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Shakti Quotes

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Shakti Quotes

“Now as the train moved towards Calcutta, Malay felt as if his life was coming full circle. It had been a strange decision to visit the city at a time when post-Partition vomit and excreta was splattered on Calcutta streets. Marked by communal violence, anger and unemployment, the streets smelled of hunger and disillusionment. Riots were still going on. The wound of a land divided lingered, refugees from East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) continued to arrive in droves. And since they did not know where to go, they occupied the pavements, laced the streets with their questions, frustrations and a deep need to be recognised as more than an inconvenient presence on tree-lined avenues. The feeling of being uprooted was everywhere. Political leaders decided that the second phase of the five-year planning needed to see the growth of heavy industries. The land required for such industries necessitated the evacuation of farmers. Devoid of their ancestral land and in the absence of a proper rehabilitation plan, those evicted wandered aimlessly around the cities—refugees by another name. Calcutta had assumed different dimensions in Malay’s mind. The smell of the Hooghly wafted across Victoria Memorial and settled like an unwanted cow on its lawns. Unsung symphonies spilled out of St Paul’s Cathedral on lonely nights; white gulls swooped in on grey afternoons and looked startling against the backdrop of the rain-swept edifice. In a few years, Naxalbari would become a reality, but not yet. Like an infant Kali with bohemian fantasies, Calcutta and its literature sprouted a new tongue – that of the Hungry Generation. Malay, like Samir and many others, found himself at the helm of this madness, and poetry seemed to lick his body and soul in strange colours. As a reassurance of such a huge leap of faith, Shakti had written to Samir: Bondhu Samir, We had begun by speaking of an undying love for literature, when we suddenly found ourselves in a dream. A dream that is bigger than us, and one that will exist in its capacity of right and wrong and beyond that of our small worlds. Bhalobasha juriye Shakti”

“Even amid the erratic crowd and the loud voices that drowned everything in coffee, Ginsberg commanded attention. Samir had recalled to Malay: He approached our table, where Sunil, Shakti, Utpal and I sat, with no hesitation whatsoever. There was no awkwardness in talking to people he hadn’t ever met. None of us had seen such sahibs before, with torn clothes, cheap rubber chappals and a jhola. We were quite curious. At that time, we were not aware of how well known a poet he was back in the US. But I remember his eyes—they were kind and curious. He sat there with us, braving the most suspicious of an entire cadre of wary and sceptical Bengalis, shorn of all their niceties—they were the fiercest lot of Bengali poets—but, somehow, he had managed to disarm us all. He made us listen to him and tried to genuinely learn from us whatever it was that he’d wanted to learn, or thought we had to offer. Much later, we came to know that there had been suspicions about him being a CIA agent, an accusation he was able to disprove. In the end, we just warmed up to him, even liked him. He became one of us—a fagging, crazy, city poet with no direction or end in sight.”

“What is more transformative than the female form? What is more of a symbol of eternal growth and change than the Goddess? The eternal spiral of cre- ation. Coiled like a serpent, our shakti energy sits, waiting to be awakened within all of us. What our bodies and beings were built for. What we were created to do. Change. Create. Create the change.”

“বিশ্বস্তসূত্রে এই উড়োখবর আমরা পাই যে শক্তি চাইবাসার সেন্ট্রাল জেলে রয়েছে, তছরুপের কথাই আমি শুনি । এটা শুনে, তখন আমরা ছেলেমানুষ ছিলুম বলে, আমার ও সুনীল গঙ্গোপাধ্যায়ের খুব মনোকষ্ট হয় । আমি ও সুনীল গঙ্গোপাধ্যায়, শক্তির দুই বন্ধু, আমরা সেদিন রাত্রেই, সম্বলপুর প্যাসেঞ্জার ধরি । এটা ডিসেম্বরের শেষ সপ্তাহ । আমি নিই হাওড়ার চেনা দোকান থেকে তিনটে খালি সোডার বোতল, চাইবাসায় এক্সচেঞ্জ করার কথা ভেবে, এটা সুনীলও যুক্তিযুক্ত মনে করেছিল । সুনীল একটা ক্যাপস্টানের টিন নিয়েছিল, যা গরাদের ফাঁক দিয়ে গলিয়ে ডোরাকাটা শক্তির হাতে ওর দেবার ইচ্ছে ছিল । টিনটা আমরা ট্রেনে খুলিনি । মাইরি ।” “চাইবাসায় গিয়ে এবারও সমীরকে পেলুম না, ট্যুরে । কিন্তু শক্তি ? পরদিন জেলে গিয়ে খবর নিলেই হবে এরকম ভেবে, ড্রেসিং টেবিলের ড্রয়ারে টিনটা ও ওপরে তিনটে সোডার বোতল রেখে, ডাকবাংলো ছেড়ে আমরা বেরিয়ে পড়লুম নদীর দিকে, চাইবাসার শ্মশানের দিকে শীতের রাত্তিরে আমরা এগিয়ে যেতে লাগলুম গান গাইতে গাইতে । মধুটোলার কাছে ফটাস করে একটা বাড়ির দরোজা খুলে গেল, ‘এতো রাত্তিরে চাইবাসায় রবীন্দ্রসঙ্গীত গায় কে রে’, বলতে বলতে শক্তি বেরিয়ে এলো । এখানে হঠাৎই মনে পড়ল, এই মধুটোলার রাস্তাতেই, ‘সাইকেল কি সাঁতার কেউ কখনো ভোলে ভাই’, বলে তড়া”

“Starting from the source of vibrant Consciousness, the first two tattvas of Shaivism are (1) Shiva tattva and (2) Shakti tattva. It is important to understand at the beginning that these two tattvas are only linguistic conventions and are not actually part of creation. According to the deep yogic experience of the sages of this philosophy, there is no difference between Shiva tattva and Shakti tattva. They are both actually one with Paramasiva. They are considered to be two tattvas only for the convenience of philosophical thinking and as a way of clarifying the two aspects of the one absolute reality, Paramasiva. These two aspects are Shiva, the transcendental unity, and Shakti, the universal diversity. The changeless, absolute and pure consciousness is Shiva, while the natural tendency of Shiva towards the outward manifestation of the five divine activities is Shakti. So, even though Shiva is Shakti, and Shakti is Shiva, and even though both are merely aspects of the same reality called Paramasiva, still, these concepts of Shiva-hood and Shakti-hood are counted as the first two tattvas. These two tattvas are at the plane of absolute purity and perfect unity. — B. N. Pandit, Specific Principles of Kashmir Shaivism (3rd ed., 2008), p. 73.”

“It is important to understand that, according to Kashmir Shaivism, this analysis of all phenomena into thirty six tattvas is not an absolute truth. It has been worked out by the authors of the philosophy as a tool of understanding for the ever-active and inquiring mind and as a form for contemplative meditation. Through further analysis, the number of tattvas can be increased to any level. Similarly, through synthesis, they can be decreased down to one tattva alone. In fact this has been done in the Tantraloka, where one can find doctrines of contemplation on fifteen, thirteen, eleven, nine, seven, five, and as few as three tattvas as well. The practitioners of the Trika system use only three tattvas in the process of a quick sadhana: Shiva representing the absolute unity, Shakti representing the link between duality and unity, and Nara representing the extreme duality. [Shakti is the path through which Shiva descends to the position of Nara and the latter ascends to the position of Shiva.] Finally, a highly advanced Shiva yogin sees only the Shiva tattva in the whole of creation. However, since the contemplative practice of tattvadhvadharana used in anava upaya includes meditation on all thirty sex tattvas, that is the number commonly accepted by the Shaivas of both northern and southern India. — B. N. Pandit, Specific Principles of Kashmir Shaivism (3rd ed., 2008), p. 79.”

“The essential nature of samvit is the subtle stir of spanda. The introverted and extroverted movements of spanda cause samvit to manifest itself in both the noumenal and phenomenal aspects of creation. These two aspects of samvit are known in Shaivism as Shiva (transcendent) and Shakti (universal). Shiva and Shakti are the two names given to the monistic Absolute (Paramasiva) when it is being considered in its dual aspects of eternal and transcendent changelessness (Shiva), and the ever-changing and immanent manifestation of universal appearances (Shakti). — B. N. Pandit, Specific Principles of Kashmir Shaivism (3rd ed., 2008), p. 17–18.”

“God's creation was linguistic, & the letters of the first potent word that (S)He uttered contained all the forms of creation, each form presided over by the name of a letter of the alphabet, which is in turn composed of letters, each of which has a name, & so on to infinity... Creation, on other words, is eternal & ongoing: "the multitude of letters swells out into the infinitude," & "letters are continually generating other letters." The alphabet speaks a divine language, ... each letter calling up, but never pinning down, the enigmatic nature of reality, the word of God. (S.177)”

“India of the ages is not dead nor has she spoken her last creative word; she lives and has still something to do for herself and the human peoples. And that which must seek now to awake is not an anglicised oriental people, docile pupil of the West and doomed to repeat the cycle of the occident's success and failure, but still the ancient immemorable Shakti recovering her deepest self, lifting her head higher towards the supreme source of light and strength and turning to discover the complete meaning and a vaster form of her Dharma.”

“We have to create strength where it did not exist before; we have to change our natures, and become new men with new hearts, to be born again. We need a nucleus of men in whom the Shakti is developed to its uttermost extent, in whom it fills every corner of the personality and overflows to fertilise the earth. These, having the fire of Bhawani in their hearts and brains, will go forth and carry the flame to every nook and cranny of our land.”

“Government has only one religion - India first! Government has one holy book - the Constitution. The Government must be immersed in only one Bhakti- Bharat Bhakti! The Government's only strength is Jan Shakti! Government's only ritual is the well being of the 125 crore Indians! The only code of conduct of the Government should be 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas!”

“So Ayurveda is a bunch of techniques and theories and practices that have been accumulated over many centuries in a way that we think about Ayurveda. But the Ayurvidya is the Shakti that has inspired the development of Ayurveda. It's inspiring the spread of Ayurveda into many other countries. And has to posses an individual before that individual can actually act as a vehicle for healing energy to move into the world.”

“The all-pervading energy source of existence or Shakti manifests itself as creation. Shakti is the divine mother who gives birth to and nurtures the newborn-whether it is a newborn babies a brand new relationship, a fresh idea, or a magical manifestation. Although Shakti is beyond the boundaries of gender, form or color, we call It Mother because of its mothering and creative qualities.”