Cit-śakti
Cit-śakti · cit-śakti, “the power of consciousness”
Grammar: feminine noun; a compound of cit (consciousness) and śakti (power), written cicchakti in sandhi: “the power that is consciousness”.
Meaning: the power of consciousness of Bhagavān Vishṇu, by which the inert tattvas gain the capacity to act and create, and by which the senses of all beings are set in motion; the Bhāgavata names it beside his kriyā-śakti, the power of acting, and his māyā-śakti.
In the scriptures: Maitreya tells Vidura that Sarveśvara Śrī Mahāvishṇu, remembering the request of the mahat and the other world-creating tattvas, lit up the Virāṭ Purusha with his cit-śakti to give them the capacity for their functions (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 3, Chapter 6). Nārāyaṇa, with his cit-śakti, slept in the waters of pralaya for a thousand mahāyugas, until his power called Kāla brought him to the work of creation (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 3, Chapter 8). Kardama, praising Bhagavān Kapila, says that he is the witness of the changes of prakṛti, and by his cit-śakti pervades and withdraws the brahmāṇḍa (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 3, Chapter 24). Bhagavān Kapila teaches Devahūti that the mahat-tattva arose by the cit-śakti of Bhagavān Vishṇu and, changing, became the threefold ahaṅkāra, and that the tāmasa ahaṅkāra, stirred by that cit-śakti, gave rise to the śabda-tanmātra and from it ākāśa (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 3, Chapter 26).
Standing before the rising Sun, King Bharata praised Bhagavān Vishṇu, radiant and full in the orb of the Sun: “The cit-śakti, which is the very form of Parabrahma, whose form is the light of consciousness and who is the cause of all the worlds, is beyond prakṛti. That Parabrahma, giver of the fruits of karma, creates this world by mere resolve, enters it, and as the witness watches the jīva who desires the enjoyments of the senses. We take refuge in that cit-śakti of Bhagavān Vishṇu, which sets in motion the powers of the senses in all beings.” The Telugu glosses Parabrahma here as Sūrya-deva (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 5, Chapter 7).
Related terms: Cit · Kriyā-śakti · Māyā-śakti · Cidākāśa · Virāṭ Purusha
Sources
- Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 3, Chapters 6, 8, 24, 26; Skandha 5, Chapter 7