Māyādevī of the Kalki Purāṇa

Māyādevī is a divine power who appears in the Dvithīyāṃśa of the Kalki Purāṇa, at the battle of Kīkaṭapura. She came to the battlefield when Śuddhōdhana, brother of the slain Buddhist king Jina, called her. She rode in a chariot with a siṃha-dhvaja (lion-banner), with clouds of crows and vultures around her, and Kāma, Krodha, Lobha, Moha, Mada and Mātsarya served her. Her very sight left even the greatest warriors senseless.

Yet she was not an asura. She was an aṃśa (part) of Lakṣmī herself. The moment she saw Kalki, who is Bhagavān Śrī Hari in human form, she knew him as her beloved and merged straight into his body. The Buddhist monks, who honoured her as their divine mother, wept bitterly when she vanished.

Who she is

This Māyādevī is not the Māyādevī of Buddhist tradition, the mother of Gautama Buddha. She is also not the Māyādevī or Māyā of other Purāṇic accounts. In the Kalki Purāṇa she is a fearsome divine power, the presiding power of the mleccha and Buddhist forces. The Buddhist monks called her their “talli” (mother).

She is surrounded by Kāma, Krodha, Lobha, Moha, Mada and Mātsarya, which are known as the six inner enemies of the jīva (the living being). She is attended by crows and vultures and rides a chariot with a lion-banner.

The Kalki Purāṇa is clear that she is Lakṣmī’s aṃśa. Lakṣmī, who is never apart from Bhagavān Śrī Hari, had entered the world’s māyā (power of illusion) and lived within it. When Bhagavān Kalki, Śrī Hari himself, appeared on that battlefield, the Lakṣmī-aṃśa within Māyādevī knew its own beloved and returned home, merging into him.

Her appearance and power

Māyādevī came to the battlefield with countless millions of mleccha soldiers. Her form was terrible.

• She rode in a chariot with a siṃha-dhvaja (lion-banner).
• Crows flew around her, calling harshly, and clouds of vultures with them.
• Kāma, Krodha, Lobha, Moha, Mada and Mātsarya attended her as her retinue.
• Her very sight caused total stupor. Devas and manuṣyas (human beings) alike who stood before her became numb as dolls. Their weapons fell from their hands and their bodies sank to the ground.

When Kalki’s army saw her, every soldier was struck senseless and fell.

The merger into Kalki

Māyādevī moved toward Kalki, who stood firm and was not touched by her power. The Kalki Purāṇa says, in Telugu:

Lakṣmī-aṃśa-rūpamaina māya, Kalki rūpamulō unna tana priyuṇi śarīramulō praveśinci

This means: Māyādevī, being the aṃśa of Lakṣmī, entered the body of her beloved, who was present in the form of Kalki, and merged (līnayāindi) into him. All who were present were astonished. The Buddhist monks saw their divine mother vanish. They wept like small children who have lost their mother, not knowing where she had gone.

Sources

• Kalki Purāṇa, Dvithīyāṃśa, Chapter 7