Meaning and elaboration
Meaning: The Three-Eyed One.
Elaboration
Tri-Lochana means "She who has three eyes." This epithet appears across many Hindu deities, especially Shiva and Devi, and points to a vision that goes far beyond ordinary perception. In Kali, it signifies a spiritual and cosmic sight that sees what the senses and mind cannot.
The Eye of Wisdom (Jñāna Chakṣus) The two physical eyes perceive the world of objects, forms, distinctions, and duality. The third eye, situated between the eyebrows, represents the eye of wisdom (Jñāna Chakṣus), the inner vision. In Kali, this signifies direct and intuitive knowledge that rises beyond the limits of sensory perception and ordinary thought. It is the eye that sees ultimate reality beyond Māyā (illusion).
Transcendence of Past, Present, and Future The three eyes are often understood as representing mastery over the three divisions of time: past, present, and future (Trikala-jñāna). Kali, as the very embodiment of Time (Kāla), naturally contains all temporal dimensions within her eternal gaze. Her third eye thus signifies her dominion over temporal cycles and her power to behold all that has been, all that is, and all that is yet to come at once.
Destruction of Ignorance (Avidyā) Just as Shiva's third eye is famously associated with the burning of Kama (desire), Kali's third eye is the fiery gaze that burns away ignorance (Avidyā) and illusion. It is an expression of her fierce power, revealing truth by destroying whatever conceals it. For the seeker, awakening this inner eye through spiritual practice (sādhanā) becomes a path to liberation.