Kaali काली
"She has four arms. The lower left hand holds a severed human head and the upper grips a bloodstained sabre. One right hand offers boons to Her children; the other allays their fear. The majesty of Her posture can hardly be described. It combines the terror of destruction with reassurance of motherly tenderness. For, She is Cosmic Power, the totality of the universe, a glorious harmony of the pairs of opposites. She deals out death, as She creates and preserves. She has three eyes, the third being the symbol of divine wisdom; they strike dismay into the wicked, yet pour out affection for Her devotees. She is Prakriti, the Procreatrix, Nature, the Destroyer, and the Creator. Nay, She is something greater and deeper still for those who have eyes to see. She is the Universal Mother, the All-powerful, who reveals Herself to Her children under different aspects and Divine Incarnations, the Visible God, who leads the elect to the Invisible Reality; and if it so pleases Her, She takes away the last trace of ego from created beings and merges it in the consciousness of the Absolute, the undifferentiated God. Through Her grace “the finite ego looses itself in the illimitable Ego – Atman – Brahm." Romain Rolland, Prophets of the New India, p11.
"She stands on the bosom of Her Consort, Shiv; it is because She is the Shakti, the Power, inseparable from the Absolute. She is surrounded by jackals and other unholy creatures, the denizens of the cremation ground. But is not the Ultimate Reality above holiness and un-holiness? She appears to be reeling under the spell of wine. But who would create this mad world unless under the influence of divine drunkenness? She is the highest symbol of all the forces of nature, the synthesis of their antinomies, the Ultimate divine in the form of a woman." Swami Nikhilananda, The Gospel of Shri RaamKrishn, p13.
"Maya, the mighty weaver of the grab, is none other than Kaali, the Divine Mother. She is the primordial Divine Energy, Shakti, and She can no more be distinguished from the Supreme Brahm than can the power of burning be distinguished from fire. She projects the world and again withdraws it. She spins it as the spider spins its web. She is the Mother of the Universe, identical with the Brahm of Vedaant, and with Atman of Yog. As eternal Lawgiver, She makes and unmakes laws; it is by Her imperious will that Karm yields its fruit. She ensnares men with illusion and again releases from bondage with a look of Her benign eyes. She is supreme Mistress of the cosmic play, and all objects, animate and inanimate, dance by Her will. Even those who realize the Absolute in Nirvikalp Samaadhi are under Her jurisdiction as long as they still live on the relative plane." Swami Nikhilananda, The Gospel of Shri RaamKrishn, p30.
"Shri RaamKrishn discovered that Maya operates in the relative world in two ways, and he termed these “Avidyaa Maya” and Vidya Maya”. Avidyaa Maya represents the dark forces of the creation: sensuous desires, evil passions, greed, lust, cruelty, and so on. It sustains the world system on the lower planes. It is responsible for round of man’s birth and death. It must be fought and vanquished. But Vidya Maya is the higher force of the creation: the spiritual virtues, the enlightening qualities, kindness, purity, love, and devotion. Vidya Maya elevates the man to higher planes of consciousness. The two aspects of Maya are the two forces of creation, the two powers of Kaali; and She stands beyond them both." Swami Nikhilananda, The Gospel of Shri RaamKrishn, p30.