The Power Of Shakti
Ancient India, a land of many cultures in the form of city states and regional empires that ran the length and breadth of the subcontinent, was a rich civilization that boasted a high degree of art, music, science and mathematics. It was ancient India that gave the old world the concept of zero which, after passing onto the West via the medieval Arabs, revolutionized European commerce and calculations forever. However, India's most importantly noted contribution to human kind is her amazing study and research into the realm of the spirit. Here in the most remotest of times is humanity's earliest codified quest for the unknown. From this quest and curiosity about the relation of the known to the unknown came about a number of religious paths and teachings that have earned India the epithet of 'empire of the spirit'. Never in one place at so many points in history, not even rivaled by the Middle East has there been such a multitude of spiritual teachers, visionaries and mystics all obsessed with the notion that we humans aren't alone, but that some other entity- or if you will, entities, influence and guide us in some form or another. How the universe came to be, how humans and creatures came about, how we as individuals or as communities relate to this universe in which we live, all this and more are explained in detail in the various Indian scriptures that are among the greatest and most important of mankind's literary contributions to world culture.
The methodology for realizing India's spiritual quests is also unique. Hinduism is a misnomer for the path of Dharma, which teaches the wisdom found in the many books of the Indic tradition. The path to enlightenment in this tradition could be as numerous as Indians, for a basic teaching claims that every human being in fact every creature is unique, and each must find a unique pathway to divinity. This is exemplified in the Hymn of Creation in the Rig Veda, which states clearly that the ancient scripture is not the work of some divine being but rather the accomplishment of sages known as rishis who wrote down their experiences and findings to share with the people of the Earth. The possibility of a divine creation of the universe is examined in detail. At the conclusion of the hymn however, the possibility that this is all conjecture which remains to be proven is also mentioned, a very noble and open assumption to leave open the avenue of critical thinking. Thus, with such a foundation in this ancient religious text the possibility of establishing dogma of the mind is rooted out. Yes, Indian religion is ritualistic and ritual is all important. But ritual is, like life, an illusion. It is the mind and the heart where wisdom can be found. Even more than the mind and the heart, the breath is considered the only organ that is pure and free from desire. Thus the inner being of mankind is indeed, divine, enlightened by the practice of controlling and realizing the breath, the eternal life force that grants to a body the gift of consciousness.
Indian actress Anushka Shetty in the role of the warrrior Rudhramadevi
As in most ancient societies, the transformation from the high respect for matriarchy to full control by the patriarchal took place over a long period of time as hunter gatherers settled down and created what we know of as cities. This may be a reason why there exists in ancient religions and mythologies a role for women and female personalities that belies the association of the subdued, obedient housewife. While most societies may not have been completely matriarchal, unless one considers the Berbers or the Tuaregs of the Sahara and some native American tribes of north America, they certainly had much more respect and regard for the feminine than later, classical civilizations and cultures. The early Sumerian religions saw powerful female deities such as Inanna, a goddess not of love but of fertility and war. She conquered and subdued the pantheon of the sky and Earth, an undefeated all powerful fierce champion who created her own destiny. Independent female deities existed in early Greek mythology as well. Even though later Greek civilization held women in the lowest esteem and banned them from the public space, the idea of powerful women fascinated the Greeks who readily portrayed them in vase paintings and in sculpture as the Amazons, a race of fearsome warrior women that seemingly represented all that could go wrong with a disrespectful housewife. The Athenians named their city after Athena, the armed goddess whom they held in highest esteem, she who figures in many myths and legends as the powerful warrior who came to the aid of men when her assistance was required to achieve a victory. In actual social life women were limited in movement. However, in the recitation of myths and in various art forms every man, women and child was reminded of the exploits of the intrepid and daring female warriors, their figures painted onto a thousand vases or wine krater adorning every household.
This worship and glorification of the powerful female entity remained as such in Indian religion, while women lost their social position as the keepers and maintainers of society. Interestingly, in Indian culture and religion the female goddesses have never lost their positions of power and continue to be invoked by tens if not hundreds of millions of Indians. Every practitioner of the various versions and paths of Hinduism know of such goddesses as Durga, Kali and Parvati. They know of Sita and many others too numerous to mention. Their deeds and accomplishments are the stuff of stories, and these stories are meant to teach a lesson or demonstrate personality. As the ancient Greeks sought the assistance of Athena when they were faced with a dangerous or powerful foe, so too do we read that certain goddesses were sought to accomplish the most difficult tasks. In most cultures, ancient religion has given way to newer faiths and belief systems, and then old mythologies simply became part of the folklore of that nation or people. However, Indian religion has changed relatively little if at all sine these most ancient of times, the gods and goddesses invoked and worshipped in antiquity are still relevant today. Thus, young girls who are taught to obey their fathers and brothers so as to learn to respect their future husbands in this patriarchal realm also learn about the powerful military capabilities of an all conquering Durga or the uncontrollable fierceness of the bloodthirsty Kali, just as their predecessors did thousands of years ago. It is said that to enter a Tamil temple today is equal to seeing what religious rites were like in ancient Egypt, if modern Egyptians worshipped as ancient Egyptians did. The rites and rituals of India are that old, the religious practices going back 3500 years or more. Indian religion is, by all means, the original 'church' of mankind. The narratives that inform the adherents some of the oldest stories in the world. It is a mistake to think of these stories as mere myths, though technically they are. Yet for the believer these stories are the source of inspiration for religion and spiritual pursuit, so one can live their life here in this dimension and move on to complete another life so that one day in the distant future, nirvana will be attained and the cycle of suffering finally over.
At the very center of all creation and existence however is the power and essence of Shakti. This is a feminine power, a primordial state of being that accounts for everything, even the creation of the gods. Feminine enrgy therefore is the very source of birth, life, death, creation and eventual destruction. In the Indian epics when a warrior goddess such as Durga, Kali or any of the lesser female dieties or champions comit to a deed, they are the manifestations of the original, primordial feminine energy that existed before anbything else, and will exist forever.
Durga leads her forces against the evil Buffalo god from the temple at Mahabalipurnam. Note the armaments of the dwarfs as well as female warriors at the top and the bottom center of the carving, one of whom who is bringing her sword down upon an enemy soldier
Everywhere in India one can see for themselves the visual representations of those stories recounted in the texts. Temples in India are the great epics portrayed in stone. Indian sculpture is nearly on a par with ancient Greek art in its representation of various types of beings. Handsome gods and beautiful goddesses dance with each other or fight with demons, they might sit in royal splendor or engage in the act of carnal love, lesser gods beseech greater gods while animals stand in their ranks as if to support the massive weight of the pillars holding up the roof of the temple, itself a complex work of art. A thousand stories decorate ten thousand temples in a hundred thousand cities and villages all over India, all beautified by the hand of the artists, each of them a storyteller using their hands to relay the legend to future visitors. Such artists not only know the story being told, but have a reverence and devotion for that story and the hero god or goddess for whom the story is about. Again as in ancient Greece, the artist put into physical form the illustrious words of the bard. In India, the equivalent to the bards were the rishis who compiled the texts that tell of the exploits of the gods long ago. Everyone is constantly reminded of the creation of the universe, and these exploits represent the ongoing, cyclical nature of our existence.
In ancient India as in ancient Greece, women had to know their place. Yet, while in Greece the legends of Amazons and powerful women were seen as a threat that had to be destroyed and eliminated, in India the goddesses associated with power, justice and war were living beings who came to destroy evil in all its forms, and only they had this special ability. The god Shiva 'The Destroyer' gained his power from his wife Parvati, and it was from her that shakti, the manifestation of divine feminine power, emananted. Therefore without Parvati, the force of shakti was unattainable. Indian mythology and religion maintained the archaic understanding of early matriarchal societies. When Indian civilization began to develop into a sophisticated, urbanized culture such as in Mohenjo Daro and Harappa, the old female deities and their worship remained intact and were transmuted into the new society. Just as the ancient Greek could ask Athena for protection, as the medieval French followed Joan of Arc into battle at the moment of their darkest hours so the Indians could call upon the never failing Durga or Kali, as they proved themselves invincible in their exploits in the Indian stories and tales. What is more important though is that unlike Joan of Arc who was eventually burned at the stake by a male secular and religious powers who feared her, or as Athena in all her might had to bow before the great Zeus or Ares, the god of war, these female Indian deities were never forgotten by the millions of devout Hindus. They were power and might made manifest and in art, they are portrayed as strong, brave and powerful, indeed even frightening. This is how they were seen and understood in ancient times and have remained to be viewed in this manner unto our own modern times. The ancient power of the feminine, as manifested in the power of shakti, is as alive today among Indians as it was thousands of years ago. They know that even Indra the god of war must accept them as they are.
As the great battles and conflicts are described in the Mahabharata and other texts, there are actually classes of warriors, well recited among the Kshatriya caste, who are divided into categories based on how many enemy warriors they can fight or kill in a conflict. The greatest of these are the Mahamaharathi who are capable of fighting many soldiers simultaneously. The Atimaharathi warriors are capable of fighting 12 Maharathi class warrriors or 8 to 640,000 warriors simultaneously. The categories go on and on, and we shouldn't be surprised about the divisions of the numbers into classes- Indian religion is the base of Indian mathematics which is further based on the cyclical understanding of multiples being further divided, ad infinitum. Perhaps out of all this obsession with numerical multiplications, divisions and subdivisions, Indians came up with the concept of zero, from nothingness to everything, then nothingness again. This indicates a penchant for the use of mathematics which stem from the explanations of 'how it came to be' creation stories from the Rig Veda and other texts. The description of the battles and the numbers of warriors involved indicate that the ancient Indian epics are no less fierce, bloody or tumultuous than the epics of any other tradition such as the Iliad, the Germanic Sagas and the Persian Shahnameh known as the Book of Kings. While numbers related to the size of forces involved or the resulting casualties may seem exaggerated, this notes the Indian obsession with mathematics.
In ancient India as in ancient Greece, women had to know their place. Yet, while in Greece the legends of Amazons and powerful women were seen as a threat that had to be destroyed and eliminated, in India the goddesses associated with power, justice and war were living beings who came to destroy evil in all its forms, and only they had this special ability. The god Shiva 'The Destroyer' gained his power from his wife Parvati, and it was from her that shakti, the manifestation of divine feminine power, emananted. Therefore without Parvati, the force of shakti was unattainable. Indian mythology and religion maintained the archaic understanding of early matriarchal societies. When Indian civilization began to develop into a sophisticated, urbanized culture such as in Mohenjo Daro and Harappa, the old female deities and their worship remained intact and were transmuted into the new society. Just as the ancient Greek could ask Athena for protection, as the medieval French followed Joan of Arc into battle at the moment of their darkest hours so the Indians could call upon the never failing Durga or Kali, as they proved themselves invincible in their exploits in the Indian stories and tales. What is more important though is that unlike Joan of Arc who was eventually burned at the stake by a male secular and religious powers who feared her, or as Athena in all her might had to bow before the great Zeus or Ares, the god of war, these female Indian deities were never forgotten by the millions of devout Hindus. They were power and might made manifest and in art, they are portrayed as strong, brave and powerful, indeed even frightening. This is how they were seen and understood in ancient times and have remained to be viewed in this manner unto our own modern times. The ancient power of the feminine, as manifested in the power of shakti, is as alive today among Indians as it was thousands of years ago. They know that even Indra the god of war must accept them as they are.
Carving from a temple pillar depicting an ancient battle with warriors on foot, mounted in chariots and upon an elephant. One warrior is lying prone as the battle rages on. Note the use of the bow by many of the warriors
In the descriptions of these epic battles in Indian literature and art, warriors both male and female as well as battalions of various animals and otherworldly beings take part. The depictions of battle are as visceral and realistically detailed as described in the Iliad or the Germanic sagas. In the Vedas one can read the tale of the warrior woman Vispala who fights at her husband's side. In one battle he is killed and in the attempt to come to his aid her lower leg is cut off. A shin and foot of bronze is manufactured for her and she goes on to slay the killers of her beloved. Durga is a powerful goddess, who is often depicted as charging into battle riding upon a lion. With many arms, she holds a weapon in each and is invincible. She can slay many of the enemy with each slash of her weapons or with the many arrows she can dislodge from her bow at the same time. Perhaps one of the most vivid depictions of Durga in battle is found at the Mahalbanipuram temple in Chennai in Tamil Nadu. This amazingly carved stone temple is also known as the Shore Temple since it lies close to the shore of the Bay of Bengal. In the well executed carving, Durga leads her forces to victory against the evil Mahishasura, the buffalo god. She is riding her lion and in each of her many arms she grasps a weapon. Her army consists of female warriors and Ganas or dwarfs. In this scene Durga comes upon the evil Mahashisura and is about to slay him. In the lower center of the carving is a female warrior bent upon one knee, bringing her sword down upon a fallen male warrior of the buffalo god's army. Either she has a very well developed abdominal, or this is perhaps a muscled cuirass breastplate similar to what was wrought in ancient Greece or Rome. Her high tiara crown also may indicate that she may be one of the Apsara, minor celestial nymphs who are called upon by certain deities to inspire and entice men and gods through music and dancing. Similar to the Greek Muses, in the Indian tradition they are dancers and inspirers of art but can be called to perform feats of daring and valor. In the ongoing war of good against evil they are they are called upon to assist Durga in the defeat and expulsion of the forces of darkness. The scene depicted in the carving clearly is the climax of a fierce battle, worthy of ancient the Greek and Roman artists who also excelled in the portrayal of combat. In the Greco/Roman and in the Indian artistic cultural traditions female power is noted and expressed if not honored and glorified, though all three cultures developed strict rules of control and limitations for the female members of society. However, it should be stressed that the glorification and seeking of feminine power, denied and subdued in Greece and Rome, is still alive in Indian religion with the acknowledgement and verification of shakti. At the doorways of many temples in India Apsaras stand there as if welcoming the stranger, reminding him or her of the power of imagination and the subconscious and the role these minor female deities played in the epic mystical prehistory of our universe.
Kali was so fierce in battle she would lose herself as she slew her foes. Once while in a rage she accidentally stepped on the body of the god Shiva. In so doing she became somewhat embarrassed and expressed her shock by sticking out her tongue, as she is usually portrayed.
The goddess Kali is also featured in Indian art and literature. She is a fierce and terrible goddess, truly the wrath of the gods incarnate. Durga is the warrior extraordinaire, noble and virtuous but Kali is terror itself, the merciless destroyer of evil forces. This most powerful expression of shakti is usually depicted as standing above the body of Lord Shiva. She is the divine Mother and protector, also known as the Liberator. The name Kali is from the Sanskritic word kala meaning time, and Kali's blue/black skin represents the primordial darkness of the universe before anything was created or conceived. Thus she is time and the prototype of existence itself. Often, Kali is represented as standing atop the male god Shiva who lies prostrate as a symbol of his submitting to the irresistible force of shakti, the divine feminine without which Shiva would not attain his power.
In the epic 'Mahabharata' the goddess Durga is fighting a difficult battle against the evil demon Raktabija. He is a difficult enemy to defeat, and for this task she adds to her forces the Matrikas, a group of mother goddesses who have a fierce reputation themselves as the stealers of children and creators of their premature deaths. Durga summons them to battle Raktabija, and they do inflict numerous wounds on him but are unable to bring him down. In fact, every wound he incurs from the swords and battle axes of the Matrikas drips blood, and every drop of blood turns into yet another Rajtabij duplicate. Confounded and seemingly helpless, Durga calls for the aid of Kali who issues forth from Durga's forehead as described in the epic tale to wreak havoc on the enemy forces:
'Out of the surface of Durga's forehead fierce with frown issued Kali of the terrible countenance, armed with sword and noose, bearing the khatvanga skull-topped staff, she was decorated with a garland of skulls round her neck, clad in a tiger's skin. She appears very appalling with her gaping mouth, fearful with her tongue lolling out, deep reddish eyes filling the heavens with her roars and screams, she slaughtered the great foe and devoured his incarnations, then danced upon the corpses of the slain'
Apsaras, along with Dakinis and Matrikas are lesser female deities who sometimes assist the gods in war. Here are two such Apsara or Matrikas engaged in battle
Accompanying Kali into battle are sometimes the Matrikas, and in some texts Kali is described as a Matrika herself. Kali is so powerful and terrible in countenance, the very sight of the goddess alone is sometimes enough to cause the enemy to flee the battlefield, and many warriors become so terrified that their hearts stop and they die then and there, somewhat similar to the effects of the Medusa in Greek mythology who causes those who are unfortunate to gaze upon her to turn to stone. There is a type of Apsara counterpart who assists Kali from time to time known as the Dakini, another type of nymph who dresses much like Kali but also inspires men and women as the Apsaras do. While the Apsaras dance, sing and inspire artists and lovers with poetic thoughts in the realm of the spirit, Dakinis are outspoken and active regarding the erotic pleasures of the flesh and the physical world which they remind people to not deny. While Apsaras dwell in the dimension of the spirit the Dakini affect humans in day to day life, acting almost like an antidote to an overindulgence of spiritual ecstasy. The two types of beings represent the two realms, the spiritual and the physical, which anyone alive and thinking in this dimension needs to logically consider, creating a balance betwen the two. All of these entities sometimes assist the gods in wars or help deserving humans in their struggles and battles.
A modern disciple of Kalaripayattu martial arts
All aspects of spiritual practice coincide with any particular art or activity in Indian culture. Those who study music or art will also partake and practice yoga and pranayama and perhaps engage in some form of the martial arts as well. Perhaps the most complete curriculum for students in the ancient world could be found in India's ashrams and places of learning, as all the spiritual sciences were considered intertwined with one another. A Brahmin priest might also be a mathematician, a player of the veena a doctor of Ayurvedic medicine, a sculptor of images could know about the health benefits of foods and the effects of spices on the body. Everything was tied to something else in India. For those who wanted to study martial arts, considered a must for the members of the Kshatriya or warrior caste, there were a number of disciplines one could aspire to master- Silambam or stick fighting was common and among the Sikh warriors Gatka was taught. In the province of Maharastra it was a tradition to build training centers for the young. Thus India trained their warriors in a manner that would make the Spartans or the Samurai proud. Perhaps the most famous of all the Indian disciplines was and is the Mother of Martial Arts, Kalarapayattu. This style of fighting is at least three thousand years old and like all the Indian and Asian arts it does overlap with, in this case, yoga, dance and the performing arts so that the disciple learns ease and fluidity of movement. Pranayama is no less important, since mastery of the breath is so essential in moving the physical body. The art has been open to both men and women and still attracts eager students who learn to fight with sword and buckler shield, a variety of daggers, spears, and one of the most terrifying weapons ever thought of by man for close combat, the Urimi, a type of whip with sharp, metal flangs that has been known to literally rip an enemy to shreds. We often think of India as a peacefully spiritual culture, which in most instances it most certainly is, this wonderful and mystical empire of the spirit. Yet when we read the great epics of ancient India we see that preparedness for war was not only a necessity but a duty in which the armies of ancient kings proudly excelled. Alexander The Great's bloodiest and most difficult battle was fought on the banks of the Hydaspes river against the forces of King Porus. The battle ended in a draw and after this terrible event in which thousands were killed or maimed Alexander turned around and sought his way home. The mighty Muslim Moghuls invaded India in the Middle Ages and conquered much of the north, imposing their will and religion over the many more numerous Hindu subjects However, incursions to conquer the south and campaigns into the lands of the Mahrattas ended in military failure. The Moghul king Aurangzeb sought to make all India a solidly Muslim land but his wars were so costly that he bankrupted the treasury. When the British arrived, there was little left in what was once the richest 'bank' in the world and India finally succumbed to the rule and might of the British Empire.
It is said that there was once a woman practitioner of Kalaripayattu in ancient India named Meenakshiama who was such a master that at the age of 76 she beat a male opponent half her age. When asked what inspired her to such excellence in her form and movements, she claimed that she imitated and applied the actions of animals such as the tiger, boar, snake and elephant. This female champion remained undefeated in her career.
It was the study of such marital arts disciplines that brought about the great warrior tradition of India, from the most ancient times to our own, with Indian, Sikh and Gurkha soldiers themselves a reputation for ferocity. The revolt against British rule led by the princess Lakhshmibai, better known as the Rani of Jhansi of Maratha state was a troubling time for the British. She assumed her leadership roll at the age of 22, oversaw the training of her army personally which included a number of women warriors, defeated a British force and took the city of Gwalior. She refused every request to surrender. The Rani was finally killed in battle but her memory lived on, as farmers and village people thought her the incarnation of the goddess Durga herself, using the famous title awarded to that goddess, Mahisasuramardini, slayer of the Buffalo Demon. There were many such female warriors in India's long history. While not a formally trained warrior, we might wish to include a mention of Phoolan Devi, the famous later 20th century bandit queen. Married at an early age to an abusive older man, she ran away and in so doing was caught by the elders of her village and beaten. She was forced to carry water to them, stripped of her clothing. Years later she took up banditry and returned to wreak her revenge upon the men of the village. She hid in the mountains with other bandits, attacking villages and police officials at will until she was finally caught. She began a political career but was assaninated in 2001. Phoolan Devi is another example of the ferocity for which Indian women were known in history, though disciplined by the strict codes of their social culture to be subservient and obey their men. Yet despite caste and social restrictions young girls and women today are taking an interest in ancient Indian martial arts. They have many examples to study about and inspiration to seek from their long history and in the many books, texts and scriptures in religion and mythology of the tradition of fierce warrior women.
The feminine energy force is the very essence of all creation. According to the Rig Veda and Hindu commentary on the many books and texts India produced in ancient times, the universe is by it's very nature feminine. Thus the male gods are creations that emanate from the female, just as all life emanates from the womb of the mother. While society may have fated women to hold an inferior role within a patriarchal society, the feminine form is portrayed as strong and powerfully independent in the art, religion and mythology of India, an inspiration to women there and a reminder of their outward, physical manifestation as the source of all creation itself.
Take a look at some beautiful temple carvings and sculpture presented in this link, about the warrior goddess...
https://artsandculture.google.com/exhibit/mahisasuramardini-the-warrior-goddess
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