Das Mahavidya or the ten goddesses of wisdom are known as the fierce forms of Devi. Devi is referred to as Goddesses Parvati. She is the chief consort of Lord Shiva. She is the supreme mother in Hinduism. More or less all forms of Devi are connected with her.
The Das Mahavidya are also born out of Devi Parvati. They are-
Kali, Tara, Shodashi, Bhuvaneshwari, Bhairavi, Chinnamasta, Dhumavati, Bagalamukhi, Matangi, and Kamala.
Maa Chinnamasta is known as the sixth form of the Das Mahavidya. She belongs to the Kali Kula.
According to Drikpanchang, Maa Chinnamasta Jayanti is celebrated on Vaishakh Shukla Chaturdashi.
Maa Chinnamasta is an amalgamation of two words - Chinna and Masta
Chinna means to tear or chop. Masta means head. So, it literally means a headless goddess.
The real name of Chinnamasta is Prachanda Chandika or Chanda. She is one of the fiercest forms of Devi. She is also known as Yogini Or Jogan maa. She is one of the Nav Chandi. Her ahsta shakti or eight powers are -
Dakini, Varini, Eka Linga, Maha Bhairavi, Bhairavi, Indrani, Ashtangi, and Samharini.
In vedic astrology, all the dasa mahavidya are associated with the nine planets. Devi Chinnamasta is the Devi manifestation of the planet Rahu.
She is worshipped to calm the effects of Rahu in the birth chart. She is invoked to mitigate karmic curses, anxiety, psychological fears, and other things associated with Rahu.
However, a thorough online consultation for astrology is needed to understand the chart before worshipping the goddess.
Maa Chinnamasta is one of the Goddesses with the most striking iconography. She instills fear and faith at the same time.
The idol of Devi dances or quietly sits on a copulating couple. The couple has the woman on top. Various sources dub the identity of the couple differently. Some say they are Radha and Krishna. Others say they are Kamdev and his consort Rati. Kamdev is the Hindu God of lust and love. Sometimes the couple is lying on a blue lotus and sometimes on a cremation pyre. In some idols, the couple is replaced by Lord Shiva. Here the Devi sits on Lord Shiva copulating with him.
Three streams of blood spew from her neck. She holds her head in one hand. Normally she is dwi-bhuja or two-handed. Sometimes she is also chatur-bhuja or four-handed. There is no mention of the weapon used by the goddess to sever her head.
In the two-handed idol, she holds a knife-like tool in one hand and her chopped head in the other hand. In the four-handed idols, she has a skull bowl collecting her blood in the third arm. The fourth arm has a scissor-like object.
She is said to have an orange or a hibiscus-like red complexion. She is as brilliant as a million suns shining together. She is nude. She wears a skull necklace carelessly. Her chopped head is adorned with a serpentine crown. It has three eyes. Sometimes a crescent also adorns her head. A few sources say that the chopped head belongs to the Hindu creator of the Trinity, Lord Brahma.
Maa Chinnamasta is said to be a sixteen years old girl with full grown breasts. She wears a snake as the sacred thread and a waistband. She has disheveled hair. Sometimes she wears earrings. But she always wears bangles.
She is accompanied by two Yogini attendants who flank her. Dakini stands on the left. She is fair. Varini stands on the right. She is red in color. Both the Yogini attendants look like Maa Chinnamasta.
They are young girls with fully developed bodies. Their hair is matt and dishevelled. They have three eyes. They hold khappar or skullbowls in their left hand. A knife is placed in the right hand. Sometimes they hold a severed head but not their own.
The middle stream of blood is drunk by the chopped head of the Devi Chinnamasta. And rest of the streams are devoured by the companions.
Many experts believe that the offering of the head or body parts is a part of Khanda Yoga. This iconography implies that Devi herself practices Khanda yoga.
Khanda yoga is an advanced school of yoga where the practitioner has total mastery of the Kundalini energy. They often chop their limbs to offer in the holy fire. This is a very advanced practice and is not suitable for beginners.
Other views claim that Devi Chinnamasta mitigates the lower desires like lust and leads to the path of Yoga. She represents creation and transcendence at the same time. Some people also say that standing on a copulating couple signifies that her worshipper must follow celibacy to attain her blessing.
In Yogic overview, the Devi Chinnamasta with her two attendants represent the three nadis. Devi Chinnamasta is Sushmna. The attendants are Ida and Pingala. She controls the ajna chakra. The Sushmna runs till brow. The ida and pingala end in the left and right nostrils respectively. In ordinary beings the Sushumna remains dormant. Life is controlled by Ida and Pingala.
Yogis attain nirvikalpa samadhi by diverting the breath to flow through Sushmna nadi. This is a stage of total calmness.
When Sushmna is awakened through Yoga, it opens progressively up to the brow center. Here, Maa Chinnamasta severes open the brahmarandhra. The beheading of Maa Chinnamasta symbolises the end of identity as a separate self.
In Prana Toshini Tantra, there's a story about the origin of Maa Chinnamasta from the Narada Panchatantra.
According to the story, once upon a time, Maa Parvati went to bathe in the river Mandakini. She was accompanied by her two attendants Jaya and Vijaya. They are also known as Dakini and Varini.
When she was bathing she became aroused. She was lost in erotic thoughts about Lord Shiva.
During the course of time, the attendants became famished with hunger. They begged for food from Maa Parvati. Maa Parvati said that once she's taken the bath she will provide food to them.
Once again she became engrossed in thoughts. But the attendants became desperate for food and kept praying to her. They said it is a duty of the mother to provide food to her children. Moved by their sincere prayers, Maa Parvati tore her own head with her fingernails. She held her chopped head in the left hand.
Three streams of blood sprang up from the neck. The middle stream fed her own chopped head. She fed Dakini with the left stream. Varini was fed by the right stream. Then she placed her head back on her neck. The headless form of Maa Parvati was then known as Maa Chinnamasta.
People seeking complete renunciation must worship her.
According to Chinnamasta Tantra Shastra Lord Parshuram worshipped Sri Chinnamasta Vidya.
The followers of the Nath community also worship Maa Chinnamasta. Guru Gorakhnath also worshipped her.
Chinnamasta Devi is worshipped on Tuesday or during sunset. Seekers who want to awaken the Kundalini should worship her.
But women are discouraged to worship her as they lose their husbands and sons to become complete yoginis.
The most famous temple of Maa Chinnamasta is situated at Rajrappa in Jharkhand. It is situated at the confluence of Damodar and Bhairavi rivers. It is a Shaktipeeth. The age of the temple is guessed anywhere between 1000-6000 years. The site has been mentioned in Durga Saptshati and Matsya Puran. It is one of the few temples with tantra architecture.
Another famous temple of Maa Chinnamasta is in Guwahati in Assam. It is near Kamakhya Mandir.
Other temples are in Bishnupur, Bankura, and Dishergarh, all in the state of West Bengal.
Maa Chinnamasta is called Prachanda Chanda which means a fierce form of Chandi. Her energy is very powerful. She brings 3-fold energy with her.
Only an able Guru can decide if one should worship her or not.
In addition to that, her worship is forbidden to the ordinary householders because she is associated with detachment from the mundane world.
Although fierce, Maa Chinnamasta is known to protect her devotees from all sorts of troubles. She is known to bestow the worshippers with enormous material wealth. She also cures the body from all kinds of ailments.
However sometimes the mental, physical and emotional sufferings can be a result of certain astrological combinations in your horoscope. In case you experience repetition of certain patterns, then you must book an online consultation for astrology with Smt Ekktaa Daithankar.
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