Kala means time and Kali is the controller of time. Just like Dhana means wealth and Dhani means wealthy. I am born in this ‘time’ and the controller of time, Kali, has given birth to me. Kala and Kali are inseparable. That is why in Kali’s altar, both are present. Kali is the coming together of creation, sustenance, and destruction and Kala denotes their co-existence. The one, who gives birth, sustains too. That is why creation and sustenance are her responsibilities. And one who has birth has merging also. She emerges in the chest of Kala. I intentionally did not use the word ‘death’. In fact, nothing dies. That which is non-existent exists in history. Because Kala and Kali are inseparable, to love Kali, one has to know Kala. Kali puts out her tongue so that she would understand and experience Kala through taste, smell, sound, sight, and touch; that is why she keeps her nose, ears, eyes, and the entire body open. She also sees Kala through her heart and altar. That is why her third eye in the forehead is open—it is the symbol of the vision of heart and knowledge. Let us understand time. It is constantly flowing. A poet has said: ‘Time flows by the river current.’ Time constantly comes from the past, touches the present, and runs after the future. The sky, air, planets, and stars are all witnesses to this. The human being can only indicate time to some extent through units like the second, minute, hour, day, week, month, year, and so on. The vast can be measured. The human being has measured the highest peak, the Mount Everest, the seabed, and also the speed of light, which is 1,86,282 miles per second. Further, even for measuring great distances, the human being has combined the speed of light with time and created a unit called the light year. But there is no tape to measure the infinite. Not only that there is no end for Kali or Kala, but there is no beginning also. It would be an understatement to call them the primal god or the primal goddess. The human being bowed down before the vast and yet aspires to touch it. The mountains are high! Humans get enthralled by the Himalayas and bow down with respect, yet they scale its highest peak. The sea is faster and deeper. Humans cross seas and oceans and move on their beds. And the sky! The land and waters of the earth are not infinite but, the sky is infinite; without beginning and without end. Humans wander there too! Not only do they travel through the sky route, but they are also moving into space out of curiosity. To respect the vast and infinite, to know it, the curiosity to feel it—all these have led humans to find Kali. What is the color of the sky?
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| Mother Kali |
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It is colorless. One knows this by seeing the night sky. During the day, a star named the sun illumines the earth. Trillions and trillions of innumerable stars, planets, and satellites are born in space in the course of time and float there. They reveal themselves by their brilliance and also illumine the colorful space. Space scientists and astronomers observe the sky only in the night. It is only then that one can understand the sky’s true nature. Time encompasses space, Kali also does the same. That is why Kali is worshipped on a new moon day, devoid of moonlight. Even moonlight is an outcast there. The human beings in-vented color amidst this vast colorlessness. They discovered vitality. They discovered vital and colorful Kali. She definitely has vital energy. Else, how do innumerable planets and stars take birth in her womb? This incomprehensible progenitress, this ruler of time’s flow, this infinitude is Kali. Kali is a great creatrix! There is no end to knowing her; there is no end to the desire for knowing her. This intense human desire for knowledge, this endless curiosity is also her worship. Human beings are creative. They discovered Kali, at least her form. They have also tried to symbolize her. Whomsoever we love, we consider them to be beautiful. Kali is beautiful. One who gives birth is the mother. One who has given birth to me is my mother. That is why Kali has the form of a mother. Children alone are the ornaments of a mother. That is why the planets and stars she gave birth to are all over her body as the crown, bracelet, and necklace. Human beings are also her children. Human beings are the greatest among living beings. The brain is the greatest asset of human beings. Those who have the greatest brains among human beings are great scientists; great sages are the greatest assets of human beings. We get the wealth of knowledge and education from these children of Mother Kali and this knowledge is carried down the ages by humanity. Humanity identifies the luminous bodies that float in the continuous flow of time in space with these great persons. The ruler of time, Kali, also considers these persons as gems and wears them on her necklace and gives them the place in her bosom with love. Directions are her raiment. That is why she is without clothes. She gives birth to this world and also to this universe. She is constantly giving birth to millions of stars; when can she clothe herself! Then this creation would come to a standstill. Then how is her civilization protected? By human hands. Human hands create a civilization and also protect it. These hands en-circle Mother Kali’s waist and the protection of civilization, the covering of clothing is created. Much happens with time. Yet, time itself is unattached and flows continuously. But, Kali moves and dances playfully on the chest of Kala. Kala silently accepts everything—good and bad. However, Kali accepts and also rejects. Though she has two hands to give boons and blessings to her children, she has another pair of hands for accepting and rejecting. Of those two hands, one holds a sword. With this sword, she removes that which is unnecessary and is a burden on Kala, much like weeding. And with the other hand, she accepts all the gems, the bright stars of knowledge and wisdom, and affectionately wears them as a necklace. Time moves on; the human civilization moves on. An era ends and another comes, but human beings have to keep moving on. Human beings have to keep pace with time. That is why human beings worship Kala and want to take care of him always and to do that they keep an hourly chime in their clocks. Every time the clock strikes an hour, it reminds human beings, ‘Time is passing, and a bit more has passed’. Nature also has an animal that does this work of striking by the hour—the jackal that keeps time by howling. It howls by the hour and announces the time to the world. It follows in the footsteps of Kali, the ruler of time, the symbol of infinitude, and the great motherhood of God. One who has no end—how can a discussion about her end? Yet, sometime the discussion might end. Then imagination extends into the infinite. ‘Sun gives light.’ This sentence of three words is connected with the reality of millions of years of the sun giving light. With the words ‘Kali’ and ‘Kala’ are also connected ‘beginningless’ and ‘endless’—that which is beyond form and form-less; the existence of all that is immeasurable in the present and the future. Let not the reader stop thinking here
SRI RAMAKRISHNA TODAY 