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Shaktism (Sanskrit: Śāktaṃ, शाक्तं; lit., "doctrine of power" or "doctrine of the Goddess") is a denomination of Hinduism that focuses worship upon Shakti or Devi – the Hindu Divine Mother – as the absolute, ultimate Godhead. It is, along with Shaivism and Vaisnavism, one of the three primary schools of Hinduism.
Shaktism regards Devi (lit., "the Goddess") as the Supreme Brahman itself, the "one without a second", with all other forms of divinity, female or male, considered to be merely her diverse manifestations. In the details of its philosophy and practice, Shaktism resembles Shaivism. However, Shaktas (Sanskrit: Śakta, शक्त), 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 his worship is usually relegated to an auxiliary role.
The roots of Shaktism penetrate deep into India's prehistory. From the Goddess's earliest known appearance in Indian paleolithic settlements more than 22,000 years ago, through the refinement of her cult in the Indus Valley Civilization, her partial eclipse during the Vedic period, and her subsequent resurfacing and expansion in the classical Sanskrit tradition, it has been suggested that, in many ways, "the history of the Hindu tradition can be seen as a reemergence of the feminine."
Over the course of its history, Shaktism has inspired great works of Sanskrit literature and Hindu philosophy, and it continues to strongly influence popular Hinduism today. Shaktism is practiced throughout the Indian subcontinent and beyond, in countless forms, both Tantric and non-Tantric; however, its two largest and most visible schools are the Srikula (lit., family of Sri), strongest in South India, and the Kalikula (family of Kali), which prevails in northern and eastern India.
Overview
Shakti and Shiva
Shaktas conceive the Goddess as the supreme, ultimate Godhead. She is considered to be simultaneously the source of all creation, as well as its embodiment and the energy that animates and governs it. It has been observed that "nowhere in the religious history of the world do we come across such a completely female-oriented system."
Shaktism's focus on the Divine Feminine does not imply a rejection of Masculine or Neuter divinity. However, both are deemed to be inactive in the absence of Shakti. As set out in the first line of Adi Shankara's renowned Shakta hymn, Saundaryalahari (c. 800 CE): "If Shiva is united with Shakti, he is able to create. If he is not, he is incapable even of stirring." This is the fundamental tenet of Shaktism, as emphasized in the widely known image of the goddess Kali striding atop the seemingly lifeless body of Shiva.
Broadly speaking, Shakti is considered to be the cosmos itself – she is the embodiment of energy and dynamism, and the motivating force behind all action and existence in the material universe. Shiva is her transcendent masculine aspect, providing the divine ground of all being. "There is no Shiva without Shakti, or Shakti without Shiva. The two in themselves are One."
As expressed by the historian V. R. Ramachandra Dikshitar (here referring to Shiva as Brahman), "Shaktism is dynamic Hinduism. The excellence of Shaktism lies in its affirmation of Shakti as Consciousness and of the identity of Shakti and Brahman. In short, Brahman is static Shakti and Shakti is dynamic Brahman." In religious art, this cosmic dynamic is powerfully expressed in the half-Shakti, half-Shiva deity known as Ardhanari.
Shaktism views the Devi as the source, essence and substance of virtually everything in creation, seen or unseen, including Shiva himself. In the Devi-Bhagavata Purana, a central Shakta scripture, the Devi declares:
"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, and I am Neuter."
The religious scholar C. MacKenzie Brown explains that Shaktism "clearly insists that, of the two genders, the feminine represents the dominant power in the universe. Yet both genders must be included in the ultimate if it is truly ultimate. The masculine and the feminine are aspects of the divine, transcendent reality, which goes beyond but still encompasses them. Devi, in her supreme form as consciousness thus transcends gender, but her transcendence is not apart from her immanence."
Brown's analysis continues, "Indeed, this affirmation of the oneness of transcendence and immanence constitutes the very essence of the divine mother ultimate triumph. It is not, finally, that she is infinitely superior to the male gods – though she is that, according to – but rather that she transcends her own feminine nature as Prakriti without denying it."
Association with Tantra
A widely misunderstood aspect of Shaktism is its close association with Tantrism – an ambiguous, often provocative concept that suggests everything from orthodox temple worship in the south of India, to black magic and occult practices in North India, to ritualized sexual practices (sometimes referred to as "Neotantra") in the West. In fact, not all forms of Shaktism are Tantric in nature, just as not all forms of Tantra are Shaktic in nature.
When the term "Tantra" is used in relation to authentic Hindu Shaktism, it most often refers to a class of ritual manuals, and – more broadly – to an esoteric methodology of Goddess-focused spiritual practice (sadhana) involving mantra, yantra, nyasa, mudra and certain elements of traditional kundalini yoga, all practiced under the guidance of a qualified guru after due initiation (diksha) and oral instruction to supplement various written sources.
In its social interactions, Tantra is "free from all sorts of caste and patriarchal prejudices. A woman or a shudra is entitled to function in the role of . All women are regarded as manifestations of Shakti, and hence they are the object of respect and devotion. Whoever offends them incurs the wrath of the great goddess. Every has to realize the latent Female Principle within himself, and only by 'becoming female' is he entitled to worship the Supreme Being"
More controversial ritual practices, such as the "Five Ms" or panchamakara, are employed under certain circumstances by some Tantric Shakta sects. However, these elements tend to be overemphasized and sensationalized by commentators (both friendly and hostile) who are ill-informed regarding authentic doctrine and practice. Moreover, even within the tradition there are wide differences of opinion regarding the proper interpretation of the panchamakara, and some lineages reject them altogether.
In sum, the complex social and historical interrelations of Tantric and non-Tantric elements in Shaktism – and Hinduism in general – are an extremely fraught and nuanced topic of discussion. However, as a general rule:
"Ideas and practices that collectively characterize Tantrism pervade classical Hinduism it would be an error to consider Tantrism apart from its complex interrelations with non-Tantric traditions. Literary history demonstrates that Vedic-oriented brahmins have been involved in Shakta Tantrism from its incipient stages of development, that is, from at least the sixth century. While Shakta Tantrism may have originated in goddess cults, any attempt to distance Shakta Tantrism from the Sanskritic Hindu traditions will lead us astray."
Principal deities
Shaktas may approach the Devi in any of a vast number of forms; however, they are all considered to be but diverse aspects of the one supreme goddess.
With the many names used to refer to her – Devī, Caṇḍikā, Ambikā, Kālī, and a profusion of others – it is easy to forget that the Devi is indeed one. , the Devi reveals that she is one without a second, saying, "I am alone here in the world. Who else is there besides me?" Following this proclamation of divine unity, which has been called the mahāvākya, or great dictum of Devīmāhātmya, she explains that all are but projections of her power, as are all the other forms she inhabits.
The primary Devi form worshiped by a Shakta is his or her ishta-devi. The selection of this deity can depend on many factors, including family tradition, regional practice, guru lineage, personal resonance and so on. There are li
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