We have just gone through the darkest night of the year on Dipawali when the Sun reaches the farthest point from this part of the globe. For, traversing the southern hemisphere, it reaches the extreme end of western horizon, where as India is located in the northern hemisphere and towards the eastern horizon. Following the age old tradition, we dispelled darkness by lighting the habitation on a massive scale in a celebratory mode.

Why do we celebrate darkest night every yearIJ Remember, in Indian perception, darkness is not taken as negative. For, in the first place, dark night is a precursor to the rise of brightening Sun. Second, it is in the dark realm of earth mass where seeds germinate to emerge as flower and fruit bearing plants. Seeds of creation are nurtured in the dark region of a mother’s womb to produce a child. Again, it is in the invisible quarters of mind that thoughts get excited, which when gravitate further, following processing in the laboratory of mind, lead to action and thereby creativity. And so we celebrate the darkest night of the year, which symbolically means a new productivity cycle in offing, both in terms of agriculture produce or usual business activity.

So is Mother Goddess lakshmi, the deity identified with wealth and prosperity, worshipped at the dead of night with full reverence in most part of the country. Towards the eastern end of the country, however, people have a date with Mother Goddess Kali. For, going by pauranic concept, Kali in her aggressive mode saves humanity by striking at all demonic existences. In metaphysical terms, however, she drives through creative potential inlaid with lord Shiva, which eventually manifests into a plural world with all its enormity and diversity.  So, east looks to the root of creation, and the rest looks forward to produce.  It will be therefore unfair to see either of them in isolation. For, one without the other is simply inconceivable as the two represent just two faces of the creative chain.

Symbolically, lord Shiva stands for that singularity — the primal-source and effective cause of creation — which lies at the root of manifest world, and Kali as is his kinetic side, brings forth the manifest world in visible terms. The two are coterminous, as one without the other is inconceivable. It is something like a static fire-ball, and heat waves emanating there from. It will be pertinent to note here that according to ‘the theory of relativity’, whenever there is entropy, it multiplies. Here, the heat waves emanating from the so called fire-ball, is nothing but entropy that led to emergence of diversified energies out of primal-source, which eventually evolved into a phenomenal form-world. So is lord Shiva perceived as the beholder of transcendent-consciousness and Kali that of immanent-consciousness. Thus is perceived the imagery of the imagery of Kali, in action, with her one leg on the body of lord Shiva lying in corpse-form.

It is believed that there was spontaneous pulsation at the primordial-source, which excited the primal-sound “Om”, out of which emerged Shakti-trinity — Sata, Rajasa, and Tamas).  Random mutation of the three variants of shakti led to diversified sound notes, out of which those audible to human ears are symbolised by the 50 letters of Sanskrit, the seed-syllables (Beeja-mantras). So is Kali perceived as sporting the garland made of 50 human skulls, and which, holds the key to the manifest existential order with form and name. Kali’s lower part is covered with apparel made out of human hands to mean that she grants the power which lets organic world being in active mode.  Thus came into being the dynamic world with all its functionalities.

Kali is shown as black, because she is beyond the scope of human comprehension. She is shown as nude, to mean that the whole universe forms her apparel meaning infinity. Remember, if an ephemeral world has come into being, it has to meet its end one day, when it collapses into its source, something like the star collapsing to form an invisible black-hole.

In the reverse cycle, once karma-cycle gets exhausted, signified by chopped hands, and ego gets dissolved as symbolised by head skulls, one gets to realise Kali. The cycle of time begins with Kali exciting creation chain, and ends when the phenomenal world merges back into her. So, is she named Kali, the beholder of time. This concept is, therefore, nothing but scientific principle deified.

Belated though, but I greet the valued readers of this column on this solemn occasion.

The writer is an astrologer, vastu consultant and spiritual counsellor. Write to him at G-5, Basement, Jungpura Extension, New Delhi 14

Tel: 9818037273/ 24310031, Email: pioneerqueries@bharatastro.com, Website: www.bharatastro.com