The Divine Mother Maa ChinnaMasta
The Divine Mother Maa ChinnaMasta is depicted with her own head severed by her own hand, feeding blood to her associates Dakini and Varnini — a profound image of the cosmic teaching of self-sacrifice.
This depiction also symbolizes transcendence of the ego and the overcoming of incessant thoughts and desires, since the head is the container of thought and desire.
Wielding the power to destroy and create, Maa ChinnaMasta guides sincere devotees to realize that life and death are part of the journey of human experience. Her severed head faces the empty space above her body, reminding seekers to turn the mind inward, toward pure consciousness, to realize the true Self — Shiva.
Learn more about Maa ChinnaMasta
Mantra for the worship of Maa ChinnaMasta
Maa ChinnaMasta symbolizes the continued self-sustenance of the created world, in which continuous self-destruction and self-renewal occur in a cyclic order. The cycle is starkly portrayed: life (the couple in union), death (the decapitated form of the Divine Mother), and nourishment (the flanking yoginis drinking her blood). She takes life and vigor and gives it away, severing her own head to feed her assistants.
In this way she embodies the cosmic process — the rhythms of creation and destruction, the harmonious alternation of giving and taking — presented so that the seeker can grasp their interconnectedness intuitively.
Meditation on Maa ChinnaMasta
