Power / The Divine Feminine (Śakti)
The divine's own creative energy — worshipped as the Goddess, and the power by which Śiva becomes a world.
Śakti means 'power' or 'energy' — the dynamic, creative force of the divine. In much of Hindu thought it is personified as the Goddess, worshipped as the supreme in the Śākta traditions. In Kashmir Shaivism, Śakti is the inseparable power of Śiva-consciousness by which it knows, wills, and unfolds itself as the entire world — so that reality is Śiva-and-Śakti, awareness and its own creative dynamism, never one without the other.
How it traveled
- Spanda-kārikāKashmir Valley · 850explains
- TantrasāraŚrīnagara (Srinagar), Kashmir · 1000explains
- VivekacūḍāmaṇiŚṛṅgeri (Sringeri) · 1400explains
Key passages(20)
Vivekacūḍāmaṇi · Śaṅkara (traditionally ascribed; authorship doubted)
Vivekacūḍāmaṇi · Śaṅkara (traditionally ascribed; authorship doubted)
He, the sun, without any colour, who with set purpose by means of his power (sakti) produces endless colours , in whom all this comes together in the beginning, and comes asunder in the end--may he,
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There is no effect and no cause known of him, no one is seen like unto him or better; his high power is revealed as manifold, as inherent, acting as force and knowledge.
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Speak to me again in detail, Jnanârdana, of Thy Yoga-powers and attributes; for I am never satiated in hearing the ambrosia (of Thy speech).
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Whatever being there is great, prosperous or powerful, that know thou to be a product of a part of My splendour.
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