A Glimpse into Shakta Worldview and Practice, Part 1
Introduction
Śākta traditions wherein Devi or Goddess is worshipped as the primary power is an ancient religious stream that originated in the immeasurable antiquity of the ancient Indian spiritual thought. This stream too, like the religious milieu it originated in, does not yield easy answers for the scholarly pursuits that attempt to find its origins. Spiritual schools that emerge from this soil are intricately connected like an unseen underground network of roots. It would be an effort in vain to speak about origins and historicity by just looking at the foliage without grasping the density of the interconnectedness beneath the surface. However, the need for historicity is the least of the concerns for the practitioner of the tradition. If our need is to benefit from the power this tradition embodies, then we must shift the quest in the direction of knowing the heart of the practitioner. What philosophical ideas inspire the followers of this path? How does the spiritual pursuit unfold? What does the fulfilment of life mean for the follower of the path? These questions provide greater benefit to the reader in coming closer to the Śākta world view. Therefore, in this essay, an attempt is being made to get a glimpse of the underlying philosophy of the Śākta traditions and thereby, provide insights into various aspects of this practice.
Śākta World View
When Devi or supreme Goddess is worshipped as the primary power, how is the primacy of Devi established in Śākta traditions? One of the fundamental ways to establish primacy is to view the supreme Goddess as presiding over three essential aspects (in few traditions it is five aspects) concerning the manifestation, that is, sṛṣṭi, sthiti and laya. This is to say she as the primal power presides over the key processes of origination of the world, its sustenance, and its dissolution. Here is the quote from Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa echoing this point, since his adoration was to the form of Supreme Goddess as Mahākālī, he alludes this primacy to her.
“When there was neither the creation, nor the sun, the moon, the planets, and the earth, and when darkness was enveloped in darkness, then the Mother, the formless One, Mahākāli, the Great Power, was one with Mahākāla, the Absolute.
After the destruction of the universe, my Divine Mother, the Embodiment of Brahman, gathers together seeds for the next creation. After the creation, the Primal Power dwells in the Universe itself. She brings forth this phenomenal world and then pervades it.1”
It is essential to note in the above quote how Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa recognizes the state of union that the supreme Goddess was with her consort Mahākāla prior to the process of origination. This is a very vital view of the Tāntric paths too. For instance, in Śaiva-siddhānta of Kashmir, the same supreme Goddess who causes the origination and dissolution of the world is recognized as the Parā Bhaṭṭārikā of the Parama-śaiva. In ushering this process of origination and dissolution, it is said there is no change in the status of the śakti, that is, nothing is lost nor gained. Such a śakti is referred to as Svātantrya-śakti of Parama-śiva. This quote, which is a translation of a commentary on Spandakārikā, a very important text for mantra-śāstra, presents this aspect of the supreme Goddess
“Whose śakti (divine power) predominant in displaying creation instinct with the concealment of his essential nature, is the cause of the manifestation of the Universe.2”
Unmeṣa is the word used for the phrase displaying creation. As per the Kāśmīri Śaiva-siddhānta in order to display or to manifest, the essential nature of Parama-śiva has to be concealed. Nimeṣa is the word used for the process of concealment of the essential nature of Parama-śiva. Likewise, when dissolution happens, there is the disappearance of manifest reality and appearance of the essential nature of Parama-śiva. The śakti or power that can achieve such an unfathomable feat without any resultant change in the power is parā-śakti. In the seminal work of Lalitā-sahasranāma which is the litany of thousand names in adoration of the supreme Goddess worshipped as Śrī-lalitā-tripura-sundarī one of the names invokes this phenomenon.
unmeṣa-nimiṣotpanna-vipanna-bhuvanāvalyai namaḥ. Salutations to Her the opening of whose eyes results in creation and closing in dissolution.3
When the manifest reality is contemplated upon as different states of consciousness or avasthā-s: jāgrat (waking state), svapna (dream state), and suṣupti (state of dreamless sleep) here too supreme Goddess is recognized as the presiding power in each of these states. Her abode is recognized as the transcendental state beyond all these states, which is turīya avasthā.
“The potency in the form of consciousness is such that it precedes the triad. While she is called with the name Tripurā, she [in fact] is devoid of any name or description. Even though she has neither the beginning, nor the middle , or the end, she always undergoes what we call creation etc. by manifesting in manifold forms by relying on her own glory.”4
When manifest reality is contemplated upon as different stages of expression, the very power of expression i.e. vāk śakti is none other than the supreme Goddess. Stages of expression are comprised of parā vāk where in an intention to express sprouts, paśyantī where in power to express starts differentiating into clear idea. Phrase paśyantī buddhi is used to indicate the sort of ‘seeing intelligence’. Madhyamā where the idea starts bearing the subtle form. Finally, vaikharī, which is the power of externalizing the subtle form into the mould of the gross world. Here too the supreme Goddess is understood as parā vāk and presides over the rest of the stages of expression.
Yet another way the primacy of supreme Goddess is invoked is by looking at her place within the Vedic world view. Durgā-sūktam of the Ṛgveda is a very popular hymn amongst the śāktas. Part of this hymn is ascribed to Mahānārāyaṇa Upaniṣad, and also scholars still debate if the hymn is an invocation to Agni, a central Vedic deity or to the Goddess Durgā. Nevertheless, this hymn has now been thoroughly integrated into Śākta traditions. Here Devī Durgā is called upon as Jātavedas, the one who gave birth to the Vedas. Here the Goddess is also invoked to help us crossover the troubled waters of saṃsāra. She is also invoked as the power to overcome the obstacles and power to fight the enemies. All these are important traits that get full-blown exposition in the form of one of the most primeval Śākta religious text Devīmāhātmya, located within Mārkaṇḍeya-purāṇa.
This text portrays the gory battle that is waged by the supreme Goddess upon the demonic forces. When gods seek refuge in the goddess and pray for her intervention to liberate them from bondage to the demonic forces, the supreme Goddess benevolently agrees. As she sets out for the battle, all the gods and divine beings offer their weapons and protective shield to the supreme Goddess. This is a very crucial part of the narrative as the Śākta views that these powers that are being offered by gods are actually Devī’s powers. It is she who has bestowed upon them these powers to run the world order. When the time has come for a daunting battle, she recovers these powers to set forth for battle.
Thus, there are various ways of looking at the world process, its stages and states and its appearance and disappearance, Śākta would look at the supreme Goddess as the presiding power all through. In doing so, Śākta asserts that the manifest world is not an illusion nor is it unreal. On the contrary, it is real and absolute power which is the power of the supreme Goddess that upholds this reality. This inference when followed further leads to pragmatic stand which is unique to Śākta traditions, that is, to say when the unmanifest absolute is unfathomable and when the upkeep of world order is the concern of supreme Goddess, isn’t it then more appropriate for us to worship the supreme Goddess as the ultimate truth? Because it is this power that can bind us to the world and therefore, it is her grace that can liberate us.
This is the world that the Śākta inhabits. A world where the supreme Goddess is the ultimate truth and ultimate power. It is pivotal to understand these foundational views if we want to grasp the essence of the Śākta heart. It is this view that guides all the rituals and worship modes of the Śākta tradition. It is this view that the Śākta espouses to enter into, a devotional relationship with the supreme Goddess and if the seeker longs for a non-dualistic realization of the truth, it is by merging into the consciousness, the chit-śakti of the supreme Goddess.. To rephrase this view of the Śāktas, they would simply say Brahman of the Upaniṣadic thought and supreme Goddess Śakti of the Śāktas are but one. To quote Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa –
“The Brahman and Śakti are identical. If you accept the one, you must accept the other. It is like fire and its power to burn. If you see the fire, you must recognize its power to burn also. You cannot think of the fire without its power to burn, nor can you think of the power to burn without fire.”5
Painting by Smt. Parvathy Baul, based on a Baul Song written by Radhashyam Das Goshai. This work depicts Gods, Brahma and Viṣṇu, offering salutations to divine Mother. Lord Śiva is accepted by Bhagavatī to be her consort.
Insights into Practice
One underlying impulse that throbs within all the Bhāratīya religious traditions is the insistence on arriving at an experiential understanding of the truth through yoga. Philosophies however exalted, just the ontological and psychological understanding of reality, are by themselves insufficient. They are essential in providing a robust hypothesis but an earnest seeker is steadfast in knowing if this hypothesis works.
So how do the Śāktas worship the supreme Goddess?
Forms of the goddess are threefold. She can be related to in the gross form. She is also worshipped in the form of the yantra and she is also referred to as ‘mantra-rūpiṇī’ when she is worshipped in the form of the mantra. However, when one enters the deeper philosophical waters of the Śākta tradition, then we start seeing the supreme Goddess as the underlying consciousness of all that ever is. When such primacy is established, it becomes imperative to look beyond these three forms. For instance, Goddess is also worshipped as a presiding deity amongst children of a certain age group. She is also worshipped as a specific stream of water or a tree. These variant forms are often referred to as ‘avyakta-svarūpa’, wherein the expression of divine nature is in the secret state. One would come across these variant forms of the Goddess in all the śakti-pīṭhas, sacred centers exclusively dedicated for the worship of the supreme Goddess. Given the antiquity of our religious ethos, it is difficult to fit approaches of worship into restricted frameworks. There are worship modes which a common man can take up and then there are specialized vidyās which need a very dedicated lifestyle to bear fruition. These specialized vidyās are taught in the traditional ‘guru-śiṣya’ approach. In this case, a seeker goes through formal initiation to be ushered into the path of systematic practice.
All forms of worship involve corresponding rituals. Rituals are outlined in detail in the traditional texts. Performance of rituals is essential to bridge the connection between the devotee and the deity. The texts that hold the knowledge of the rituals for special vidyās need further instruction from the Guru to understand the essence. For instance, a crucial ritual text called Paraśurāma-kalpa-sūtras informs the specialized rituals for the tradition of ‘Śrīvidyā’ which worships the supreme Goddess as ‘Śrīlalitā-tripura-sundarī’. It is a vast work that comprises many details of the ritual practice for this specific tradition and guides the practitioner in the worship of the supreme Goddess in all three forms i.e deity with rūpa, yantra and mantra. Often practice is blending of all three, but as one proceeds deeper and builds affiliation to one of these forms based on one’s own psychological proclivity, these texts enable this process seamlessly. Therefore, these texts are not to be looked at as just manuals of practice but in essence they are psychological maps to traverse the inner realms of spiritual practice i.e sādhanā.
Authored by Ramachandra Roddam. Published by Brhat.