Indian Sculpture and Painting, Illustrated by Typical Masterpieces, with an Explanation of their Motives and Ideals c10.185

c10.185

Black is the colour-symbol of space. In the Hindu Sastras it represents the formless, conditionless state which existed before creation, and is personified by Kâlî, the Mother of the Universe and the Great Destroyer. "As the lightning is born from the cloud and disappears within the cloud, so Brahmâ and all other gods take birth from Kâlî and will disappear in Kâlî" (*Nirvana Tantram*). In Tibetan Buddhism it is the symbol of hell.¹