Mahakali
Sri Aurobindo on Mahakali:
The Mother in her cosmic power is all things and all divine Personalities, for nothing can be in manifestation except by her and as part of her being. But what was meant in the Visions was that the Ishwara and the Divine Shakti were one Person or Being in two aspects and it puts forward this union of them as Krishna-Mahakali as of great power for the manifestation.
These — Kali, Shyama, etc. — are ordinary forms seen through the vital; the real Mahakali form whose origin is in the Overmind is not black or dark or terrible, but golden of colour and full of beauty, even when formidable to the Asuras. Mahakali and Kali are not the same, Kali is a lesser form. Mahakali in the higher planes appears usually with the golden colour.
Durga combines the characteristics of Maheshwari and Mahakali to a certain extent– there is not much connection with Mahalakshmi. The combination of Krishna and Mahakali is one that has a great power in this Yoga and if the names rise together in your consciousness, it is a good sign.
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Sri Aurobindo about Mahakali Method:
Sri Aurobindo says:
If you are afraid of the Mother’s scoldings, how will you progress? Those who want to progress quickly, welcome even the blows of Mahakali because that pushes them more rapidly on the way.
— — 28 September 1933
All these things depend on the person, the condition, the circumstances. The Mother uses the method you speak of, the Mahakali method,
(1) with those in whom there is a great eagerness to progress and a fundamental sincerity somewhere even in the vital,
(2) with those whom she meets intimately and who, she knows, will not resent or misunderstand her severity or take it for a withdrawal of kindness or grace but will regard it as a true grace and a help to their sadhana.
There are others who cannot bear this method — if it was continued they would run a thousand miles away in misunderstanding, revolt and despair.
What the Mother wants is for people to have their full chance for their souls, be the method short and swift or long and tortuous. Each she must treat according to his nature.
Mahakali’s method is vehemence, force & swiftness, attaining knowledge by swift intuitions, moving to success in action by forceful strides. It is vehement in lipsa, violent in method, headlong in accomplishment. It seeks to attain the whole & then only returns upon the details. This vehemence, violence & precipitate rapidity has to be established in the prana, chitta and buddhi, so as to govern feeling, thought & action (there have been plenty of isolated instances & brief periods of it in the past of the sadhana) and justified by success; but the basis of hidden calm & self-possession in the Maheshwari-bhava of Mahasaraswati has to be maintained and all has to be in the [Mahasaraswati] mould which demands thoroughness, perfect [contrivance], faultless elaboration of detail in the consummate whole. The literary work, the subjective action on others, the outward physical speech and action have all to be done with this swift elaboration & violent minuteness.
For a relation to exist in which Mother can do as you say, the sadhak must not be afraid of the Mahakali aspect and ask only for sweetness. He must be able to take the blows of Mahakali as a blessing. He must also believe in her vision and judgment and word, otherwise when she says or does something unpleasant to his ego that ego will go sulking, justifying itself, calling her names etc. as is the habit with so many in the Ashram when she does not do what they like. There are very few here who can take this attitude even imperfectly, but it is with them that the Mother has this relation. With others, who have a different nature, she cannot but behave differently — for she has to act with each according to his nature.
Certainly, when the Divine Consciousness is fully realised, there will be no difference between the Mother’s will and the sadhaka’s.
In the creation Mahakali manifests the divine love; but so powerful and sublime is this love that most men are afraid of it. — 18 October 1971
The Mother.
Nalini Da on Mahakali Method
Mahakali has started her work of preparation, of elimination, of destruction and dissolution, to clear the path for Mahalakshmi and Mahasaraswati; the infinite love and compassion of Maheshwari sanctions and supports it. The new creation, the new world that The Mother built and is still building with so much love and care is ready, ready to manifest, to reveal itself in the material field, waiting to materialise itself on earth. But the earth is not yet ready, or rather man is not yet ready: he still refuses it, he clings to the old dead world, clings fast to it — he loves this game of falsehood and crookedness. Perhaps the truth is too bright, too compelling for his egoistic nature and obscure make-up, so he denies, obstructs as much as he can the new consciousness, the new reality. Mother, out of her infinite love, tried to take this denial on her own self, tried to convince and change as many elements of it as possible; then, when nothing more could be done she withdrew, leaving the field to her other aspect to do what was unavoidable — the breaking up of the old rigid world. It is a necessity for the ultimate good of earth and even of man.
M.P. Pandit on how to invoke the Force of Mahakali
1. Strengthen the base, to build ourselves on a solid foundation, physically, mentally and vitally, so that we can withstand her pressures, support her action without shrinking.
2. A continuous aspiration, a sincerity to push forward whatever resists change, whatever is to be eliminated without mercy, without self-deception, to scrutinise and bring out from oneself whatever stands in the way and expose it to her workings.
The wrath of Mahakali manifests from time to time and acts all right, but the effect of it does not last because those who answer to the adverse force do not truly want to be cured. They are not sincere.
We have only to remain quiet and confident, unshakeable in our faith and trust in the Divine’s Grace. — — Sri Aurobindo
1 July 1935
Anil Baran’s Prayer before Mahakali
Come to me, Mother, in Thy warrior mood, come with Thy divine impetuosity shaking all the worlds by the tramping of Thy feet; fill my heart with Thy terrible beauty and awful grandeur.
Thy fiery radiant eyes will dispel all darkness from my soul, Thy stern exacting voice will rouse me from lethargy and slumber, Thy thrilling touch will give me indomitable spirit and force to conquer.
Indeed I have need of Thee, Mother Mahakali, my kingdom is besieged by the asuras and demons, who are relentless in their attacks on me. How long Thy child shall live under theirs way? How long shall I allow my temple to be defiled by those forces of darkness and falsehood? At my present rate of progress, I shall never be able to rid me of their evil influence completely. With my unaided strength, I shall never be able to conquer them finally.
Come then, Mother, with Thy mighty violence smashing all obstacles in me, snapping all the chords of desire and attachment that still give a foothold in me to the Asuras and Rakshas, breaking relentlessly all that is impure, malignant or undivine in me, so that out of their ruins may be built up a glorious structure of divine strength and beauty, where Thou, Mother, in all Thy grace and power wilt live for ever and for ever.
Mahakali
Thine is the fiery will that mocks
Faint-hearted compromise;
Ruthless thou shearest all that blocks
Our path to Paradise.
The thunders whirl at Thy command,
O flaming, beautiful Mother!
Thou smitest with one mighty hand,
And savest with the other.
Pervasive of Thy tameless ire
Is an all-puissant love;
It leads us through the test of fire
To immortal gates above.
- Anil Baran
Source: “The Mother” book by Sri Aurobindo
