काली तारा महाविद्या षोडशी भुवनेश्वरी।
भैरवी छिन्नमस्ता च विद्या धूमावती तथा।
बगला सिद्ध विद्या च मातंगी कमलात्मिका
एता दशमहाविद्याः सिद्धविद्या प्रकीर्तिताः॥

Kali Tara Mahavidya Shorashi Bhuvaneshwari
Bhairavi Chinnamasta cha Vidya Dhumavati Tatha
Vagala Sidhdhavidya cha Matangi Kamalatmika
Iti Das Mahavidya Sidhdhavidya Prakirtita

The term MahaVidya comes from the Sanskrit Terms Great & Wisdom. There are a total of 10 MahaVidyas which we will be discussing one after the other in a series of blogs. The Tantra tradition worships these ten aspects of the Mother Goddess as they represent the cycle of time and life and the ultimate consciousness that flows through our lives and the cosmos.

The story of the Dasa (ten) MahaVidyas is very interesting. The Mother Goddess Sati(Mother of the Universe) had married Shiva against the will of her father Daksha Prajapati. Well, now we know that marrying against the family’s will has been a trend since the inception. As a result, Daksha performed a great Yagna, to insult Shiva by inviting all the Gods and Goddesses but him. Upon hearing this, Sati was enraged and she asked Shiva if she can go to Yagna as a daughter doesn’t need an invitation from her father.

Shiva however tried to pacify her and asked her not to go since the whole purpose of the Yagna was to insult him. This enraged Satifurther. She thought Shiva is treating her like an ordinary woman who isn’t knowledgeable enough. She had to now show him who she was and took the form of the Divine Mother and multiplied herself in ten forms one for each direction. The mountains shook and the oceans raged, the entire environment was filled with the wonder of her form.

Seeing her, Shiva wanted to flee the scene as even he was scared. But the Goddess had blocked every escape route. No matter how hard he tried to flee, every direction and corner was blocked by the Mother.

What happened after Sati went to the Yagna is a story for another time. In this series we discuss the 10 Mahavidyas in detail and learn how each of them can be worshipped, understood and how we can learn from them. Below are the links to each of them.

Kali

Tara

Shodash

Bhuvaneshwari

Bhairavi

Chhinnamasta

Dhumavati

Baglamukhi

Matangi

Kamala

Tell us what you think about the story and the 10 Mahavidyas. Also tell us which one fascinates you the most in the comments section.