Chinnamastā (छिन्नमस्ता) is the nourisher who nourishes through her own being. She is the embodiment of selflessness and is the sixth Mahāvidyā.
Chinna means to be cut or separated.
Mastā means head.
So, Chinnamastā is “She whose head is severed.”
Once upon a time, Mother Pārvatī was walking through a forest with her attendants, Jayā and Vijayā. They traveled through the wilderness, and as they walked, Jayā and Vijayā began to feel hungry. They asked Mother Divine for food.
Mother Pārvatī told them that a village would soon appear, and they would be able to eat there. So they continued walking. But the village never came. Hunger deepened, and Jayā and Vijayā turned to Mother Divine and said:
“You are Jagadambā, the Mother of the universe. What kind of Mother are you? Your own children are hungry, and you are not feeding them.”
In that moment, Mother Pārvatī took a sword and she severed her own head.
From her neck, flowed three streams of blood. One stream nourished Jayā, another nourished Vijayā, and the third flowed back into her own severed head.
Through this act, She is revealed as Devī Chinnamastā.
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