A Concept of Comic Dance as Presented in Kāḷi Nāṭakam of Narayana Guru in the Light of His Later Philosophical Works

Abstract

his article is devoted to the concept of the cosmic dance of the goddess Kāḷi presented in Kāḷi Nāṭakam (the Dance of Kali – KN), composed by Nārāyaṇa Guru (Narayana Guru) in 1887–1897. This hymn can be analysed in the context of later philosophical works written by Guru, especially the last philosophical hymn devoted to Dēvi addressed as Mother of Royal Yoga (rājayōgajananī) – Jananīnavaratnamañjarī (The Bouquet of Nine Gems Devoted to Mother – JNRM), composed in 1909. Other works to be taken into consideration are: Ātmōpadēśa Śatakam (One Hundred Verses of Self-Instruction – AŚ) – a poem composed in Malayalam in 1897 — and Darśana Mālā (Garland of Visions – DM), a philosophical work in ten sections, composed in Sanskrit in 1916. Kāḷi is treated here as an object of devotion, described both in impersonal and personal terms, as a goddess with auspicious qualities while evoking fear at the same time. She is sometimes identified with Śiva; however, as a great