Shakti- The feminine aspect of God

 

It is widely accepted by scientists that the Big Bang happened almost 14 billion years ago. The earth came into being 4.5 billion years ago and the earliest species of humans originated in Africa around 2.5 million years ago. It is difficult to assess when Humans started worshiping Gods and that too the feminine aspect.

The worship of a divine feminine has been found in various ancient and prehistoric sites and across cultures. In Sanatan or the Hindu religion, the culture of worshiping Shakti or the divine feminine is as old as the religion itself, if not earlier. There is evidence of worship of female deities in the Indus Valley Civilization. While God can only be father according to Christianity and the Great creator according to Islam, it is far more reasonable to conceive him as father-mother than merely as father. This is what the cult of Shakti has visualized in the umbrella of Sanatan Dharma. Shiva is pure being and Shakti is pure will. Each is a complement of the other and if separated completely from the other, both will be mere fictions.Together they are the cosmic whole and what transcends it.

In the Vedic literature, there were a number of Goddesses like Usas, Ratri, Vak, Prithvi and Sarasvati. Gradually, just as Vishnu rose in prominence by assimilating to himself all traits of Indra, Surya and Varuna, so does the consort of Rudra by assimilating to herself the traits of the other goddesses especially vak rose in prominence. The Rigveda, probably the oldest surviving text of Humanity, includes a hymn in praise of divine feminine known as “ Devi Suktam”. In the first verse, the Goddess declares herself as the controlling power behind the many Devas who are associated with various facets and functions of this universe. She claims to move as one with the mighty Devas, including the eleven Rudras, Vasus, Adityas and Vishwadevas, assuming their form. She is their core and inner self of all the Devas. She is more than their equal, as she sustains and holds them aloft. She is thus Supreme. Goddess also proclaims: “I am the sovereign queen of all existence …I bend the bow for Rudra; I pervade heaven and earth.” Goddess Durga is also called Ambika, or in short just Amba (Mother), or Devi Amba. There are mentions of a divine mother in various Upanishads too.

Gradually, the Shakta tradition emerged around three major centers- Kashmir, Kanchi and Kamakhya. The first two were epicenters of what is known as “Srividya” and Kamakhya is still a main place for “kaul” tradition. There are two hymns in the Mahabharata dedicated to Durga, which shows that by this time, Shakti worship tradition was as fairly established as the vaishnav and Shaivite traditions. One of the two instances is when Krishna exhorts Aruna to take blessings of the divine mother before the battle of Mahabharat. Arjuna pleases Durga with his hymn and devi appears before Krishna and Arjuna and blesses them with a boon of victory over their enemies. It is believed that Mata Vaishnodevi devi is the one whom Arjuna pleased before Mahabharata War and she is one of the two living divine presence on Earth along with Lord hanuman and therefore, connects to the devotees faster for their well being.

Just as Vishnu is said to have descended several times to uphold dharma and vanquish Rakshasas, so in parallel Universe of Devi, there are several forms to eliminate demons such as Mahisasura (Quelled by Chandi), Chanda and Munda (Killed by kali) and Bhanda (slayed by Lalita). Similar to the verse in Gita, Devi Mahatmya has a passage which proclaims that Devi incarnates in various forms to uphold Dharma and kill Danavas.

Other major texts of Shakti Upasana in Sanatan Dharma are the following:-

Devi Mahatmya:- By far, the most important text of Shaktism is the Devi Mahatmya (also known as the Durga Saptashati, Chandi or Chandi-Path), found in the Markandeya Purana. She is portrayed as Mahishasura Mardini, Slayer of the Buffalo Demon – a central episode of the Devi Mahatmya, and one of the most famous in all of Hindu mythology.

Lalita Sahasranama:- It is a sequel to the lalitopakhyana which forms part of the Brahmanda Purana. It consists of three chapters. The first is introductory, the second gives the thousand names of the Great Goddess Lalita Ambika and the third contains the usual phalashruti of the benefits of reciting thousand names of Goddess Lalita. Several verses are devoted to Sri chakra which is considered as the form of Goddess. If the Mantra is revelation of the Mother in sound, the yantra is her revelation in lines. Lalita Sahasranama is different from Devi mahatmya and earlier hymns in predominance of Tantrik philosophy and sadhana with three great pillars of Panchadasi Mantra, Kundalini yoga and Sri chakra.

Devi Bhagwatam:- This is one of the 18 mahapuranas authored by Sage Ved Vyasa. The Goddess in the Devi-Bhagavata becomes less of a warrior goddess, and more a nurturer and comforter of her devotees, and a teacher of wisdom. This development in the character of the Goddess culminates in the Devi Gita, which "repeatedly stresses the necessity of love for the goddess, with no mention of one's gender, as the primary qualification," a view inspired by the devotional ideals of Shaktism.

Saundarya Lahiri:- Adi Shankaracharya has written this beautiful Stotra in praise of Mother Goddess. Saundarya Lahari literally translates to 'the wave of beauty' and is specifically tantric in content. Shiva is chitta, the pure attribute-less consciousness within all of us, and Shakti is chidrupini, the power inherent in that consciousness, from which all creation is made possible.