History of the worship Of
Maa ChinnaMasta

History & Myth

Maa ChinnaMasta The Sixth Or Seventh
Maa MahaVidya Is The Divine Mother Of Self-Sacrifice And Altruism. Maa ChinnaMasta Is The Provider Of life-force, Her Enigmatic Depiction Symbolizes And Teaches The Truth Of The Supreme-Self, Which Is Boundless, Selfless, Self-Dependent And Nurturing. She Also Teaches Her devotees to look within in introspection and enable themselves to sever their false sense of self in the service of others, as all cumulate as one existence. In the act of self-sacrifice and awareness of oneness, devotees attain liberation.
Maa ChhinnaMasta, Also Spelt To Refer As Maa ChinnaMasta, Or Maa ChinnaMunda (“She With The Severed Head”) Or Trikaya-Vajrayogini (“Triple-Bodied Vajrayogini”).
Maa ChinnaMunda Is The Severed-Head Form Of Goddess Maa Vajrayogini (or VajraVarahi), Who Is Depicted Similarly To Maa ChhinnaMasta.

Divine Mother Maa Das MahaVidya

Divine Mother
Maa Das MahaVidya

The “Das MahaVidya” or Ten Great Cosmic Wisdom Form Of Maa Maha Kaali, As Maa Kaali, Maa Tara, Maa TripuraSundari (Maa Shodashi), Maa Bhubeneswari, Maa Bhairavi, Maa BagalaMukhi,
Maa ChinnaMasta, Maa Matangi,
Maa DhumaVati, Maa Kamala, Leads sincere devotees to spiritual advancement by the learning and internalizzation of Each Great Cosmic Wisdom Teaching From Each Of The Maa Das MahaVidya. Sincere devotees can advance on the path Of Self-Realization and liberation from earthly bondages. Visit The Maa Das MahaVidya temple dedicated to worship of
Maa ChinnaMasta And The Ten Divine Cosmic Forms Of The Divine Mother. Click Here. Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chhinnamasta

Origin Stories And Legends Of Maa ChinnaMasta

Maa ChinnaMasta Appears In two distinct sets of legends:

  • Das Maa MahaVidyas
  • Genesis Of Maa ChinnaMasta As An Individual Form Of The Divine Mother.


1. Maa ChinnaMasta As Maa MahaVidya
In chapter 8 of the tenth century shakta mahabhagavata purana lord shiva extolled The Glory Of The Das Maa MahaVidyas to sage narada. Lord shiva also recounted to sage narada the legend Of Emergence Of The Dus Maa MahaVidyas, The Ten Great Cosmic Wisdom Expressions Of The Divine Mother Of the universe.

According to the legend, once Maa Sati – A Manifestation Of The Divine Mother In the Form Of The Daughter of daksha And First Consort Of lord shiva – Became Enraged Because Her father did not invite Her and lord shiva to his yagna ceremony (Fire ritual). Maa Sati, Angrily, Insisted On Attending the ceremony To Destroy Her father’s pride, despite lord shiva’s protests.

When lord shiva kept refusing to attend the ceremony, Maa Sati Decided To Remind lord shiva That She Was The Very Emanation Of The Divine Mother Herself. With Lips Trembling With Anger And Eyes Blazing like the conflagration of destruction, Maa Sati Roared With Laughter. Terrified lord shiva attempted to exit. To Restrain him, The Divine Mother Appeared In One Transcendent Form In Each Of the ten directions in which lord shiva attempted to move towards. In whichever direction lord shiva went, Maa Sati Appeared In Maa MahaVidya Form.

To his right (in the east) Maa Sati Stood As In The Form As Maa ChinnaMasta, The Fearsome And Enigmatic Form Of The Divine Mother.

2. Maa ChinnaMasta As An Individual Form Of The Divine Mother
In the prana toshini tantra, a compilation of the tantric texts, there is a story Of The Origin Of Maa ChinnaMasta from the narada pancharatra. According to the story, one day Maa Parvati, The Reincarnation Of Maa Sati, Went To Bathe In the mandakini river With Her attendants jaya and vijaya, also known as, dakini and varnini. Around that time, Her two attendants begged Maa Parvati for food out of extreme hunger. They prayed and begged saying, “We are overpowered with hunger, O Mother Of the universe! Give us food so we may be satisfied, O Merciful One, Bestower Of Boons And Fulfiller Of desires.” On Hearing this sincere prayer of Her devotees, The Merciful Divine Mother Smiled And Severed Her Head With Her Fingernails – Her Head Fell On The Palm Of Her Left Hand – Three Bloodstreams Emerged From Her Throat; The Left And Right Streams Of Blood Fell Respectively Into the mouths of Her attendants flanking Her on either side, And The Central Bloodstream Fell Into Her Own Mouth. Maa Parvati Was Thereafter Venerated As Maa ChinnaMasta.

In svatantra tantra of prana toshini tantra, lord shiva narrates the myth Of Maa ChinnaMasta’s Emergence. In the krta yuga, Maa MahaMaya Was Engaged In mahavrata With lord shiva on kailasa. At the time of lord shiva’s seminal emission, The Divine Mother Appeared Fierce And From Her Body two shaktis emerged and became Her attendants dakini and varnini. One day The Divine Mother went to the bank of the pushpabhadra river With Her two attendants. When it was noon, Her hungry attendants requested The Divine Mother, “Please give us food.” Hearing this, The Smiling And Auspicious Divine Mother Looked In all directions And Severed Her Head. She Fed dakini With The Left Bloodstream Coming Out Of Her Throat, She Fed varnini With The Right Bloodstream, And From The Central One, She Drank Her Own Blood. After Playing In This Way, She Replaced Her Head On Her Body And Reverted To Her Original Form. At dusk, She Returned Home With Her attendants. This happened on the day Of Viraratri. Thus, according to the story, Maa ChinnaMasta Emerged On Viraratri.

Maa ChinnaMasta Appears In two distinct sets of legends:
  • Das Maa MahaVidyas
  • Genesis Of Maa ChinnaMasta As An Individual Form Of The Divine Mother.
1. Maa ChinnaMasta As Maa MahaVidya In chapter 8 of the tenth century shakta mahabhagavata purana lord shiva extolled The Glory Of The Das Maa MahaVidyas to sage narada. Lord shiva also recounted to sage narada the legend Of Emergence Of The Das Maa MahaVidyas, The Ten Great Cosmic Wisdom Expressions Of The Divine Mother Of the universe. According to the legend, once Maa Sati – A Manifestation Of The Divine Mother In the Form Of The Daughter of daksha And First Consort Of lord shiva – Became Enraged Because Her father did not invite Her and lord shiva to his yagna ceremony (Fire ritual). Maa Sati, Angrily, Insisted On Attending the ceremony To Destroy Her father’s pride, despite lord shiva’s protests. When lord shiva kept refusing to attend the ceremony, Maa Sati Decided To Remind lord shiva That She Was The Very Emanation Of The Divine Mother Herself. With Lips Trembling With Anger And Eyes Blazing like the conflagration of destruction, Maa Sati Roared With Laughter. Terrified lord shiva attempted to exit. To Restrain him, The Divine Mother Appeared In One Transcendent Form In Each Of the ten directions in which lord shiva attempted to move towards. In whichever direction lord shiva went, Maa Sati Appeared In Maa MahaVidya Form. To his right (in the east) Maa Sati Stood As In The Form As Maa ChinnaMasta, The Fearsome And Enigmatic Form Of The Divine Mother.
2. Maa ChinnaMasta As An Individual Form Of The Divine Mother
In the prana toshini tantra, a compilation of the tantric texts, there is a story Of The Origin Of Maa ChinnaMasta from the narada pancharatra. According to the story, one day Maa Parvati, The Reincarnation Of Maa Sati, Went To Bathe In the mandakini river With Her attendants jaya and vijaya, also known as, dakini and varnini. Around that time, Her two attendants begged Maa Parvati for food out of extreme hunger. They prayed and begged saying, “We are overpowered with hunger, O Mother Of the universe! Give us food so we may be satisfied, O Merciful One, Bestower Of Boons And Fulfiller Of desires.” On Hearing this sincere prayer of Her devotees, The Merciful Divine Mother Smiled And Severed Her Head With Her Fingernails – Her Head Fell On The Palm Of Her Left Hand – Three Bloodstreams Emerged From Her Throat; The Left And Right Streams Of Blood Fell Respectively Into the mouths of Her attendants flanking Her on either side, And The Central Bloodstream Fell Into Her Own Mouth. Maa Parvati Was Thereafter Venerated As Maa ChinnaMasta. In svatantra tantra of prana toshini tantra, lord shiva narrates the myth Of Maa ChinnaMasta’s Emergence. In the krta yuga, Maa MahaMaya Was Engaged In mahavrata With lord shiva on kailasa. At the time of lord shiva’s seminal emission, The Divine Mother Appeared Fierce And From Her Body two shaktis emerged and became Her attendants dakini and varnini. One day The Divine Mother went to the bank of the pushpabhadra river With Her two attendants. When it was noon, Her hungry attendants requested The Divine Mother, “Please give us food.” Hearing this, The Smiling And Auspicious Divine Mother Looked In all directions And Severed Her Head. She Fed dakini With The Left Bloodstream Coming Out Of Her Throat, She Fed varnini With The Right Bloodstream, And From The Central One, She Drank Her Own Blood. After Playing In This Way, She Replaced Her Head On Her Body And Reverted To Her Original Form. At dusk, She Returned Home With Her attendants. This happened on the day Of Viraratri. Thus, according to the story,
Maa ChinnaMasta Emerged On Viraratri.

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