‘Kali, the Asura’: The Human-like Manifestation of the Non- Human

Abstract

Kali is considered to be the biggest antagonist in Hindu mythology that will bring darkness and will take the Kali-yuga cycle to its peak. Kali, is seen as a metaphor for everything that humanness stands against for and what generally, people regard as absence of humaneness. Thus, this paper focuses on the figure of kali, the Asura as a metaphor of the non-human, its popular understanding, the history of its birth and understanding of what it means in a religio- cultural context. Gradually the paper discusses what we call a human and what depravity or additions make them non-humans, in context of modern day references and relate them to present day thinkers.