Dhumavati — The Womb of Non-Being and the Sleep of God

In the beginning, darkness was hidden by darkness; only Non-Being existed. From the Non-Being the Being was born. Into the Non-Being shall the Being dissolve again. The primal state before creation is also the ultimate state after creation is withdrawn. This then again becomes the primal state for the next cycle of creation. This primal state is Dhūmāvatī.

Dhūmāvatī has killed Her husband (Being is put to sleep). She is the only widow Goddess. She is the Goddess of inconscience. She is the power of perversion and the force of distortion. She is depicted as utterly ugly and abominable: pale in face, long in limbs, sparse in teeth, breasts sagging, decrepit, uncouth, fickle, with dirty clothes and dishevelled hair. She bestrides on a cart with a raven for its banner.

The Non-Being is a non-being only when we are speaking in terms of time. After a time, a tree emerges from the seed of Non-Being. Hence it is really the Being in its potential form. Dhūmāvatī is not absolutely dark. She has a smoky hue, darkness impregnated with the embryo of light. The smoke carries hidden particles of the heat of the flame. Thus Being and Non-Being are different states of the Reality.

Dhūmāvatī is the mahā-yoga-nidrā of Viṣṇu. The all-pervading primordial principle gets free from His couch of infinity (Ananta), on the milky ocean of bliss (Kṣīra-samudra), and withdraws into yoga-nidrā. This sleep will be a precursor of a great awakening, a harbinger of a newer projection of Godhead. Dhūmāvatī is the womb of all unmanifested worlds.

All time collapsed to a point; Dhūmāvatī has killed Her husband. She is the only widow Goddess who is worshipped to annihilate all enemies. In the pure form of Her upāsanā, the enemies are: Kāma, Krodha, Lobha, Moha, Mada, Matsarya. In the impure form, She is the prayoga of Tantra. Her upāsanā takes two forms. The first form is elimination of all plans of action, to merge into total silence: Sarva-saṅkalpa-varjanam. The second form permits thoughts and desires. However, there should be no gap between arising of a desire and its execution. If there is a gap, an uncontrollable fear leading to death occurs. Whatever the desire may be, it must be executed.

Dhūmāvatī upāsanā is all right for those who have achieved siddhis with all the earlier vidyās, have tasted savikalpa-samādhi and at least occasionally gone to nirvikalpa-samādhi. It cannot be recommended for lesser mortals who are more likely to misuse this great vidyā. The purpose of sādhana is to manifest the Existence concealed in Non-Existence, the bliss hidden in pain.