The Cosmic Mother in Art
Thousands of Suns, painting by Mantradevi based on Yogananda’s chant.
Kali dancing the Cosmic dance, with awestruck girl at her feet. Stone sculpture, Gujarat, 16th century.
Icon of Madonna and child
“Sati” (an incarnation of Devi) (1943) by Nandalal Bose
Madonna and child on wood
Bernardino Luini, Madonna and Child with Angels
Saraswati
Madonna and child, Fra Angelico
Saraswati by Ravi Varma
Raphael’s Madonna and child from his painting “Madonna di San Sisto”
Modern Saraswati silk painting
The Madonna of Humility, Fra Angelico
Marble painting of Lakshmi
Madonna, Botticelli
Madonna and Child, Fra Filippo Lippi, c. 1440
Kali
Madonna by Lorenzo Veneziano, 1357
Lakshmi
Madonna, Fra Angelico
Lakshmi, 1894 lithograph
Madonna and child, Gherardo Starnina, 1410
Gajalakshmi and Saraswati, Ravi Varma
Madonna and child, Fra Angelico
Kali
The Virgin Annunciate, Fra Angelico
Lakshmi by Raja Ravi Varma
Madonna, Bernardino Luini
Saraswati, Goddess of music, wisdom, learning, painting by Giri Raj Sharma
Madonna by Sassoferrato
Balinese painting of Saraswati
Madonna and Child, William Bouguereau (1825-1905)
Kali
Botticelli Madonna and Child
Saraswati, Goddess of music, wisdom, learning
White Tara, Buddhist Goddess of Compassion
GajaLakshmi, fine art print
Green Tara, Buddhist Goddess of compassion and enlightened activity
Mary
Lithograph of Kali from Kolkata, c. 1895
Dakshineshwar Kali
Tag Archives: kali
The Final Goal
Swami Kriyananda concludes his autobiography, The New Path, with a chapter titled “The Final Goal.” It is notable that the last words of the story of his life are entirely about his relationship to God as the Divine Mother. He … Continue reading
Posted in cosmic mother, kali, kriyananda, yogananda
Tagged bengali, divine mother, kali, kriyananda, yogananda
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Swami Vivekananda’s Prayers to Divine Mother
Swami Kriyananda told this story, of Swami Vivekananda’s prayers to Divine Mother, many times over the years. He held it up as an example of how to pray to Her, and how we forget all of our worldly needs when … Continue reading
Posted in divine mother, Hinduism, kali, prayer, ramakrishna, vivekananda
Tagged divine mother, hindu, Hinduism, kali, prayer, ramakrishna, vivekananda
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O Shyama, Thou Art Flying Kites
by Ramprasad Sen In the world’s busy market-place, O Shyama, Thou art flying kites; High up they soar on the wind of hope, held fast by maya’s string. Their frames are human skeletons, their sails of the three gunas made; … Continue reading
Posted in divine mother, kali, ramprasad, shyama
Tagged kali, kriyananda, ramprasad, ramprasad sen, shyama
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You Haven’t Seen How Kali Is
by Ramprasad Sen Mind, you’re still not rid of your illusions; you haven’t seen how Kali is. You know the Mother manifests as the three worlds, but you seem not to know it, ______really. That Mother who adorns the world … Continue reading
Posted in cosmic mother, kali, ramprasad, yogananda
Tagged divine mother, kali, ramprasad sen
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Shakti: Realm of the Divine Mother
There is a beautifully written book on the various energies and forms of the Divine Mother — authored by Vanamali, a long time friend of Swami Kriyananda and Ananda. In Shakti: Realm of the Divine Mother, she covers the philosophical and … Continue reading
Posted in cosmic mother, Devi Vanamali, divine mother, hindu, Hinduism, kriyananda, ramprasad, yogananda
Tagged Devi Vanamali, divine mother, hindu, Hinduism, kali, kriyananda, ramprasad sen, Shakti
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Two Visions of Kali
The following two visions of Kali—one by Paramhansa Yogananda when he was the young Mukunda and the other by the Bengali poet Ramprasad Sen—are described by Swami Kriyananda in his book Paramhansa Yogananda: A Biography. These two stories highlight an … Continue reading
Posted in cosmic mother, divine mother, kali, kriyananda, prayer, ramprasad
Tagged divine mother, kali, kriyananda, ram proshad, ramprasad, yogananda
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Ramakrishna on Divine Mother
“The Divine Mother revealed to me in the Kali temple that it was She who had become everything. She showed me that everything was full of Consciousness. The image was Consciousness, the altar was Consciousness, the water-vessels were Consciousness, the … Continue reading
“Who tells me Thou art dark…?”
Out of emotion or sentiment, people are prone to make Divine Mother so humanly personal as to become small. The Divine Mother is beyond form and beyond human sentiment. Yogananda used to sing a chant: Who tells me Thou art … Continue reading
The Cosmic Mother 