Kali is most often shown with four arms, holding quite identifiable objects.  On her left (destructive) side, one arm holds a sword while the other holds a severed human head.  Even these apparently gruesome signs of her destructive power, however, reveal her actual beneficence to those who meditate on the “truth” of her image.  The sword symbolizes the “higher knowledge that cuts through appearance,” that lops off our illusory ego-selves, symbolized by the severed head.  (Alternatively, the severed head represents the demons she is always involved in slaying.)  In some versions, Kali holds a skull-cap cup full of blood, as well as Shiva’s trident. 

Her right hands are most often depicted showing signs of her more nurturing, protecting side—sometimes holding a lotos, as well as making the mudras of “fear not” and of protection.

next