---
type: Concept
bundle: cosmology-creation
bundle_version: "0.7.0"
id: shakti-cosmological
title: "Śakti (Cosmological) — शक्ति"
iast: "Śakti"
devanagari: "शक्ति"
description: "The cosmic power or creative energy of the divine: at the cosmological level, Śakti is the dynamic principle by which the unchanging absolute (Brahman / Śiva) manifests as the dynamic cosmos; in Śākta tradition, Śakti IS the supreme reality; in Vaiṣṇava tradition, Śakti = Lakṣmī or Yogamāyā as Viṣṇu's power; in Kashmir Shaivism, Śiva-Śakti as consciousness-power are inseparable; treated here in its cosmological dimension (as the power of manifestation); the triad of Śakti's cosmological modes -- Icchā, Jñāna, Kriyā -- is treated separately in iccha-jnana-kriya-shakti.md."
darshana:
  - Śākta
  - Śaiva
  - Vaiṣṇava
  - Tantric
school_scope: "Universal across all Śākta, Śaiva, and Vaiṣṇava traditions; Kashmir Shaivism develops the Śiva-Śakti identity most systematically; Śrī Vidyā tradition treats Śakti as Tripurasundarī; the Devī Māhātmya is the central text for Śakti's cosmological supremacy in Purāṇic Śāktism"
text_source: "Devī Māhātmya (Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa 81-93); Śiva Sūtras; Vijñāna Bhairava Tantra; BhP 1.2.23 (as Viṣṇu's Śakti)"
tags: [cosmology, shakti, devi, shiva-shakti, yogamaya, srishti, shakta, shaiva, tantric, puranic]
not:
  - term: "female energy / yin (as opposed to masculine yang)"
    why: "Śakti is not simply the 'feminine principle' opposed to a 'masculine principle' in the yin-yang model. In Kashmir Shaivism, Śiva (consciousness) and Śakti (power) are inseparable aspects of one reality -- neither is prior or superior; neither can exist without the other. The analogy with yin/yang captures a surface structural similarity (polarity, inseparability) but misses the critical point: Śakti in Śākta tradition is not half of a pair but the SUPREME reality -- the male deities (Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Śiva) are her instruments."
  - term: "physical / sexual energy only"
    why: "Śakti at the cosmological level is the power of consciousness itself in its creative mode -- not physical energy and not primarily sexual energy (though Kuṇḍalinī Śakti in the body is one of Śakti's micro-cosmic forms). The cosmological Śakti is the power by which the absolute manifests as the cosmos, maintains it, and withdraws it."
  - term: "separate from Brahman / the supreme"
    why: "In all traditions: Śakti is not separate from the divine but is the divine's own dynamic nature. Brahman without Śakti is Nirguṇa Brahman (potential without expression); Brahman with Śakti is Saguṇa Brahman/Īśvara (the active creative lord). Śiva without Śakti is described as 'a corpse' (śava) in Tantric texts -- unable to act or manifest. The inseparability of Śiva and Śakti (or Brahman and its Śakti) is a foundational principle."
related:
  - /concepts/maya-cosmological.md
  - /concepts/ishvara-cosmological.md
  - /concepts/iccha-jnana-kriya-shakti.md
  - /concepts/srishti.md
  - /concepts/trimurti.md
timestamp: "2026-07-01"
okf_version: "0.2"
license: "CC BY-SA 4.0"
---

# Śakti (Cosmological) -- शक्ति

**Not:** yin/female energy opposing male, physical/sexual energy only, separate from the divine

## Śakti as Cosmological Principle

Śakti (from the root śak = to be able, to have power) is the dynamic creative power of the divine in its cosmological expression. At the level of cosmology:

- **Śakti is the why and how of Sṛṣṭi**: without Śakti, Brahman/Śiva remains in its absolute unmanifest state; Śakti is the creative impulse, the differentiating force, the energy of manifestation
- **Śakti sustains Sthiti**: the maintenance of the cosmos requires the continuous expression of Śakti as sustaining power
- **Śakti operates Saṃhāra**: the withdrawal is also Śakti's function -- Kālī as Śiva's Śakti consuming time and form

In all traditions, the three cosmic functions (Sṛṣṭi, Sthiti, Saṃhāra) are ultimately Śakti's operations -- whether Śakti is assigned to the Goddess (Śākta), to Viṣṇu's Yogamāyā (Vaiṣṇava), or to Śiva's inseparable power (Śaiva).

## The Devī Māhātmya: Śakti as Supreme

The Devī Māhātmya (Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa) is the foundational text for Śākta cosmological supremacy. The text presents Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Śiva as unable to overcome the cosmic demon Mahiṣāsura without the Goddess's power. The three deities combine their powers (tejomaya = "made of their light") to generate the Goddess -- but the text is explicit that this is not the goddess being created from the male deities' energies; she IS the primordial Śakti, and the three deities' powers return to their source. The "creation" is a revelation.

Key cosmological statement (Devī Māhātmya 1.74-78): "She who is eternal creates the world at the time of creation; she maintains it at the time of maintenance; she withdraws it at dissolution -- she is the great Māyā."

## Śiva-Śakti in Kashmir Shaivism

Kashmir Shaivism develops the most philosophically precise analysis of Śiva-Śakti cosmology. Śiva (pure consciousness, Cit) and Śakti (consciousness-power, Citi-Śakti) are the two aspects of one reality:

- Śiva = the I-awareness (Aham) at its most absolute
- Śakti = the vibratory creative expression (Spanda) of that I-awareness

The cosmos arises when Śakti contracts (Saṃkoca) pure I-awareness into apparent individual I's (jīvas). Liberation arises when Śakti expands (Vikāsa) those apparent individual I's back into the recognition of their identity with Śiva. The entire cosmic drama is Śakti's movement of contraction and expansion.

## The Śakti Taxonomy at the Cosmological Level

Different traditions identify different primary aspects of cosmological Śakti:

| Tradition | Primary Śakti Name | Cosmological Function |
|-----------|-------------------|----------------------|
| Śākta | Mahāmāyā / Mahādevī | All three: Sṛṣṭi, Sthiti, Saṃhāra |
| Kashmir Shaivism | Parāśakti / Citi-Śakti | The vibratory power (Spanda) of Śiva-consciousness |
| Vaiṣṇava | Yogamāyā / Lakṣmī | Sṛṣṭi and Sthiti through Viṣṇu's creative will |
| Śaiva Siddhānta | Śiva's Śaktis (Jñāna, Icchā, Kriyā) | The five pañcakṛtya acts of Śiva |

## Audience Metaphor

Śakti is like heat in relation to fire: you cannot separate the fire from its heat and still have fire; you cannot have the heat without the fire. Fire (Śiva/Brahman) is the luminous conscious principle; heat (Śakti) is its inherent creative power. The cosmos is the heat's expansion into the world -- the fire does not diminish; the heat does not separate; but the effects (warmth, light, transformation) spread throughout existence. Asking whether fire or heat came first is like asking whether Śiva or Śakti is primary -- the question assumes a separation that doesn't exist.

## Citations

1. Devī Māhātmya 1.74-78 (Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa) -- Śakti as the one who creates, maintains, and withdraws; see references/markandeya-purana.md and references/devi-mahatmya.md
2. Śiva Sūtras 1.1 -- "Citir ātmā" (Consciousness is the Self) -- the Kashmir Shaivism foundation for Śiva-Śakti cosmology
3. Vijñāna Bhairava Tantra -- Śakti as the dynamic expression of Śiva-consciousness; the vibratory (Spanda) framework
4. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 1.2.23 -- Śakti as Viṣṇu's creative energy in Saguṇa manifestation; see references/bhagavata-purana.md
