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The intricate
dynamics of power and gender has grown to become an increasingly
important topic within the realm of present day academia - and
justifiably so. Though representing half of the human race,
women’s voices, needs and inner psyches have, traditionally,
been relegated to a place of unimportance in the history of the
Western world. Throughout the history of European civilization,
the nature of the feminine was misunderstood, neglected and, in
some cases, practically demonized. Consequently, for millennia
women have been deprived of the power - political, economic,
spiritual, even sexual - which men so take for granted.
Recognizing the imperative need to correct this historic
imbalance, many modern Feminist leaders attempted to devise an
ideological framework through which they felt that the roots of
this imbalance could be properly understood. Additionally, there
have been many attempts to wrest control over the primary
mechanisms of power, specifically in the political and economic
sectors. As a result, what were at one time conceived as the
exclusive domains of the male gender have now begun to open up to
women. In the modern West, power is no longer equated with the
testosterone laden half of the human race. The question, however,
is should this have ever been the view of Western civilization?
For while it may have been the tradition in the West to naturally
equate power with the masculine, this is not at all a universally
held outlook. One world-view which offers us a fresh and radically
different approach to the issue of power and the feminine is found
in the philosophy and culture of Hinduism - and specifically in
the concept of Shakti. Within the metaphysical framework of Shakti,
we discover the concept of the feminine as being the very
manifestation of power itself. In the following essay, I will
accomplish three tasks: 1) an examination of the concept of Shakti
as found throughout the history and various schools of thought of
Hinduism; 2) I will explore the historical implications that this
concept has contributed in forming the traditional Hindu view of
the nature of the feminine and the subsequent role of women; and
finally 3) I will share some thoughts on the role that the concept
of Shakti can potentially play in helping to bring about a
reemergence of the much neglected and crucially needed feminine in
our own Western culture.
The Sanskrit word Shakti can be translated as meaning
"power" or "energy." It is derived from the
parasmaipada verb root "shak," which means "to be
able," "to do," "to act." This power is
witnessed in all the various phenomena of life. It is the force
responsible for the growth of vegetation, animals and human
beings. It is what is responsible for the movement of all things.
The planets revolve around the sun as a result of Shakti. It is
Shakti that makes the winds blow and the oceans churn. Shakti is
manifest as the very affective ability of all the forces of
nature. She is the heat of fire, the brilliance of the sun, the
very life force of all living beings. In human beings, she is seen
as the power of intelligence (buddhi), compassion (daya) and
divine love (bhakti), among her many other functions (Sharma,
1974; Goswami 1995). It is the power of Shakti that "...keeps
the gods in their position, makes a man virile or makes a sage of
a man" (Sharma, 1974). Without the presence of Shakti, all
creation would be rendered impotent.
Most significantly, Shakti is an exclusively feminine principle.
Shakti is synonymous with the great Devi, or the Great Goddess of
Hinduism. As such, she is omnipresent in Hindu society via her
many forms. She is propitiated by all segments of Hindu society,
especially by women. According to Klaus Klostermaier,
"...childless women implore her to conceive. In times of
epidemics, it is the goddess who is implored to grant health and
relief" (Klostermaier, 1990). Shakti has always been a living
force throughout the long history of Hinduism.
The importance of goddesses is evident throughout the various
sects and schools of thought of Hinduism (Gatwood, 1985).
Additionally, the presence of goddesses is seen throughout the
long literary tradition of India. In the Rig Veda, for example, at
least 40 goddesses are mentioned. These include: Sarasvati,
goddess of wisdom; Ushas, the dawn; and Aditi, who is depicted as
"birthless" (R.V., 10.7.2.). The very word "Shakti"
itself appears in the Rig Veda some 12 times. Two of the word’s
derivatives, "shaktivat" and "shakman,"
respectively appear twice and five times (Raj, 1983). Part of the
Rig Veda is known as the "Devi Sukta" and is certainly a
recognition of Shakti as a cosmic principle. Shakti is also seen
in the later Itihasas, or Epics of India. She is found in the
Ramayana, where "...she is called Devi, and is respected by
all" (Sharma, 1974). In the Mahabharata there are two hymns
dedicated to her. The various manifestations of the goddess are
ubiquitous throughout the Puranas. Indeed, the Devi Bhagavata
Purana is entirely dedicated to her. One would be hard pressed to
find a work anywhere in the entirety of Hindu literature in which
there is not at least some mention of a feminine power.
Hinduism’s respect for Shakti is not limited to the religion’s
literary heritage. The various schools of Indian philosophy (shad-darshanas)
also took this principle quite seriously. The Mimamsakas, for
example, held that Shakti was no less than the inherent power of
all things. The Naiyayika logicians attempted to explain Shakti in
terms of being the function or property of any cause. For the
Vedanta school, Shakti was "...conceived as the activity of a
cause revealing itself in the shape of an effect" (Dev,
1987). Of all the various schools of Indian philosophy, however,
the school most influential in helping to formulate a theory of
Shakti was the Samkhya school.
Samkhya teaches the dualistic doctrine of Prakriti / Purusha.
According to this theory there are two radically distinct
principles at play during the creation of the cosmos: matter (Prakriti)
and spirit (Purusha). Prakriti is the primordial matter which is
present before the cosmos becomes manifest. It is as a direct
result of the devolution of this original material substance that
the universe, with all its diversity of names and forms comes into
being. Prakriti is seen as being "...the power of nature,
both animate and inanimate. As such, nature is seen as dynamic
energy" (Rae, 1994). Prakriti is originally passive, immobile
and pure potentiality by nature . It is only as a direct result of
her contact with the kinetic Purusha that she unfolds into the
variagatedness we see before us. Sudhir Gupta explains this
process of devolution from the perspective of a Shakta, or a
worshiper of Devi, the Great Goddess:
The universe with all its diversity and
multiplicity remains equated in the divine volition as
conception before manifestation. It is manifested in the course
of basic evolution, started under the influence of the creative
volition of the Divine Mother. The Universal Mother in Her
Absolute Self admits of no mutability, change or division.
(Gupta, 1977)
Thus, Shakti is seen as being antecedent to
Prakriti, with Shakti being the instrumental cause, in the form of
the Devi, or the Great Goddess, and Prakriti serving as the
material cause.
The idea of Prakriti / Purusha is seen mirrored in another closely
allied concept: that of the Divine Consort. According to Hindu
teachings, Shakti, energy, cannot exist in a vacuum. If there is
an energy, it must be someone’s energy. Almost every god (deva)
of the Hindu pantheon has a feminine companion, a consort, a
goddess. This is an idea which is an indispensable element of
every major sect of Hinduism. Vishnu, for example, has the goddess
Shri (Lakshmi) as his eternal companion. Shiva is accompanied by
Parvati, Brahma by Sarasvati, Krishna by Radha. These
goddess-consorts are said to personify nothing less than the
essential energy of the god. In the words of Ernest Payne:
The energy of Vishnu and Shiva was
personified as a goddess and identified with Prakriti, the
primary source of the universe. The connubial relations between
Devi and her husband were held to typify the mystical union of
the eternal principles, matter and spirit, which produces the world.
(Payne, 1933)
So integral is the relationship between a
particular god and his Shakti that one is thought incapable of
existing without the other. It is said that in her manifestation
as Shiva’s consort and source of energy, Shakti is embodied in
the "i" of his name. According to the grammatical rules
of classical Sanskrit, if a consonant is not followed by a vowel,
it is automatically assumed that this consonant is followed by the
vowel "a." Consequently, without this "i" in
his name, Shiva becomes shava, or a lifeless corpse. Thus it is
the feminine principle which is the animating force of life
itself.
Both the feminine and the masculine are necessarily present in the
Divine. This is dramatically illustrated in South Asia in the
image of Ardhanarishvara, the representation of God as being half
man and half woman. Veneration of God necessarily entails
veneration of the Goddess. They are two aspects of the same being
and are, as such, mutually dependent upon one another.
The intimacy of god and goddess can be more clearly illustrated by
examining one of the stories involving the creation of Devi which
is found Devi Bhagavata Purana. Interestingly, although clearly a
Shakta Purana, the Devi Bhagavata Purana describes Vishnu /
Krishna as being the supreme God (IX. 2. 12 - 23) who "...is
said to be the root and creator of all" (Dev, 1987) .
According to this account, Krishna was at one time the only being
in existence. Desiring to create the universe, He divided Himself
into two parts, the left being female and the right male. That
female was none other than Radha, the eternal consort and Shakti
of Krishna, who is described as being the Mula Prakriti, or the
root source of all existence. From the conjugal sport of Radha and
Krishna a golden egg was born that was the repository of the
material from which our universe was created. Creation, then, is
depicted in the Devi Bhagavata Purana as proceeding from Krishna,
through Radha. The feminine, Shakti, is shown to be crucial and
indispensable in the process of creation. This fact very clearly
demonstrates the mutual dependence in which god and goddess hold
one another.
The relationship that is enjoyed between the gods and goddesses in
Hinduism is one of the wielder of power (shaktiman, the masculine
principle) and the power itself (Shakti, the feminine). Each is
meaningless without the existence of the other. While the
possessor of power is the guiding force as to the power’s
direction and purpose, it is the power itself which provides the
ability to perform any task. To use a crude example, we might say
that the deva is the computer while the devi is the electricity
that makes the computer’s functioning possible. Shaktiman is the
principle that gives guidance and direction to power. Shakti is
the vital, life-giving force of the god, as well as the
personification of his particular power. As Shrivatsa Goswami
explains this concept:
On the transcendental plane this functional
duality implies the split of the Absolute into power or potency
(shakti) , the subjective component, and the possessor of power
(shaktiman), the objective one. On the phenomenal plane too
there exists such a duality.
(Goswami, 1985)
Together, the deva and devi, the god and
goddess of Hinduism, are the able and the ability, respectively.
Moreover, this concept is not relegated solely to the realm of the
Divine.
Rama and Sita, an Incarnation of the
Transcendent God/Goddess
What is true on the macrocosmic level is also the rule on the
microcosmic. Human beings too are said to also participate in the
interplay of shakti and shaktiman. For in Hinduism, every woman is
said to be a manifestation of the divine Shakti. The power of
Shakti, the feminine principle, is believed to be directly present
in creation in the form of our mothers, sisters, daughters and
wives. As the contemporary feminist author Elinor Gadon explains,
"the truth of the Goddess is the mystery of our being. She is
the dynamic life force within. Her form is embedded in our
collective psyche..." (Gadon, 1989). While she is primarily
present as personified in woman, however, Shakti is also present
in man.
There are several traditions of spiritual unfoldment in India that
teach the notion that Shakti resides within each and every human
being, and that liberation can be achieved by the proper
utilization of the feminine principle within. One example of such
a tradition is the path of Kundalini-yoga. According to Kundalini-yoga
philosophy, Shakti resides at the base of the spine in the form of
the kundalini energy. The goal of this path is to raise this
energy through the various energy centers (chakras) of the subtle,
or astral, body. As each energy portal is open, the yogi achieves
newer and higher levels of spiritual realization and power. Once
this Shakti has reached the top chakra located at the crown of the
head, full liberation and self-realization are achieved. This very
process is described as the union of Shiva and Shakti (Dev, 1987).
In addition to Kundalini-yoga, there is an entire denomination of
Hinduism dedicated to the realization of the Great Goddess, known
as Shaktism. The tradition of Shaktism is most influential in West
Bengal and Assam. Its influence, however, has been felt throughout
the length and breath of South Asia. While some references to
Shaktism can certainly be found in the ancient Vedic literature
(Sharma, 1974), it is the works known as the Tantras which are
considered most authoritative by adherents. Philosophically, the
teachings of Shaktism seem to occupy a middle position between the
dualism of Samkhya and the extremely monistic interpretation of
Vedanta posited by Shankara.
Unlike with Shankara, for the Shakta the world is not seen as
being merely an illusion; it is in fact extremely real. In
Shaktism, it is believed that Shakti (the goddess Prakriti)
evolves her own being into 36 tattvas, or constituents of reality,
in order to create the universe. The present diversified universe
is nothing less than the creative manifestation of the uncreated
goddess Prakriti, or Shakti. Prakrti, both in the form of this
world and the human body is in fact the vehicle for salvation. In
practice, Shaktism stresses the sacramental nature of the human
body due to its being the locus of spiritual unfoldment (Kumar,
1986). For Shaktas, as for the majority of Hindus, women are
greatly respected as being the personifications of Shakti in
human, and therefore very spiritually accessible, form.
How has this view of the feminine affected the Hindu perspective
on the nature and role of women in the Hindu community?
Traditionally, Hinduism teaches that, while women and men
naturally share much in common, their different psychological
states and outlooks should not be overlooked. The belief is that,
in general terms, while men are more aggressive, cerebral and
self-promoting, women tend to be more nurturing, intuitive, mature
and giving. Interestingly, it is precisely these feminine
qualities which are aspired toward in Hindu spiritual life - by
both men and women. Like every other religion and culture known to
history, individual Hindus have sometimes had difficulty putting
their high spiritual ideals into actual practice. Overall,
however, the record of Hinduism vis-à-vis the treatment of women
has been a very good one. As a result, according to Klaus
Klostermaier:
Traditional Hinduism is still strongly
supported by women; women form the largest portion of temple
goers and festival attendants, and women keep traditional
domestic rituals alive and pass on the familiar stories of the
gods and goddesses to their children.
(Klostermaier, 1994)
As we will see, Hindu women have not only historically enjoyed the
status of being the repository of Shakti, but have often actually
had the opportunity to wield some actual power.
Unlike what is clearly observed in the majority of Western
literature, Hindu literature is full of accounts of heroic, strong
and brave women. There are many accounts of such women in the
Mahabharata. For example, we find Draupadi, who is depicted as a
brave and iron-willed woman. There is also Kunti, who perseveres
with her honor and her faith intact despite a life riddled with
tragedies. In the Ramayana, we meet Sita, the wife - and Shakti -
of Rama, an incarnation of God. Though arranged marriages are the
norm in Hindu society, we find that Sita chooses her own husband
in a svayamvara ceremony. Also of her own free will, she chooses
to accompany Rama to the forest when he is sent into exile, thus
exhibiting her strength and commitment to loyalty. While living in
the forest, she continues to display her independent nature, as
when she convinces Rama to chase the gold-spotted dear. Hindu
literature is full of such examples of strong, heroic women.
Images of powerful women in Hinduism are not limited to the realm
of literature.
They are also witnessed throughout the living historical record of
India as well. Hindu women have historically easily risen to
heights of power within various monastic and religious
hierarchical structures, parallels of which would have been
unheard of in Western religion and society until only recently. In
the earliest Vedic era, for example, women were awarded the sacred
thread of priests (brahmanas) (Klostermaier, 1994). One text of
the Rig Veda (V, 28) mentions that there was a female rishi, or
revealer of sacred truth, known as Vishvara. There were also women
philosophers such as Vachaknavi, who debated Yajnavalkya, of
Upanishadic fame. The famous Sanskrit grammarian, Panini, observed
the distinction in the Sanskrit language between "acaryani"
(the wife of a teacher) and "acaryaa" (a lady teacher),
indicating that women were accepted as spiritual teachers. Such
women saints as Andal and Mirabai were leaders of the devotional
Bhakti movement "...that initiated the religious liberation
of women [and] was largely promoted and supported by women
devotees" (Ibid., 1994). Women have continued this long
tradition as leaders of various Hindu communities to this day.
Such examples of this phenomenon can be seen in the forms of
Gurumayi Chidvilasananda, Amritanandamayi, and Meera Ma, among
many, many others (Johnsen, 1994). Considering that Indian culture
has always been a culture in which religion has always been the
most important social institution in society, it is no small
accomplishment for women to have risen so high in the echelons of
Hindu leadership.
Sri Andal: One of Hinduism's Greatest Saints
Such respect for the feminine has not been as readily visible in
the history of the Western world, unfortunately. The Western
religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam have not had the same
abundant degree of examples of women in leadership throughout
their respective histories. To this day, for example, women are
barred from the priesthood in the Roman Catholic church. It has
only been in the latter third of the twentieth century that a
reemergence of the feminine has begun to take place in European
and American societies. Recognizing the terrible price that this
gaping deficiency has wrought upon the world in the forms of war,
the environmental crisis and the exploitation of women, many
present day women thinkers are openly calling for a reclaiming of
feminine values in many different sectors of life. In the words of
Eleanor Rae: "while the feminine is not limited in its
context, there are nevertheless certain key places where it is
most appropriately rediscovered. These are in women, in the Earth,
and in the Divinity" (Rae, 1994). By recognizing the sacred
nature of women as personifications of the feminine aspect of
divinity, and by seeing the Earth, not as a lifeless object, there
solely for our exploitation, but rather as the living personality
of our collective Mother, we can end much of the needless violence
and suffering brought about by denying the feminine. Agreeing with
this assessment, Vandana Shiva has written:
The violence to nature as symptomatized by
the ecological crisis, and the violence to women, as
symptomitized by their subjugation and exploitation, arise from
this subjugation of the feminine principle.
(Shiva, 1989)
In an crystal-clear display of the ancient concept of Shakti
coming full circle to occupy the center stage of current academic
debate, it has finally been recognized that the feminine aspect of
the very Divinity Him(Her)self has been too long neglected. In the
works of such people as Matthew Fox and Vicki Noble, we are now
witnessing a call for the reemergence of the concept of the sacred
feminine power of God, of Shakti. In such interesting developments
as these, I venture to say that we are not so much witnessing the
"Hinduization" of Western thought, as we are the
rediscovery of the feminine principle as an integral and
inseparable part of our very being.
These more recent developments is the West, as well as the long
and positive history of the concept of Shakti in India, have shown
the idea of a sacred feminine power originating from Divinity and,
therefore, necessarily inherent in all things, to be a very
relevant subject for further exploration - both on an academic, as
well as on a personal, spiritual level. While seemingly arising
from the misty and esoteric depths of the philosophy and sacred
stories of Hinduism, Shakti is actually a force which also has the
ability to effect all human culture: politically, socially and at
the deepest levels of our psyches - if we will only let Her.
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