The Goddess Files - Arousing

When Kali consumes blood, she is driven mad with bloodlust. She becomes wild and kills randomly. When this happens, the gods call upon Siva and beg him to tame her. For only in her tamed form can she be mother.And thus we encounter the tales that attempt to resolve the conflict between the traditional role of women as being subservient to man and the symbolic role of women as the manifestation of the divine. As Kali increasingly became accepted as a deity of the mainstream religion, her independence began to threaten the social stability that relied heavily on male domination. Narratives came to be woven which established that no matter how powerful the Devi was, she still remained subservient to the male form of the divine. In the following tale for instance, Kali is shamed into submission. The narrative, which has no scriptural foundation, explains Kali’s most popular image, where she sticks out her tongue. After killing the demon Daruka, Kali drank his blood. The blood drove her mad with bloodlust. She went around the world killing at random. The gods begged Siva to stop her. So he took the form of a handsome man and lay in Kali’s path. As soon as Kali stepped on him, she bit her tongue in embarrassment. She was ashamed to learn that her bloodlust had prevented her from seeing and recognizing her own husband.

In tantrik narratives on the other hand, Kali neither sticks out her tongue in shame or embarrassment nor does she step on Siva accidentally. She sticks out her tongue to drink blood. And she sits on him to satisfy her erotic desires aroused by his beautiful form. Kali, in these narratives, is neither defensive nor apologetic about her hunger or her sexual cravings.

After killing the demon Daruka, Kali drank his blood. The blood drove her mad with bloodlust. She went around the world killing at random. The gods begged Siva to stop her. So he took the form of a handsome man and lay in Kali’s path. As soon as Kali stepped on him, she was overcome with desire. She sat on Siva and began making love to him. Her energy, that was till then channeled into violence and destruction got consumed in the erotic. Her heat, till then destructive turned creative, she changed from a rampaging killer into a passionate lover.

After all, why would Kali, who’s completely unashamed about wandering around naked, performing deeds and actions conspicuous only for their profanity, suddenly become a shy and simpering maiden when her foot touched a man’s body? Or put another way, what is a more likely response from Kali, when she finds a comely man lying in her path? And I was also left wondering whether Siva, himself beyond convention, would expect shame from the rampant unbridled energy that is Kali. To me, the behavior of both the deities in the first of the two stories above appears contrived; the second is far more consistent with my notion of Kali & Siva – and that is they inflame each other, arouse each other and each serve as the channel through which the other finds fulfillment, achieves their full potential – ananda!

What you see here is a 24 x 30 inches painting in the Kerala temple mural style, using natural colors on a plywood base. The inspiration came from an illustration in The Book Of Kali, by Seema Mohanty. And it took some time and conversation with the artist to overcome his discomfiture – and to me he’s done a great job in depicting the tension of ferocity – of the energy changing from violence and destruction into erotic love. And I personally find the sexuality to be utterly enchanting and energizing. What about you?