Shakti

From New World Encyclopedia


Shakti meaning force, power or energy is the Hindu concept or personification of God's female aspect, sometimes referred to as "The Divine Mother" or Kali Ma. In the highest philosophical sense, Shakti represents the active, dynamic principles of feminine power, and is often related to God's role in the creation of the phenomenal world. Though the supreme God in its masculine aspect is inactive and ineffable, he is perpetually active through this power of shakti (sometimes also related to maya or prakriti), through which the world comes into being and is again destroyed. [1]

In Shaktism, one of the three foremost Hindu monotheistic schools, Shakti herself is worshiped as the Supreme Being, however, in other Hindu traditions, Shakti embodies the active energy and power of male deities. As such, the term shakti can also be used to refer to the female companion of any given male diety, who is considered an inextricable component of that god's personality. The most famous of these consorts is Shiva's wife Shakti, toward whom followers of Shaktism direct their religious devotions.

Mythology

Lakshmi is a common aspect of Shakti

In the Hindu scripture 'Devi Mahatmya', Mahamaya (Great Maya) is said to cover Vishnu's eyes in Yoganidra (divine sleep) during cycles of existence when all is resolved into one. By exhorting Mahamaya to release Her illusory hold on Vishnu, Brahma is able to bring Vishnu to aid him in killing two demons, Madhu and Kaitabh, who have manifested from Vishnu's sleeping form.

Shakti As Consort

Shakti embodies the active energy and power of male deities. For example, among the Trimurti, a group of three of the most prominent gods in Hindu myth, Brahma's shakti is Saraswati, the goddess of learning, harmony and artistic endeavor, Vishnu's Shakti is Lakshmi, the goddess of beauty and fortune, and Shiva's shakti is considered to be Parvati, a goddess of the mountains and motherhood. This latter relationship between Shiva and his shakti Parvati is one of the most remarkable described between god and goddess in the Hindu tradition. Together, Shiva and Parvati are considered to embody an absolute state of oneness, and are often depicted together as one being called Ardhanarisvara in order to convey this message.

The term 'Ardhanarishvara' is a combination of three words- 'ardha', 'nari' and 'ishvara', meaning respectively, 'half', 'woman' and 'Lord' or 'God', that is, Ardhanarishvara is the Lord whose half is woman, or who is half woman. Some scholars interpret the term as meaning 'the half male' who is Shiva and 'the half female' who is Parvati. Such interpretations are suggestive of dvaita, the duality of existence, and thus contradict the Advaita Vedic stand in the matter. Such contentions also contradict the Shaiva philosophy of advaita, which is very emphatic in its assertion that He alone is the cause of the entire existence, as it is by His will and out of Him that the cosmos came into being. In the Shaivite hymn 'Ekohum bahusyami' (Shiva Purana), that is, I am One, but wishes to be many, there echoes the Rigvedic perception of the single egg splitting into bhuta and prana. Otherwise also, most interpretations of the Vedas widely favor the principle of monogenic existence. Besides its emphasis on the unity of the outward duality, the Rigveda acclaims, 'He, who is described as male, is as much the female and the penetrating eye does not fail to see it'. The Rigvedic assertion is explicitly defined. The male is only so much male as much he is female and vice versa the female is only as much female as much she is male. The maleness and femaleness are the attributes contained in one frame.

Although Shiva and Shakti are one, together they share in a multiplicity of powers, collectively referred to as the five shaktis. These are 1) the ability to conceive of each other as separate, 2) absolute satisfaction in their unity, 3) divine will, 4) full and complete knowledge and 5) the power to act. (Zaenher, 88).

Worship

Followers of Shaktism, commonly known as Shaktas, acknowledge Shakti as their primary divine archetype, and seek to recapitulate the union of the Shiva and Shakti. This is performed by restraining the senses during the act of intercourse, in which male and female partners would enter into sexual union, with the male partner staving off ejaculation, thereby re-channeling seminal flow (Zaehner, 86). With this act, the male participant realizes for himself the all powerful nature of Shiva, eternally chaste while at the same time ithyphallic (Zaehner, 87). As well, this process supposedly fused the male and female principles, purusha and prakriti respectively, as one. Through this recaptulation, the inseperable nature of male and female is realized by the sexual partners, and the distinction between material creation and moksha dissolves along with all other opposites. This kind of sexual union, as it were, serves the Shakta as a temporary experience of liberation, as it provides the most obvious earthly representation of the transcendence of opposites that characterizes the divine (Zaehner, 89). Just as Shiva and Shakti are one in their eternal love, yet also eternally distinct, so to is the human soul fused with the divine yet still distinct. Among the Kashmir Shaivites, liberation itself was described as becoming one with Shiva and his five shaktis.

Shakti Peethas

There are 51 important centres of Shakti worship located in a variety of locations in the Indian sub-continent, including India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Tibet and even Pakistan. These are called Shakti Peethas. A legend explains the origin of these temples. At some time in the Satya Yuga, Daksha performed a sacrifice with a desire of taking revenge on Lord Shiva, the motley god of destruction who had married his daughter Sati against his wishes. Daksha invited all the gods to enjoy in his sacrifice, save for Shiva and Sati. Furious with her father's unshakeable disapproval of her new husband, Sati killed herself. Shiva picked up the remains of Sati's body and, in mourning, carried it all over the universe, causing various cosmic disturbances along the way. The other gods intervened to stop this, and in the process Vishnu's disk, sliced the corpse of Sati to pieces. The various parts of the body fell at several spots all through the Indian subcontinent and formed the Shakti Peethas.

In addtion to these 51 Peethas, there are many temples devoted to various incarnations of the Shakti goddess in most of the villages in India. The rural people often believe that Shakti is the protector of the village, the punisher of evil people, the curer of diseases, and the one who gives welfare to the village. They celebrate Shakti Jataras at least once a year. The Shakti goddess and her incarnations are most popular in south India, especially in the states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh, where she is also known as Amma (meaning 'mother'). Some examples of these incarnations popular in these regions are Gangamma, Aarti, Kamakshamma, Kanakadurga, Mahalakshmammma, Meeenakshamma, Poleramma and Perantalamma.

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

  • Goldberg, Ellen. The Lord Who Is Half Woman: Ardhanarisvara in Indian and Feminist Perspective. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2002. ISBN 978-0791453261
  • Walker, Barbara G. The Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets. San Francisco: Harper, 1983. ISBN 978-0062509253
  • Zaenher, R.C. Hinduism. New York: Oxford University Press, 1966. ISBN 0-19-888012-X


External links

Credits

New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here:

The history of this article since it was imported to New World Encyclopedia:

Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed.

  1. Zaenher, 82