Shaktism (शाक्त) is one of several major Hindu denominations, wherein the metaphysical reality is considered metaphorically a woman and Shakti (Mahadevi) is regarded as the supreme godhead. It includes many goddesses, all considered aspects of the same supreme goddess. Shaktism has different sub-traditions, ranging from those focused on the most worshipped Durga, gracious Parvati to that of fierce Kali. Shaktism also emphasizes that intense love of the deity is more important than simple obedience, thus showing the influence of Vaishnava’s idea that a passionate relationship between Radha and Krishna is also the ideal relationship. These older ideas still influence modern Shaktism. Similarly, Shaktism’s ideas have also influenced Vaishnavism and Shaivism traditions. Moreover, Swami Hardas Life System of Dr. SwamiHardas gives special attention to Shaktism.
What is Shaktism?
Shaktism is the worship of the Hindu goddess Shakti (Sanskrit: “Power” or “Energy”). Shaktism is, together with Vaishnavism and Shaivism, one of the major forms of modern Hinduism and is especially popular in Bengal and Assam. Many Hindus worship Shakti as the divine mother who calls for absolute surrender.
Shaktism Origins and History
The earliest archaeological evidence of what appears to be an Upper Paleolithic shrine for Shakti worship was discovered in the terminal upper paleolithic site of Baghor I (Baghor stone) in the Sidhi district of Madhya Pradesh, India. The excavations carried out under the guidance of noted archaeologists G. R. Sharma of Allahabad University and J. Desmond Clark of the University of California and assisted by Jonathan Mark Kenoyer and J.N. Pal, dated the Baghor formation to between 9000 B.C and 8000 B.C. The origins of Shakti worship can also be traced to the Indus Valley civilization.
Rig Veda
Among the earliest evidence of reverence for the female aspect of God in Hinduism is this passage in chapter 10.125 of the Rig Veda, also called the Devi Suktam hymn:
I am the Queen, the gatherer-up of treasures, most thoughtful, first of those who merit worship. Thus Gods have established me in many places with many homes to enter and abide in. Through me alone all eat the food that feeds them, – each man who sees, breathes, hears the word outspoken. They know it not, yet I reside in the essence of the Universe…
The eternal and infinite consciousness is I, it is my greatness dwelling in everything.
— Devi Sukta, Rigveda 10.125.3 – 10.125.8,
Vedic literature
The Vedic literature reveres various goddesses, but far less frequently than Gods Indra, Agni, and Soma. The goddesses often mentioned in the Vedic layers of text include the Ushas (dawn), Vāc (speech, wisdom), Sarasvati (as a river), Prithivi (earth), Nirriti (annihilator), Shraddha (faith, confidence). Goddesses such as Uma appear in the Upanishads as another aspect of the divine and the knower of ultimate knowledge (Brahman), such as in sections 3 and 4 of the ancient Kena Upanishad.
Hindu epic Mahabharata
Hymns to goddesses are in the ancient Hindu epic Mahabharata, particularly in the Harivamsa section, which was a late addition (100 to 300 CE) to the work. The archaeological and textual evidence implies, states Thomas Coburn, that the Goddess had become as prominent as God in Hindu tradition by about the third or fourth century. The literature on Shakti theology grew in ancient India, climaxing in one of the most important texts of Shaktism called the Devi Mahatmya.
This text, states C. Mackenzie Brown – a professor of Religion, is both a culmination of centuries of Indian ideas about the divine woman, as well as a foundation for the literature and spirituality focused on the female transcendence in centuries that followed. The Devi-Mahatmya is not the earliest literary fragment attesting to the existence of devotion to a Goddess figure, states Thomas B. Coburn – a professor of Religious Studies, but “it is surely the earliest in which the object of worship is conceptualized as Goddess, with a capital G”.
Shakta Upanishads
Other important texts of Shaktism include the Shakta Upanishads, as well as Shakta-oriented Upa Puranic literature such as the Devi Purana and Kalika Purana, the Lalita Sahasranama (from the Brahmanda Purana). The Tripura Upanishad is historically the most complete introduction to Shakta Tantrism, distilling into its 16 verses almost every important topic in Shakta Tantra tradition.
Along with the Tripura Upanishad, the Tripuratapini Upanishad has attracted scholarly bhasya (commentary) in the second half of the 2nd-millennium, such as the work of Bhaskararaya, and Ramanand. These texts link the Shakti Tantra tradition as a Vedic attribute, however, this link has been contested by scholars.
Shakta bhakti poems and songs
The 18th-century Shakta bhakti poems and songs were composed by two Bengal court poets, Bharatchandra Ray and Ramprasad Sen, as well as the Tamil collection Abhirami Anthadhi. Shakta-universalist Sri Ramakrishna, one of the most influential figures of the Hindu reform movements, believed that all Hindu goddesses are manifestations of the same Mother Goddess.
Shaktism Theology
Shaktas conceive the Goddess as the supreme, ultimate, eternal reality of all existence, the same as the Brahman concept of Hinduism. She is considered to be simultaneously the source of all creation, its embodiment and the energy that animates and governs it, and that into which everything will ultimately dissolve. According to V. R. Ramachandra Dikshitar – a professor of Indian history, in Shaktism theology “Brahman is static Shakti and Shakti is dynamic Brahman.”
Devi-Bhagavata Purana
Shaktism views the Devi as the source, essence, and substance of everything in creation. Its texts such as the Devi-Bhagavata Purana states:
I am Manifest Divinity, Unmanifest Divinity, and Transcendent Divinity. I am Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, as well as Saraswati, Lakshmi and Parvati. I am the Sun and I am the Stars, and I am also the Moon. I am all animals and birds, and I am the outcaste as well, and the thief. I am the low person of dreadful deeds, and the great person of excellent deeds. I am Female, I am Male in the form of Shiva.
Devi is considered to be the cosmos
Shaktism’s focus on the Divine Female does not imply a rejection of the male. It rejects masculine-feminine, male-female, soul-body, transcendent-immanent dualism, considering nature as divine. She is the embodiment of energy, matter, and soul, the motivating force behind all action and existence in the material universe.
Yet in Shaktism, states C. MacKenzie Brown, the cultural concepts of masculine and the feminine as they exist among practitioners of Shaktism are aspects of the divine, transcendent reality. In Hindu iconography, the cosmic dynamic of male-female or masculine-feminine interdependence and equivalence is expressed in the half-Shakti, half-Shiva deity known as Ardhanari.
Shaktadavaitavada
The philosophical premises in many Shakta texts, states June McDaniel – a professor of Religious Studies, is a syncretism of Samkhya and Advaita Vedanta schools of Hindu philosophy, called Shaktadavaitavada (literally, the path of nondualistic Shakti). The Hindu monk Swami Vivekananda, remarked thus; about being an actual Shakti worshipper: “Do you know who is the real “Shakti-worshipper”? It is he who knows that God is the omnipresent force in the universe and sees in women the manifestation of that Force.”
Devi Gita
The seventh book of the Srimad Devi-Bhagavatam presents the theology of Shaktism. This book is called Devi Gita, or the “Song of the Goddess”. The Goddess explains she is the Brahman that created the world, asserting the Advaita premise that spiritual liberation occurs when one fully comprehends the identity of one’s soul and the Brahman. This knowledge, asserts the Goddess, comes from detaching self from the world and meditating on one’s own soul.
Bhagavad Gita
The Devi Gita, like the Bhagavad Gita, is a condensed philosophical treatise. It presents the divine female as a powerful and compassionate creator, pervader, and protector of the universe. She is shown in the opening chapter of the Devi Gita as the benign and beautiful world-mother, called Bhuvaneshvari (literally, ruler of the universe). Thereafter, the text presents its theological and philosophical teachings.
Advaita Vedanta ideas
The Devi Gita describes the Devi (or Goddess) as “universal, cosmic energy” resident within each individual. It thus weaves in the terminology of the Samkhya school of Hindu philosophy. The text is suffused with Advaita Vedanta ideas, wherein nonduality is emphasized, all dualities are declared as incorrect, and the interconnected oneness of all living being’s souls with Brahman is held as liberating knowledge.
However, adds Tracy Pintchman – a professor of Religious Studies and Hinduism, Devi Gita incorporates Tantric ideas giving the Devi a form and motherly character rather than the gender-neutral concept of Adi Shankara’s Advaita Vedanta.
List of 8 Shakta Upanishads
| Title | Muktika serial # | Attached Veda | Period of creation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sita Upanishad | 45 | Atharva Veda | At least 10,000 Years Before |
| Tripuratapini Upanishad | 80 | Atharva Veda | At least 10,000 Years Before |
| Devi Upanishad | 81 | Atharva Veda | At least 10,000 Years Before |
| Tripura Upanishad | 82 | Rigveda | At least 10,000 Years Before |
| Bhavana Upanishad | 84 | Atharva Veda | At least 10,000 Years Before |
| Saubhagyalakshmi Upanishad | 105 | Rigveda | Unknown |
| Sarasvati-rahasya Upanishad | 106 | Krishna Yajurveda | At least 10,000 Years Before |
| Bahvricha Upanishad | 107 | Rigveda | At least 10,000 Years Before |
Tantra
Sub-traditions of Shaktism include “Tantra”, which refers to techniques, practices, and ritual grammar involving mantra, yantra, nyasa, mudra, and certain elements of traditional kundalini yoga, typically practiced under the guidance of a qualified guru after due initiation (Diksha) and oral instruction to supplement various written sources. There has been a historic debate between Shakta theologians on whether its tantric practices are Vedic or non-Vedic.
Shakta Tantrism
The roots of Shakta Tantrism are unclear, probably ancient, and independent of the Vedic tradition of Hinduism. The interaction between Vedic and Tantric traditions trace back to at least the sixth century, and the surge in Tantra tradition developments during the late medieval period, states Geoffrey Samuel, was a means to confront and cope with Islamic invasions and political instability in and after 14th-century CE.
Notable Shakta tantras are:
- Saradatilaka Tantra of Lakshmanadesika (11th century),
- Kali Tantra (c. 15th century),
- Yogini Tantra,
- Sarvanandanatha’s Sarvolassa Tantra,
- Brahmananda Giri’s Saktananda Tarangini with Tararahasya,
- Purnananda Giri’s Syamarahasya with Sritattvacintamani (16th century),
- Krishananda Agamavagisa’s Tantrasara,
- Raghunatna Tarkavagisa Bhattacarya Agamatattvavilasa (17th century),
- As well as works of Bhaskaracharya (18th century).
Principal deities of Shaktism
Shaktas approach the Devi in many forms; however, they are all considered to be but diverse aspects of the one supreme Goddess. The primary Devi form worshiped by a Shakta devotee is his or her Ishta-Devi, which is a personally selected Devi. The selection of this deity can depend on many factors such as family tradition, regional practice, guru lineage, and personal resonance.
The common goddesses of Shaktism, popular in the Hindu thought at least by about mid-1st-millennium CE, include:
- Parvati,
- Durga,
- Kali,
- Yogmaya,
- Lakshmi,
- Saraswati,
- Gayatri,
- Radha, and
- Sita.
Rarer forms of Devi
The rarer forms of Devi found among tantric Shakta are the:
- Mahavidyas,
- Tripura Sundari,
- Bhuvaneshvari,
- Tara,
- Bhairavi,
- Chhinnamasta,
- Dhumavati,
- Bagalamukhi,
- Matangi, and
- Kamala.
Other major Goddess groups include the Sapta-Matrika (“Seven Little Mothers”), “who are the energies of different major Gods, and described as assisting the great Shakta Devi in her fight with demons”, and the 64 Yoginis. Eight forms of goddess Lakshmi are called Ashtalakshmi and the nine forms of goddess Durga, the Navadurgas worshipped in Navratri.
Tantric traditions of Shaktism
Vidyapitha
The Vidyāpīṭha is subdivided into Vāmatantras, Yāmalatantras, and Śaktitantras.
Kulamarga
It is subdivided into four subcategories of texts based on the goddesses Kuleśvarī, Kubjikā, Kālī, and Tripurasundarī respectively. The Trika texts are closely related to the Kuleśvarī texts and can be considered part of the Kulamārga.
Worship in Shaktism
Its two largest and most visible schools are the Srikula (family of Tripura Sundari), the strongest in South India, and the Kalikula (family of Kali), which prevails in northern and eastern India.
Srikula: Family of Lalita Tripura Sundari
The Srikula (family of Sri ) tradition (sampradaya) focuses worship on Devi in the form of the Goddess Lalita-Tripura Sundari, who is regarded as the Great Goddess. Rooted in the first millennium. Srikula became a force in South India no later than the seventh century and is today the prevalent form of Shaktism practiced in South Indian regions such as Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Tamil areas of Sri Lanka.
Srividya
Srividya largely views the Goddess as “benign [saumya] and beautiful [saundarya]” (in contrast to Kalikula’s focus on “terrifying [ugra] and horrifying [ghora]” Goddess forms such as Kali or Durga). In Srikula practice, moreover, every aspect of the Goddess – whether malignant or gentle – is identified with Lalita.
Lalita
Srikula adepts most often worship Lalita using the abstract Sri Chakra yantra, which is regarded as her subtle form. The Sri Chakra can be visually rendered either as a two-dimensional diagram (whether drawn temporarily as part of the worship ritual or permanently engraved in metal) or in the three-dimensional, pyramidal form known as the Sri Meru. It is not uncommon to find a Sri Chakra or Sri Meru installed in South Indian temples, because – as modern practitioners assert – “there is no disputing that this is the highest form of Devi and that some of the practice can be done openly. But what you see in the temples is not the Srichakra worship you see when it is done privately.”
Kaula and Samaya
The Kaula or Kaulachara first appeared as a coherent ritual system in central India in the 8th century Its most revered theorist is the 18th-century philosopher Bhaskararaya, widely considered “the best exponent of Shakta philosophy.”
The Samaya or Samayacharya finds its roots in the work of the 16th-century commentator Lakshmidhara, and is “fiercely puritanical [in its] attempts to reform Tantric practice in ways that bring it in line with high-caste norms.” Many Samaya practitioners explicitly deny being either Shakta or Tantric, though scholars argue that their cult remains technically both. The Samaya-Kaula division marks “an old dispute within Hindu Tantrism,” and one that is vigorously debated to this day.
Kalikula: A family of Kali
The Kalikula (Family of Kali) form of Shaktism is most dominant in northeastern India and is most widely prevalent in West Bengal, Assam, Bihar, and Odisha, as well as Nepal and Kerala. Kalikula lineages focus on the Devi as the source of wisdom (vidya) and liberation (moksha). The tantric part generally stands “in opposition to the Brahmanic tradition,” which they view as “overly conservative and denying the experiential part of religion.”
Uma
The main deities of the Kalikula tradition are Kali, Chandi, Bheema, and Durga. Other goddesses that enjoy veneration are Tara and all the other Mahavidyas, Kaumari as well as regional goddesses such as Manasa, the snake goddesses, Ṣaṣṭī, the protectress of children, Śītalā, the smallpox goddess, and Umā (the Bengali name for Parvati) — all of them, again, considered aspects of the Divine Mother.
Bhavani
In Nepal, Devi is mainly worshipped as the goddess Bhavani. She is one of the important Hindu deities in Nepal. Two major centers of Shaktism in West Bengal are Kalighat where the skull of Kali is believed to be worshipped along with her 25 forms. The kali ghat temple is located in Calcutta and Tarapith in the Birbhum district. In Calcutta, the emphasis is on devotion (bhakti) to the Goddess as Kali. Where the goddess(kali) is seen as the destroyer of evil.:
She is “the loving mother who protects her children and whose fierceness guards them. She is outwardly frightening – with dark skin, pointed teeth, and a necklace of skulls – but inwardly beautiful. She can guarantee a good rebirth or great religious insight, and her worship is often communal – especially at festivals, such as Kali Puja and Durga Puja. Worship may involve contemplation of the devotee’s union with or love of the Goddess, visualization of her form, chanting [of her] mantras, prayer before her image or yantra, and giving [of] offerings.”
Tara
At Tarapith, Devi’s manifestation as Tara (“She Who Saves”) or Ugratara (“Fierce Tara”) is ascendant, as the Goddess who gives liberation (kaivalyadayini). […] The forms of sadhana performed here are more yogic and tantric than devotional, and they often involve sitting alone at the [cremation] ground, surrounded by ash and bone. There are shamanic elements associated with the Tarapith tradition, including “conquest of the Goddess’, exorcism, trance, and control of spirits.”
A pervasive vision of the Devi
The philosophical and devotional underpinning of all such rituals, however, remains a pervasive vision of the Devi as supreme, absolute divinity. As expressed by the nineteenth-century saint Ramakrishna, one of the most influential figures in modern Bengali Shaktism:
Kali is none other than Brahman. That which is called Brahman is really Kali. She is the Primal Energy. When that Energy remains inactive, I call It Brahman, and when It creates, preserves, or destroys, I call It Shakti or Kali. What you call Brahman I call Kali. Brahman and Kali are not different. They are like fire and its power to burn: if one thinks of fire one must think of its power to burn. If one recognizes Kali one must also recognize Brahman; again, if one recognizes Brahman one must recognize Kali. Brahman and Its Power are identical. It is Brahman whom I address as Shakti or Kali.
Festivals in Shaktism
Shaktas celebrate most major Hindu festivals, as well as a huge variety of local, temple- or deity-specific observances. A few of the more important events are listed below:
The most important Shakta festival is Navaratri (lit., “Festival of Nine Nights”), also known as “Sharad Navaratri” because it falls during the Hindu month of Sharad (October/November). This is the festival that worships the Navadurgas, forms of Devi. This festival – often taken together with the following tenth day, known as Dusshera or Vijayadashami – celebrates the Goddess Durga’s victory over a series of powerful demons described in the Devi Mahatmya.
In Bengal, the last four days of Navaratri are called Durga Puja, and mark one episode in particular: Durga’s iconic slaying of Mahishasura (lit., the “Buffalo Demon”). Durga Puja also became the main religion-cultural celebration within the Bengal diaspora in the West (together with Kali and Sarasvati Pujas, if a community enough big and rich).
Vasanta Navaratri or Chaitra Navratri
While Hindus of all denominations celebrate the autumn Navratri festival, Shaktas also celebrate two additional Navratris – one in the spring and one in the summer. The spring festival is known as Vasanta Navaratri or Chaitra Navratri and is celebrated in the Hindu month of Chaitra (March/April). Srividya lineages dedicate this festival to Devi’s form as the Goddess Tripura Sundari.
The summer festival is called Ashada Navaratri, as it is held during the Hindu month of Ashadha (June/July). The Vaishno Devi temple in Jammu, with Vaishno Devi, considered an aspect of Durga, celebrates Navaratri. Ashada Navaratri, on the other hand, is considered particularly auspicious for devotees of the boar-headed Goddess Varahi, one of the seven Matrikas named in the Devi Mahatmya.
Vasant Panchami
The fifth day of Magha Gupta Navratri is very important for all branches of Shakta-Pantha. This is the festival of the union of Shakti and Shiv (Shiva-Shiv).
Diwali and others: North India
Lakshmi Puja is a part of Durga Puja celebrations by Shaktas, where Laksmi symbolizes the Goddess of abundance and autumn harvest. Lakshmi’s biggest festival, however, is Diwali (or Deepavali; the “Festival of Lights”), a major Hindu holiday celebrated across India and in Nepal as Tihar.
In North India, Diwali marks the beginning of the traditional New Year and is held on the night of the new moon in the Hindu month of Kartik (usually October or November). Shaktas (and many non-Shaktas) celebrate it as another Lakshmi Puja, placing small oil lamps outside their homes and praying for the Goddess’s blessings. Diwali coincides with the celebration of Kali Puja, popular in Bengal, and some Shakta traditions focus their worship on Devi as Parvati rather than Lakshmi.
Eastern India
Jagaddhatri Puja is celebrated on the last four days of the Navaratis, following Kali Puja. It is very similar to Durga Puja in its details and observance and is especially popular in Bengal and some other parts of Eastern India. Gauri Puja is performed on the fifth day after Ganesh Chaturthi, during Ganesha Puja in Western India, to celebrate the arrival of Gauri, Mother of Ganesha where she brings her son back home.
Madurai
Major Shakta temple festivals are Meenakshi Kalyanam and Ambubachi Mela. The Meenakshi Kalyanam is a part of the Chithirai Thiruvizha festival in Madurai around April/May, one of the largest festivals in South India, celebrating the wedding of Goddess Meenakshi (Parvati) and Shiva. The festival is one where both the Vaishnava and Shaiva communities join the celebrations because Vishnu gives away his sister Parvati in marriage to Shiva.
Ambubachi Mela or Ameti is a celebration of the menstruation of the Goddess, by hundreds of thousands of devotees, in a festival held in June/July (during the monsoon season) at Kamakhya Temple, Guwahati, Assam.
Animal sacrifice
Nepal
Shaktism tradition practices animal sacrifice to revere goddesses such as Kali in many parts of India but particularly in the eastern states of India and Nepal. This is either an actual animal or a vegetable or sweet dish substitute considered equivalent to the animal. In many cases, Shaktism devotees consider animal sacrifice distasteful and practice alternate means of expressing devotion while respecting the views of others in their tradition.
West Bengal
In Nepal, West Bengal, Odisha, and Assam, animal sacrifices are performed at Shakti temples, particularly to mark the legend of Goddess Durga slaying the buffalo demon. This involves the slaying of a goat or a male water buffalo. Animal sacrifice is also an essential component as part of the Kaula tantra school of Shaktism. This practice is rare among Hindus, outside this region.
In Bengal, the animal sacrifice ritual follows the guidelines in texts such as Mahanirvana Tantra. This ritual includes selecting the animal, then a priest offering a prayer to the animal then reciting the Gayatri Mantra in its ear before killing it. The meat of the sacrificed animal is then cooked and eaten by the Shakta devotees.
In Nepal, animal sacrifice en masse occurs during the three-day-long Gadhimai festival.
Odisha
In Odisha, during the Bali Jatra, Shaktism devotees sacrifice male goats to the Goddess Samaleswari in her temple in Sambalpur, Orissa.
Rajasthan
The Rajput of Rajasthan worship their weapons and horses on Navratri and formerly offered a sacrifice of a goat to a Goddess revered as Kuldevi – a practice that continues in some places. The ritual requires the slaying of the animal with a single stroke. The Kuldevi among these Rajput communities is a warrior-pativrata guardian Goddess, with local legends tracing reverence for her during Rajput-Muslim wars.
South India
The sacrificed animal is dedicated to a goddess and is probably related to the myth of Goddess Kali in Andhra Pradesh, but in Karnataka, the typical goddess is Renuka. According to Alf Hiltebeitel – a professor of Religions, History, and Human Sciences, these ritual animal sacrifices, with some differences, mirrors Goddess-related ritual animal sacrifice found in Gilgamesh epic and in texts of Egyptian, Minoan and Greek sources.
From the 19th century through the early 20th century, Indian laborers were shipped by the British Empire into colonial mining and plantation operations in the Indian Ocean and the Caribbean regions. These included a significant number of Shakta devotees. While instances of Shakta animal sacrifice during Kali puja in the Caribbean islands were recorded between the 1850s to 1920s, these were relatively uncommon when compared to other rituals such as temple prayers, community dancing, and fire walking.
Shaktism versus other Hindu traditions
A representative criticism of this sort was issued by an Indian scholar in the 1920s:
The Tantras are the Bible of Shaktism, identifying all Force with the female principle in nature and teaching an undue adoration of the wives of Shiva and Vishnu to the neglect of their male counterparts. It is certain that a vast number of the inhabitants of India are guided in their daily life by Tantrik [sic] teaching, and are in bondage to the gross superstitions inculcated in these writings. And indeed it can scarcely be doubted that Shaktism is Hinduism arrived at its worst and most corrupt stage of development.”
Tantra practices are secretive
The tantra practices are secretive and subject to speculations and criticism. Scholars variously attribute such criticism to ignorance, misunderstanding, or sectarian bias on the part of some observers, as well as unscrupulous practices by some Shaktas. These are some of the reasons many Hindus question the relevance and historicity of Tantra to their tradition.
Comparison of Shaktism with other Traditions
Beyond tantra, the Shakta sub-traditions subscribe to various philosophies, and are similar in some aspects and differ in others. These traditions compare with Vaishnavism, Shaivism, and Smartism as follows:
| Vaishnava Traditions | Shaiva Traditions | Shakta Traditions | Smarta Traditions | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scriptural authority | Vedas and Upanishads | Vedas and Upanishads | Vedas, Upanishads, and Tantras | Vedas and Upanishads |
| Supreme deity | God Vishnu | God Shiva | Goddess Devi | None |
| Creator | Vishnu | Shiva | Devi | Brahman principle |
| Avatar | Key concept | Minor | Significant | Minor |
| Monastic life | Accepts | Recommends | Accepts | Recommends |
| Rituals, Bhakti | Affirms | Affirms | Affirms | Optional |
| Ahimsa and Vegetarianism | Affirms | Recommends, Optional | Optional | Recommends, Optional |
| Free will, Maya, Karma | Affirms | Affirms | Affirms | Affirms |
| Metaphysics | Brahman (Vishnu) and Atman (Soul, Self) | Brahman (Shiva), Atman | Brahman (Devi), Atman | Brahman, Atman |
| Epistemology (Pramana) |
1. Perception 2. Inference 3. Reliable testimony |
1. Perception 2. Inference 3. Reliable testimony 4. Self-evident |
1. Perception 2. Inference 3. Reliable testimony |
1. Perception 2. Inference 3. Comparison and analogy 4. Postulation, derivation 5. Negative/cognitive proof 6. Reliable testimony |
| Philosophy | Dvaita, qualified advaita, advaita, Visishtadvaita | Dvaita, qualified advaita, advaita | Shakti-advaita, Samkhya | Advaita |
| Salvation (Soteriology) |
Videhamukti, Yoga, champions householder life |
Jivanmukta, Charya-Kriyā-Yoga-Jnana |
Bhakti, Tantra, Yoga | Jivanmukta, Advaita, Yoga, champions monastic life |
Temples and influence of Shaktism
Shakta temples are found all over South Asia. Many towns, villages, and landmarks are named for various forms of the Devi. Major pilgrimage sites of Shaktism are called “Shakti Peethas”, literally “Seats of the Devi”. These vary from four to fifty-one.
Some Shakta temples are also found in Southeast Asia, the Americas, Europe, Australia, and elsewhere. Examples in the United States include the Kali Mandir in Laguna Beach, California; and Sri Rajarajeswari Peetam, a Srividya temple in rural Rush, New York.
Some feminists and participants in New Age spirituality who are attracted to Goddess worship”, suggest Shaktism is a “symbol of wholeness and healing, associated especially with repressed female power and sexuality.”
Buddhism and Shaktism
There has been a significant sharing of ideas, ritual grammar, and concepts between Tantric Buddhism (Vajrayana tradition) found in Nepal and Tibet and the Tantric Shakta tradition of Hinduism. Both movements cherish female deities and view female creativity as the power behind the universe, and the feminine as the ontological primary.
The Buddhist Aurangabad Caves about 100 kilometers from the Ajanta Caves, dated to the 6th to 7th century CE, show Buddhist Matrikas (mother Goddesses of Shaktism) next to the Buddha. Other Goddesses in these caves include Durga. The Goddess iconography in these Buddhist caves is close, but not identical to the Hindu Shakta tradition.
Jainism
In Jainism, ideas similar to Shaktism tradition are found, such as the Vidyadevis and the Shasanadevis.
Sikhism and Shaktism
The secondary scripture of Sikhs, Dasam Granth attributed to Guru Gobind Singh, includes numerous sections on Shakta goddesses, particularly Chandi – the fierce warrior form of the Hindu Goddess. According to Nikky-Guninder Kaur Singh – a professor of Religious Studies, the stories about Goddess Durga in the Dasam Granth are reworkings of ancient Shakti mythologies. A significant part of this Sikh scripture is based on the teachings in the Shakta text Devi Mahatmya found in the Markandeya Purana of Hinduism.
Conclusion
Because of the above, I am confident that you have learned in-depth about Shaktism, meaning, origin, theology, principal deities, tantric traditions, influence, temples, etc. Now, that you have become self-sufficient to practice and achieve the goal, hence it’s the right time to use your acquired knowledge for gaining numerous benefits for well-being.
After reading this article, how would you rate it? Would you please let me know your precious thoughts?
Frequently asked questions
Before posting your query, kindly go through them:
| What is Shaktism?
Shaktism is the worship of the Hindu goddess Shakti (Sanskrit: “Power” or “Energy”). Shaktism is, together with Vaishnavism and Shaivism, one of the major forms of modern Hinduism and is especially popular in Bengal and Assam. Many Hindus worship Shakti as the divine mother who calls for absolute surrender. |
| Which is the theology of Shaktism?
Shaktas conceive the Goddess as the supreme, ultimate, eternal reality of all existence, the same as the Brahman concept of Hinduism. She is considered to be simultaneously the source of all creation, its embodiment and the energy that animates and governs it, and that into which everything will ultimately dissolve. |
| Which are the principal deities of Shaktism?
The common goddesses of Shaktism, popular in the Hindu thought at least by about mid-1st-millennium CE, include Parvati, Durga, Kali, Yogmaya, Lakshmi, Saraswati, Gayatri, Radha, and Sita. |
