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SAKTI YOGA PHILOSOPHY
I
The power or active aspect of the immanent God is Sakti. Sakti is the embodiment of power.
She is the supporter of the vast universe. She is the supreme power by which the world is upheld.
She is the Universal Mother. She is Durga, Kali, Chandi, Chamundi, Tripurasundari, Rajesvari.
There is no difference between God and His Sakti, just as there is no difference between fire and its
burning power.
He who worships Sakti, that is, God in Mother form, as the supreme power which creates,
sustains and withdraws the universe, is a Sakta. All women are forms of the Divine Mother.
Siva is the unchanging consciousness. Sakti is His changing power which appears as mind
and matter. Saktivada or Saktadarsana is a form of monism or Advaitavada.
A Sakta does Sadhana which helps the union of Siva and Sakti, through the awakening of
the forces within the body. He becomes a Siddha in the Sadhana, when he is able to awaken
Kundalini and pierce the six Chakras. This is to be done in a perfect practical way under the
guidance of a Guru who has become perfect. The Sakti must be awakened by Dhyana, by Bhava, by
Japa, by Mantra-Sakti. The Mother, the embodiment of the fifty letters, is present in the various
letters in the different Chakras. When the chords of a musical instrument are struck harmoniously,
fine music is produced. Even so, when the chords of the letters are struck in their order, the Mother
who moves in the six Chakras and who is the very self of the letters, awakens Herself. The Sadhaka
attains Siddhi easily when She is roused. It is difficult to say when and how She shows Herself and
to what Sadhaka. Sadhana means unfolding, rousing up or awakening of power or Sakti. Mode of
Sadhana depends upon the tendencies and capacities of the Sadhaka.
Sakti may be termed as that by which we live and have our being in this universe. In this
world all the wants of the child are provided by the mother. The child’s growth, development and
sustenance are looked after by the mother. Even so, all the necessaries of life and its activities in this
world and the energy needed for it, depend upon Sakti or the Universal Mother.
No one can free himself from the thraldom of mind and matter without Mother’s grace. The
fetters of Maya are too hard to break. If you worship Her as the great Mother, you can very easily go
beyond Prakriti through Her benign grace and blessings. She will remove all obstacles in the path
and lead you safely into the illimitable domain of eternal bliss and make you free. When She is
pleased and bestows Her blessings on you, then alone you can free yourself from the bondage of this
formidable Samsara.
The first syllable which a child or a quadruped utters is the name of the beloved mother. Is
there any child which does not owe its all to the affection and love of its mother? It is the mother
who protects you, consoles you, cheers you and nurses you. She is your friend, philosopher,
protector and guide throughout your life. Human mother is a manifestation of the Universal
Mother.
The Supreme Lord is represented as Siva and His power is represented as his consort, Sakti
or Durga or Kali. Just as the husband and wife look after the well-being of the family, so also Lord
Siva and His Sakti are engaged in looking after the affairs of the world.
Radha, Durga, Lakshmi, Sarasvati and Savitri are the five primary forms of Prakriti or Devi.
Durga destroyed Madhu and Kaitabha through Vishnu. As Mahalakshmi, She destroyed the Asura
Mahisha and as Sarasvati She destroyed Sumbha and Nisumbha with their companions
Dhumralochana, Chanda, Munda and Raktabija.
When Vishnu and Mahadeva destroyed various Asuras, the power of Devi was behind
them. Devi took Brahma, Vishnu and Rudra and gave them necessary Sakti to proceed with the
work of creation, preservation and destruction. She is at the centre of the universe. She is in
Muladhara Chakra in our bodies. She vitalises the body through the Sushumna. She vitalises the
universe from the summit of Mount Meru.
In this system of Sakti philosophy, Siva is omnipresent, impersonal, inactive. He is pure
consciousness. Sakti is dynamic. Siva and Sakti are related as Prakasa and Vimarsa. Sakti or
Vimarsa is the power that is latent in the pure consciousness. Vimarsa gives rise to the world of
distinctions. Siva is Chit. Sakti is Chidrupini. Brahma, Vishnu and Siva do their functions of
creation, preservation and destruction in obedience to Sakti. Sakti is endowed with Iccha (will),
Jnana (knowledge) and Kriya (action). Siva and Sakti are one. Sakti Tattva and Siva Tattva are
inseparable. Siva is always with Sakti. There are thirtysix Tattvas, in Sakti philosophy. Sakti is in
Sakti Tattva, Nada in Sadakhya Tattva, Bindu in Isvara Tattva. The creative aspect of the Supreme
Siva is called Siva Tattva. Siva Tattva is the first creative movement. Sakti Tattva is the will of Siva.
It is the seed and womb of the entire world.
The first manifestation is called the Sadakhya or Sadasiva Tattva. In this Tattva there is the
beginning of formation of ideas. There is Nada Sakti in this Tattva. Next comes Isvara Tattva. This
Tattva is called Bindu. The fourth Tattva is Vidya or Suddhavidya. Then Prakriti modifies into the
Tattvas of mind, senses and the matter which constitutes the world.

Nada, Bindu are all names for different aspects of Sakti. Nada is really Siva Sakti. Siva has
two aspects. In one aspect, He is the supreme changeless one who is Satchidananda. This is Para
Samvit. In the other aspect, He changes as the world. The cause of the change is Siva Tattva. This
Siva Tattva and Sakti Tattva are inseparable. Sakti Tattva is the first dynamic aspect of Brahman.
Nishkala Siva is Nirguna Siva. He is not connected with the creative Sakti. Sakala Siva is
associated with the creative Sakti. Maya or Prakriti is within the womb of Sakti. Maya is the matrix
of the world. Maya is potential in the state of dissolution. She is dynamic in creation. Maya evolves
into the several material elements and other physical parts of all sentient creatures under the
direction of Sakti. There are thirtysix Tattvas in Sakti philosophy. In Sakti philosophy we have
Brahman, Sakti, Nada, Bindu and Suddhamaya. In Saiva Siddhanta philosophy we have Siva,
Sakti, Sadakhya and the Suddhamaya. The rest of the evolution in Sakti philosophy is the same as in
Saiva Siddhanta philosophy.
Knowledge of Sakti leads to salvation. “Saktijnanam vina devi nirvanam naiva jayate—O
Devi without the knowledge of Sakti, Mukti cannot be attained” (Isvara says to Devi). The Jiva or
the individual soul thinks when he is under the influence of Maya that he is the doer and the enjoyer
and identifies himself with the body. Through the grace of Sakti and through Sadhana or
self-culture, the individual soul frees himself from all fetters, attains spiritual insight and merges
himself in the Supreme.
There is in reality nothing but the One Self. The experienced is nothing but the experiencer.
Brahman appears as the world through the mirror of mind or Maya. An object is nothing but the One
Self appearing through Maya as non-self, to itself as subject. Triputi or knower, knowledge and
knowable vanishes in Nirvikalpa Samadhi. Supreme Siva or Brahman alone exists.
In the Kenopanishad, it is said that the gods became puffed up with a victory over the
Asuras. They wrongly took the success to be the result of their own valour and prowess. The Lord
wanted to teach them a lesson. He appeared before them in the form of a Yaksha, a huge form, the
beginning and end of which were not visible. The Devas wanted to find out the identity of this form
and sent Agni for this purpose. The Yaksha asked Agni: “What is your name and power?” Agni
replied: “I am Agni (Jatavedas). I can burn up the whole universe in a minute.” The Yaksha placed
before Agni a dry blade of grass and asked him to burn it. Agni was nor able to burn it. He ran away
from the Yaksha in shame. The gods then sent Vayu to enquire who the Yaksha was. Vayu
approached the Yaksha. The Yaksha said to Vayu: “Who are you? What is your power?” Vayu said:
“I am wind-god. I can blow up the whole world in a minute.” The Yaksha then placed a blade of
grass before Vayu and told him to blow that away. Vayu could not make it move an inch from its
place. He left the place in shame. Last of all came Indra himself. When Indra reached the place, he
found that the Yaksha had vanished.
Then Uma appeared before Indra and revealed to him the real identity of the Yaksha. She
said to Indra: “It is the power of the Divine Mother and not that of the gods that crowned the gods
with victory. It is the Sakti or Uma or Haimavati, sister of Krishna, that is the source of the strength
of all the gods.” Sakti is the great teacher of Jnana. She sheds wisdom on her devotees.

May you all obtain the grace of Sakti or the Universal Mother and enjoy the supreme bliss of
the final emancipation.