The Mother Goddess Kamakhya
BY
Dr. BANIKANTA KAKTI, M.A. Ph.D.
Because
the goddess Kamakhya is worshipped in the symbol of a Yoni, it has often
been held that the cult of the Yoni sprang up first in Assam and then
spread over the rest of India. But the subject has not been discussed more
closely and it has not been shown that the sensual tantric forms of Yoni
worship owe their origin to Kamakhya worship. This article purports to be a
short examination of the myths that clustered around the origin of the Yoni-goddess
in Assam, with notices of such parallel beliefs and practices outside of Assam
as may enlarge the scope of the future discussion of the topic. The two
principal Sanskrit works that bear upon the subject are the Kalika Purana and
the Yogini Tantra, both composed in or near about ancient Assam. As
frequent references have been made to them in the body of the text, the
abbreviations K.P. and Y. T. have been adopted.
The
shrine of the goddess Kamakhya is situated about three miles from the present town
of Gauhati and about fifty miles from the range of hills inhabited by two
aboriginal matriarchal tribes, the Khasis and the Garos, the former belonging
to the Austro-Asiatic and the latter to the Mongolian stock.
The
name of the hillock where the shrine stands is Nilachala (blue mountain).
According to the K.P. the genital organ of Sati fell here when her dead body
was carried hither and thither in frantic sorrow by her husband Siva. The
mountain represented the body of Siva and when Sati’s genital organ fell on it,
the mountain turned blue. The goddess herself is called Kamakhya, because she
came there secretly to satisfy her amour (kama) with him. Thus the
derivations of the K.P. make the mountain both a graveyard and a scene of the
secret love-tryst of the goddess.
Other
variants of the name are Kama, Kamada, etc. The element-akhya often
appears as a phonastic derivative after other less known names of the goddess,
e.g. Sivakhya, Nadakhya, Brahmakhya, etc.–(Kurma Purana). Thus the goddess
might be called either Kama or Kamakhya.
The
temple is unique among the temples of the Devi in different parts of India, in
that it enshrines no image of the goddess. Within the temple there is a cave,
in a corner of which stands a block of stone on which the symbol of Yoni has
been sculptured. The stone is kept moist from the oozings of a natural spring
within the cave. The offerings of flowers and leaves are made to the Yoni. In
other respects the daily rites and ceremonies are those of the goddess Kali
with sacrifices of various animals. Ordinarily, the females of all animals are
exempted from sacrifice.
If
the K.P. gives an amorous interpretation of the origin of the Yoni-goddess,
the Y. T. takes no notice of the myth and gives a different account, stressing
the creative symbolism of the Yoni. In answer to a query by the Devi as
to who Kamakhya was, Siva replies that Kamakhya is the same as Kali, the
eternal in the form of Brahma. Then Siva tells the story about the origin of
Kamakhya.
In
primeval times, Brahma after having created the universe arrogated to himself
the supreme creative force. The goddess noticed this arrogance of Brahma and
created out of her own body a demon named Kesi. As soon as born, the demon
rushed towards Brahma to swallow him up. Brahma fled in terror in the company
of Vishnu. The demon then built a city called Kesipura and began to harass the
three worlds. There was all around the echo of a sound, “Kill Brahma”. Brahma
cast aside his vanity and in the company of Vishnu offered a hymn of
propitiation to Kali for the relief of the worlds from the tyranny of Kesi. The
goddess was satisfied and confessed that the demon was her creation for the
punishment of Brahma for his arrogant ignorance. She then uttered the syllable
of destruction (hum) and burnt up the demon to ashes. Then she gave
directions to Brahma for his deliverance from the sin of arrogance and
ignorance. Brahma was to create a mountain out of the ashes of the burnt demon.
The mountain should not be too high nor too low. It should be covered over with
edible grasses for cattle. Brahma’s sin would be diminished in proportion to
the quantity of grasses consumed by the cattle. She went on further to say that
on the Spot wherefrom they had offered her prayers for the destruction of the
demon there was springing up, in their very presence, a Yoni circle out
of her own creative energy and it should be regarded as the source and origin
of all things. In future Brahma should create after having contemplated the Yoni.
But just then Brahma was debarred from seeing the Yoni until, by his
penance and purification, he had brought down a luminous light from the sky and
placed it on the Yoni circle. For his good as well as for the good of
the world, she had created the Yoni circle and placed it in Kamarupa.
Brahma accordingly created a mountain by sprinkling holy water from his jug and
called it Govardhana (cattle nourisher) and also planted a Tulasi grove
and called it Vrinda-Vana according to goddess Kali’s direction (Y. T.).
The
noticeable points in this myth are: (a) Kamakhya was a new goddess,
unknown to the Devi herself. Siva established the identity of Kali and Kamakhya
in the symbol of a Yoni; (b) the supreme creative force of Brahma is
challenged. He could thenceforth create only with the blessings of the Yoni as
the sole creative principle; (c) in both the accounts of the K.P. and
the Y.T. there is mention of a burial or cremation ground.
Thus
the two scriptures put divergent interpretations about the Yoni circle
as a symbol of sex and as a symbol of creation. These may embody the views of
two different sets of people in different periods of time.
The
K. P. harmonises the amorous conception of the goddess with the dread goddess
Kali by presenting the picture of a goddess in three-fold aspects which she
assumed in different moods. In her amorous mood, the goddess holds a yellow
garland in her hand and stands on a red lotus placed on a white corpse. When
her amour is gone, she takes up the sword and stands on a bare white corpse. In
her mood of benevolence (Kamada), she mounts upon a lion. So she assumes one
form or another according to her whims (Kamarupini).
The
original Kamakhya temple was destroyed during the Moslem invasion early in the
sixteenth century, and the present temple was rebuilt in 1565 A.D. by King
Naranarayana of Cooch Behar and fitted with all the paraphernalia of a medieval
Hindu temple. What the original forms and features of the temple worship were,
it is difficult to say. There is a tradition amongst the local priesthood, who
were imported from abroad by the Koch king, that the former worshippers of the
goddess were Garos, and pigs were offered as sacrifice.
When
Naraka, an adventurer from Mithila, founded a kingdom in ancient Assam (prior
to the fifth century), he established himself as a custodian of this Yoni-goddess,
and perhaps in conformity to her name he changed the name of the kingdom from
Prag.Jyotishapura to Kamarupa. The people whom he conquered were Kiratas–strong,
ferocious, ignorant and addicted to meat and drink. They had shaven heads and
their skin was yellow as gold (K.P.). As they were the original inhabitants,
the goddess might have been in their keeping or belonged to some sub-tribe
amongst them.
According
to the K.P. a cosmopolitan mode of worship prevailed in Kamakhya. Foreigners
could worship the goddess according to the practices current in their own
localities. In other countries, conformity to local customs was compulsory, but
in Kamarupa foreigners were exempted from conformity to local rites and
ceremonies in worshipping the goddess (K.P.). The Y.T. raises the Yoni-symbol
to the height of something like a pantheistic conception in describing all
temples and places of worship in Assam as so many Yonis. It
characterises Kamarupa as a land of nine Yonis which include vithi
(avenue); upa-vithi (sub-avenue); Pitha (holy site), etc., etc.
The
Y. T. has also recorded certain local customs prevalent in different parts of
ancient Assam. It characterises the local religion as being of Kirata origin.
It prohibits asceticism, celibacy and protracted vows, and enjoins fish and
flesh eating, free association with women and sexual contact after puberty. The
teeth of the women are not white, and they are constantly addicted to betel-nut
chewing. In a place called Saumara in the east of Assam, people eat everything
and sell everything. Women are well cantented. In another place called
Kolvapitha further east, people follow laws determined by their own tribesmen
(Y.T.).
In
the myth of the Y. T. there is nothing to show that the Yoni circle or
Kamakhya had any connection with Durga or Parvati. The etymology of K.P. refers
to a later fable based on imported ideas.
Competent
authorities have held that the existence of an independent powerful goddess has
been recognised first in the Mahabharata and the Hari vansa. In
the Virata Parva (6) a powerful goddess, Durga, receives a pray of
supplication from Yudhisthira and in the Bhishma Parva (23) from Arjuna.
She was addressed as the killer of the buffalo-demon, a dweller in the forest
and as a permanent resident in the Vindhya mountains. She was fond wine, flesh
and beasts. She was the favourite of Narayana and sister of Vasudeva. She was
born to Yasoda, was dashed against a stone by Kansa, and went to heaven. In the
Harivansa she is referred to as having been worshipped by barbarians,
Sabaras and Pulindas. All these scattered references seem to have been gathered
up first in the Markandeya Purana which builds up a complete myth about
the origin of the goddess and her fight with the buffalo-demon and other
demons. The seven centuries about Durga (Durga Saptasati) form the basis of the
worship of the goddess amongst her followers.
Once
her existence was recognised and her worship formulated, all local and
independent female deities began to be identified with her as her local
manifestations. Thus Uma, Kali, Karala, Chamundi, originally independent
goddesses, came to be regarded as manifestations of Durga in different circumstances.
The process of assimilation went on until, in the Devi Bhagavtai, it
came to be declared that all village goddesses should be regarded as partial
manifestations of the Devi (9). Thus the concept of the Mother Goddess assumed
a cosmic proportion and all unconnected and independent loc nomena were
affiliated to her. The myth about the carrying of Sati’s dead body was an
attempt in this direction. But the story differs in different documents in
point of details. Places that came into prominence later in point of time have
been left out of reference in the story of Sati’s dead body. Thus the Devi
Bhagavata refers to Kamakhya as a place dear to the goddess. No part
of her body is said to have fallen there. When Kamakhya rose to importance, the
Kalika Purana rehandles the myth and makes the sex-organ of the goddess
fall here. Since then Kamakhya came to be looked upon as a vital organ of the
Devi’s body.
It
has now been held as almost conclusive that the cult of the Mother goddess was
introduced into India by Aryans, who seem to have adopted it from the
Babylonians when they still inhabited the countries in the neighbourhood of
Mesopotamia. In Babylon she was known as Ishtar. She is called the gracious
mother of creation and the mother of the gods and mankind. She became also
terrible in her wrath and struck down the people with wasting diseases. Her
sacred mount was the lion and her most favourite sacrificial animal was the
buffalo. In other respects also, the resemblance between Ishtar and Durga is so
striking that it cannot be disregarded as superficial (Dr. Venkataramanayya: Rudra-Siva).
The Kurma Purana gives Sinivali as one of the thousand names
of the Devi. It has now been shown that the word is connected with Babylonian Sinn,
the moon god.
As
the innumerable names of the goddess are mostly names of local goddesses, both
Aryan and non-Aryan, it may be suspected that the formation Kama in Kamakhya
is of extra-Aryan origin. There is a strong suggestion of its
correspondence to Austric formations like the following: Kamoi, demon; Kamoit,
devil; Kamin, grave; Kamet, corpse (Khasi); Kamru, a
god of the Santals. By analogy the name of the kingdom Kamarupa may be equated
to Kamru pau, a hill.
The
formations in the Kamoi category suggest varied associations with the
grave and its spirits. The Kama goddess might have been originally a
spirit of the graveyard and represent ancestor spirit in the form of an
Ancestral Mother. Whether Kama has any relationship, both in sound and
meaning, with Japanese Shinto gods called Kami cannot be determined for
want of sufficient information. Shinto Kami is a wide term and includes
nature-gods, godmen, ancestors.
In
connection with the Kami-gods, another noteworthy point is that simple
Shinto temples contain no images but only symbols like a mirror, symbolic of
the shining of the sun-goddess. The Kamakhya temple also contains no image, but
a symbol, a Yoni, representing the procreative force of the Mother
Goddess. The Yoni-symbol is regarded as a source of potent magic
influence in Japan. “The richly attired Japanese make a point of Placing
cowry-shells with their clothes, when they put them away, for luck. If a
cowry-shell happens to be unobtainable, a pornographic picture representing the
female genital organ serves as a substitute.” (Briffault: The Mothers). Again,
“near Yeddo in Japan is a grotto in which there is a colossal but realistic
sculpture of a Yoni to which pilgrims pay attention now as they have
done for ages past. (Wall: Sex and Sex Worship). Further, “the
Japanese believe that the spirits of mothers look from the other world after
the welfare of the children.” (Briffault).
Another
common custom is the blackening of teeth by women. The non-white teeth of
Assamese women have been referred to above. It has to be added that Assamese
women even now blacken their teeth in the countryside. In Japan the fashion of
blackening the teeth is still common in some parts among peasant women and was
practised by the Emperor himself until recently. This is a mark of the
decidedly matriarchal legend of the origin of the Imperial family traced back
to goddess Amaterasu (Ehrenfels: The Mother-Right in India). In
the Malay Archipelago also women blacken their teeth. (Westermarck: The
History of Human Marriage).
In
this connection reference may also be made to the legends and facts of female
predominance. There is a belief amongst the Naga tribes of Assam that a village
in the north-east is entirely peopled by women who are visited by traders from
surrounding tribes and thus enabled to keep up their numbers. (The Imperial
Gazetteer of India: Provincial Series: Eastern Bengal and Assam). With
reference to Japan it has been said that it is a remarkable and unexampled fact
that a very large and important part of the best literature produced by Japan
was written by women...feminine chieftains are frequently mentioned in the old
histories and several even of the Mikado were women. Indeed the Chinese seemed
to have thought that the monstrous regime of women was the rule in Japan at
this time. At least they styled it–“The Queen Country” (Aston: Japanese
Literature).
In
connection with the ethnic affiliations of the Japanese people, The
Encyclopaedia Britannica (14th edition) has the following: “Recent
discussions tend to emphasise the importance of a Malayo-Polynesian element in
the Japanese language and customs. Malayan types also are found amongst the
people.”
On
the basis then of similarities in mere sound and sense in the formations, Skt. Kama,
Austric Kamoi, Shinto Kami, and also on the basis of
correspondence of certain rites and customs, it may be tentatively assumed that
the Yoni-goddess sprang up amongst peoples with leanings towards
ancestor worship and believing in the protective powers of an Ancestral Mother,
and that she migrated into Assam and elsewhere with the migrations of the
Austric peoples. There are two contradictory theories about the migrations of the
Austric peoples, from the East to the West and from the West to the East. But from
whichever direction they might have migrated, linguistic evidences show that
Indo-China was one of their strongholds in North-East Asia, with their
representatives in the Khasis within about fifty miles of the temple of
Kamakhya.
To
sum up: the features that are associated with the Worship of the goddess are
the absence of an image, worship in a symbol, and freedom about the mode of
worship to foreigners. The religion of the land has been frankly admitted to be
of Kirata origin. Fish and flesh eating has been canonically
enjoined, and celibacy and connected vows prohibited. The goddess was of purely
local origin, but later on she was identified with goddess
Durga and the rites and ceremonies of Durga worship were fastened on her. There
was a further attempt to affiliate her to Tripura Bala, the eternal
feminine, the symbol of beauty and sex. The Worship of Tripura Bala is
highly sensual, involving the worship of the sex organ of a virgin girl. This
cult did not originate in Kamarupa but was imported from outside. Because goddess
Kamakhya was worshipped in the symbol of a Yoni, the Tripura cult found
a congenial soil here. But the discussion of that aspect of Devi worship is
beyond the purview of the present article.