The purpose of spiritual fulfillment through sadhana (spiritual practices) is to attain a state of full union with the Supreme Reality of God. This Supreme Reality is beyond any attribute or conceptual understanding. It is representative of transcendental knowledge and it projects itself, according to Tantra Shastra, as divine expressions in creation. These are the ten cosmic powers and personalities of the Divine Mother. They are termed the Das Mahaa Vidyaa. Each aspect has a specific cosmic function and leads to a special realization of the one Reality.
The Das Mahaa Vidyaa are as follows:
- Kaali – She is the devourer of time and the night of eternity.
- Taaraa – She is the power of the golden embryo (Hiranyagarbha) from which the universe evolves. She represents the power of the void and the night of anger.
- Shodasi – The word literally means ‘one who is sixteen years old’. She is the personification of fullness, of perfection. She represents the power of absolute splendour.
- Bhuvaneshvari – She represents the forces of the material world and the power of space.
- Bhairavi – She stands for desires and temptations leading to destruction and death. She represents the power of death.
- Chinnamastaa – She is the naked deity holding her own severed head in hand and drinking her own blood. She represents the continued state of self-sustenance of the created world in which are seen continuous self-destruction and self-removal, in a cyclic order.
- Dhumaavati – She personifies the destruction of the world by fire. She symbolizes the power of deprivation and the might of frustration.
- Bagalaa – She represents the ugly side of living creatures like jealousy, hatred and cruelty.
- Maatangi – She is the embodiment of the power of domination and the ultimate expression of the highest intuition in speech.
- Kamalaa – She represents pure consciousness of the self, bestowing boons and allaying the fears of the supplicants. She is representative of the power of wealth, happiness and fortune.
The destructive power of Kaali, the sound force of Taaraa, the beauty and bliss of Shodasi, the vast vision of Bhuvaneshwari, the effulgent charm of Bhairavi, the striking force of Chinnamastaa, the inertness of Dhumaavati, the penalizing powers of Bagalaa, the expressive play of Maatangi and the concord and harmony of Kamalaa are the various characteristics of Supreme Consciousness that have made creation possible.
These ten Mahaa Vidyaa reflects the dynamic unity of existence in which all aspects of life, the purest, the forceful and the inert, are combined to form a whole and diverse vision of reality.
