Kali

[Chapter Heading: The Sending of Chanda and Munda to Fight with the Goddess]. Vyasa said: Having spoken these words, Dhumralochana stopped. Then Kalika, laughing, replied with playful words.

O beautifully formed one! You are alone, accompanied only by Kalika and a lion. O evil-minded one, you wish to conquer Shumbha who is endowed with all his forces.

Her Sattvic, Rajasic, and Tamasic Shaktis are respectively known as Mahalakshmi, Sarasvati, and Mahakali—these are Her feminine forms.

Kālī said: “O Lord Śaṅkara, O Master, that statement spoken by you, O supreme Yogi—would that (reality you described) not be Prakṛti? And if you are beyond Prakṛti, then how (can you be related to or described in terms of) her?”

Seeing Kāḷī, Śaṅkhacūḍa quickly rushed into the battlefield. The dānavas were seized by fear, but their king granted them reassurance and fearlessness.

There, the foremost is Mahākāla, who grants both worldly enjoyment and liberation to the virtuous. There also is His Śakti, Mahākālī, who bestows upon devotees the very fruits they desire.

Having released her own power there, the auspicious Goddess spoke these words: “Since you are exceedingly dark, therefore by name you shall be Kālikā.”

He is also proclaimed as Kālamegha; Bhava is remembered there as Dāmodara. And at a distance of two gavyūtis, Kālikā is celebrated in that region.

From that striking there arose the illustrious Vīrabhadra; likewise Kālī sprang forth, surrounded by crores of bhūtas (spirit-hosts).

While the Lord of the world (Śiva), ever mindful of dharma, was sporting together with Pārvatī, at one time—merely in play—Bhava (Śiva) addressed her as “Kālī.”

The youngest daughter of Menakā, Kālī, was dark like a mass of blue collyrium; her eyes were like blue lotuses; and in beauty she was incomparable.

“This Kāli—your daughter—who is beautiful in all the worlds: the Lord of the gods seeks her in marriage; therefore you ought to give her (to him).”