Kali The Mother – A Tribute to Swami Vivekananda

     Kali The Mother – A Tribute to Swami Vivekananda

The festival of lights popularly known as Deepavali was celebrated with great enthusiasm during the week.  The Naraka Chaturdashi Snan was observed in the wee hours of the morning of 22^nd October, 2014.  There are several janashrutis on the puranik story of Narkasura.  But the one story that is widely prevalent is that of the mother Kamakhya Devi slaying Narkasura in order to liberate humanity from his cruel and uncontrollable deeds. 

The puranas, especially the Kamakhya Tantra and Kalika Purana mentions that at the end of Varaha Avtaar of Lord Mahavishnu, two male offspring’s were born to Varaha and Budevi when they incarnated on the planet earth.  One of the sons was Mangal or Kuja popularly known as Bhouma whom the Lord commanded to control the earth and give strength and power for it to sustain. 

The second son was Nar Narayan whom the Lord entrusted the responsibility of preservation of the beings in the Bholoka.  Nar Narayan carried on his mandate till he got married but after his marriage he inherited the evil company of his brother-in-law who had aasurik pravirty which resulted in Nar Narayan setting up his abode in Kamrupa and resorting to greed, lust and violence.  Nar Narayan, who would not surrender to the wise counsel of Lord Brahma incurred the wrath of Vashishtha Muni and thereby proposed the Divine Mother to get married to him.

The Mother seized the opportunity and threw a challenge to Narkasura, who was so named after he lost the benign aspect of Nar Narayan and demanded him to build a proper path way from the foot hills to the tip of Kamakhya Neel Parvat before the dawn.  Narkasura was almost about to complete his task before the first rays of the dawn when the Mother enticed the peahen to make sound of the morning.  The peahen cooed signalling rise of the down but Narkasura was infuriated as he still was giving final touches to the pathway on the Kamakhya Hillhock and did not want to fail in his challenge thrown up by the Divine Mother so that he could marry Her.  Narkasura immediately chased the peahen and in the process lost his mission but killed the hen which still is preserved in the outskirts of the Guwahati city as Kukuteswar in the memory of the Martyr hen who stood witness to the Divine Mother to liberate Narkasura from his devilish acts.  That is the reason why devotees apply boiled oil on their bodies smeared with raw rice, raw black pepper, camphor etc. and bathe in hot water before the rise of the sun on the wee hours of Narka Chaturdashi to anoint themselves against the devilish act of the demon and purify themselves. 

This festival is also known as Chhoti Deepavali.  In the twilight hours of the Amavasya following on the consecutive day, pooja is performed for Ganesh, Lakshmi and Kuber ushering in peace and prosperity with lighting of the lamps signalling brightness and cheer everywhere.  The illumination also is an attempt to clear gloom and misery everywhere.

In the midnight of the Amavasya, the avatra of Mother Kali is celebrated with Kali Puja past 12 in the night paying tributes and respects to the greatest manifestation of power and energy through the feminine divine.  The form of Mother Kali on this night is awe inspiring and brings in a mixed state of thrill, excitement and fear in the devotee as without fear no devotion is possible.

Ramakrishna Parmahansa, who lived the spirit of Mother Kali in human form, brought cheers and happiness to the lives of many people irrespective of their background or state of condition in the society, demystified several wrongly held superstitious belief about Mother Kali.  Shri Ramakrishna’s influencing gaze is all pervading and immediately touches the heart of the beholder who looks at the Parmahansa even with an iota of mutual belonging.

Apart from bequeathing the great treasure of devotion, the Ramakrishna Mission Order, symbolizing selfless sacrifice and service, Ramakrishna gave the greatest gift to humanity in the form of Swami Vivekananda, who is an everlasting towering personality, always inspiring and motivating one and all.

The razor sharp intellect and power of articulation of Swami Vivekananda is unparalleled and volumes could be written about the brain power of the Swamiji but there is one Masterpiece of Swamiji which has been probably coauthored by his close associate Sister Nivedita (Christopher Isherwood).  This is a piece in verse known as “Kali The Mother”.  The poem has been recited many times all over the world.  The poem expresses the agony and ecstasy found in the Divine Mother Kali at one go. 

The greatest fun was to hear this poem being rendered in a musical mode by a 11 year old child who neither knows fear nor knows favour.  The innocent childlike rendering by Akshyaa Vibho of “Kali The Mother” set in a musical mode of Raga Shiv Ranjini with musical composition by Gana Kala Vibhushana Sangeetha Ratna Smt. Bhanumathy Vishwanath arranged by Music Director Shri Naresh Vikal is a rare treat to the eyes and ears.  Akshyaa’s twin sister Amrutaa Vibho has accompanied on the Drums for the song which is available under the Video title “Vivekanand” in the You Tube Channel “L.Ramashesh Vishwanath”.