The Story of Dhumavati

Dhumavati, the seventh Mahavidya, is the goddess of smoke, the elder, the one who dwells beyond the comforts of the world. She is depicted as an aged widow riding a crow, alone and free of all attachment.

Though her form appears inauspicious, she is a great teacher: she is the void that remains when every desire and illusion has dissolved, and in that emptiness she grants the deepest liberation.

The Meaning

Dhumavati teaches the wisdom of detachment and the freedom found beyond all craving. She is the great void, the stillness after dissolution, in which the soul, having let go of everything, discovers that it lacks nothing. Hers is the hard-won serenity of renunciation.