Shakti...the Feminine Energy

Durga, as perceived by me (when I was a child) was an enchantress Goddess, the one I admired, for beauty, adornments, the gorgeous dress up and above all her stature as the slayer of the all powerful demon, Mahisasura. I come from/of a family, in which Durga Puja has been celebrated for over 100 years and remember my grandmother telling us about the times, when she used to celebrate the family puja, as a young girl. Trying to keep our family traditions alive, I make an attempt to narrate the story of the enchantress Goddess to my little son. He was very excited to hear the tale which was punctuated with many questions from his end. Sensing his enthusiasm, I stressed a bit more about the feminine power and the need to respect women. Being a boy his little male ego being hurt (I suppose) he told me that although Durga was a Goddess, she was after all invoked and given a form and her powers by the male Gods. This observation came to me as a surprise, first because he is too young to make such a comment and second because I being a mother have paid little attention to this very important part of his growing up---to develop, love and respect for ‘Shakti’, as the mother Goddess as well as in her human form ‘women’. Being a Shakta at heart and an upholder of feminine energy, I wanted to gather more information about ‘Shakti’ and the Shakta philosophy. The Sanskrit word ‘Shakti’ can be translated as meaning power or energy. This power is witnessed in all the various phenomena of life- the brilliance of the sun, water, wind and the other life forces. It also represents intelligence, compassion and divine love. Most significantly, Shakti is an exclusive feminine principle. There is mention of many Goddesses in the Rig Veda, the Epics and the Puranas. It is very difficult to find Hindu literature without the mention of feminine power. The respect of Shakti in Hinduism, is also seen in the various schools of Indian Philosophy like the Vedanta School, Samkhya School , Mimamsakas. Samkhya teaches the dualistic doctrine of Prakriti (Matter) and Purush (Spirit) representing the female and the male respectively. The idea of Prakriti and Purusha is seen in the concept of Divine Consort also. It is seen that Vishnu has Lakshmi, Shiva has Parvati, Krishna has Radha as their eternal companion(Sakha) . So integral is the relationship between Prakriti and Pususha that one cannot exist without the other. This philosophy is also imbibed in the concept of Ardhanarishvara- the representation of God being half man and half woman. They are two aspects of the same being and complement each other. In Hinduism, every woman is said to be manifestation of the Divine Shakti. The feminine principle is believed to be directly present in creation in the form of our mothers, sisters, daughters and wives. If our age old Hindu philosophy gives so much respect to women, why do we see so many incidents of injustice being committed against women daily in our society? Why are our women not safe in a country, where ‘Shakti’ is revered as the great Mother Goddess? I strongly believe that this is because of our inability to impart the knowledge of our ancient Scriptures to our upcoming generations, who are our future nation builders. It is our prime responsibility as parents or teachers to inculcate these values in our younger generations. A woman, as a mother can be the best teacher as she is guided by love and compassion while delivering knowledge. Today’s women need to act as torch bearers and enlighten everyone about their real place in their house and in the society. Till the day the position/ status of woman is not revered in every household; if she is not respected and cared for, there is no significance of the grand pujas we celebrate every year.