Śakti Cult

Book review by Sonali Gupta in History Today, Delhi, No. 3, 2002:

Francesco Brighenti, Sakti Cult in Orissa, D.K. Printworld, New Delhi, 2001, pp. xx +510, plates (b/w & col.) 66+33. Price: Rs. 2400.

“The word Sakti is powerful. It is the primordial energy of the universe and so represents cosmic energy. The author has confined his area of study to Orissa on account of its deep-rooted tribal influence and the continuity that the region represents in the evolution of the cult. According to the author the rise and spread of the Sakti cult brought within its folds, both non-Aryan and Aryan trends. These influences enabled the cult to reach out to all castes, creeds and sects, assuring wider acceptability and popularity. The author traces the roots of the Sakti cult in Orissa to the worship of the female principle. He then traces the migration and emigration of Austro-Asiatic, Dravidian and Aryan groups. Coupled with this, the author juxtaposes the developments in Orissa with developments in such cults elsewhere in the world. The inter relationships of the Sakti cult with Naga, Yaksa cults as well as tribal Shamanism are brought forth. In the historical period the growth of the cult from the Gupta period to the late medieval period is highlighted. There are instances of the fusion of the Sakti cult with the Shaiva cult and also Vaishnava. From the 5th to the 6th century A.D. the Sakta goddesses increase manifold. The subordination of the goddesses to the male gods in the past witnesses a reversal and the goddesses are seen in equal footing to the male gods. In his view this aspect is clearly an influence of tribal and matriarchal societies where equality between the sexes was the order, which is a moot point. Chapter 3 takes the readers to the important Sakta centres of eminence in Orissa, which are even today centres of Sakti worship. The manifestations of Sakti in different forms and iconographic representations are dealt with in detail. Further, the festivals and rituals associated with the cult show the undercurrents of the powerful Sakti cult, which are still in vogue. It is a 'must' read for historians and those interested in region specific studies of the cult. It has been a very well produced book.”

Comparative study of religious cults provides evidence of human sacrifice's functioning as a fertility magic rite in ancient and even in recent times in the American continents (cf. the Toltec, Aztec and Incaic civilizations), some regions of Africa, the central-eastern Mediterranean basin (cf. the Etruscan, Phoenician, Minoan and archaic Greek civilizations), and parts of the Indian sub-continent, from a primeval state of self-concentrated wholeness to multiplicity. 8 Prajàpati's prostrate and powerless condition is subsequently revitalized by the Sacrifice, which is said to be the "image" (pratimà) of his mode of being. The secondary creator Prajàpati, the Lord of Sacrifice, is the same as the Universal Puruša. V¡tra is an asurya counterpart to the divya Cosmic Man. Unlike the latter, he refuses self-sacrifice. Indra's "cruelty" is a consequence of the "resistance" offered by the predestined victim of the cosmogonic "sacrifice." 9 Without resistance, there is no cruelty, explaining why the victim of human sacrifice in India, both in Sanskritized and in tribal contexts, should preferably be willing, or his/her consent must be obtained ritually. That is also why the "pain" (çuc) and "evil" (pàpmam) suffered by sacrificial victims must be transferred to substitutes that ritually take on themselves the impurity of sacrifice. This doctrine of ritual substitution has been found in Sanskritized forms of blood (human as well as animal) sacrifice, in both Vedic and Çàkta-Tantric contexts. 2. Human Sacrifice in Vedic India The Vedic form of human sacrifice is known as purušamedha or n¡medha. Regardless of whether it was actually practiced, at minimum it was abolished or fell into desuetude in a very remote epoch. 10 J. Gonda maintains that the purušamedha was aimed at procuring for the royal sacrificer all of the benefits impossible to gain through the açvamedha, 11 for "the purušamedha is everything." 12 Universal supremacy, for instance, was also the goal of the sarvamedha, the sacrifice of all (sarva) animal and vegetable essences performed by a Vedic king "who wishes to become this all." According to Çatapatha Bràhmaòa 13.7.1, the sarvamedha consisted of a ten-days' Soma sacrifice aimed at propitiating all gods; it included the building of a fire brick-altar (agnicayana); 8 Gonda, op. cit., pp. 251ff.

Tracing  how the Devi iconography evolved withhin the Hindu temple iconography starting from Harappan times where worship of mother goddesses were prevalent, to the Gupta period where a strong devi or Shakti cult had already started forming.

Published in:  Pacific World--Journal of the Institute of Buddhist Studies, 3.6 (2004): 257-291.

In this essay I explore how the relationship between king and Kumārī catalyzes from the political center a complex matrix of mystico-political power rooted in a Nepalese form of Kaula Śākta tantra called Sarvāmnāya. Sarvāmnāya Śākta Tāntrikas utilize multiple forms of Devī—particularly Bhuvaneśvarī, Dakṣiṇakālī, Kubjikā, Ugra Tāra, Guhyakālī, and Tripurasundarī—to construct a dyadic semiotics of power. Employed on a primary and esoteric level within this system, Devī, the goddess, signifies that singular consciousness-power (cit-śakti) that manifests creation through the flashing forth of her phonemic self (mātṛkātmaka) into a vibrant circle of power, śakti-cakra. On a secondary and exoteric level, Devī functions as a sign of the politico-military power of Nepalese kings. This paper investigates the interplay between these two levels through a study of the correlation of Sarvāmnāya theology, ritual, and yogic practice to the variety of cultural productions in Nepal—including architecture, paintings, music, and public ritual—which function as signs of the king’s right to abide at the center of Nepāla-Maṇḍala.

Interestingly India has seen many folk or tribal deities from ancient and medieval eras being worshipped from time to time, especially during the time of epidemics, and other physical and natural calamities. Derivatives of the Mother Goddess, some of these deities, which retain their primitive aspects, are still venerated by many, and temples dedicated to them are seen spread across the rural parts of India. I have listed some of the better known tribal/folk devis that were once highly venerated in ancient and medieval India; among them some have lost their relevance over the sands of time, while few are still respected and worshipped by their faithful followers.

Within the realms of Hinduism, the concept of god (Brahman, or the Paramatma-Supreme Soul) comes as both saguna (with attributes, where there is a form and gender) and nirguna (where god is formless and infinite). The nirguna concept, which is based on higher level philosophical thoughts is difficult to comprehend or even visualise. It has always been easier for the common people to follow the saguna form of worship, where their revered god takes an anthropomorphic form. This need to see the revered deity in front led to the development of murtis and their worship. Thus, we see the Shaivites worship Shiva as their supreme god,  and the Vaishnavites worship Vishnu as their supreme god. There is a third group that worship the female Energy or Sakti as their supreme god, the Devi. This group of worshippers is known as the Saktas, and they worship the feminine power as the main god. Here the Devi is not limited to being just a consort of a male devta (as we see in Shaivism and Vaishnavism), but she is the one in focus as the main deity.