z:\ ambedkar\vol 04\vol4 05.indd MK SJ DK YS 23 9 2013/YS 8 11 2013 181
APPENDIX IV
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or sixty-five in number, and capable of being multiplied to the number of ten millions.
Other classes not worth enumerating are the Dakinis and Sakinis. These are simply female friends or ogresses of most repulsive habits, and are not so much manifestations of the goddess as impish servants always attendant on her.
But it is in the form Kali—the form under which the goddess is worshiped at Calcutta—that she is most terrible.
The following is a free translation of two passages in the Tantras descriptive of Kali’s appearance:
“One should adore with liquors and oblations that Kali who has a terrible gaping mouth and uncombed hair : who has four hands and a splendid garland formed of the heads of the giants she has slain and whose blood she has drunk; who holds a sword in her lotus-like hands; who is fearless and awards blessings; who is as black as the large clouds and has the whole sky for her clothes; who has string of skulls round her neck and a throat besmeared with blood; who wears ear-rings (consisting of two dead bodies); who carries two dead bodies in her hands; who has terrible teeth and smiling face; whose form is awful and who dwells in burning-grounds (for consuming corpses); who stands on the breast of her husband Maha-deva.”
( Page Nos. 63-64 are missing. The script of Page No. 65 only is given below along with the concluding para written in the handwriting of the author. )
The Tantrik worship is altogether different from Srauta or Pauranik worship. It is in keeping with its central philosophy namely the best form of worship is the fullest satisfaction of the carnal desires of man. The Tantrik worship is summed up in what are called five Makaras, The five Makaras are:
(i) The drinking of Madya (i.e. wine and liquors of various kinds).
(ii) The eating of Mansa (meat).
(iii) The eating of Matsya (fish).
(iv) The eating of Mudra (parched or fried grain).
(v) The performance of Maithun (sexual intercourse with a woman).
The Tantrik Puja consists in the performance of these acts. It is not necessary to draw attention to the fact that whatever is declared as nishidha (prohibited) is allowed in the Tantrik worship even sexual intercourse with a woman being prescribed as part of the Puja. Such is the growth of the Hindu Religion. On reading this history a student of