Chhinnamasta (, :"She whose head is severed"), often spelled Chinnamasta, and also called Chhinnamastika, Chhinnamasta Kali, Prachanda Chandika and Jogani Maa (in western states of India), is a Hindu goddess (Devi). She is one of the Mahavidyas, ten goddesses from the esoteric tradition of Tantra, and a ferocious aspect of Mahadevi, the Hindu mother goddess. The self-decapitated nude goddess, usually standing or seated on a divine copulating couple, holds her own severed head in one hand and a scimitar in another. Three jets of blood spurt out of her bleeding neck and drunk by her severed head and two attendants.
Chhinnamasta symbolises both the life-giving and life-slaying aspects of Devi. She is considered both a symbol of sexual self-control and an embodiment of sexual energy, depending upon interpretation. She represents death, temporality, and destruction as well as life, immortality, and recreation. The goddess conveys spiritual self-realization and the awakening of the kundalini : spiritual energy. The legends of Chhinnamasta emphasise her self-sacrifice — sometimes coupled with a maternal element — sexual dominance, and self-destructive fury.
Chhinnamasta is worshipped in the Kalikula sect of Shaktism, the Goddess-centric tradition of Hinduism. Though Chhinnamasta enjoys patronage as one of the Mahavidyas, temples devoted to her and public worship are rare; temples dedicated to the goddess are found mostly in Nepal and eastern India. However, she is a significant Tantric deity, well known and worshipped among esoteric Tantric practitioners. Chhinnamasta is closely related to Chinnamunda : the severed-headed form of the Tibetan Buddhist goddess Vajrayogini.
Origins
The Hindu Chhinnamasta appears as a significant deity in Tantric and Tibetan Buddhism, where she is called Chinnamunda ("she with the severed head") or Trikaya-vajrayogini ("triple-bodied Vajrayogini"). Chinnamunda is the severed-head form of goddess Vajrayogini (or Vajravarahi, a ferocious form of Vajrayogini), who is depicted similarly. The name "Chhinnamasta" is also used as a generic name for goddess icons which do not have heads, such as those at Chinnamasta Bhagawati, Na-kati Bhavani shrine in Aurangabad district, Bihar and the goddess shrine in Uchchaith, Madhubani district, Bihar; these goddesses are not identified with the mahavidya Chhinnamasta.
The theme of self-decapitation and the severed head is recurring in Indian mythology. For example, legends from the Simhasana Dvatrimsika and the Kathasaritsagara speak of how the hero offers blood from his throat as an offering to a goddess. Rajasthani folk tales and songs tell about of warrior-heroes (jhumjharji or bhomiya) who cuts off his head before the war or is decapitated in action, but battles on— without his head— slaying foes until he avenges his beheading and dies. The decapitated body and head motif is not unique to Hinduism and Buddhism and appears across the world, including the Cephalophore saints of Christianity and in Celtic culture.
Buddhist Origins Buddhist texts recount the birth of Chinnamunda. One tale tells of Krishnacharya's disciples, two Mahasiddha ("great perfected ones") sisters, Mekhala and Kanakhala, who severed their heads, offered them to their guru, and then danced. The goddess Vajrayogini also appeared in this form and danced with them. Another story recalls how the Mahasiddha princess Lakshminkara, cut off her head as a punishment from the king and roamed with it in the city, where citizens extolled her as Chinnamunda-Vajravarahi.
In the early 20th century, Benoytosh Bhattacharya— an expert on Tantra and the then director of the Oriental Institute of Baroda— studied various texts such as the Buddhist Sadhanamala (1156CE), the Hindu Chhinnamastakalpa (uncertain date), and the Tantrasara by Krishnananda Agamavagisha (late 16th century). In the Sadhanamala, the goddess is called Sarvabuddha ("all-awakened"), and is attended by Vajravaironi and Vajravarnini; in the Hindu Tantrasara, she is called Sarvasiddhi ("all-accomplished"), and is accompanied by attendants Dakini, Vaironi, and Varnini. In the Chhinnamastakalpa, she is called Sarvabuddhi ("all-enlightened") and her attendants retain their Buddhist names. Bhattacharyya concluded that the Hindu Chhinnamasta originated from the Buddhist Chinnamunda, who was worshipped by at least the 7th century. This is in spite of the fact that the former wears a serpent as a sacred thread and has an added copulating couple in the icon.
Other Influences While Bhattacharyya's view is mostly undisputed, some scholars such as S. Shankaranarayanan— author of The Ten Great Cosmic Powers— attribute Chhinnamasta to Vedic (ancient Hindu) antecedents. Sukumari Bhattacharji, author of The Indian Theogony, claims that the Vedic goddess Nirrti's functions were inherited by later Hindu goddesses Kali, Chamunda, Karali, and Chhinnamasta. Hindu literature first mentions Chhinnamasta in the upapurana Shakta Maha-bhagavata Purana (c.950CE) and the Devi-Bhagavata Purana (9th–12th century). ElisabethA. Benard, the author of Chinnamastā: The Aweful Buddhist and Hindu Tantric Goddess, says that whatever her origins may be, it is clear that Chhinnamasta/Chinnamunda was known in the 9th century and worshipped by Mahasiddhas. Though essentially agreeing with Bhattacharyya's view, Karel R. vanKooij, former Professor of South Asian art history at Leiden University, goes further and associates the iconography of Chhinnamasta with the Tantric goddesses Varahi and Chamunda.
David Kinsley, an expert on Hindu goddesses and former professor of religion at McMaster University, agrees with the Buddhist origin theory, but also sees other influences. Ancient Hindu goddesses, who are depicted nude and headless or faceless, may have also influenced the development of Chhinnamasta. These goddesses are mainly depicted headless to focus on the display of their sexual organs, thus signifying sexual vigour, but they do not explain the self-decapitation theme.
Other nude Hindu goddesses who might have inspired Chhinnamasta are the malevolent war goddess Kotavi and the South-Indian hunting goddess Korravai. Kotavi, sometimes described as a Matrika ("mother goddess"), is nude, dishevelled, wild, and awful in appearance. She is mentioned in the scriptures Vishnu Purana and Bhagavata Purana, often as a foe of the god Vishnu. The ferocious, wild Korravai is the goddess of war and victory. However, both goddesses are linked to battlefields, while Chhinnamasta is not. Kinsley points out that while there are several bloodthirsty, nude, and wild goddesses and demonesses in Hindu mythology, Chhinnamasta is the only goddess who displays the self-decapitation motif.
The beheading and rejoining motif also appears in the tale of the goddess Renuka; however the self-decapitation is missing in the legend. Instead, Renuka's son Parashurama decapitates her. In the context of her legend, Renuka is given the epithet "Chhinnamasta" ("She whose head is severed").
Legends and textual references
Chhinnamasta is often named as the fifth or sixth Mahavidya— a group of ten fearsome goddesses from the Hindu esoteric tradition of Tantra— with hymns identifying her as a fierce aspect of Devi, the Hindu mother goddess. While discussing Mahavidya as a group, Chhinnamasta is associated with rajas (in the Kamadhenu Tantra and the Maha-nirvana Tantra) or sattva (based on her lighter complexion). Professor David Kinsley says that three Mahavidyas — Kali, Tara, and Chhinnamasta — are prominent among Mahavidya depictions and lists, but that Chhinnamasta barely has an independent existence outside the group. The Guhyatiguhya-Tantra (c. 9th century) equates the god Vishnu's ten avatars with the ten Mahavidyas; the man-lion avatar Narasimha is described to have arisen from Chhinnamasta. A similar list in Mundamala Tantra (pre-16th century) equates Chhinnamasta with the avatar Parashurama.
Chhinnamasta appears in two distinct set of legends: the origin myths of Mahavidyas as a group and those explaining the genesis of Chhinnamasta as an individual goddess.
Mahavidyas as a group
A story from the Shakta Maha-Bhagavata Purana and the Brihaddharma Purana (13th century) narrates the creation of all Mahavidyas, including Chhinnamasta. The story is as follows: Sati, the daughter of Daksha, is the first wife of the god Shiva. When she and Shiva are not invited to the fire sacrifice organized by her father, she is insulted and insists on attending, despite Shiva's protests. After futile attempts to convince Shiva to grant his consent for her to attend, the enraged Sati assumes a fierce form, transforming into the Mahavidyas, who surround Shiva from the ten cardinal directions. As per the Shakta Maha-bhagavata Purana, Chhinnamasta stands to the right of Shiva, interpreted as the east or the west; the Brihaddharma Purana describes her as appearing to the rear of Shiva in the west.
In similar legends, the Mahavidyas arise from the wrath of other goddesses, specifically, Parvati (the second wife of Shiva and the reincarnation of Sati) and Kali (the principal Mahavidya). In one legend, Shiva and Parvati are living in the house of Parvati's father. Shiva wants to leave, but Parvati creates the ten fierce Mahavidyas who appear from ten directions and prevent him from leaving. In another legend, Shiva is living with Kali, identified as Shiva's consort in this context, but becomes tired of her and wants to leave. Kali creates the Mahavidyas who also obstruct his path from ten directions. Kali enlightens him and he ceases trying to leave.
The Devi Bhagavata Purana also mentions the Mahavidyas as war-companions and forms of the goddess Shakambhari. An oral tradition similarly replaces Shakambhari with the goddess Durga.
Chhinnamasta as an individual goddess
The Pranatoshini Tantra (18th century) narrates two tales of Chhinnamasta's birth. One legend, attributed to the Narada-pancharatra, tells how once, while bathing in Mandakini river, Parvati became sexually aroused and turned black. At the same time, her two female attendants Dakini and Varnini (also called Jaya and Vijaya) became extremely hungry and began to beg for food. Though Parvati initially promised to give them food once they returned home, the merciful goddess beheads herself with her nails and gives them her blood to satisfy their hunger. Later, they return home after Parvati rejoins her head.
The other version, from the Pranatoshini Tantra and attributed to Svatantra Tantra, is narrated by Shiva. He recounts that his consort Chandika (identified with Parvati) was engrossed in coitus, but became enraged at his seminal emission. Her attendants Dakini and Varnini rose from her body. The rest of the tale is similar to the earlier version, although the river is called Pushpabhadra, the day of Chhinnamasta's birth is called Viraratri, and upon seeing the pale Parvati, Shiva becomes infuriated and assumes the form of Krodha Bhairava. This version is retold in the Shaktisamgama Tantra (c. 16th century), in which Chhinnamasta forms a triad with Kali and Tara.
An oral legend tells how the goddess Prachanda Chandika appeared to aid the gods in the god-demon war, when the gods prayed to the Great Goddess Mahashakti. After slaying all demons, the enraged goddess cut off her own head and drank her own blood. The name Prachanda Chandika also appears as a synonym of Chhinnamasta in her hundred-name hymn in the Shakta Pramoda (19th century). Another oral legend relates her to the Samudra manthan (Churning of the Ocean) episode, where the gods and demons churned the milk ocean to acquire the amrita (the elixir of immortality). Chhinnamasta drank the demons' share of the elixir and then beheaded herself to prevent them from acquiring it.