Hindu Mythology
Lesson 3: Shiva
Shakti
The simplest conception of Shakti is Goddess, though literally Shakti means power. In the pre-Vedic times the Goddess was worshipped as Mother Earth, but in the early Vedic period there were no Goddesses. Then they began to make an appearance as the consorts of the Gods. These consorts were nebulous and submissive. Later the Goddesses developed Divine powers in their own right; vanquishing Evil without help from their male counterparts and, at times, when the males were powerless to act. Just as the three Supreme Gods were the manifestation of the formless Supreme Being, their consorts were manifestations of Shakti or the female force. Because Parvati was the most proactive of the Supreme Goddesses Shakti was generally manifested through her. Kali and Durga are the two most popular incarnations of Parvati.
Parvati assumed the form of Kali in order to vanquish the demon Raktabija, whose name means "the seed of blood". The demi-Gods could not kill the demon Raktabija because he had received from Brahma the boon that every drop of his blood that touched the ground would transform itself into another and more powerful Raktabija. Within a few minutes of striking this demon the entire battlefield was covered with millions of Raktabija clones. In despair, the demi-Gods turned to Shiva. But Shiva was lost in meditation at the time and they were afraid to disturb him. Hence they pleaded with his consort Parvati for her assistance. The Goddess immediately set out to do battle with this dreaded demon in the form of Kali or "the Black One". She ordered the demi-Gods to attack Raktabija. She then spread her tongue to cover the battlefield preventing even a single drop of Raktabija's blood from falling on the group. Thus, she prevented Raktabija from reproducing himself and the demi-Gods were able to slay the demon.
The Demon Ramba was given a boon that his son would not be killed a man, mortal or immortal. His son was Mahishasura, the buffalo demon. Mahishasura finally entered Heaven, defeated Indra and threw out all the demi-Gods. Since Mahishasura could not die at the hands of a male, the male Trinity decided entrust this task to the female Trinity of Saraswati, Lakshmi and Parvati. They decided to create a female character, Durga, who would possess the combined power of the male Trinity and the combined beauty of the female Trinity. Durga soon killed the two chief commanders of Mahishasura. Mahishasura realised that his boon did not insure him against a female. He had half a mind to withdraw from the battle, but Durga's taunting challenges hurt his ego and he felt compelled to fight. Mahishasura reverted to his own form, that of a buffalo, and charged about on the battlefield. In a wild rage he killed and injured many of Durga's soldiers with his huge pointed horns and long, whip-like tail. Durga's lion, angered by the presence of the demon-buffalo, attacked him. While he was thus engaged, Durga threw her noose around his neck. But Mahishasura kept changing his shape and form from one to another so as to avoid capture. Finally the Goddess beheaded the buffalo and from it emerged Mahishasura in his original form. Durga pierced his chest with the trident and relieved the world from the evil power.
Shakti is more than a Goddess vanquishing Evil. Shakti is a life giver, helping barren women conceive and providing cure to the diseased. Shakti is the opposite of maleness, competing with it and yet its complement, especially in the process of creation.
In Hindu mythology Parvati is the embodiment of the femaleness or Shakti whereas Shiva is the embodiment of maleness often referred to as Shiva. Shiva and Parvati are opposite in temperament. At times they are so much involved with each other that they forget everything else at others they are engaged in an exhibition of one-upmanship. In reality the male and female are inseparable. It is a characteristic of Hindu mythology to depict different facets of the same entity as having separate manifestations, perhaps for easier comprehensibility. Hence Shiva is sometimes depicted as Ardhanarishvara, the God who is half female (and by implication half male).
Optional Exercises
6a. Read the chapter Devi, the Goddess from ‘Hindu Myths’ starting on page 238.
6b The following site gives a more ‘technical’ definition of Shakti. For those interested in a more rigorous understanding of Shakti this article is a good starting point.
http://reference.allrefer.com/encycloped...
6c. The following site discusses various aspects of Ardhanarishvara with reference to Hindu mythology.
http://www.philhine.org.uk/writings/tt_a...
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