Kali and her names
Oh, Terrifying! Mother of time!
Destroying the arrogance of the age of Kali!...
Just as Mother Kali is all-encompassing and incomprehensible, Her names are also innumerable. However in Kali Ashtottarashata Nama, a hymn of praise dedicated to the Goddess, there are 108 main names of the Mother.
The name Kali (काली, kālī) in Sanskrit is a feminine noun formed from the masculine noun Kala (Sanskrit काल, kāla) — ‘time, destiny', and means the nature of Time, the essence of Time and its completeness. Although Kali controls time, She is beyond time. Everything is destroyed by time, but Kali remains in the universe forever.
Kali is time, and also death. Death destroys the old so that the new can replace it. In this sense, Kali does not only take life, but also gives life further development.
The goddess Kali is called Kalaratri (Sanskrit: कालरात्रि, Kālarātri "black night") — like the blackest night, She comes to people with a demonic psyche when they are not waiting for Her and unleashes Her withering anger on them.
One of Her names is Shyama (Skt. श्यया, śyāma - ‘black’). Mother Kali is black. But as you know, this is how sinners see it. The righteous see Her luminous, radiant form, as it has been repeatedly testified by such a great devotee of the Mother as Ramakrishna.
Her name is Krishna (Skt. कृष्णा, kṛṣṇā — ‘black’) or Krishnamatre (SKT. कृष्णमात्रे, kṛṣṇamātre — ‘Mother of the primordial Darkness’). Darkness is understood here not as the opposite of Light, but as the primordial aspect of Being. Darkness precedes Light, being the primordial force of Creation. This leads to an important conclusion about the primacy of female energy over male one.
Mother Kali is called Karalika (Sanskrit: करालिका"karālikā" — "terrifying"), as well as Karalasya (Sanskrit: करालास्या "karālāsyā" — "possessing a terrifying face"). But, again, to whom does it seem terrifying? Would a devotee, a son or daughter who reveres his or her Mother, consider Mother terrifying? No, of course not. Her face is terrifying for sinners, those who are subject to lose their miserable lives either from Her crescent-shaped sword, or from a trident, or from a mace that knows no barriers.
It is fair to call Kali Kamahartri (Skt. कामहर्त्रइ, kāmahartri — ‘destroying desires'). Why? Because human desires, as a rule, are selfish. They come from the Ego, are imbued with it and lead to suffering. Their place of residence is the head. Kali cuts off the head, deprives a person of Ego. She debunks his illusions. The result of life is Death and only a fool attaches great importance to his desires to change his life for the better. A wise man puts his whole life in the hands of the Great Mother. And the fruits of their labor on this earth as well. For a wise person, both success and loss are just the same. Such is this world, where everything begins to strive for Death before it is born. You're building a house. And even before you start, you notice that the materials you have chosen have begun to age and deteriorate. And why do you put food into the cold? Isn't it to delay the rotting? A child is born and they begin to teach him to celebrate his birthday. But what is a birthday? Isn't it another year closer to Death, when this body, and home, and family, and friends, and all savings and acquisitions will have to be left?
Mother Kali is able to free a person whose heart is looking for Her from karma and a series of countless reincarnations, thereby giving him liberation from suffering. But you need to search for Her with all your heart, stay in Her, remember Her. And then a miracle will definitely happen.
Kali is known as Kartri (Sanskrit: कर्त्रइ kartri — ‘the creative, creating, acting force’), as Kritya (Sanskrit: कृत्या, kṛtyā - the one who is the action itself‘) and as Karyakari (Sanskrit: कार्यकरइ, kāryakari - the power of action that resides in every action’). This means that there is no action without Kali. Does the person know about it or not. If a person directs this force residing in him to some kind of activity, following his egoistic interests, he creates karma, the result of which is suffering. Only the one who has given all his actions into the hands of Kali, the one who has given up the results of his work, does not create karma, but Kali favors such a person and protects him.
Kali is called by the name of Kakini (Sanskrit: काकिनइ kākini — ‘goddess of the fourth yuga'). It is Kali who directs this universal space-time cycle, Kali-yuga, the highest and ultimate goal of which is the purification of all souls from the filth of sin and egoism and their assimilation to the Supreme. As egoism is the basis of any sin, summoning Kali is the destruction of this basis during this time cycle.