Kali never operates alone because she is not a person who needs help, she is the Whole choosing to act through many forms.
Her anga devatas, her limb deities, are her own powers differentiated for function. In her avarana they appear as Mahakali, Mahalakshmi, Maha Sarasvati in the triangle, the eight Bhairavas with the eight Matrikas in the petals, and the guardians of the directions in the bhupura. Tantra also names her as Maha-Kali, Nitya-Kali, Smasana-Kali, Raksha-Kali, Syama-Kali, each tuned to a different adhikara.
Her Nitya Kalis, Kali, Kapalini, Kulla, Kurukulla, Virodhini, Vipracitta, Ugra and the rest, are her continuity in time. As Nitya Kali, the eternal Kali, she takes away disease, grief and suffering and gives perfection and illumination.
Tantra insists on this for three reasons. Purnatva, completeness requires multiplicity. Kriya, action needs instruments. Raksha, her ugra intensity needs mediation so the sadhaka is protected and the Vidya is protected. Her assistants are not others, they are herself.
The moon has 16 kalas, 15 are visible while the sixteenth is beyond our visibility. The 15 visible kalas are the 15 Nityas.
In Shukla Paksha they are Lalita’s Nityas who build and nourish. In Krishna Paksha they are Kali’s Nityas who dissolve and transmute. The texts give their names, meditations, mantras and attendants for Kali, Kapalini, Kulla, Kurukulla, Virodhini, Vipracitta, Ugra and onward to Mita.
In short: Kali begins the stripping, Kapalini exposes desire, Kulla unites scattered energy, Kurukulla blends it inward, Virodhini shakes misconceptions, Vipracitta fuses spiritual and worldly mind, Ugra returns you to pre verbal power, Ugraprabha masters it, Dipa makes mantra bear fruit, Nila protects in deep night, Ghana strikes ignorance, Balaka frees youthful imagination, Matra measures breath and pattern, Mudra seals attainment, Mita ends in the fire of dissolution on Amavasya.
Worship the Nitya of the tithi were born, and remember the sixteenth, Maha Kali herself, hidden behind them all.
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