951).

  4. *Sri **Mad **Devi **Bhagavatam, *pp. 1, 3,11,15,16, 57,121,126,130,136,167, 194, 201, 216, 303, 323, 419-20.

  5. Diana Eck, “India’s *Tirthas: *‘Crossings’ in Sacred Geography,” *History **of **Religions *20, no. 4 (May 1981): 323-44.

  6. This is a term used by Eck, ibid.

  7. See Kinsley, *Hindu **Goddesses, *chaps. 2 and 8.