Roll No.

20905S1 - ANIL KUMAR NAIR

1. Differentiate between the following

1. Avarana –sakti and Viksepa –sakti

The aavarana shakti and the viksepa shakti – that maya resulting from the dynamics of the
constituents of the human brain. The emotions, the unconscious, the primitive brain in us -
the manas – the manomaya kosha - is active in about 90% of all our thoughts, words and deeds
while the thinking brain is concurrently active having about 5% - in our conscious thinking
and expressions – the vigyanamaya kosha. Vedanta sadhana is all about making our
unconscious manas work fully aligned and transformed with our spiritually thinking
buddhi!” A profound statement! Understanding the full implications of this was the key to a
successful sadhana!

When Brahma projects itself into myriad forms and names, or transforms itself into the world; this
kind of activity inherently of Brahma is called Ishwara with relation to the world and the power to
procreate is alluded to as Prakriti. (Ishwarsya MayaShaktih Prakriti). Therefore Maya is the
energy of Ishwara, His inherent force by which He transforms the potential into the actual world."
It has no separate identity, it is in Ishwara as heat in fire. Maya through the machinations of false
knowledge (Avidya) or erroneous perception (Mithya Jnana) exhibits its modus operandi
(Vyapara) in two ways of concealment (Avarna) and misrepresentation (Viksepa). It hides the
truth and at the same time mis-represents it. To conclude, it would be pertinent to quote from
Shankara direct :-

"As the magician in not affected by the illusion (Maya) he has himself created, because it is
without reality (Avastu), so also Paramatman is not affected by the illusion of a dream because
the soul is not touched by sleep or waking." The ever- erring factor which disturbs the mental and
psychic equilibrium between the creator and his creation is Maya. Such mental aberrations have
relation to time and space and in their context unity is regarded as plurality, heterogenity as
homogenity. This is in brief the content of Maya as enunciated by Shankara.

2. Sattva, Rajas and Tamas

Tamas (Darkness)
Complete delusion, ignorance, illiberality, indecision in respect of action, sleep, haughtiness, fear,
cupidity, grief, censure of good acts, loss of memory, unripeness of judgment, absence of faith,
violation of all rules of conduct, want of discrimination, blindness, vileness of behaviour, boastful
assertions of performance when there has been no performance, presumption of knowledge in
ignorance, unfriendliness (or hostility), evilness of disposition, absence of faith, stupid reasoning,
crookedness, incapacity for association, sinful action, senselessness, stolidity, lassitude, absence
of self-control, degradation, - all these qualities are known as belonging to Darkness (Tamas).

Whatever other states of mind connected with delusion exist in the world, all appertain to
Darkness. Frequent ill-speaking of other people, censuring the deities and the Brahmanas
(priests), illiberality, vanity, delusion, wrath, unforgiveness, hostility towards all creatures, are
regarded as the characteristics of Darkness. Whatever undertakings exist that are unmeritorious
(in consequence of their being vain or useless), what gifts there are that are unmeritorious (in
consequence of the unworthiness of the donee, the unseasonableness of the time, the
impropriety of the object, etc.), vain eating, - these also appertain to Darknesss (Tamas).

Indulgence in calumny, unforgiveness, animosity, vanity, and absence of faith are also said to be
characteristics of Darkness. Whatever men there are in this world who are characterised by these
and other faults of a similar kind, and who break through the restraints provided by the scriptures,
are all regarded as belonging to the quality of Darkness.

I shall now declare the wombs where these men, who are always of sinful deeds, have to take
their birth. Ordained to go to hell, they sink in the order of being. Indeed, they sink into the hell of (
birth in) brute creation. They become immobile entities, or animals, or beasts of burden; or
carnivorous creatures, or snakes or worms, insects and birds; or creatures of the oviparous order,
or quadrupeds of diverse species; or lunatics, or deaf or dumb human beings, or men that are
afflicted by dreadful maladies and regarded as unclean. These men of evil conduct, always
exhibiting the indications of their acts, sink in Darkness. their course (of migration) is always
downwards. Appertaining to the quality of Darkness, they sink in Darkness.

I shall, after this, declare what the means are of their improvement and ascent; indeed, by what
means they succeed in attaining to the regions that exist for men of pious deeds.

Those men who take birth in orders other than humanity, by growing up in view of the religious
ceremonies of Brahmanas (priests) devoted to the duties of their own order and desirous of doing
good to all creatures, succeed, through the aid of such purificatory rites, in ascending upwards.
Indeed struggling (to improve themselves), they at last attain to the same regions with these
pious Brahmanas. Verily, they go to Heaven. Even this is the Vedic audition. Born in order other
than humanity and growing old in their respective acts, even thus they become human beings
that are, of course, ordained to return. Coming to sinful births and becoming Chandalas, or
human beings that are deaf, or that lisp indistinctly, they attain to higher and higher castes, one
after another in proper turn, transcending the Sudra order, and other (consequences of) qualities
that appertain to Darkness and that abide in it in course of migrations in this world.
Attachment to objects of desire is regarded as great delusion. Here Rishis and Munis (Seers and
sages), and deities become deluded, desirous of pleasure. Darkness, delusion, the great
delusion, the great obscurity called wrath, and death, that blinding obscurity (these are the five
great afflictions). As regards wrath, that is the great obscurity (and not aversion or hatred as is
sometimes included in the list).

With respect then to its colour (nature), its characteristics, and its source, I have, ye learned
Brahmanas, declared to you, accurately and in due order, everything about the quality of
Darkness (Tamas). Who is there that truly understands it? Who is there that truly sees it? That,
indeed, is the characteristic of Darkness, viz., the beholding of reality in what is not real. The
qualities of Darkness have been declared to you in various ways. Duly has Darkness, in its higher
and lower forms, been described to you. That man who always bears in mind the qualities
mentioned here, will surely succeed in becoming freed from all characteristics that appertain to
Darkness.

Rajas (Passion)

Brahma said: I shall now declare to you accurately

what the quality of Passion (Rajas) is.

Injuring others, beauty, toil, pleasure and pain, cold and heat, lordship (or power), war, peace,
arguments, dissatisfaction, endurance, might, valour, pride, wrath, exertion, quarrel, jealousy,
desire, malice, battle, the sense of meum or mineness, protection of others, slaughter, bonds,
and affliction, buying and selling, lopping off, cutting, piercing and cutting off the coat of mail that
another has worn, fierceness, cruelty, vilifying, pointing out the faults of others, thoughts entirely
devoted to worldly affairs, anxiety, animosity, reviling of others, false speech, false or vain gifts,
hesitancy or doubts, boastfulness of speech, praise and criticisms, laudation, prowess, defiance,
attendance (as on the weak and the sick), obedience (to the commands of preceptors and
parents), service or ministrations, harbouring of thirst or desire, cleverness or dexterity of
conduct, policy heedlessness, contumely, possessions, and diverse decorations that prevail in
the world among men, women, animals, inanimate things, houses, grief, incredulousness, vows
and regulations, actions with expectation (of good result), diverse acts of public charity, the rites
in respect of Swaha salutations, rites of Swadha and Vashat, officiating at the sacrifices of others,
imparting of instruction, performance of sacrifices, study, making of gifts, acceptance of gifts, rites
of expiation, auspicious acts, the wish to have this and that, affection generated by the merits of
the object for which or whom it is felt, treachery, deception, disrespect and respect, theft, killing,
desire of concealment, vexation, wakefulness, ostentation, haughtiness, attachment, devotion,
contentment, exultation, gambling, indulgence in scandal, all relations arising out of women,
attachment to dancing, instrumental music and songs – all these qualities have been said to
belong to the quality of Passion (Rajas).

Those men on earth who meditate on the past, present and the future, who are devoted to the
aggregate of the three viz., Religion, Wealth and Pleasure, who acting from impulse of desire,
exult on attaining to affluence in respect of every desire, are said to be enveloped by Passion
(Rajas). These men have downward courses. Repeatedly reborn in this world, they give
themselves up to pleasure. They covet what belongs to the world as also all those fruits that
belong to the world hereafter. They make gifts, accept gifts, offer oblations to the Pitris, and pour
libations on the sacrificial fire.

The qualities of Passion have thus been declared to you in their variety. The course of conduct
also to which it leads has been properly described to you. The man, who always understands
these qualities, succeeds in always freeing himself from all of them which appertain to Passion
(Rajas).

Sattwa (Goodness)

Brahma (the Grandsire Prajapati) said: Sattwa is beneficial to all creatures in the world, and
unblamable, and constitutes the conduct of those that are good.
Joy, satisfaction, nobility, enlightenment, and happiness, absence of stinginess, absence of fear,
contentment, disposition for faith, forgiveness, courage, abstention from injuring any creature,
equability, truth, straightforwardness, absence of wrath, absence of malice, purity, cleverness,
prowess- these appertain to the quality of Goodness (Sattwa).

He who is devoted to the duty of Yoga, regarding knowledge to be vain, conduct to be vain,
service to be vain, and mode of life to be vain, attains to what is highest in the world hereafter.
Freedom from the idea of meum (mineness), freedom from egoism, freedom from expectations,
looking upon all with an equal eye, and freedom from desire, - these constitute the eternal religion
of the good.
Confidence, modesty, forgiveness, renunciation, purity, absence of laziness, absence of cruelty,
absence of delusion, compassion to all creatures, absence of the disposition to calumniate,
exultation, satisfaction, rapture, humility, good behaviour, purity in all acts having for their object
the attainment of tranquillity, righteous understanding, emancipation from attachments,
indifference, Brahamcharya (celibacy), complete renunciation, freedom from the idea of meum,
freedom from expectations, unbroken observance of righteousness, beliefs that gifts are vain,
sacrifices are vain, study is vain, vows are vain, acceptance of gifts is vain, observance of duties
is vain, and penances are vain – those Brahmanas (priests) in this world, whose conduct is
marked by these virtues, who adhere to righteousness, who abide in the Vedas, are said to be
wise and possessed of correctness of vision.

[Note: Compare from The Mahabharata, Aswamedha Parva, Sec.XLIV:

Brahma said: The Unmenifest is the source of all the worlds as, indeed, that is the end of every
thing. Days end with the sun's setting and Nights with the sun's rising. The end of pleasure is
always sorrow, and the end of sorrow is always pleasure. All accumulations have exhaustion for
their end, and all ascent have falls for their end. All associations have dissociations for their end,
and life has death for its end. All action ends in destruction and all that is born is certain to meet
with death. Every mobile and immobile thing in this world is transient. Sacrifice, gift, penances,
study, vows, observances, - all these have destruction for their end. Of Knowledge, there is no
end. Hence, one that is possesed of a tranquil soul, that has subjugated his senses, that is freed
from the sense of meum (mineness), that is devoid of egoism, is released from all sins by pure
knowledge.]

Casting off all sins and freed from grief, those men possessed of wisdom attain to Heaven and
create diverse bodies for themselves. Attaining the power of governing everything, self-restraint,
minuteness, these high-souled ones make operations of their own mind, like the gods themselves
dwelling in Heaven. Such men are said to have their courses directed upwards. They are
veritable gods capable of modifying all things. Attaining to Heaven they modify all things by their
very nature. They get whatever objects they desire and enjoy them.
Thus have I, ye foremost of regenerate ones, described to you what that conduct is which
appertains to the quality of Goodness (Sattwa). Understanding this duly, one acquires whatever
objects one desires. The qualities that appertain to Goodness have been declared particularly.
The conduct which those qualities constitute has also been properly set forth. That man who
always understands these qualities, succeeds in enjoying the qualities without being attached to
them.

II. Answer briefly

1. Explain the rope-snake analogy and post –thief analogy that are commonly used in Vedanta.

Snake is only an appearance on the rope. The rope has not transformed itself into a snake, like
milk into curd. Brahman is immutable and eternal. Therefore, It cannot change Itself into the
world. Brahman becomes the cause of the world through Maya, which is Its inscrutable
mysterious power or Sakti.

When you come to know that it is only a rope, your fear disappears. You do not run away from it.
Even so, when you realise the eternal immutable Brahman, you are not affected by the
phenomena or the names and forms of this world. When Avidya or the veil of ignorance is
destroyed through knowledge of the Eternal, when Mithya Jnana or false knowledge is removed
by real knowledge of the Imperishable or the living Reality, you shine in your true, pristine, divine
splendour and glory.

For Shankara, this Self (atman) is sat-chit-ananda, being or existence, consciousness or

cognition, and unqualified bliss. If there were no world, there would be no objects of experience,
and so although the world as it is experienced is not ultimately real, it is neither abhava, non-
existent, nor shunya, void.

Ignorance is the result of confusing atman, the unconditioned subject, with anatman, the external
world. From the standpoint of the cosmos, the world is subject to space, time and causality, but
since these categories arise from nascent experience, they are inherently inadequate save to
point beyond themselves to the absolute, immutable, self-identical brahman, which is absolute
Being (sat). Atman is brahman, for the immutable singularity of the absolute subject, the Self, is
not merely isomorphic, but radically identical with the transcendent singularity of the ultimate
Reality. Individuals who have yet to realize this fundamental truth, which is in fact the
whole Truth, impose out of ignorance various attitudes and conceptions on the world, like
the man who mistakes an old piece of rope discarded on the trail for a poisonous serpent.
He reacts to the serpent, but his responses are inappropriate and cause him to suffer
unnecessarily, because there is no serpent on the trail to threaten him. Nonetheless, the
rope is there. For Shankara, the noumenal world is real, and when a person realizes its true
nature, gaining wisdom thereby his responses will be appropriate and cease to cause suffering.
He will realize that he is the atman and that the atman is brahman.

Although brahman is ultimately nirguna, without qualities, the aspirant to supreme knowledge
begins by recognizing that the highest expression of brahman to the finite mind is Ishvara, which
is saguna brahman, Supreme Reality conceived through the modes of pure logic. Taking Ishvara,
which points beyond itself to That (Tat), as his goal and paradigm, the individual assimilates
himself to Ishvara through the triple path of ethics, knowledge and devotion -- the karma, jnana
and bhakti yogas of the Bhagavad Gita -- until moksha, emancipation and self-realization, is
attained. For Shankara, moksha is not the disappearance of the world but the dissolution of
avidya, ignorance.

Ramanuja, who lived much later than Shankara, adopted a qualified non-dualism, Vishishtadvaita
Vedanta, by holding that the supreme brahman manifests as selves and matter. For him, both are
dependent on brahman, and so selves, not being identical with the Ultimate, always retain their
separate identity. As a consequence, they are dependent on brahman, and that dependency
expresses itself self-consciously as bhakti or devotion. In this context, however, the dependence
which is manifest as bhakti is absurd unless brahman is thought to be personal in some degree,
and so brahman cannot be undifferentiated. Emancipation or freedom is not union with the divine,
but rather the irreversible and unwavering intuition of Deity. The Self is not identical with
brahman, but its true nature is this intuition, which is freedom. Faith that brahman exists is
sufficient and individual souls are parts of brahman, who is the creator of universes. Yet brahman
does not create anything new; what so appears is merely a modification of the subtle and the
invisible to the gross which we can see and sense. Because we can commune with this God by
prayer, devotion and faith, there is the possibility of human redemption from ignorance and
delusion. The individual is not effaced when he is redeemed; he maintains his self-identity and
enjoys the fruits of his faith.

About a century and a half after Ramanuja, Madhava promulgated a dualistic (dvaita) Vedanta, in
which he taught that brahman, selves and the world are separate and eternal, even though the
latter two depend forever upon the first. From this standpoint, brahman directs the world, since all
else is dependent, and is therefore both transcendent and immanent. As that which can free the
self, brahman is identified with Vishnu. Whereas the ultimate Reality or brahman is neither
independent (svatantra) nor dependent (paratantra), God or Vishnu is independent, whereas
souls and matter are dependent. God did not cause the cosmos but is part of it, and by his
presence keeps it in motion. Individual souls are dependent on brahman but are also active
agents with responsibilities which require the recognition of the omnipresence and omnipotence
of God. For the individual self, there exists either the bondage which results from ignorance and
the karma produced through acting ignorantly, or release effected through the adoration, worship
and service of Deity. The self is free when its devotion is pure and perpetual. Although the later
forms of Vedanta lower the sights of human potentiality from the lofty goal of universal self-
consciousness and conscious immortality taught by Shankaracharya, they all recognize the
essential difference between bondage and freedom. The one is productive of suffering and the
other offers emancipation from it. But whereas for Shankara the means of emancipation is
wisdom (jnana) as the basis of devotion (bhakti) and nishkama karma or disinterested action, the
separation between atman and brahman is crucial for Ramanuja and necessitates total bhakti,
whilst for Madhava there are five distinctions within his dualism -- between God and soul, God
and matter, soul and matter, one form of matter and another, and especially between one soul
and another -- thus requiring from all souls total obeisance to the omnipresent and omnipotent
God.

Suffering is the starting point of the Sankhya darshana which provides the general conceptual
framework of Yoga philosophy. Patanjali set out the Taraka Raja Yoga system, linking
transcendental and self-luminous wisdom (taraka) with the alchemy of mental transformation, and
like the exponents of other schools, he borrowed those concepts and insights which could best
delineate his perspective. Since he found Sankhya metaphysics useful to understanding, like a
sturdy boat used to cross a stream and then left behind when the opposite bank has been
reached, many thinkers have traditionally presented Sankhya as the theory for which Yoga is the
practice. This approach can aid understanding, providing one recognizes from the first and at all
times that yoga is the path to metaconsciousness, for which no system of concepts and
discursive reasoning, however erudite, rigorous and philosophical, is adequate. More than any
other school or system, Yoga is essentially experiential, in the broadest, fullest and deepest
meaning of that term.

2. Why is ignorance described as ‘anirvacaniya’?

The key observation is the usage of the terms avyAkRta nAmarUpa and
tattvAnyatvAbhyAm anirvacanIya. Now, the adjective anirvacanIya or its
variant, anirvAcya, is very notable in advaita literature. As such, it
simply means "indescribable" and is often used to directly describe avidyA
(ignorance) by many later advaitins. However, Sankara himself does not seem
to do so. When he uses the term anirvacanIya, it is always as
tattva-anyatva-AbhyAm anirvacanIya, i.e. indescribable as this (tat-tva) or
the other (anya-tva), and as a qualifier of avyAkRta nAmarUpa.

3. In the brahmasUtra bhAshya, avidyA is used roughly thrice as often as

mAyA. And when mAyA is referred to, it is often described as Sakti, a power
of ISvara/brahman.

When Avidya or the veil of ignorance is destroyed through knowledge of the Eternal, when Mithya
Jnana or false knowledge is removed by real knowledge of the Imperishable or the living Reality,
you shine in your true, pristine, divine splendour and glory.

To Sankara, the Jiva or the individual soul is only relatively real. Its individuality lasts only so long
as it is subject to unreal Upadhis or limiting conditions due to Avidya. The Jiva identifies itself with
the body, mind and the senses, when it is deluded by Avidya or ignorance. It thinks, it acts and
enjoys, on account of Avidya. In reality it is not different from Brahman or the Absolute. The
Upanishads declare emphatically: “Tat Tvam Asi—That Thou Art.” Just as the bubble becomes
one with the ocean when it bursts, just as the pot-ether becomes one with the universal ether
when the pot is broken, so also the Jiva or the empirical self becomes one with Brahman when it
gets knowledge of Brahman. When knowledge dawns in it through annihilation of Avidya, it is
freed from its individuality and finitude and realises its essential Satchidananda nature. It merges
itself in the ocean of bliss. The river of life joins the ocean of existence. This is the Truth.

The release from Samsara means, according to Sankara, the absolute merging of the individual
soul in Brahman due to dismissal of the erroneous notion that the soul is distinct from Brahman.
According to Sankara, Karma and Bhakti are means to Jnana which is Moksha.

3. What is the significance of ignorance being called ‘sakti’ or ‘power’?

Goddess worship is one of the longest standing religious traditions in Hinduism. Another scholar
describes shakti in the following manner:

Sakti [shakti] means “power”; in Hindu philosophy and theology sakti is understood to be the
active dimension of the godhead, the divine power that underlies the godhead’s ability to create
the world and to display itself. Within the totality of the godhead, sakti is the complementary pole
of the divine tendency toward quiescence and stillness. It is quite common, furthermore, to
identify sakti with a female being, a goddess, and to identify the other pole with her male consort.
The two poles are usually understood to be interdependent and to have relatively equal status in
terms of the divine economy (David R. Kinsley, Hindu Goddesses: Visions of the Divine Feminine
in the Hindu Religious Tradition [Berkeley: University of California Press, 1986], 133).

The term shakti refers to multiple ideas. Its general definition is dynamic energy that is
responsible for creation, maintenance, and destruction of the universe. It is identified as female
energy because shakti is responsible for creation, as mothers are responsible for birth. Without
shakti, nothing in this universe would happen; she stimulates siva, which is passive energy in the
form of consciousness, to create. Ardhanarishvara, a Hindu deity who is half male and half
female, is an iconic representation of this idea. The deity is equally male and female, illustrating
that the creation, maintenance, and destruction of the universe is dependent on both forces.

Shakti also refers to the manifestations of this energy, namely goddesses. Some goddesses
embody the destructive aspects of shakti, such as death, degeneration, and illness, while other
goddesses embody the creative and auspicious powers of shakti, such as nature, the elements,
music, art, dance, and prosperity. Shakti may be personified as the gentle and benevolent Uma,
consort of Shiva, or Kali, the terrifying force destroying evil, or Durga, the warrior who conquers
forces that threaten the stability of the universe. Goddess worshippers often view their deity as
the all-powerful Supreme Being, second not even to a male god. There are enduring goddess
traditions all over India, especially in West Bengal and south India. Goddesses symbolizing
various aspects of power very often predominate in village culture. Village men, women, and
children, when they pray for immediate needs, address a female, not a male.

Sakti has been described by many different terms such as a goddess, a presence, and an
essence, but perhaps the most comprehensive definition, and most complex, is that sakti is
power. Sakti is a distinctive power that controls the universe, often thought to be the animating
force of the gods (Monaghan: 261-262). While the term is often used in the context of female
power, sakti is by no means limited to that concept. Wadley suggests that sakti is strength and
energy based on a spiritual force that can be possessed by both men and women (55).
Sakti has its origins rooted deep in the agricultural history of India.

This is assumed to have arisen from the general understanding that women were the creators of
life, their bodies the centers of all human creation. Even though male figures began to be
incorporated into religion once the role of the male was better understood, concerning
procreation, the female dominant aspect remained strong due to tries to agriculture. With the rise
of pastoral culture and an increase in the trade of goods, a male dominated society appeared to
emerge, pushing female deities to a secondary place in religion, as well as making sakti a
subordinate part of male gods, such as Visnu and Siva. As wars and conflict began to rise
throughout the Middle East, the Mother-Goddess (Sakti) appeared to have been forgotten. It was
not until the age of the Gupta Empire that the atmosphere began to change and cultures began to
look again to goddesses for guidance (Bhattacharyya: 63-70). Art and literature were beginning to
be explored more than at any other time in recorded history. This cultural increase seems to have
set the stage for the revival of goddess worship. It was during this time that the religion of Saktism
was born.

It is important to note that while sakti is first and foremost defined as a “power”, the term
sakti can also be used when referring to the multiple names that represent not only goddess
characteristics but also the individual goddesses that sakti is embodied within. Devi, Kali, Sati,
and Durga are only a few of the forms that are often used as interchangeable terms for Sakti.
Devi is perhaps the most frequently used term when referring to “the Goddess.” Devi represents a
philosophical view of the universe; she is the embodiment of creation and order (Monaghan: 82-
83). Wadley’s research (154-177) among the people of Karimpur reveals a number of ritual pujas
(devotional worship by Hindus: Rodrigues: 559) done in honor of Devi. Asarhi is conducted
between June and July; a puja is done in order to gain shelter and protection for the rainy season.
Pujas are also dedicated to Devi for the purposes of protection in other sessions and for the
prosperous marriages of young girls (Wadley: 164-174).

Kali is a direct representation of time, and the inevitability of death. Her images are
frightening, often associated with bodies and blood. Ernest Payne quotes the Yogini Tantra, in his
work ‘The Saktas”; wherein images of “skull-necklaces”, “lolling tongue”, “corpses as ear
ornaments” and “streams of blood dripping from the corners of her mouth” are used to portray
Kali (22). What must be understood is that this portrait of “the Goddess” is not only meant to
inspire fear in her worshipers but also a sense of awe concerning her power (Payne: 109-119).
An interesting story shared (and condensed) by Monaghan is that of the wild dance Kali shared
with Siva; they danced so fiercely that they nearly destroyed the world itself (Monaghan: 164-
166).
The story of Sati is the story of a devoted wife, one so concerned with her husband’s
honor that she sacrifices herself. Upon the death and dishonor of her husband Rudra (also
identified as Siva), Sati threw herself on the funeral fires of her husband (Kumar, 2003). Widows’
throwing themselves on the funeral fires of their husbands is a practice that has been outlawed in
India for many years, but the practice still bears her name.

Durga is often looked upon as the goddess of the flame (Monaghan, 1981). The tale goes
that in a great battle, as a last hope the gods combined their fiery breath and from it brought forth
Durga, the first of the female goddesses. Monaghan suggests that Durga represents the powers
of combat and the sphere of intelligence (88-89). An interesting ceremony preformed by the
Durga worshippers of Bengal has been suggested to possibly link present day “Shakti” worship to
worshiping practices of the past (Onishi: 100). Specific plants are identified with specific
goddesses in this ceremony and called by name: Brahmani, Kalika, Durga, Karttiki, Siva,
Raktadantika, Sokarahita, Camunda and Laksmi, each goddess is also assigned a specific color
i.e. yellow, red, black, pink, blue, gray, white and ‘turmeric’-yellow. The figure that is made central
in the ceremony is given the coordinating colors of fire, and the other figures are placed around it.
Onishi believes that this ceremony may have been passed down from the Indus Valley
Civilization tying the rite to the assumed original roots of Hinduism (7-9, 96-103). While little is
truly known about the Indus Valley Civilization, the comparison shows how there could be a
connection between present day practices and the past history of Saktism.

Small towns and villages throughout India often worship their own forms of the Great
Goddess (Sakti), an example of this is the village of Vindhyachal, that is mentioned in Hawley &
Wulff’s text concerning the goddesses of India (Humes: 49). The local goddess of Vindhyachal is
known by the name of Vindhyavasini. The most well known myth concerning Vindhyavasini
involves the baby Krisna. Krisna’s uncle (Kamsa) wishes to kill him as an infant but when
Vindhyavasini discovers his plan she puts herself in the place of Krishna, in the form of an infant
girl. When Kamsa attempts to kill her she transforms into her eight-armed form, threatens his life,
and sores off to the mountains of Vindhya (49-51). Humes suggest that Vindhyavasini may be a
very early representation of the Great Goddess and may have been a completely independent
goddess before she was incorporated into the Krisna myths (50-51). Vindhyavasini is a relevant
example of the feminine sakti; due to the fact that her myths depict her as being independent,
without a consort and her powers exceed that of many of the male deities (51). The Mahabharata
and Harivamsa texts both mention Mahadevi who dwells in mountains of Vindhya, which
coincides directly with the myths of Vindhyavasini. This can be taken as an example of how many
of the goddess myths contained within Hindu texts can be interconnected and the names often
interchangeable. Vindhyavasini, Durga, Sati, Kali and Devi are all examples of how individual
goddesses can represent the Great Goddess. Individual texts describe each of these goddesses
as having different forms of embodied powers, these descriptions are testaments to the different
ways in which sakti can be expressed.
The most central text to many of the goddess cults, even in the present day, may be the Devi-
Mahatmya (DM) (Tambs-Lyche: 17-19, 79, 118). Sankhya philosophy is found in this text, which
breaks the world up into two main powers, prakti and purusa. Purusa is the ‘male’ aspect of the
universe and forms what may be called consciousness and control, while prakti is the female
universal manifestation, which centers on all mental and material processes. Prakti is the
generating power that forms the cosmos according to these texts. Sakti is regarded as the prakti
that all women are born with, according to the DM. The Shakti Tantra Shastras are the primary
texts for Saktism, or those that worship Sakti as a form of the Mother Goddess (Kapoor, 2002).
Kapoor states that the Upa-Puranas are the only texts actually written for the direct use of the
Sakti cults.
Throughout this paper it has been suggested that there are possibly innumerable names
and characteristics that can be attributed to sakti. However, one common theme prevails
throughout the studies, sakti is power. Many authors may vary in the ways they prefer to portray
sakti, whether it is the fearsome representation of Kali or Sati’s embodiment of spousal devotion,
every description conjures images of strength and power that may not be equaled by any other
male deity. The Goddess is life and death, healing and pain, wrath and mercy. While a paper
such as this cannot due true justice to the vast literature available, hopefully it has ignited a spark
that will lead to a better understanding of sakti and the power that is available therein.

III. Answer in detail

1. Explain how ignorance is the cause of bondage

The intent of the scriptures is to enable man to realise his spiritual nature and thereby
shed his ignorance which is responsible for the mistaken notion he entertains about
himself. Instead of the Self (Atman) which is eternal, the body- mind-intellect personality
is identified as the ``I'' and hence he fails to recognise his true nature. Liberation involves
removal of this ignorance when the Self becomes known. Hence liberation is not a state
to be attained strictly speaking, though for purpose of understanding it is posited in this
manner. It is similar to the understanding that a dream is unreal after waking up.

As long as the person is dreaming whatever he dreams appears vivid and real to him and
its illusory nature strikes him only on waking up. Liberation is akin to this phenomenon.
Out of ignorance, the waking state is mistaken to be absolutely real until it is also
transcended and its relative nature understood when the Self is realised. Liberation is thus
only waking up to one's true nature - the Self. A man of Self-realisation continues to be
as he has been before but unlike the ignorant person he abides in his spiritual nature
always.

In her discourse on the Katha Upanishad, Swamini Satyavratananda said the Ultimate
Reality was termed Brahman at the level of macrocosm and as the Self (Atman) at the
individual level. It becomes apparent after Self-realisation that both are one unitive
consciousness. This awareness is a consequence of the realisation of the Self. This
Upanishad describes the nature of Reality in depth using the analogy of a peepul tree. It is
striking that the same example has also been used in the Bhagavad Gita. The Reality
which is the material cause of this creation is similar to this upturned tree with its roots
above and the branches below. The material cause of this cosmos is invisible like the
roots of a tree.

Sankaracharya in his commentary on this Upanishad draws many parallels between this
tree and the Supreme Reality. Both are vast and their origin unknown. In the case of the
tree, the dilemma whether the seed is the cause of the tree or instead the tree is the cause
of the seed cannot be answered. So also is the case with Reality which is eternal without a
beginning or an end. Just as the tree has many branches, this cosmos also has many
universes. If the meaning of the tree's existence is the fruits it gives, then the world makes
it possible for human beings to enjoy the result of their actions in the form of joys and
sorrows.
In Vedaantasaara of Sadaananda, ignorance is defined thus:-Ignorance is something
positive, though intangible, which cannot be described as either being or non-being,
which is made of three guNas (sattva, rajas and tamas), and is antagonistic to
Knowledge. Ch.2.34

In B.G.5.15, the Lord says that Knowledge is covered by Ignorance. What covers
can only be positive and cannot be negative. In Samkshepas'aariirakam 1.320 and
in VivaraNa it is established that avidyaa is positive. The same conclusion has been
arrived at in Sures'vara's Vaartika on taitt. Up. Bhaashya-2.179. See also
Samkshepas'aariirakam Chap.3.111. It must, however, be noted that it is only from
the empirical point of view that it is said that avidyaa, while being other than the real as
well as the unreal, is positive and not mere absence of knowledge. From the
absolute point of view, avidyaa does not exist at all.

See also under the heading Maayaa', where verses from Panchadas'i have been
quoted. avidyaa has two powers avidyaa or Nescience covers Brahman with its veiling
power (aavaraNa s'akti) and projects the universe with its power known as vikshepa
s'akti-see Viveka chuuDaamaNi, verses 113 and 115. In Vedaantasaara it is said:-

Just as a small patch of cloud, by obstructing the vision of the observer, conceals, as
it were, the solar disc extending over a very large area, similarly, ignorance, though
limited by nature, yet obstructing the intellect of the observer, conceals, as it were, the
Self, which is unlimited and not subject to transmigration. Such a power is the power of
concealment. (Para 52). The Self, covered by this concealing power of ignorance,
becomes subject to transmigration characterized by the notion of being a doer and an
enjoyer. Just as ignorance regarding a rope, by its inherent power, gives rise to the
illusion of a snake, etc., so also, ignorance, by its own power, creates in the Self covered
by it, such phenomena as aakaas'a, etc. Such a power is called the power of projection.

(Paras 53 and 54). avidyaa and maayaa-whether the same or different S'rii S'ankara
treats avidyaa and maayaa as identical -See B.S.Bhaashya-1.4.3.Sures'vara also
does the same. Samkshepas'aariirakam-3.108-109 expresses the same view.

In Panchadas'i, VidyaaraNya says that prakr.ti constituted of pure sattva is maayaa and
when constituted of sattva mixed with rajas and tamas is avidyaa. Brahman reflected in
maayaa is iis'vara, who is omniscient and is the controller of maayaa. Brahman reflected
in avidyaa is jiiva. In Patanjali's Yoga suutras avidyaa is described as one of the five
`kles'a-s', or causes of man's suffering. (Suutra 2.3); the other four are egoism (asmitaa),
attachment (raaga), aversion (dvesha) and the desire to cling on to life (abhinives'a).
avidyaa is said to be the cause of the other four (2.4). avidyaa is defined as looking upon
what is non-eternal as eternal, what is impure as pure, what is painful as pleasant and the
non-Self as the Self (2.5). avidyaavr.tti

In deep sleep there is avidyaa as well as avidyaavr.tti. avidyaa, which is the adjunct
(upaadhi) of the Self in deep sleep, is the causal condition of the mind. While the
mind is dormant in deep sleep (sushupti), it is through avidyaavr.tti that ignorance
and happiness are experienced. On waking up, the mind again comes out of its
causal condition and there arises the memory of what was experienced in sleep. svaruupa-
jnaana, which is the very nature of Brahman, is not opposed to primal
ignorance. It is this svaruupa-jnaana which reveals the ignorance. The primal
ignorance which is the cause of bondage is destroyed by the mental mode
(akhaNDaakaaravr.tti) generated by the mahaavaakyas. This final vr.tti-jnaana
also disappears immediately thereafter, in the same way as the medicine itself
disappears after removing the disease.