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Adi Parashakti - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

According to Hindu religion, Adi Parashakti is a female aspect of the divine venerated as the Supreme Being in Shaktism.[3] The Devi Bhagwata Mahapurana suggests that Adi Parashakti is the original creator, observer and destroyer of the whole universe. Hence Adi Parashakti is Param Prakriti. Parvati, the goddess of power, is considered as her Sagun Swaroop (human form). That is to say that Parvati is the truest material form of the Goddess, possessing the three qualities(Sattva, rajas, or tamas). The Goddess Adi Parashakti is also considered to be the truly supreme spirit without form (Param Atman). She is the Great Goddess, and all othergoddesses are her various forms.
Contents [hide] 1 Etymology 2 Importance 2.1 Role in creation 3 Adi Parashakti And Kundalini Shakti 4 Association with other deities 4.1 Association with Trimurti as original Self 4.2 Association with Nava-Greh or Nine Planets as Material Shakti 4.3 Association with ten avatars of Lord Vishnu as Vidya Shakti 4.4 Association with Beings (demi-gods, living beings and demons) as Maya Shakti 4.4.1 YogMaya 4.4.2 MahaMaya 4.4.3 Maya 5 Adi-Parashakti forms 5.1 Adi Shakti diversion to groups 6 Iconography 6.1 Abode 7 Mythological stories 8 Notes 9 References

Etymology

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Adi Parashakti means "The Eternally Limitless Power". That is, she is the Power beyond this universe. She is the active energy that both creates and dissolves the entire universe. Somesacred texts state that she is the goddess Bhuvaneshvari.

Importance

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In the Devi Gita, it is suggested that before incarnating as Parvati, she appeared to King Himalaya and revealed divine, eternal knowledge to him. She explained herself, in the words of the Vedas, as having neither beginning nor end. She is the only, eternal truth. The whole universe is her creation and she is nondifferent from Para Brahman. She is the only victor and the manifestation of victory itself. She is manifested (Lord Brahma), transcendent (LordVishnu) and unmanifested (Lord Shiva) divinity. She then displayed her scarcely seen form to him: Satyaloka was located in her forehead; the created universe were her hairs; the sun andmoon were her eyes; in her ears were the four directions; the Vedas were her words; death, affection and emotion were her teeth; maya was manifested by her smile.[4]

Role in creation

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In Srimad Devi Bhagwat Purana's 1st book and 4th

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chapter. Devi ordered and instructed Trimurti as below. I am Adi Parashakti, goddess Bhuvaneshvari. I am the owner of this universe. I am the Absolute Reality. I am dynamic in feminine form and static in masculine form. You are three parts of me. You all are my partial expansions. You have appeared to govern the universe under my jurisdiction. You are the masculine form of Absolute Reality, while I am the feminine form of that Reality. I am beyond form, beyond everything, and all the powers of God are contained within me. You will admit that I am the Eternally Limitless Power. I shall now assign each of you a task. She then commanded:Brahma! You will be generator of the universe; the Goddess Sharada is yourShak ti, my form by which I will be recognized as the goddess of wisdom and the primeval sound. Lord Brahma, this goddess will be with you when you create the universe.

Goddess Adi ParaShakthi is the Presiding Deity at theParashakthi Temple in Pontiac, USA

She continued: Lord of Lords, Narayana! You are the Supreme, Immortal Spirit. You are formless, yet you tak e form. I assign you to be the preserver of the universe. You will tak e a different incarnations in order to save this universe's inhabitants. Oh Narayana! You are the Supreme of all the deities with form. You have created Lord Brahma, and Brahma will further create three hundred thirty million other gods and goddesses. My Great Power, goddess Mahak ali, has been born from your mystic sleep. You are the Paramatman. Your consort will be goddess Shri, who is none other than the incarnation of my light, as without light, one can neither see nor be seen. When life evolves, you will tak e the form of Vishnu, the one who will perform the task of observing and preserving this universe. At Last she instructed: Oh Lord Rudra, the Greatest God, you are the personification of time, which is above all. You will perform the task of destroying and regenerating this universe. When you are formless, time stands still. It is due to my power that you become dynamic and are capable of bringing about the destruction and regeneration of this universe. Your consort is goddess Mahak ali, but due to meditation, you will be able to surpass all of my forms. It is then that I will incarnate from your left half in my manifested form. This form will be my truest manifested form. Lord Shiva, she will perform the task of destroying evil and will be your consort. Aum Shakti is used to describe the name of the goddess when she is without attributes.

Adi Parashakti And Kundalini Shakti

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As we all know that, God lies in all beings in both dynamic and inactive aspect. Inactive aspect of God is Supreme Soul and Active aspect of God is Adi Parashakti. In all living beings God's both activated and Inactivated form lies i.e. God is Omnipresent. As inactive form, God is there as Soul within us and in activated form God is there as Kundalini Shakti, which is epithet of Adi Parashakti. Kundalini Shakti is basic source of energy in all Living Beings. It is basic source of all powers we use in daily lives. Meditating on kundalini, will bring not only fortune but also can control its emotions and maya.

Association with other deities

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Association with Trimurti as original Self

In Devi Purana, It is written that when different sages were asking the great sage Suta, who have listened the Purana from Lord Krishna himself, that if all the puranas lik e Shiv Purana, Vishnu Puranas etc claims that if Trimuti are eternal and nobody is superior to them in this Brahmanda (World) and also that trinity is oneness and oneness is
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trinity then Please tell us who is Adi Parashak ti, whom you are talk ing about? How she took birth? When she was born. please tell us! Suta Said There is no one who can answer you this. Since Brahma, Narada and other eternal sages are bewildered by these questions. Some people worship Lord Vishnu having all the powers and the one who is omnipresent. And some claiming Lord Shiva with half body ofParvati is supreme. In Vedas it is written that worship of Sun is the best. They name highest soul Surya as Paramatama. Others claiming that Lord Vishnu is actual expression of all the deities. The Great Brahmins provide three proves called perception, inference, and verbal testimony. But some other Brahmins added 4th proof to them that is resemblance. Another intelligent pandit added fifth proof called circumstances, presumption, implication at last two authors added two more proves called Sak shi and Aitijya. But Vedanta said that Supreme Being and main source of Universe can not be analyzed through these proves. One should have sure reason to claim. All are claiming and repeating one name directly or indirectly i.e. Shak ti or Energy. Who is actually omnipresent in all beings. Shak ti is there in Highest "Vishnu" to lowest "Insect". We Worship because of energy, we walk because of shak ti, we do all the activities because of shak ti. So How can "Creation/Preservation/Destruction" be done without shak ti. Shak ti is required to get a soul into a body, Shak ti is required to sustain soul to live, Shak ti is required to destroy/release from a Body. Even if Kundalini Shak ti be deprived from Lord Shiva then He will be a Corpse. [5]

Association with Nava-Greh or Nine Planets as Material Shakti

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Adi Shakti is regarded as the one who can control all the nine planets. She divides herself to Material Shakti i.e. Durga who splits herself to operate nine planets to maintain cosmic order, Vidya Shakti i.e. Kali as source for 10 incarnations of Lord Vishnu and Maya Shakti, to delude the beings to illusion and also promotes the beings to Ultimate God. As Durga Shakti She is the one who splits herself to NavaDurga provides direction and energy to all planets. Sun is Governed by Kushmanda Shakti. Mahagauri operates Rahu. Kaalratri governs Shani. Ketu is governed by Goddess Sidhidhaatri. Provider of Knowledge i.e. Bhrasapati is governed by Goddess Katyayini Provider of All Fortunes i.e. Mangal is governed by Goddess Brahmacharini The effect of moon is overcome by Goddess Shailputri Budh Planet is governed by Goddess Skandmata Shukra Planet is operated by Goddess Chandraghanta By this contrast Goddess Adi Shakti controls Nava Greh. Worshipping the nine goddess in Navaratri or Nine nights of mataji, saves you from dangerous effects of planets.

Association with ten avatars of Lord Vishnu as Vidya Shakti

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As told above, Adi Shakti has divided herself to Material Shakti (Durga or Parvati), Kali (Vidya Shakti) and Yog Maya (as Mayashakti). As Vidya Shakti she splits herself to 10 kinds of eternal knowledge also known as 10 Mahavidya. The ten goddesses are known as wisdom goddesses. As per tantras these ten goddesses are original source of ten incarnation of Lord Vishnu. From Dhumavati, Lord Mastsya was incarnated From BaglaMukhi, Lord Kurma was incarnated From Bhairavi, Lord Varaha was incarnated From Chinnamasta, Lord Narsingh was incarnated
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From TripurSundari, Lord Vaamna was incarnated from Matangi, Lord Parshurama was incarnated From Tara, Lord Rama was incarnated From Kali, Lord Krishna was incarnated From Kamala, Lord Buddha was incarnated From Bhuvaneshvari, Lord Kalki will be incarnated The information is sourced from Sri Devi Bhagwata Mahapurana.[6]

Association with Beings (demi-gods, living beings and demons) as Maya Shakti
[edit source] Goddess Adi Shakti lastly splits up as Maya, Mahamaya and Yogmaya. It is she who actually creates three kinds of Maya such that One subordinate another. In this respect, we have Yogmaya, Mahamaya and Maya.

YogMaya [edit source]

She is the one who actually creates maya on gods and teach them what to do and what not to do so that they can be connected to ultimate GOD. She helped Lord Mahavishnu slay the demons Madhu and Kaitabha to save the world. Moreover, she is also the one that who takes Lord Vishnu to mystic Sleep hence called Yog Nindra of Lord Narayana. She was born from the eyes of Mahavishnu as YogMaya. It is required by yogis, sages and bhaktas so that they can be connected to GOD.

MahaMaya [edit source]

She is the goddess that destroys the upfold of illusion. She is the one that creates and destroys maya. She is controlled by Yogmaya and hence subordinate to YogMaya and senior to Maya. She emerges as seven mothers to destroy evil forces of Shumbha and Nishumbha, Being Chamunda one of them. She is required to gain physical strength, health, satvik attributes and demotes anger, greed and arrogance.

Maya [edit source]

She is the one who delude from GOD and takes any being to the world of illusion. She promotes lust, greed, anger, hyper emotion and arrogance. It is assumed that in the Age of Kali Yug. Her effect is highest.[7]

Adi-Parashakti forms

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1. Parvati, Sati, or Durga is the original manifested form of Mother Adi-Parashakti. She is Adi- Parashakti herself. The Devi Gita declares her to be the greatest Goddess.Thus, She is considered the supreme Goddess and primary deity inShaktism, occupying a place similar to Lord Krishna in Vaishnavism. Whatever deity one is worshiping, ultimately, they are worshiping her. She is every other goddess. She is Goddess Lakshmi and Goddess Saraswati in her mild form; Goddess Kali and Goddess Chandi in her wrathful form. 2. Mahasaraswati is the first partial expansion of Goddess Adi Parshakti. She represents the Sattva Guna and is the shakti of Lord Brahma. She is the goddess of wisdom, creation, and learning. She is the source of all of the arts. It is she who slewSumbha and Nisumbha, who are symbols of ignorance. She was created from the body of Mother Parvati and is the embodiment of her hard work, spirituality anddevotion. She is also known as Ambika Devi as per Durga Saptashati. She wears yellow clothes when she takes form. When she is without form, she becomes thePrimordial Sound. 3. Mahalakshmi is the second partial expansion of Goddess Adi Parshakti. She is the goddess of the material world and its preservation. She also brings good fortune and spiritual satisfaction. She is the shakti of Lord Narayana and is the bestower of all wealth and pleasure. She wears red Cloth. She was born from Goddess
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Parvati's mind and later took birth as Katyayani. She is also known as Chandi Devi as per Durga Saptashati. Mother Mahalakshmi is the primary deity of the Raja Guna. When she is formless, she becomes light. 4. Mahakali is the third partial expansion of Goddess Adi Parshakti. She is the goddess of spiritual fulfillment as well as presiding over the destruction of the universe. She gives salvation to mankind. She is the shakti of Lord Shiva. She helped LordMahavishnu slay the demons Madhu and Kaitabha. She was born from the eyes of Mahavishnu as YogMaya. Mahakali is same as Yogmaya also known as Tamsi Devi as per Durga Saptashati. Mother Mahakali wears blue and presides over the TamasGuna. When she is formless, she becomes heat.

Adi Shakti diversion to groups

Durga as Rajsik Navadurga Kali as Tamsik Mahavidya Kaushiki as Satvik Matrikas Lakshmi Ashta Lakshmi Saraswati

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Parvati or Complete Incarnation of Adishakti

Iconography

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Adi Parashakti's appearance is described in the Kalika Purana, the Lalita Sahasranama, and the Devi Bhagavata Purana. According to the Devi Bhagavata Purana, the Goddess once invited the Trimurti to her celestial abode. The Trimurti saw the goddess sitting on a jeweled seat in a chariot drawn by seven lions. Her face contained the radiance of millions of stars and her celestial beauty was so great that the Trimurti were not able to look at her. They then realized that she was the energy responsible for creating, preserving, and destroying the whole universe.

Abode

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Adi Parashakti's resides in the "Imperishable Abode", or Ak shara Dhaam. It is a celestial palace where all goddesses, apsaras, yakshinis, and kinnaris reside.

Mythological stories

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According to Devi Bhagwat Purana, Adishakti is tridevi - Parvati, Lakshmi, Saraswati - the equal half and eternal beloved consort of trimurti (the three aspects of Godhead). It is her energy that governs this universe.

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