Parāśakti in the Kūrma Purāṇa

Parāśakti · parā-śakti, “the supreme power”

Devī Māhātmya has other meanings too: see all meanings of Devī Māhātmya.

Śakti means “power”. In the Kūrma Purāṇa, Parāśakti (the supreme Śakti) is the first and highest power, never separate from Parameśvara (the Supreme Bhagavān Śiva). The powers of Śiva, Vishṇu and Brahmā all come from her. She is Māyā, the creative power that makes the one appear as many. She is Kāla, time, the force that keeps the universe moving. She is the creative face of the nirguṇa Brahman (the Absolute beyond all qualities).

This teaching is given in Chapters 11 and 12 of the Pūrvārdha (first part) of the Kūrma Purāṇa. It ends with a famous scene: Himavān, king of the mountains, is given a direct vision of the Devī’s viśvarūpa (cosmic form). She has eight arms and many heads and eyes, holds the śaṅkha (conch), cakra (discus), gadā (mace) and triśūla (trident), and shines with the light of ten million suns.

How the Teaching Begins

Before this teaching, the Purāṇa tells of the eleven Rudras born from Brahmā’s tapas (spiritual discipline). It then tells of the birth of Satī as the daughter of Daksha, her marriage to Rudra, and her rebirth as Pārvatī after Himavān’s tapas. The ṛshis then ask: “Who is this Devī who carries half of Śaṅkara’s body?” In reply, Kūrmasvāmī (Vishṇu in his tortoise form) gives this teaching.

It is presented as secret knowledge once spoken by Brahmā himself on the peak of the great Mount Meru. It is called the supreme Brahma-vijñāna (knowledge of Brahman), the one means of saving beings who are drowning in the ocean of saṃsāra (the cycle of birth and death).

The Mahāmāheśvara Śakti

The Devī is first described as the Mahāmāheśvara-sambandhinī Śakti: the power that belongs to Maheśvara (Śiva) and can never be separated from him. Her qualities are:

  • Jñānarūpā: her form is pure knowledge
  • Ākāśa-saṃjñā: she is called ākāśa (space), because she is infinite and present everywhere
  • Śiva-svarūpiṇī: her very nature is Śiva himself
  • Ananta, vibhāgarahita, ekarūpa: infinite, undivided, of one form
  • Tri-guṇātīta: beyond the three guṇas (the qualities of nature: sattva, rajas and tamas)
  • Paratattvatejas: her light is the light of the highest tattva (reality)
  • Sūryakānti-svacchā prabhā: a pure, clear radiance like sunlight

She is the one Mahāmāheśvara-śakti. Through upādhis (limiting conditions that make one thing appear as different things), she plays near Parameśvara in both higher (parā) and lower (aparā) forms.

The Four Śaktis and the Caturvyūha

The Devī’s power shows itself as four main śaktis, each linked to a state or station:

  1. Śānti: the peaceful, supreme aspect beyond everything, linked with Maheśvara (Śiva)
  2. Vidyā: the knowing aspect that gives light
  3. Pratishṭhā: the aspect that supports and establishes
  4. Nivṛtti: the aspect that turns beings away from saṃsāra and towards moksha (liberation)

Because Parāśakti is fourfold, Parameśvara himself is called Caturvyūha, “the one with four formations”. Through this Parāśakti, Parameśvara keeps himself in four vyūha forms and dwells within the four Vedas.

Parāśakti as Māyā

The Purāṇa clearly calls the Devī’s power Māyā. Here Māyā does not mean mere illusion. It means the supreme creative power of Parameśvara:

  • She is the śakti of Parameśvara, known by the name Māyā, and she fills all the lokas (worlds)
  • She is māyātmikā (made of māyā), sarvaṃkārā (having all forms) and atipurātanā (most ancient)
  • The text says: “The three principles, Pradhāna (Prakṛti, or nature), Purusha (spirit) and Māyā, are the chief tattvas. That Māyā is eka-rūpā (of one form), sarva-vyāpinī (present everywhere), ananta (infinite), kevala-rūpā (pure and simple), bheda-rahitā (without division) and maṅgala-rūpā (auspicious in form).”
  • “There is only one śakti and one Śiva, who holds that śakti. All other śaktis, and all others who hold śakti, have come from this one universal Śakti.”

Māyā as Kāla: Time as Śakti

In one of the deepest passages of the chapter, Kāla (time) is shown to be Māyā in action:

  • Kāla creates beings, and Kāla destroys them. Everything in the world is under Kāla. Kāla itself is under nothing.
  • The pradhāna-tattva (primal nature), Purusha, mahat (cosmic intelligence), ahaṃkāra (the sense of “I”) and the other tattvas are all joined to one another through Kāla, by the will of Parameśvara, the great yogī.
  • “The śakti of this Parameśvara, whose form is all the worlds, is famed by the name Māyā. Kāla belongs to Māyā. Kāla rules over all śaktis. The Paramātman (Supreme Self) is the one who creates Kāla.”
  • Sarvam Kālaḥ karoti, “Kāla does all this.” Everything is destroyed by Kāla. Kāla holds up the world. The whole universe serves Kāla.

Here Kāla is the living, moving force (spanda, “vibration”) of Śakti in the world of form. Śiva himself, in his form as Kāla, is called the pūjyamāna Hari, the Kāla-form who receives pūjā. He is also called the Prāṇarūpa Maheśvara, the life-breath of everything that exists.

Śakti and Śiva: One or Two?

The Kūrma Purāṇa takes a careful, balanced view of how Śakti and Śiva relate:

  • In the everyday world there is a difference. The śaktis are forms of Pārvatī, the daughter of Himavān. Śiva is the one who holds śakti, the bhoktā (the one who experiences), while Pārvatī is the bhogyā (what is experienced).
  • At the level of ultimate reality, “there is no difference between the one Śakti and the one Śiva.” They cannot be separated, just as fire cannot be separated from its heat, or the sun from its light.
  • The difference between śakti and śaktimān (the power and the one who holds it) is something seen by yogīs who know the tattva (truth). For those not yet awakened, the Devī stands as the highest form of the Absolute that they can approach.
  • “The śaktis are the forms of Pārvatī, daughter of Himavān; the one who holds them is Śaṅkara. This difference has been taught in the Purāṇas by the brahma-vādins (teachers of Brahman).” Yet at the paramārtha level (the level of highest truth), all difference disappears.

Himavān’s Vision of the Devī’s Cosmic Form

The chapter reaches its high point in a wonderful divine vision. When Pārvatī is born to Himavān (also called Himavanta) and his wife Menā, Himavān looks at his divine daughter and is granted a direct vision of the Devī’s cosmic form. She gives him a divya-netra (divine eye) and says: “I am the supreme Śakti who dwells in Maheśvara. Know me. I am the Ātman (inner self) of every kind of speech in the world. I am forever of the form of Śiva. I shall give you the divine eye. See my form that belongs to Parameśvara.”

The viśvarūpa is described in great detail:

  • Radiance: as bright as ten million suns, blazing with thousands of flames, bearing thousands of kālanāḍikās (channels of time)
  • Face and form: terrifying, with fangs (daṃshṭras), a form no one can stand before; and yet peaceful and gracious in expression
  • Adornment: wearing jaṭā (matted locks) and a kirīṭa (crown), with garlands of divine flowers and divine garments, anointed with the finest sandal paste
  • Weapons: holding a gadā (mace), śaṅkha (conch), cakra (discus) and triśūla (trident) in her many arms
  • Features: three eyes, the crescent moon as an ornament, and the radiance of ten million moons
  • Cosmic reach: within the aṇḍa (cosmic egg) and beyond it, inside and outside, having all forms, most ancient
  • Feet and faces: lotus feet honoured by Brahmā, Indra, Upendra and the greatest yogīs, with eyes, heads and faces in every direction

Himavān was filled with fear and joy at the same time. He steadied his mind with the sound Oṃ and then praised the Devī with 1008 names.

The 1008 Names of the Devī

The text gives a long stotra (hymn of praise), calling the Devī by names that cover every side of her nature:

  • Śivā, Umā, Mahāśakti, Anantā, Nirmalā, Śāntā: her peaceful aspect
  • Nityā, Śāśvatā, Aksharā, Śivātmikā, Paramātma-rūpiṇī: her eternity and her oneness with Brahman
  • Mahāmāyā, Mūla-prakṛti, Īśvarī, Pradhāna-purushātītā: she is the first Prakṛti (root nature), beyond both Pradhāna and Purusha
  • Jñāna-śakti-rūpā, Tejo-rūpā, Amṛta-svarūpā: her shining power of knowledge
  • Brahma-vishṇu-śiva-svarūpā, Brahma-vishṇu-maheśvara-janma-kāraṇā: she is the cause of the birth of the Trimūrti (Brahmā, Vishṇu and Śiva)
  • Catur-viṃśati-tattva-svarūpā: one with the twenty-four tattvas (the principles that make up the world)
  • Vishṇu-svarūpā, Vishṇu-vikāsā: her Vaishṇava side, her oneness with Vishṇu

The Supreme Abode of the Devī

Yogīs who gain darśana (sacred sight) of the Devī’s highest state see it as:

  • Advaita, sarvavyāpī, sūkshmarūpa, mūlasthānīya: non-dual, present everywhere, subtle, the foundation of all
  • Ānanda-rūpa, anāśa, kevala, bheda-rahita, parabrahma-rūpa: the Devī’s parā-pada (highest state) is full of bliss, cannot be destroyed, is simple and has no division; it is the form of the Supreme Brahman
  • Śubhakara, malinyatā-rahita, nirguṇa, bheda-śūnya: auspicious, without stain, beyond the guṇas, free of all difference

For those who seek moksha, the text says: “Therefore one who desires liberation should take refuge in Parameśvarī Pārvatī, who is the Ātman of all beings and whose nature is Śiva.”

Sources

  • Kūrma Purāṇa, Pūrvārdha, Chapter 12