The Shakti Principle
The Shakti Principle
Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati
In the traditional idea of Shakti we find a blending of two elements,
one empirical and the other speculative. On the empirical side the
idea of Shakti is associated with cosmogony. It has been the un-
contradicted experience of man from the dawn of understanding that
there cannot be any origination whatsoever without the union of the
two principles of Shiva and Shakti, the Male and Female aspects. The
human analogy was naturally extended to the universe as a whole, and
thus we came to the concept of the primordial Father and Mother.
In India, from the age of the Indus civilisation of Harappa and
Mohanjoi-daro down to the present, the Father God is represented by a
linga (the male symbol) and The Mother Goddess by the yoni (the
female symbol). This conceptual representation of Shiva and Shakti by
the linga-yoni is quite common and in many temples the two are
worshipped in their symbolic form. In both Hindu and Buddhist
literature the lord (male deity) is symbolically represented by a
white dot (shveta bindu) thus suggesting the likeness with semen,
while the devi (female deity) is symbolically represented by a red
dot (rakta bindu) to suggest the analogy with menstrual blood
containing the ovum.
Philosophy
From the speculative side it was observed that everything which
existed, did so by virtue of its power or powers. So God who exists
as the creator, preserver and destroyer of the universe must possess
infinite power through which He creates, maintains and destroys. In.
fact, His very being presupposes infinite power by virtue of which He
himself exists. This belief is a universal one. Tantrics tend to view
this power or universal energy as something like a female counterpart
of the possessor of the power. Shakti, being conceived as the
counterpart of the possessor (Shiva), came to be recognised as the
consort of Shiva.
This is responsible for the fact that, not only in the Shakti
tradition (believers in Shakti in whatever form as the supreme deity)
but in almost all other traditions - the Saivas (believers in Shiva
as the supreme) the Sauras (believers in the Sun), the Ganapatyas
(believers in Ganesha), and the Vaishnavas (believers in Vishnu) - an
important place is occupied by Shakti. There is seldom a god or demi-
god for whom a consort is not conceived as an inseparable shakti.
A strong belief in this Shakti has brought about a popular synthesis
among philosophies like Sankhya, Vedanta, Vaishnavism and Tantra.
Sankhya speaks of 'Purusha' and 'Prakriti' as two independent and
ultimate realities whose interaction is a mere attribute resulting
from the contact of the two. In the Puranas and other literature.
Prakriti is plainly conceived of as being the female counterpart of
Purusha, and as such the two realities have been practically
identified with the Shakti and Shiva of the Tantras. In a similar
manner the principle of Maya (illusion) has been conceived as the
Shakti of Brahman, These pairs were later viewed in the form of
Vishnu and his Shakti, Lakshmi: of Sita and Ram, and later of Radha
and Krishna. Thus, in popular belief, Shiva-Shakti of the Tantras,
Purusha-Prakriti of Sankhya, Brahman-Maya of Vedanta, and Vishnu-
Lakshmi, Sita-Ram and Radha-Krishna of Vaishnavism, all mean the same.
The philosophy of Shakti is clearly suggested by the two passages in
the Brihadaranyak Upanishad (1:4, 1:3) where it is said that in the
beginning was the Cosmic Being as the Atman in human form, who could
never feel satisfied and content for he was all alone. So he desired
a complementary aspect. His being was something like a natural point
where the ultimate principles of male and female lay unified as it
were in a deep embrace. He divided himself into two, male and female,
which formed the first pair, and all the pairs of creation are said
to be the replicas of this original pair.
These passages of the Brihadaranyak Upanishad have been used
extensively in the Puranas, Tantras and later Buddhist and Vaishnava
Sahajiya in which Shakti played an important part. Whatever has been
created in this phenomenal process has been created from the union of
the two- energy and matter, the consumer and the consumed. They
represent the two aspects of the one non-dual truth, one internal and
the other external; one illuminating, unchangeable and immortal and
the other obstructive, gross and perishable.
Distinct mention of the various powers of God is found in the
Swetaswatar Upanishad, in which it is said"'Various powers are heard
of this Brahman. It possesses power as knowledge and power as force
or activity by virtue of its very nature.” (6:8).”Know Maya (the
unspeakable mysterious power) as Prakriti and the possessor of the
Maya as the Great Lord Maheshwara (a name of Shiva)" (4:10).”He who
is one and colourless brings forth various colours through the agency
of his various types of powers" (4:1), The possessor of Maya created
the universe, and beings are fettered by his Maya.
Vaishnavism & Shaivism
The elaboration of this Shakti-vada is to be found in most of the
Puranas, Upa-Puranas, samhitas and mainly in the Tantras, both Hindu
and Buddhist. There is no systematic discussion on the philosophy of
Shakti in the Puranas, even in the Markan day a Purana, which
contains the Chandi, the most important text of The Mother
worshipers in India; discussion on Shakti in the Puranas is sporadic
and scrappy. The main discussions are found in Tantric literatures.
So far as the Hindu tantras are concerned, they seem to have
flourished in the two borders of India-Kashmir in the north-western
border and Bengal, the easternmost province.
So far as the tantric literature of Bengal is concerned, scholars are
disposed to think that none of these texts were composed earlier than
the 10th century A.D. The tradition of the tantras in Kashmir seems
to be earlier. The well-known Trika school of Kashmir Shaivism seems
to have derived many of its ideas from the earlier tantras of
Kashmir, some of which have been quoted and referred to in important
texts of Shaivism. The Kashmir school of Shaivism most probably
flourished between the 9th and 10th century A.D.
Some of the tantric texts must have been composed earlier but it has
to be noted that some of the Samhita texts belonging to the
Pancharatna school of Vaishnavism (sometimes referred to in the Trika
school of Kashmir Shaivism) were composed earlier than the Shaivite
texts, and the Ahirabudhya Samhita, belonging to the Pancharatna
school, contains a good exposition of the philosophy of Shakti,
though of course of Shakti as associated with Vishnu and not Shiva.
It has been said in this text that the ultimate being has two
aspects, one of which is the inactive or negative state, where all
his creative impulses lie dormant within Him, and the whole universe
lies infinitely contracted in. Him as a mere possibility and potency.
This negative state may be said to be a state of nothingness. Even in
this state there is Shakti, but she remains perfectly absorbed in the
Lord, as if in a union of deep embrace. With the urge of the first
creative impulse, there comes from within the Lord, a determination
(sankalpa), which results in his 'willing'. This 'willing' of the
Lord may be recognised as the first vibration of the Shakti - the
first cosmic rhythm in the absolutely calm and quiet ocean.
When Shakti first wakes from her absorption in deep embrace, into the
first vibration of activity, she acquires something like independence
and tends to manifest herself in her triple functions of 'willing'
(icchha), 'knowing' (jnana), and 'ctivity' (kriya), These three
functions are symbolised by the inverted triangle, yantra of the
Mother Goddess. Sometimes it Is held that Shakti is nothing but a
figurative representation of the Lord, for the power cars never be
viewed as being a separate entity from the agent that possesses the
power.
The rise or awakening of Shakti therefore means the awakening of the
Lord from his infinitely contracted state to the state of full-
fledged 'I-ness'. Shakti is thus the full 'I-ness' of the Lord. Her
nature is infinite bliss. This Shakti can again be viewed in two of
her aspects - the internal aspect in which she coexists with and is
in the Lord (samavayini shakti), and the external aspect in which
she, as Prakriti, and the repository of the three natural qualities,
manifests herself as the external universe.
According to the tantric texts of Kashmir also, Shakti inheres in the
Ultimate Being as a latent potency of infinite possibilities, as a
seed of the future worlds, mobile and immobile. As the Ultimate Being
is real and eternal, so is Shakti, who is coexistent with Him. The
awakening of Shakti is something like a self-projection of the 'I-
ness' of God which is accompanied by an internal process of self
creation.
Shiva and Shakti
There are different views on the relation of Shiva and Shakti as
propounded in the Puranas and Tantras. One view holds that neither
Shiva nor Shakti represents the absolute truth; that the absolute
reality is a State of neutrality where Shiva and Shakti remain in a
state of perfect union (yamala). This is called the 'samarasya',
where all things become one in a unity of blissful realisation. Shiva
and Shakti ate two aspects of the one truth - the static and dynamic,
the negative and the positive, the abstract and the concrete, the
male and the female.
Another view holds Shiva as the Ultimate Being to whom Shakti
eternally belongs. Nevertheless, neither Shiva nor Shakti is 'real'
without the other. As Shakti cannot be conceived of without Shiva, so
also Shiva becomes 'shava' (dead) without Shakti. The two are
therefore eternally and inseparably connected.
A third view considers Shakti as the highest truth and Shiva as the
best support for Shakti. Shakti is more important as 'the contained',
while Shiva is the 'container'. Shakti is the all-creating, all-
preserving and all-destroying power of which Shiva is the adhara
(base).
In some of the Puranas the male deity, as the Shaktimat (the
possessor of Shakti) has been described as the male aspect of the
Ultimate Truth which is Shakti. It is from this point of view that
The Mother worshipers would give a subsidiary place to Shiva, where
the Shakti as Mother is taken to be the highest object of adoration.
In this, her sovereign majesty, the Goddess, is sometimes called
Lalita Devi from whom the male deity proceeds as a transformation of
her own self. Apart from this conception of the Goddess, Lalita often
stands as the general Mother Goddess of India. She is called
Tripurasundari in the Tantras.
Puranas: Chandi Saptashati
Shakti as the Great Mother and highest truth has found an elaborate
exposition in the Devi Mahatmya, (Glory of the Goddess) of the
Markandeya Purana, and this portion of the Purana, comprising
thirteen chapters, is regarded as the most sacred text of Mother
worshipers and is known as Chandi or Durga Saptashati. Here the
goddess is seen as Devi and becomes well known later as Durga. The
name Durga has been variously interpreted in Puranic and Tantric
literature which means she is The Mother Goddess who saves us from
all sorts of misery and affliction, from all dangers and
difficulties. She is also known as Chandi the fierce goddess as she
incarnates whenever occasion demands, for the purpose of destroying
the asuras (demons) who may threaten mental peace and the heavenly
domain of the divine beings.
Durga is The Mother Goddess whose worship during the Autumn is a most
celebrated one. She is also worshipped as Annapurna or Annada
(goddess of corn and food). In Autumn she is also worshipped as
Jagadhatri (the maintainer of the world). During the Spring she is
Vasanti (Goddess of Spring). In some Of the Puranas Devi is said to
be worshipped by 108 names in 108 sacred places (in the Matsya
Purana, chapter 13, it is said that, though she is all-pervading and
underlies all forms, the devotee desirous of attaining perfection
should worship her in different places).
In the Devi Kavacha of the Chandi, the Devi as Nawadurga is described
as Shailaputri, Brahmacharini, Chandraghanta, Kushmanda Skandamata,
Kutyayani, Mahagauri and Siddhidatri. Other forms of Shakti are
Chamunda (seated on a corpse), Varahi (on a buffalo), Aindri (on an
elephant), Vaishnavi (on the bird Garuda), Maheswari (on a bull),
Kaumari (on a peacock), Lakshmi (on a lotus), Ishwar (on a bull) and
Brahmi (on a swan). Many of the Shaktis are associated with different
godheads, such as Varahi, Shakti of Varaha (the boar-god), Narasimhi
of Narasimha (the man-lion god).
Some Shakti forms are also found within the Buddhist tradition. For
instance, Tara, a popular Indian goddess, is also a famous Buddhist
goddess, while Chhinnamasta may be compared to Vajrayogini of the
Buddists.
The story of Chandi first introduces Shakti as the principle of great
illusion (mahamaya) which prevents us from viewing the things of life
and the world around us in their true perspective. It creates in the
mind a fierce attachment to the world and thus binds us down to a
lower plane of existence. But where does the principle of objective
illusion originate? It is an aspect of the same divine power which is
responsible for the creative process, and which is shaping the
universe eternally to its end. It was there as one with the Supreme
Being even when the cosmos was not, and it remains there absorbed in
the existence of the Supreme Being even after the dissolution, as a
potency, a seed of future creative manifestation. It has its sway,
not only on all animates but also on the Supreme Being, and in
connection with the latter it is called Yogamaya, the maya which is a
direct part of the Lord.
Mahamaya, as the Mahashakti, remains absolutely inactive at the time
of dissolution and this inactivity of the Shakti lulls the Supreme
Being lo profound sleep in the ocean of causal potency. She is the
Mahakali since she contracts eternal time (kala) within her and from
her time proceeds again as an endless flow of creative vibration. It
is incorrect to consider this power as being spiritual alone. She
is athe' power - spiritual, mental, intellectual, physiological and
biological. Whatever exists is due to Her; whatever works, works due
to Her.
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