Bhadrakali Mantra

[Sueann]

Thispowerful image was created in the 1660s at the very beginning of the Pahari miniature painting tradition. Originally, this folio was one of a series of seventy numbered paintings, each of which showed a different form or facet of the great goddess Devi. Bhadrakali was worshipped as a benevolent aspect of the goddess. Created in the small court of Basohli, this painting and the set to which it belongs are among the earliest miniature paintings to survive from the Pahari courts, located in the Punjab Hills at the foot of the Himalayas. This artwork is on view in Seeing the Divine: Pahari Painting of North India through July 21, 2019.

Equal to a thousand rays of the rising sun

accompanied by three shining Kalis

worshipped with two bundles of kusha grass

She is everything

Her feet are worshipped by both [Bhairavas]

Accompanied by Bhima and Vahni-priya

She banishes fear

Invoked by Jhankara

adorned with the twenty-two letters

I adore goddess Bhadrakali with the seed mantra bhaim

Affirming Bhadrakali's esoteric meaning are the Hindu gods shown worshiping and making offerings to her. Bhadrakali looks directly at three figures of the goddess Kali that brandish bloodied swords and offer a severed head and skull cups filled with blood to venerate the tantric divinity. Behind her stands the fanged goddess Bhima, who breaks the picture plane by looking directly at the viewer, along with the flame-enshrouded Vahni-priya (consort of Agni, god of fire). Two figures of Shiva kneel at her feet.

The practice of creating sets of inscribed images to evoke the tantric aspects of a divinity finds its closest parallel in Tibet, where tsakali initiation cards were used to align practitioners with Vajrayana Buddhist deities. These Tibetan paintings share the same square format, saturated red borders, and devotional verses on the back. The similarity is not surprising, as trade flowed readily across the high mountain passes separating the two regions. Certainly, the enigmatic text on the verso of the Bhadrakali is in accord with the secret tantric practices that one might undertake with a teacher. It is clear that the deeply religious Pahari courts were looking outside for religious and artistic ideas that they then reworked to serve their own interests. Of course, in the end it was not Buddhist Tibet, but the great Hindu literary traditions and the painting traditions of North India that came to be vitally important to the emerging Pahari idiom.

[1] Vidya Dehejia, Devi: The Great Goddess (Washington, D.C.: The Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, in association with Mapin Publishing, Ahmedabad, and Prestel Verlag, Munich, 1999), 272.

Kurt Behrendt has been at The Met since 2006. He has curated a series of exhibitions, including Bodhisattvas of Wisdom, Compassion and Power (2021), Seeing the Divine: Pahari Painting of North India (2018), Tibet and India (2014), and Buddhism along the Silk Road (2012), and has published widely on the Buddhist art of the Indian subcontinent. Ongoing field research in India, Pakistan, Nepal, and Tibet provides a foundation for his exhibitions and publications. His 1997 PhD from UCLA was published as the book The Buddhist Architecture of Gandhara (Leiden: Brill, 2004).

Bhadrakali means "auspicious black", and she is considered to be a form of Goddess Kali. Goddess Kali is the goddess of destruction and reconstruction, and she symbolizes strength, courage and ferocity. Bhadrakali is considered to be a form of Shakti who destroys demons and evil forces.

Chanting the Bhadrakali Mantra is an extremely powerful and beneficial Sadhana. It elevates a person spiritually, mentally, and physically. By chanting this mantra in the right way, a person achieves success, prosperity, and peace in life.

The Divine Mother Śrī Atharvaṇa Bhadrakālī Pratyaṅgirā is the extremely aggressive and ferocious (tamo) form of the Supreme Empress Śrī Lalita Mahā Tripurasundari. She is the Divine Mother of abundance, protection and counterattack. She has the combined powers of Lord Paramaśiva, Lord Mahāviṣṇu and Divine Mother Adiparaśakti, therefore, considered the highest form of Ugra Devata.

Divine Mother Pratyaṅgirā is very famous nowadays. If you are attracted to her, remember that she is the path of Dharma and Satya. If you are a good and honorable person who strictly follows this path (Dharma and Satya), this goddess will definitely help you always. But if you are a mean and bad person, she will judge you the same way she judges enemies. Pratyaṅgirā Devi has names like "bhaktaśatrubhakṣiṇi" and "ṛṅmantrapārāyaṇaprīta". This means that she is an impartial force that does not discriminate between enemies and devotees when it comes to destruction. Even if our enemies are a devotee of Pratyaṅgirā, if he does not follow the path of Dharma and Satya, he will be destroyed by the goddess herself. She is extremely pleased with people who follow the path of good, sacrifice their egos, and surrender to her. This is something that should be said to all people who come to know this goddess. Blessings.

Krishna garu, Namaste. Request to please clarify on the meaning of 2nd line of dhyana. Total of 6 objects are mentioned in meaning. Does this form have 6 hands ? or 4 hands holding 6 objects? In the meaning of shloka, trident is शूल, स्थूल mean arrows? or strong/thick/rigid? Request to clarify on no. of hands and respective objects held by her. Also great help if you can break this word to word and explain. Koti pranams to you. Thank you very much.

Krishna garu, please help on below request. Krishna garu, Namaste. Request to please clarify on the meaning of 2nd line of dhyana. Total of 6 objects are mentioned in meaning. Does this form have 6 hands? or 4 hands holding 6 objects? In the meaning of shloka, trident is शूल, स्थूल mean arrows? or strong/thick/rigid? Request to clarify on no. of hands and respective objects held by her. Also great help if you can break this word to word and explain. Koti pranams to you. Thank you very much.

Of the 51 Mātṛkās, only one of them is independent, alone and not in groups like the others: "kṣam̐". The real name of this seed is Nivṛttikalā Bīja, which means returning or coming back. To understand this seed, imagine the highest point in the sky, where the most supreme being resides and it is not possible to go higher. Now imagine the inversely lowest point, where it is no longer possible to descend any further: this is where the Nivṛttikalā Bīja "kṣam̐" resides. It turns out that the seed "kṣam̐" permeates and possesses the qualities of everything above up to the highest point. At the maximum limit of the descent of creation, this seed separated from the others and remains hidden there and does not depend on anyone. But the "kṣam̐" seed has something special that the others don't: as it is at the lowest limit of the descent of creation, it can reverse the direction of everything above, including taking someone to the highest point, leading to the higher goal. If the supreme being is on the surface of the sea, he is also there at the bottom of the sea, where no one can go deeper, like the seed "kṣam̐", and this seed has the power to reverse what is above, that is, everything! The presiding deity of Nivṛttikalā Bīja is called Śrī Atharvaṇa Bhadrakālī Pratyaṅgirā. Lalitā said that when she assumes this form, even the supreme being on the surface of the ocean is not able to stop her movement and that her protection in this form is invincible. Nothing above the bottom of the ocean would be able to stop her. The supreme being took on a form to protect himself. I wrote this explanation especially for Krishna who worshiped this form of the Divine Mother.

Lastly, this extraordinary form of the Divine Mother is praised in the Śrī Devī Khaḍgamālā Mantraḥ. She is praised in the Sarvasaubhāgyadāyakacakra as the Yogini SarvadvandvaKṢAyaṅkari (the destroyer of all dualities). This is a big secret. She is mentioned in this part of the Śrīcakra because she does not destroy something without reasons, she destroys everything that obstructs all auspiciousness (Sarvasaubhāgya). And she is mentioned in the last Yogini of this Cakra, meaning that she is the ultimate force to bring auspiciousness. She is endowed with the power to destroy everything that is dual, so nothing stops her from bringing auspiciousness if invoked. She hates everything that is inimical to auspiciousness, and we know that Śrīdevī or Lalitā is "Śrī" or auspiciousness itself. She then hates Lalitā's enemies. At the end of the Khaḍgamālā Mantraḥ, Guhyakāli is praised as Mahāmahāgupte (the secret of all secrets). Both are hidden and are like a wall that you can't overcome.

Namaste Jothiji, Is it oaky to email you personally? I have few questions on my sadhana not comfortable sharing online. I understand if you are busy and don't want to impose. Not sure how to contact you, hence dropping a message here. My email id is jay...@manblunder.com. Thank you for your contribution to the website.

Namaste Jayanth. For now I am not allowed to do this, but I hope to be able to do so in some time. There were people who contacted me via email, but I couldn't respond to them. It seemed like Divine Mother didn't want me to do this. I couldn't answer them. But maybe in a future time I can.

Jothiji. Can you help clear a doubt on Navarna mantra and Siddhilakshmi mantra both are navakshari. Many places suggest to add Om in Navarna as that will make it Dasakshari. I heard adding Om makes it Vedic which is Nirbija - used by householders and without Om it is Sabija used in pure tantric way. Is that correct? What is the right understanding. Siddhilakshmi mantra also has Om in beginning.

Namaste Богдан, the complete worship procedure of Triśakti Cāmuṇḍā has the Caṇḍikāsaptaśatī as its central core. The Guru explains the esoteric meaning of all parts of the Caṇḍikāsaptaśatī and the nine-letter Mantra. Then the devotee practices this daily and gets complete success. When Lalitā becomes very excited about a battle, she takes this form. One of the curiosities of Triśakti Cāmuṇḍā is that she is never furious or angry, she acts with complete violence against her enemies while smiling and laughing with excitement for the battle. She likes to fight, always. Therefore, devotees who have ambitious material and spiritual goals should not be afraid, as she likes challenges. The more difficult the objective is, the more enthusiastic and violent this Mother becomes. Her ideal devotee is one who enjoys battle in all aspects of life.

3a8082e126