Paradox of Shiva-Shakti (Celebration and restraint)

[Guest guest]

Namaste Devi bhakta!

> I, too, would welcome the input of

>Colin -- or any of our honored members, for that

>matter -- in further elucidating the wondrous "paradox

>of shiva-sakti," as you so aptly put it.

 

Here is a passage from the Nirvana Tantra (not the same work as the

Mahanirvana Tantra), which offers a simple yet compelling vision of the

Divine Couple:

 

"In the Satyaloka, Mahakali and Mahanidra live, embracing one another

inseparably. That eternal Shakti, possessing the lustre of the moon, the

sun, and fire, taken together and united with the eternal Purusha, exists

like a grain of gram... As the whole, consisting of two halves and a shell,

is called gram, so the whole consisting of Shiva-Shakti and maya, is called

Brahman...As sparks shoot from a burning fire, so Jivas, forming parts of

Her body, shoot from the limbs of the luminous Devi into infinite millions

of Brahmandas."

 

I found this passage in the book _Principles of Tantra_ edited by Sir John

Woodroffe, and published by Ganesh and Co of Madras, 6th edition 1986. It

is the English version of the Bengali work _Tantra-tattva_, by Sriyukta

Siva Candra Vidyarnava Bhattacarya Mahodaya.

 

The final "a" in the name Mahanidra here is short, indicating that it is

name of the God, as indeed the context implies. When Nidra has a long "a"

sound at the end, it is then a name of the Goddess.

 

Om Shantih,

Colin