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removed kundalini. kundalini is sexual energy. Para sakti is not sexual energy. Parvati, vishnu etc not be linked. Please do not vandalize the concepts. The image on page is grotesque blasphemy
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{{short description|Personification of divine feminine energy and power in Hinduism}}
{{short description|Personification of divine energy and power in Hinduism}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Other uses}}
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As the Sakti or Creatrix, She is known as "Adi Shakti" or "[[Adi Parashakti|Adi Para Shakti]]" (i.e., Primordial Inconceivable Energy). On every plane of creation, Energy manifests itself in all forms of matter, thermal energy, potential energy, gravitational energy etc. These are all thought to be infinite forms of the Paraa Shakti. But Her true form is unknown, and beyond human understanding. She is ''Anaadi'' (with no beginning, no ending) and ''Nitya'' (forever).
As the Sakti or Creatrix, She is known as "Adi Shakti" or "[[Adi Parashakti|Adi Para Shakti]]" (i.e., Primordial Inconceivable Energy). On every plane of creation, Energy manifests itself in all forms of matter, thermal energy, potential energy, gravitational energy etc. These are all thought to be infinite forms of the Paraa Shakti. But Her true form is unknown, and beyond human understanding. She is ''Anaadi'' (with no beginning, no ending) and ''Nitya'' (forever).



Hindus believe that Shakti is both responsible for creation (Shakti makes Srishti) and the agent of all change. Shakti is cosmic existence as well as liberation, its most significant form being the [[Kundalini energy|Kundalini]] Shakti, a mysterious psychospiritual force.<ref>The Shambhala Encyclopedia of Yoga, p.162</ref><ref>The Shambhala Encyclopedia of Yoga, p.270</ref>


In [[Shaktism]], Shakti is worshipped as the [[Supreme Being]]. Shakti embodies the active dynamic energy of [[Shiva]] (as Devi Shivaa/Shive) and is synonymously identified with [[Tripura Sundari]] or [[Parvati]].
In [[Shaktism]], Shakti is worshipped as the [[Supreme Being]]. Shakti embodies the active dynamic energy of [[Shiva]] (as Devi Shivaa/Shive) and is synonymously identified with [[Tripura Sundari]] or [[Parvati]].
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===Adi Parashakti===
===Adi Parashakti===
{{main|Adi Parashakti}}
{{main|Adi Parashakti}}
[[Adi Parashakti]], whose manifestation is [[Parvati]], is a Hindu concept of the Ultimate Shakti or Mahashakti, the ultimate power inherent in all Creation. This is especially prevalent in the [[Shakta]] denomination within Hinduism, which worships the Goddess [[Devi]] in all her manifestations. Her human or ''Shakti Svarūpa'' (''powerful form''and real form), [[Parvati]], was married to [[Shiva]], while her ''Gyān Svarūpa'' (''knowledge form''), [[Saraswati]], weds [[Brahma]] and her ''Dhan Svarūpa'' (''wealth form''), [[Lakshmi]], becomes the consort of [[Vishnu]].

===Smarta Advaita===
===Smarta Advaita===
In the [[Smarta]] [[Advaita]] sect of Hinduism, Shakti is considered to be one of five equal personal forms of God in the [[panchadeva]] system advocated by [[Adi Shankara]].<ref>http://www.himalayanacademy.com/resources/books/dws/dws_mandala-02.html</ref>
In the [[Smarta]] [[Advaita]] sect of Hinduism, Shakti is considered to be one of five equal personal forms of God in the [[panchadeva]] system advocated by [[Adi Shankara]].<ref>http://www.himalayanacademy.com/resources/books/dws/dws_mandala-02.html</ref>

Revision as of 09:40, 28 July 2020

For other uses, see Shakti (disambiguation).

Shakti
The divine energy
Shakti
Adi Parashakti Lalita Tripura Sundari seated over Brahma, Vishnu, Rudra, Maheswara and Parashiva
Other namesAdi Parashakti,Parvati , Mahadevi, Kali, Durga, Devi, Sati
AffiliationDevi, Parvati
WeaponsAll
Genealogy
SiblingsVishnu
ConsortShiva

Shakti (Devanagari: शक्ति, IAST: Śakti; lit. "Energy, ability, strength, effort, power, capability"[1]) is the primordial cosmic energy and represents the dynamic forces that are thought to move through the entire universe[2] in Hinduism, and especially Shaktism, a major tradition of Hinduism.

Shakti is the personification of the Energy that is creative, sustaining, as well as destructive, sometimes referred to as auspicious source energy.

As the Sakti or Creatrix, She is known as "Adi Shakti" or "Adi Para Shakti" (i.e., Primordial Inconceivable Energy). On every plane of creation, Energy manifests itself in all forms of matter, thermal energy, potential energy, gravitational energy etc. These are all thought to be infinite forms of the Paraa Shakti. But Her true form is unknown, and beyond human understanding. She is Anaadi (with no beginning, no ending) and Nitya (forever).


In Shaktism, Shakti is worshipped as the Supreme Being. Shakti embodies the active dynamic energy of Shiva (as Devi Shivaa/Shive) and is synonymously identified with Tripura Sundari or Parvati.

Evolution

The goddess Manasa in a dense jungle landscape with a cobra and a swan

The Shakti goddess is also known as Amma (honorific for a respected feminine person and even used for boys. Mother in English denotes a person with child. Sakti is not represented as married or with child) in south India, especially in the states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh. There are many temples devoted to various incarnations of the Shakti goddess in most of the villages in South India. The rural people believe that Shakti is the protector of the village, the punisher of evil people, the cure of diseases, and the one who gives welfare to the village. They celebrate Shakti Jataras with great interest once a year. Some examples of Shakti names are Mahalakshmi, Kamakshi, Parvati, Lalita, Bhuvaneshwari, Durga, Meenakshi, Mariamman, Yellamma, Poleramma, and Perantalamma.

One of the oldest representations of the goddess in India is in a triangular form. The Baghor stone, found in a Paleolithic context in the Son River valley and dating to 9,000–8,000 years BCE,[3] is considered an early example of a yantra.[4] Kenoyer, part of the team that excavated the stone, considered that it was highly probable that the stone is associated with Shakti.[5]

Shaktism

Sri Guru Amritananda Nath Saraswati, performing the Navavarana Puja, an important ritual in Srividya Tantric Shaktism, at the Sahasrakshi Meru Temple at Devipuram, Andhra Pradesh, India.

Shaktism regards Devi (lit., "the Goddess") as the Supreme Brahman itself with all other forms of divinity considered to be merely Her diverse manifestations. In the details of its philosophy and practice, Shaktism resembles Shaivism. However, Shaktas (Sanskrit: शक्त, Śakta, ), practitioners of Shaktism, focus most or all worship on Shakti, as the dynamic feminine aspect of the Supreme Divine. Shiva, the masculine aspect of divinity, is considered solely transcendent, and Shiva's worship is usually secondary.[6]

From Devi-Mahatmya:

By you this universe is borne, By you this world is created, Oh Devi, by you it is protected.[7]

From Shaktisangama Tantra:

Woman is the creator of the universe, the universe is her form; woman is the foundation of the world, she is the true form of the body.

In woman is the form of all things, of all that lives and moves in the world. There is no jewel rarer than woman, no condition superior to that of a woman.[8]

Adi Parashakti

Main article: Adi Parashakti

Smarta Advaita

In the Smarta Advaita sect of Hinduism, Shakti is considered to be one of five equal personal forms of God in the panchadeva system advocated by Adi Shankara.[9]

Shakti Peeths

Main article: Shakti Peetha

According to some schools, there are four Adi Shakti Pitha and 51 Shakti centers of worship located in South Asia (four Adi Shakti Pitha are also part of 51 Shakti pithas but they are four major parts of Devi Sati's body. So, they are adi shakti pithas). They can be found in India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Tibet and Pakistan. These are called Shakti Peethas. The list of locations varies. A commonly accepted list of Shakti Peethas and their temple complexes includes:

Other pithas in Maharashtra are:

Bhajans and mantras

There are many ancient Shakti devotional songs and vibrational chants in the Hindu and Sikh traditions (found in Sarbloh Granth). The recitation of the Sanskrit mantras is commonly used to call upon the Divine Mother.

Kundalini-Shakti-Bhakti Mantra

Adi Shakti, Adi Shakti, Adi Shakti, Namo Namo!
Sarab Shakti, Sarab Shakti, Sarab Shakti, Namo Namo!
Prithum Bhagvati, Prithum Bhagvati, Prithum Bhagvati, Namo Namo!
Kundalini Mata Shakti, Mata Shakti, Namo Namo!

Translation:

Primal Shakti, I bow to Thee!
All-Encompassing Shakti, I bow to Thee!
That through which Divine Creates, I bow to Thee!
Creative Power of the Kundalini, Mother of all Mother Power, To Thee I Bow![12]

"Merge in the Maha Shakti. This is enough to take away your misfortune. This will carve out of you a woman. Woman needs her own Shakti, not anybody else will do it... When a woman chants the Kundalini Bhakti mantra, God clears the way. This is not a religion, it is a reality. Woman is not born to suffer, and woman needs her own power."

~ Yogi Bhajan (Harbhajan Singh)[13]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Monier-Williams, Monier. "Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary". University of Washington. śaktí f. power, ability, strength, might, effort, energy, capability
  2. ^ Sacred Sanskrit words, p.111
  3. ^ Insoll, Timothy; Insoll, Timothy (2002). Archaeology and World Religion. Routledge. p. 36. ISBN 9781134597987.
  4. ^ Harper, Katherine Anne; Brown, Robert L. (2012). Roots of Tantra, The. SUNY Press. p. 39. ISBN 9780791488904.
  5. ^ Kenoyer, J. M.; Clark, J. D.; Pal, J. N.; Sharma, G. R. (1983). "An upper palaeolithic shrine in India?". Antiquity. 57 (220): 93. doi:10.1017/S0003598X00055253.
  6. ^ Subramuniyaswami, p. 1211.
  7. ^ Klostermaier, Klaus K. (1989). A Survey of Hinduism. NY, NY: State University of New York. pp. 261 (fn 1 p 473).
  8. ^ Bose, Mandakranta (2000). Faces of the feminine in ancient, medieval, and modern India. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 115. ISBN 0195352777. OCLC 560196442.
  9. ^ http://www.himalayanacademy.com/resources/books/dws/dws_mandala-02.html
  10. ^ Jwalaji
  11. ^ Naina Devi Temple
  12. ^ Yogi Bhajan as quoted in the Conscious Pregnancy Yoga Teacher's Manual by Tarn Tarn Kaur, Espanola, New Mexico p. 79
  13. ^ Yogi Bhajan as quoted in the Conscious Pregnancy Yoga Teacher's Manual by Tarn Tarn Kaur, Espanola, New Mexico

Further reading

Wikiquote has quotations related to Shakti.
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