History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c92.27

v7.c92.27

The word 'Śākta' means one who is a worshipper or devotee of 'Śakti' (cosmic power or energy). It appears that long before the 8th century A. D. this cult had spread in almost all parts of India, particularly in Bengal and Assam. Śakti under different names (such as Tripurā, Lohitā, Sdaśikā, Kāmeśvarī) was conceived to be the primordial principle of all activity in the universe and is generally worshipped under the name of Devī. The Devīmāhātmya is one of the chief works of the Śāktas and has been described above on pp. 155-156. The chief characteristics of the Śākta cult are the doctrine that God or Deity is one and is to be conceived as the mother and also the destroyer¹⁶⁷⁴ and that there is a special form of ceremonial worship which sometimes assumed debased and revolting forms. Devī has been eulogised in other Purāṇas also as in Vāmana (18-19), Devī-bhāgavata (III. 27), Brahmāṇḍa (that contains the Lalitāmāhātmya in 44 chapters), Matsya (13. 24-54, where 108 names of Devī and 108 places of her worship are set out), Kūrma (I. 12). In the last Purāṇa (Kūrma I. 12) Devī is called Mahāmahiṣamardinī (98), Anāhatā, Kuṇḍalinī (128), Durgā, Kātyāyanī, Caṇḍī, Bhadrakālī (143 and 148) and it is stated that the śāstras opposed¹⁶⁷⁵ to the Veda and Smṛti that are popular among people such as Kāpāla, Bhairava, Yāmala, Vāma, Ārhata were propagated by Devī for deluding the world and were based on ignorance. Vide also Brahmapurāṇa (181. 48-52) for names of Devī and for the proposition that Devī when worshipped with offerings of wine, flesh and other edibles becomes pleased and grants men's desires. Bhadrakālī is comparatively an ancient name. In the Śāṅ. Gṛ. (SBE vol. XXIX p. 86) it is provided that an offering is to be made to Śrī at the head of the bed on which the householder sleeps and at the foot of the bed to Bhadra-kālī, while Manu provides that, in the daily *baliharaṇa*, *bali* (offering) is to be offered to Bhadrakālī in the south-west.