Daśa-mahāvidyā Episode 0.1—Prologue
Channel: Consciousness Research Centre
Date: 2021-03-06

This series is classified Vivartha-vāda | Rāja-yoga | Suśupti | Viśuddhi-cakra
The daśa-mahāvidyā are ten types of disciplines for attaining the ultimate goal of spiritual life, personified by ten Śaktis (Goddesses). There is a beautiful verse about the Divine Mother: 
“O Bhavānī, sages and saints describe Your gross forms as Kālī and others. The Vedas speak about Your subtle mantra forms—kāmakalā-rūpā; poets adore You as the origin of speech—śabda-brahman; philosophers think of You as the root of the worlds—mūla-prakṛti; but we devotees think of You as the universal ocean of mercy and compassion—karuṇārasa-sāgarā, and nothing else.” 
Śakti, the feminine Divinity, is a powerful entity. Śakti has many forms—from motherly nurturers to powerful destroyers, and from bestowers of knowledge and wealth to removers of all illusion at last. The Śaktis encompass every aspect of the physical and spiritual realms. The ten Mahāvidyās, or Wisdom Goddesses, represent several aspects of the Divine Feminine who guide the spiritual seeker toward mokṣa (Liberation). For the devotional seeker, these forms of Śakti can be approached in moods of reverence, love, and increasing intimacy. For the knowledge-oriented seeker, these Śakti forms represent various states of inner awakening along the path to Self-realization.
Why should one worship Śakti? Śiva is always Self-effulgent; hence He is addressed as prakāśa, directly visible. And Śakti is His Power to distribute His Light so the universe is made visible. She is vimarśa, cognizance. Light without cognizance, or cognizance without light, are useless. Thus, prakāśa vimarśa sāmarasyātmaka parabrahmasvarūpiṇi: “Śiva and Śakti are always interdependent and also inherent.” 
In a human being, Śiva exists as the individual soul and Śakti exists as Māyā. Again as the soul and Māyā, they are inseparable. However, separation occurs at the time of Self-realization. Śakti moves aside, revealing the true nature of Śiva. He can be revealed only by Her. In the final stages of Self-realization, She becomes the Guru (nāma 603, gurumūrtiḥ) and imparts the knowledge of Śiva (nāma 727, śiva-jñāna-pradāyinī) to the aspirant. Apart from material gain, She is worshiped for realizing the Self (Śiva). Hence worshipping Śakti has attained great significance, and is often called the Śākta cult or tradition. 
Śakti has two aspects: one is spiritual in nature; this is known as cit-śakti, the power of consciousness. And the other is māyā-śakti, the power of delusion, relating to the materialistic aspects of life. Then what is the difference between Śiva and Śakti? In reality, there is no difference; and They are so interdependent that one without the other becomes inert. Śiva is static energy, and His own power Śakti (svātantrya-śakti) is dynamic energy. They are also known as nirguṇa-brahman and saguṇa-brahman. Only after realizing saguṇa-brahman can one realize nirguṇa-brahman, the purest form of consciousness, Śiva. But for realizing Śiva or merging unto Him, we need Her stamp of approval. The main purpose of worshipping Her is to get Her Grace to realize or merge with Śiva (nāma 625, kaivalyapada-dāyinī).
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Dharmasār Video Series Index:
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Four States of Consciousness Diagram: 
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