Image Source https://in.pinterest.com/pin/371054456782682358/
All Glories to Divine Mother!
The seventh day of Navratri is dedicated to Maa Kalaratri, whose form is very dear to Mahadeva. Kala means time. Time is extremely powerful. Time sets the ground for anything to take place. In the absence of time nothing can have an account. Time eats up everything. It keeps eating life moment after moment. But time is under the control of Divine Mother. She is not under the influence of time. Kala means black too. Black symbolises darkness which precedes light. Most part of the cosmos is black or dark. Kala also means death.
Ratri, however, means night. It again symbolises darkness or ignorance. Darkness instantly gives rise to fear. One cannot see clearly in the dark. Similarly, the vision gets compromised in ignorance. It prevents one from seeing the truth. Ignorance keeps one under fear. Fear of losing all that one thinks is. Ignorance also gives rise to ego. Ratri, that is night is the darkest when ego is at its height. It keeps one under bondage forever. Ego too blurs the perception. The ability to see through clearly gets hampered.
The name Kalaratri thus means the death of night. Maa Kalaratri annihilates darkness in the form of ignorance completely. Another name for Her is Shubhankari, meaning the bestwoer of auspiciousness. The thunderbolt of Kalaratri frees one from fears and ego thereby cutting all bondages. Maa Kalaratri assumes a terrible form that flees all negativity. No evil can come near, let alone touch, the true devotee of Maa Kalaratri. She is clad in single red cloth and tiger skin. She chooses to show four hands, Her left hands holding a scimitar and thunderbolt while Her right hands showing vara and abhaya mudhra. Her mount is a donkey.
Maa Kalaratri must be looked upon as the Mother and not just a Goddess. When one addresses Her as the Mother, Her benevolent heart makes Her come to protect the child from all kinds of evil. She removes gloom and ignorance from the devotee’s life. A true devotee of Maa Kalaratri can never be in want of anything, such is Her love and compassion.
Salutations to the One who prefers to be Kalaratri!