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DHUMAWATI, THE GODDESS WHO WIDOWS HERSELF
Dhumawati is ugly, unsteady, and angry. She is tall and
wears dirty clothes. Her ears are ugly and rough, she
has long teeth, and her breasts hang down. She has a
long nose. She has the form of a widow. She rides in a
chariot decorated with the emblem of the crow. Her eyes
are fearsome, and her hands tremble. In one hand she
holds a winnowing basket, and with the other hand she
makes the gesture of conferring boons. Her nature is
rude. She is always hungry and thirsty, and looks
unsatisfied. She likes to create strife, and she is
always frightful in appearance
The legend behind Dhumawati's origin says that once,
when Shiva's spouse Sati was dwelling with him in the
Himalayas, she became extremely hungry and asked him for
something to eat. When he refused to give her food, she
said, "Well, then I will just have to eat you."
Thereupon she swallowed Shiva, thus widowing herself. He
persuaded her to disgorge him, and when she did so he
cursed her, condemning her to assume the form of the
widow Dhumawati. This myth underlines Dhumawati's
destructive bent. Her hunger is only satisfied when she
consumes Shiva, her husband and who contains within
himself the whole world. Ajit Mookerjee, commenting on
her perpetual hunger and thirst, which is mentioned in
many places, says that she is the embodiment of
"unsatisfied desires." Her status as a widow itself is
curious. She makes herself one by swallowing Shiva, an
act of self-assertion, and perhaps independence
The crow, which appears as her emblem atop her chariot,
is a carrion eater and symbol of death. Indeed, she
herself is sometimes said to resemble a crow. The
Prapancasarasara-samgraha, for example, says that her
nose and throat resemble those of a crow.
The winnowing basket in her hand represents the need to
discern the inner essence from the illusory realities of
outer forms. The dress she wears has been taken from a
corpse in the cremation ground. She is said to be the
embodiment of the tamas guna, the negative qualities
associated with lust and ignorance. She is believed to
enjoy liquor and meat, both of which are tamsic.
Dhumawati is also interpreted by some Tantra scholars as
"the aspect of reality that is old, ugly, and
unappealing. This is further corroborated by the fact
that she is generally associated with all that is
inauspicious and is believed to dwell in desolate areas
of the earth, such as deserts, in abandoned houses, in
quarrels, in mourning children, in hunger and thirst,
and most particularly in widows.
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