Hinduism: A Short History (44 page)

The philosophy of Śāktism does not intend to isolate the spiritual self from
prakṛti
but to immerse the spiritual self in
prakṛti
, to reunify the two basic principles of reality which are seen as polarity in the phenomenal world, but have in reality but one ground and source. The details of the way to ultimate bliss vary according to different schools. Many accept a plurality of Śaktis which are instrumental in the process of liberation.

Śaktism accepts the possibility of
jīvan-mukti
. According to the
Devī-Bhāgavata Purāṇa
¹¹⁰
one thought of Devī in her revealed form can transform one instantly into a
mukta
. The
Mahānirvāṇa Tantra
writes: “He who sees everything in Brahman and who sees Brahman everywhere is undoubtedly known as a true Kaula, who has attained liberation while yet living.”
¹¹¹
Śakti is considered instrumental in bondage and liberation also in Vaiṣṇavism and Śaivism, though her functions are defined differently. Thus Śaṅkara recognizes
śakti
as the root of all phenomenal existence, as the root of bondage and creation: “This world, when being dissolved, is dissolved to that extent only that the
śakti
of the world remains and is produced from the root of that
śakti.”
¹¹²
And: “Belonging to the Self, as it were, of the omniscient Lord, there are name and form, the figments of Nescience not to be defined either as being or as different from it, the germs of the entire expanse of the phenomenal world, called in
śruti
and
smrti, māyā, śakti
or
prakṛti
of the omniscient Lord. Different from them is the omniscient Lord himself.”

In Śrīvaiṣṇavism
śakti
has a much more positive function and the tendency to ascribe to the Ultimate a plurality of Śaktis as his hypostases becomes clearly marked out. Thus Rāmānuja writes, quoting first from the
Viṣṇu Purāṇa
(VI, 7, 61–63): “The
śakti
of Viṣṇu is the highest, that which is called the embodied soul is inferior; and there is another third energy called
karma
or Nescience, actuated by which the omnipresent
śakti
of the embodied soul perpetually undergoes the afflictions of wordly existence.’ These and other texts teach that the highest Brahman is essentially free from all imperfection whatsoever, comprises within itself all auspicious qualities, and finds its pastime in originating, preserving, reabsorbing, pervading, and ruling the universe; that the entire complex of intelligent and non-intelligent beings in all their different estates is real and constitues the
rūpa
or
śakti
of the highest Brahman.” The lessons which he draws from the
Purāṇa
text is the following: “It declares that the highest Brahman, that is, Viṣṇu possesses two
rūpas
, called
śaktis
, a
murta
and an
amūrta
one, and then teaches that the portion of the
mūrta
, namely the
kṣetrajñā
(embodied soul) which is distinguished by its connection with matter and involved in nesciences – that is termed
karma
, and constitutes a third
śakti –
is not perfect.”
¹¹³
He also declares Bhagavat to be the abode of the three
śaktis
.

Still more explicit and nearer to Śāktism is Caitanya’s form of Vaiṣṇavism in which a number of Śaktis are ascribed to Viṣṇu-Kṛṣṇa, the highest of which,
hlādinī śakti
, gives bliss (by sharing) to all his
bhaktas.
¹¹⁴

In the Śaiva system of Pratyabhijñā a number of Śaktis of Śiva play a great role.
¹¹⁵
In the Śaiva system as described by Mādhava the grace of Śiva is personified as
rodhaśakti.
¹¹⁶

The most characteristic teaching of Śāktism, however, comes close to Advaita Vedānta: Śakti is considered to be identical with Brahman. Śakti is the creative force which creates the world and the creation is one with the force which pervades it.
¹¹⁷
The earliest evidence for Śakti-Advaita can be found in some
Purāṇas
, in which Devī is explaining her own identity with Brahman.
¹¹⁸
The
Śākta Upaniṣads
, which belong to the period from the twelfth century onward, teach Śakti-Advaita and liberation through Śrīmahāvidyā. Quite significant also are the narrations in the
Purāṇas
where Devī is described as imparting
jñāna
as a means to liberation. The
Tantras are
built on a basis of Śakti-Advaita, considering the world -which is seen as real – as an expression of Śakti. Śakti as Cit-Śakti has two basic powers:
prakāśa
and
vimarṣa-śakti
. The latter makes self-experience possible through the manifestations of the world.

Since Śakti is both
avidyā
and
vidyā
, matter and spirit, the
sādhāna
taught by Sāktas often emphasizes the oneness of
bhukti
and
mukti
, the merging of matter and spirit instead of their discrimination
(viveka)
as advocated by other systems. The perfection of the
jīvas
is achieved through an assumption of all the different forms of Śakti into their own subtle bodies, thus becoming one with the force that sustains the universe.

ŚĀKTISM TODAY

Śāktism has deeply influenced many recent movements of religious and philosophical renewal. As outstanding examples we may mention Rāmakrishna Paramahamsa, the ecstatic priest of the Goddess at Daksinesvara, and Aurobindo Ghose, the recluse of Pondicherry with a worldwide audience. Many people find in Śāktism a basis for a religion for our age, a religion which takes material reality as seriously as spirit.
¹¹⁹
As V. S. Agrawala writes: “Mother Earth is the deity of the new age ... the
kalpa
of Indra-Agni and the
yuga
of Śiva-Viṣṇu are no more. The modern age offers its salutations to Mother Earth whom it adores as the super-goddess ... Mother Earth is the presiding deity of the age, let us worship her.”
¹²⁰

Goddess worship is an integral part of contemporary Hinduism both in India and abroad. Recently in India, two large new Śākta temples have been added to the countless traditional ones of the past: the Aṣṭalakṣmī Temple in Cennai (Madras), and the Kailās Ashram in Bangalore. One of the largest Hindu temples outside India, the MahālakṣmI temple in Boston, is dedicated to the Goddess, and so is the more recent Mīnākṣī temple in Houston. During the last few years a large Durgā temple was completed in Toronto. Of the 17,000 Hindu temples registered in Malaysia, 10,000 are Śākta temples. Wherever there are larger numbers of emigrant Hindus, in countries such as South Africa, Trinidad, Fiji and Surinam, new Goddess shrines are built.
¹²¹

Not surprisingly, the Goddess, especially in her fierce form, as Durgā, has also become the patron deity of the Indian women’s liberation movement. Many feminist groups add her name to their self-description, indicating a new confidence in the power of the female aspect of the creator, preserver, and destroyer.

NOTES

1.

   E. Neumann,

, translated by R. Manheim.

2.

   A. D. Pusalker, “The Indus Civilization.”

3.

   R. C. Hazra,

, pp. 23ff.

4.

   Cf. S. K. Chatterji, “Race Movements and Prehistoric Culture,” in

, vol. I, pp.

.

5.

   H. Whitehead,

, p. 11.

6.

   R. C. Hazra,

, pp. 18f.

7.

   The Thugs who murdered thousands of people were Sāktas and considered every murder as an offering to Devī. Cf. R. C. Hazra,

, pp. 18f.

8.

   See, for example, Ruth S. Freed and Stanley A. Freed,

. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1993.

9.

, I, 370f.

10.

XII, 21, 10f.; quoted by A. P. Karmarkar,

.

11.

   Cf. P. C. Bagchi, “Evolution of the Tantras,” in

, vol. IV, chap. 12, pp. 211–226.

12.

   Cf.

out from the Supreme Mahālakṣmi issue Sarasvatī, Laksmī and Mahākālī as manifestations of her

, and

. Each of these divide again into a male and female form that are wedded among themselves: out from Sarasvatī issue Gaurī and Viṣṇu; from Laksmī come Laksmī and Hiraṇyagarbha; from Mahākālī come Sarasvatī and Rudra. Gaurī is wedded to Rudra, Viṣṇu to Laksmī, and Hiraṇyagarbha to Sarasvatī.

13.

   Another important set of titles of Devī is connected with her activities: as Mahākālī she is connected with

, as Mahāmārī she is causing

as Laksmī she bestows wealth, as ALaksmī or Jyeṣṭhādevī she destroys wealth.’

14.

, one of the most important scriptures of Śāktism, was probably written in Kāmarūpa. It describes the various sanctuaries of the Mother Goddess Kāmākhyā, the main deity of Assam. Cf. Bani Kanta Kakati,

.

15.

   L. Rénou,

, p. 120. The interpretation of Aditi as Great Mother is Przyluski’s.

16.

I, 136, 3.

17.

IV, 22ff.

18.

X, 125, Translation T. R. H. Griffith, vol. I, pp. 572f. K. F Geldner,

, vol. Ill, p. 355, calls the hymn “eine der Vorstufen der Prāṇa-Brahman-Ātman Lehre.”

19.

   Ṛgveda X, 127, 2 b.

20.

   S. Chattopadhyaya,

, pp. 49ff.

III, 5ff:

as

of Śiva-Rudra.

21.

   Cf. S. Chattopadhyaya,

, pp. 51f.

22.

   E.g.,

III, 25.

I, 2, 4. Pāṇini mentions the same goddess Indrānī, Varunānī, (IV, I 49) Agnāyī, Vṛṣikapāyī (37). Prithvī-Dyānī; Uṣas (IV, 2, 31). Four names of Pārvatī, namely, Bhāvanī, Śarvānī, Rudrānī, Mṛdānī (IV, 1, 49). “The names of Sarvānī and Bhāvanī were local designations of the one and the same Mother Goddess.” According to

II, 1, 3, 18, Śarva was popular in Prācya, Bhava in Vātūka. Cf. A. Agravala,

, p. 359.

23.

, pp. 52ff.

24.

II, 86.

25.

   Ibid., I, 35; I, 43.

26.

   Ibid., I, 43f. See also: H. v. Stietencron,

. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1973.

27.

   Ibid., I, 35.

28.

Anuśāsanaparvan, 134.

29.

   Ibid., 127.

30.

Sauptikaparvan, 8, 64ff.

31.

   Ibid., 8, 82.

32.

   Ibid.

33.

Bhīṣmaparvan, 23, 4–16 (Critical Ed., App. I, 1, pp. 710ff.).

34.

   The date of the Durgā hymn in

according to E. Payne’s

(p. 39), is third or fourth century C.E. According to Sircar’s

the Devīstotra is earlier than the

. S. K. Belvalkar, the editor of the

, relegates the Durgāstotra to the Appendix (I, 1, p. 710), considering it an interpolation later than the

(pp. 768/22).

35.

   Raghu Vira, the editor of the

, relegates the entire Durgāstotra of the Vulgate (6) to the Appendix I, 4, D.

36.

Śalyaparvan, 45.

37.

III, 3.

38.

I, 3; II, 120.

39.

   According to R. C. Hazra, “The Upapurāṇas,” in

, vol. II, pp. 280ff.

40.

   Cf. R. C. Hazra,

, vol. II, pp. 466ff.

41.

   The main texts concerning Devī in the

are:

81–93;

17–21; 51–56;