Chinnamasta - The Self-Decapitated Goddess

Dadi: "Guddu, this story is a little intense. It's about a goddess who did something very dramatic to feed her children. Are you ready?"

Guddu: "I'm ready, Dadi! I like intense stories."

Dadi: "This is Chinnamasta - one of the ten great Mahavidya goddesses. Her name means "she whose head is cut off.""

Guddu: "Cut off?! By herself?!"

Dadi: "Yes, beta. Let me tell you how it happened."

One day, the goddess Parvati went to bathe in the Mandakini river with her two attendants, Jaya and Vijaya. After bathing for a long time, her attendants became hungry.

Guddu: "Hungry after swimming? I get hungry after swimming too!"

Dadi: "So do I. Jaya and Vijaya said, "Mother, please give us some food. We're starving!""

Parvati replied, "Wait a little longer. We'll eat when we get home."

But her children couldn't wait. They pleaded, "You are the Mother of the Universe! A mother gives everything to her children. Please, we're so hungry!"

Guddu: "What did she do? There was no food in the river!"

Dadi: "*pauses* The goddess smiled. And with her own fingernails, she severed her own head from her body."

Guddu: "*gasps*"

Dadi: "Three streams of blood flowed from her neck. Two streams went into the mouths of Jaya and Vijaya, feeding them instantly. And the third stream went into the mouth of her own severed head, which she held in her left hand."

Guddu: "That's... that's incredible, Dadi. And scary."

Dadi: "It is. Chinnamasta's image shows her standing with her head in one hand, blood feeding her attendants, yet she's smiling peacefully. After feeding everyone, she returned home with her head back on."

Guddu: "What does it mean? Why would a goddess do that?"

Dadi: "*thoughtfully* This story has deep meaning, beta. It shows the ultimate sacrifice of a mother - literally giving her own life-blood to feed her children."

Guddu: "Like how moms give up things for their kids?"

Dadi: "Exactly. But there's more. Chinnamasta also represents the cycle of life - creation and destruction happening at the same time. We take life to sustain life. The grain we eat was once alive. The milk we drink was meant for calves."

Guddu: "I never thought about it that way."

Dadi: "The goddess doesn't hide from this truth. She shows it openly. Life feeds on life. And yet, there's also generosity in it - sharing what we have, even when it costs us something."

Guddu: "Is she worshipped, Dadi? She seems... intense."

Dadi: "Chinnamasta is worshipped, but not commonly. She's more for people who want to understand deep spiritual truths - about sacrifice, about the nature of the universe, about giving without limits."

Guddu: "Mummy never cut her head off for me, but she does give up a lot."

Dadi: "*chuckles* That's the right understanding, beta. Mothers sacrifice in their own ways - their time, their energy, their own desires. The goddess just shows it in the most dramatic form possible."

Guddu: "I should thank Mummy more."

Dadi: "That would make her very happy. And that's exactly what Chinnamasta would want - for us to see sacrifice and respond with gratitude."