Good


Other names: Shaakti, Girija, Shailaja

Devi Shakti is mentioned in ancient books in regards to many references. Stating Devi Shakti’s greatness it is said: “Ya Devi sarva bhuteshu Shakti rupen sansthita, namastasye, namastasye, namastasye, namo namah.” which means I bow to the Devi who resides in the form of Shakti (power) in each and every living being.

According to Shrimad Bhagwat Katha, once on seeing Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh praying, Naradji asked, “lord, the whole world prays you three. You are the creator, protector and destroyer of this universe. Then, whom are you all praying?” Then lord Shiva smiled and replied, “You are right but there is one Shakti (power) who is the supreme soul and the supreme power. To protect religion she manifests time to time in the form of Durga, Kali and Chandika. In fact she is the united form of us. First time she was incarnated to kill Mahishasur. That time all the Devtas had given their divine weapons to her. She is the supreme power and even we pray her.

According to Devi Bhagwat, there are three chief quality forms of Devi Shakti – Knowledge, action and wealth. With these qualitative forms, Adhya Shakti is known as Mahakali, Mahalaxmi and Saraswati. Shakti is also known as the incarnation of Devi Parvati. It is mentioned in the Puranas that different Devi and Devtas have different powers. Lord Vishnu’s powers are fame, beauty, strength, peace, affection etc. The name of the powers of Rudra Dev is Gunodari, Lambodari, Khechari, Manjari, Goumukhi, Jwalamukhi etc. In the Puranas, the number of the Shaktis are said to be 51. Their temples are known as “Shaktipeeth”. There is an ancient story regarding the creation of these Shaktipeeths. In the Yagya organized by Daksha Prajapati, after Sati, wife of Lord Shiva burnt herself, Shiva roamed around with Sati’s dead body in all three worlds in despair. Then, Lord Vishnu with the help of his Sudarshan Chakra(a divine discus which swirls around his index finger), cut Sati’s dead body into pieces and dropped them one by one, so that Shiva gets released off this weight and returns to being normal. There were fifty one pieces of the dead body of Sati cut by Lord Vishnu and the places on the earth where they fell are known as Shaktipeeth. Each Shaktipeeth is connected with one of the body part of Sati, for example, Kamakhya in Assam is where the Yoni (vagina) of Sati fell and is considered a very powerful centre of Shakti (female) worship.

Devi Shakti in a way is the union of all the powers of the devtas. That is why all the Devtas, Saints and Sages worship Shakti with great devotion.

According to the Puranas, many groups of Tantriks and Shaktas (worshipper of a personified energy of God) consider the presiding Devi of any Shaktipeeth as Shakti and worship her.