Cremation, Caste, and Cosmogony in Karmic Traditions.

A Hell filled with good things!
There are two types of Mother Goddesses – one gives
life and the other takes life. Kali is traditionally seen as
the Goddess of Death and destruction, and Ganga as the
almighty life-giving Mother of the World. Water and
death are intricately interwoven. Without consumption
of water humans will die within a short time. Absence of
water takes many forms, including droughts, but the
presence of water may also take life. The annual floods
in Bangladesh are a re-occurring problem, which is
incorporated into the low-religion of common people.
Each year the river will kill people and destroy land, but
the river and the floods are also pre-requisites for a
successful harvest and further life (figs. 7.1-7.2). Too
much or too little water is the wrong water for life. The
most popular deity in Faridpur is Kali. She is the
supreme goddess, the Mother of the World. Ganga is
also a Mother, but Kali is always the most powerful of
them. Kali and Ganga are often seen as sisters, and
Ganga may even be seen as a daughter of Kali.
Therefore, even though water is the substance of life, it
is also the substance of death for ambivalent reverie. The
relation between water and death is not solely for
humans but also includes gods and goddesses. Kali
statues in particular, but also statues of other gods and
goddesses, die each year, and they are given water
burials in Ganga.
Ibn Batuta characterised Bengal in 1345 as “A Hell
filled with good things!”– referring to the richness of the
region but also the dangers of the mighty Ganga (Darian
1978:142). The river is a double-edged sword. It both
gives and takes life, but it is nevertheless the same river:
“Bengal is literally a child of the Ganges. At one time,
the delta lay beneath the water and the river touched the
sea in one unbroken stream…Gradually the silt, carried
down from the Himalayas along the Ganges Valley,
began building up the land, dividing the river again and
again…From that time until today, the fate of the delta
has been tied to Ganga and its intersecting streams”
(ibid:135). The ambivalence between life and death has
to be seen in light of cosmic theories. In Hinduism there
is a masculine and a feminine theory. According to the
former everyone and everything stem from and are
derived from Shiva, whereas according to the latter all
gods and goddesses are forms of Kali. In Bengal the
Mother is the supreme being and the absolute force of
the world. Shakti means power or force, and this is a
feminine energy, and the whole universe is a
manifestation of shakti. This Universal Energy is
manifested in the goddess (Mookerjee 1988:11). The
primordial origin of the feminine force is evident in the
Chapter 7:
Water burials of Mother Goddesses
109
Shiva-linga. The linga or the male principle is “…the
ontology of existence, placed on the yoni as its pedestal,
[it] rises out of the yoni, the womb; it does not enter it”
(Kramrisch 1981:242-243). Thus, the linga – the penis
or male regenerative organ – is not prior to the womb or
female principle, but antecedent to it. Everything starts
and derives from the female forces in the universe.
Mother is a priori and primordial.
There are three main spheres of Mother – the Divine
Conscious Force – who dominates and upholds all
existence. Firstly, transcendentally – as the original
supreme Shakti she stands above the world and links
creations to the Supreme. Secondly, universally – as
Mahashakti she creates, maintains, and sustains all
beings. Finally, individually – she embodies all powers
and mediates between human personality and the divine
Nature. On earth and in the universe Mother has four
main powers or personalities: 1) Maheshwari is
characterised by calm and comprehending wisdom. 2)
Mahakali is characterised by splendid strength and
irresistible passion – the warrior mood. 3) Mahalaksmi is
characterised by vividness, sweetness, and
wonderfulness in beauty and harmony. 4) Mahasaraswati
is characterised by profound capacity and intimate
knowledge of the perfection of everything. Thus, the
four qualities of Mother are Wisdom, Strength,
Harmony, and Perfection (Aurobindo 1972:20-26). The
feminine power of the world is most explicitly expressed
in the earth’s seasonal generation of food, but everything
living is regarded as having a female nature. “The soil,
nourished by the composed elements of the dead, in
interaction with the forces of heat and moisture,
unfailingly produces out of itself fresh vegetations which
sustains life” (Caldwell 1999:104).
Although my emphasis is on the feminine theory and
force of cosmos and society, this approach deviates from
traditional gender studies of Mother goddesses and cults.
Lynn Meskell has rightly argued that parts of the
interpretations within feminist and gender archaeology
are simply hopeful and idealistic creations reflecting the
contemporary search for a social utopia. The past is used
in the present as a historical authority for contemporary
efforts to secure gender equality (or superiority?) in
spiritual and social domains (Meskell 1995:74-75).
Female imagery is important in male spheres and not
only within the woman’s domain (Haaland & Haaland
1995). Mother goddesses are not only feminine and
peaceful – this is only one side of the coin – in Hindu
culture the other side is represented by Kali
manifestations.