Chhinnamasta Deeksha is received to get boons from Mahavidya Chhinnamastika. Devotees mostly practice Chhinnamasta worship to obtain a son, alleviate poverty, develop wisdom, defeat foes, and become a poet. Self-sacrifice and Kundalini awakening are associated with Chhinnamasta.
A story from the Shakta Maha-Bhagavata Purana recounts the creation of all Mahavidyas, including Chhinnamasta. In this story, Sati, Daksha's daughter, and Shiva's first wife, is insulted because Daksha did not invite her and Shiva to his yagna ("fire sacrifice"), and she insists on attending despite Shiva's protests.
After failing to persuade Shiva, the angered Sati takes on a ferocious form, transforming into the Mahavidyas, who encircle Shiva from all 10 cardinal directions. Chhinnamasta stands to Shiva's right in the west.
The self-decapitated nude goddess, typically standing or seated on a celestial copulating couple, holds her severed head in one hand and a scimitar in the other. Three jets of blood emerge from her bleeding neck and are consumed by her severed head and two attendants.
Chhinnamasta is the Goddess of Contradictions. She represents two sides of Devi: a life-giver and a life-taker. Depending on how you view her, she might be a sign of sexual self-control or an embodiment of sexual vitality.
She symbolizes death, temporality, and destruction, as well as life, immortality, and recreation. The goddess symbolizes spiritual self-realization and the activation of the kundalini, or spiritual force.
