The scholars Pratapaditya Pal, an expert on South Asian art and H. Bhattacharya, author of "Hinduder Debdebi" on the subject of Hindu deities, equate Chhinnamasta with the concepts of sacrifice and the renewal of creation. Chhinnamasta sacrifices herself, and her blood – drunk by her attendants – nourishes the universe. One invocation to her calls her the sacrifice, the sacrificer, and the recipient of the sacrifice, with the severed head treated as an offering. This paradox signifies the entire sacrificial process, and thus the cycle of creation, dissolution, and re-creation.