Kala (“Death/Time”)
Not surprisingly, Kala is meant to be a terrifying figure, though which Buddhist thinkers have hoped to convey their dismay at the prospect of an endless cycle of birth, suffering, death, and rebirth (followed by suffering, death, rebirth, etc.)
Kala’s hands, with their long claws, reach into the every corner of everyday life and of human existence (and thus death and time are inseparably part of this).
Kala's bearlike feet also have sharp claws; he sits upon a tiger skin, another symbol for the ruthlessness of the world (whose claws echo those on Kala's feet).
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Copyright James G. Lochtefeld, 2005