Kali, Durga, Parvati
Posted by Catherine Cartwright Jones on December 13, 1999 at 01:53:22:
In Reply to: Re: More hands posted by leela on December 10, 1999 at 20:18:14:
Best as I understand from my growing stack of books.....
Sati - Parvati does not appear in Vedic literature, though there is a
vague reference to Shiva having a sister or wife ... real evidence in
text or objects of a deity that is identifiably Parvati is during the
Epic period 400 BCE to 400 CE. (Mahabarata and coins...) In the
Kalidasa (5th - 6th CE) and the Puranas (CE. 350 to 1300) the central
myths of Parvati are told in detail. (That puts henna into evidence
in India well before the mythos of Parvati as wife of Shiva is laid
out in literature .... so that's why I said the "religious legend" use
of henna is modeled on ordinary social use of henna extant at the
time.
The name Durga occurs in the Vedas, but there isn't a warrior goddess
there. By the 4th century CE, Durga is portrayed slaying buffaloes,
and by the 6th century, she is a popular deity. She's certainly
interesting in that she is not attached to a man and definitely not
submissive.
Kali is identified by the 7th century CE, and seems to be associated
with but clearly separate from Durga and Parvati. In the
Devi-Mahatmya, in a battle, Kali springs from Durga's forehead (a
personification of her most violent anger).
Also in the Linga-purana, Kali is the personification of Parvati's
destructive energy. Parvati leaps into Shiva's body and transforms
herself from the poison that is stored in Shiva's throat, and that
bursts forth as Kali.
So....what I understand as the historical progression and appearance
of these deities.....which is certainly not the same thing a a
believer's interpretatation as an exercise of faith.