In SAVITRI, on page 711 Sri Aurobindo described that on their way from heaven to earth Savitri and Satyavan were persued by a youth who was crowned as with peacock plumes. That was Krishna.
But immediately the youth changed his shape and got converted into a black beautiful woman. That was supposedly Kali.
How (and why) did Krishna changed his form and got assumed the form of Kali?
In RECORD OF YOGA Part II on page 781, (in January 1915) Sri Aurobindo described an entity called Kalikrishna. What is that?
Does Kalikrishna refer to the same image of Krishna changing into Kali? I couldn’t understand this concept.
Please tell me some reference (his Letter or something else) which can throw more light on the combination of Krishna and Kali. And how much do they differ from Mahakali?
Yes the description you cite are very much of Sri Krishna and Kali. There are other passages in Savitri as well that reveal this truth, such as, A violent Ecstasy, a Sweetness dire’. There is also the poem Cosmic Dance where Sri Aurobindo describes the two dances of Sri Krishna, one with Kali that takes place when creation is resisting the Divine and another with Radha when it is in sync with the Divine.
Sri Aurobindo notes it also in one of his poem WHO as below.
‘We have love for a boy who is dark and resplendent
A woman is lord of us naked and fierce.’
The secret is revealed in some of his Thoughts and Aphorisms.
‘Kali is Krishna revealed as dreadful Power and wrathful Love. She slays with her furious blows the self in body, life and mind in order to liberate it as spirit eternal.
Shall we complain when we see this helpless little “ego” disappearing and giving way to a luminous spark capable of understanding the universe?’
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Who can bear Kali rushing into the system in her fierce force and burning godhead? Only the man whom Krishna already possesses.
This is a charming and most expressive way of saying that only the conscious Divine Presence is capable of mastering and conquering all violence.’
In other words Kali prepares us for the onrush of the sweetness and delight of Sri Krishna as also Sri Krishna helps tame the extremely violent forces of nature.
There is a story in one of the Puranas, possibly the Mahabhagawat Purana which clearly states how Kali or Shyama became Krishna or Shyam.
The Kali is of course not Mahakali in her total manifestation but only one of her aspects revealed as dreadful force and not that reveals itself as intense Divine Love.
Affectionately,
Alok Da
