Mahānirvāṇa Tantra 7.13

Translation

Kālikā, Kālamātā, Kālānalasamadyuti, Kapardinī, Karālāsyā, Karuṇāmṛtasāgarā;

Word by word

kālikā

Kālikā

kāla

of Time; of time

mātā

Mother

ca

and

anala

like the fire

sama

equal

dyutiḥ

shining

kapardinī

Kapardinī, of the matted hair

karāla

with projecting teeth

āsyā

whose mouth

karuṇā

of compassion

amṛta

of the nectar

sāgarā

the ocean

Meaning

Kālikā is the diminutive-affectionate form of Kālī. Kālamātā: Mother of Time, or of Death, for kāla means both; time itself is her child. Kālānalasamadyuti: shining like the fire of time, the fire that burns the worlds at their end. Kapardinī: she of the matted hair, the feminine of Śiva's own epithet. Karālāsyā: the commentary explains, she whose mouth has projecting teeth, citing the lexicon Amarakośa. And then, at once, Karuṇāmṛtasāgarā: an ocean of the nectar of compassion. The verse moves from the fire that ends worlds to the ocean of mercy, and means both of the same goddess: what devours time is also what saves from it.