I remember at a very young age when I chanced upon Chinnamasta’s picture on the internet (which was also how I stumbled upon the Dasa Mahavidya), I was pretty much appalled because I realised that there were one too many things going on, most of it that were a bit of a culture shock to me, not about to deny.
Her imagery itself can come across as abrupt for many of us like me but more research equates to lesser ignorance and more knowledge, which is precisely what I did. Let’s now look into the tale of the sixth Mahavidya – Chinnamasta.
Chinnamasta represents the concept of paradox. Paradox refers to a seemingly absurd, contradictory suggestion or idea that well possible leads into a logical and well-founded sense of understanding. A paradox is thought-provoking by nature. Take the statement “less is more” for example. I may argue that less can never be more because less already signifies a smaller quantity so how could it be more ? Underlying concept is in fact, the theory of the lesser it is, the more appreciated it will be.
A paradox is also a very widely used literary device in essays and proses. (Big shout-out to my literature lecturer for teaching me this, I hope I’ve made you proud for a second).
Now then, why does she represent paradox ? If you look at her imagery closely, you would first notice that Chinnamasta is headless, her head being sustained by her own hand. From the freshly beheaded spots spurt out three streams of blood flow – one that goes into her own mouth, the other two going into the mouths of her two attendants beside her. Legend has it that Chinnamasta beheaded herself with her nails to feed her hungry attendants once, when they protested hunger. The act of beheading eventually leads to death, so how was it that she decided to sacrifice herself to satisfy the hunger of her two attendants ? Paradox of sustaining life in the process of death.
Moving down the imagery, Chinnamasta is seen to be naked, unclothed and sporting a garland of skulls. Taking reference from the iconography of Kali, her naked body signifies that she is free from Maya, worldly illusions and her skull garland denotes creative energy of the Sanskrit letters represented per skull.
Moving further, Chinnamasta is depicted to be standing on the copulating form of Kama and Rati, representing sexual desire. In other rare depictions, Chinnamasta is shown to be in coitus with Shiva himself. There are several interpretations to this symbology.
The copulating Kama and Rati at Chinnamasta’s feet denoted sexual desire, as aforementioned. Sexual desire is a primary human inclination – in one comprehension, Chinnamasta signifies the mastering of lust, to control sexual desire. On another comprehension however, Chinnamasta supposedly signifies sexual desire as she draws energy from Kama and Rati beneath her feet. Of course. there is no definite truth to it ; it is entirely dependant on belief.
In the depictions of Chinnamasta and Shiva copulating, the concept of masculine support and feminine energy is once more substantiated, as Chinnamasta is seen squatting on Shiva, exerting sexual dominance as well.
Arguably, there are a lot of significance that revolves around Chinnamasta, crucial ones being paradox, shedding of illusion, restraining sexual desire and sustainer of life. Chinnamasta, on that account, represents a inter-crossed grid of lines that depicts life from sexuality, to death from sustainability – a manifestation of self-dependancy.
Chinnamasta is indeed one intriguing Mahavidya, drawing certain impressions that can be reasoned. Through the path of self-consciousness, Chinnamasta teaches self-dependancy as from what I perceive her to be.
If you perceive her to be otherwise, do enlighten me further. I am all ears.
It has indeed been a rather tiring Friday but we are now down to three more days of Navaratri celebrations. It just felt like I was introducing Kali an hour ago on my blog, didn’t it ? Time is as if clinging on to Flash’s back indeed.
Happy Friday, everyone. Another day tomorrow, with the tale of another Mahavidya.
File photo : Rahul Jha, Pantone Canvas.
