Shakti and Shakta

by Arthur Avalon, John Woodroffe

Shakti and Shakta is a very important book documenting the tradition of tantra in accessible language for western audience. It is the endeavor of the Indian Heritage Books to bring on Kindle a great treasure of books that are culturally important but are lost in the passage of time. It is also our objective to publish these books at a reasonable cost. If the Sanskrit scholars all over the world are benefitted by this, our purpose is served.

Genres: Spirituality, Hinduism, Nonfiction, Philosophy

563 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1918

About the author

pseudonym of John George Woodroffe

Reviews

[Priya Ramakrishnan · Rating 5 out of 5]

He knows so much more than many Indians i know. Brilliant person, excellent perspectives

[Venkat Ramanan · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most authentic Books on Tantra Sastra.
A reference manual.A detailed description of the Tantra system can be found here.
Recommended.

[Kori Brus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Swings between the visionary (as when it details subtleties of Karma, the interrelationship of masculine and feminine, and form and emptiness) and the excruciating (the pages of academic subreferencing and wankerdom).

Whether this title is worth the strain is debatable, but the value it did deliver is so impeccable that I will read more by John Woodroffe.

[Akshay · Rating 1 out of 5]

It is very rare that I denounce a book. But, for the famed orientalist that he is, sir John has written absolute crap. The book is disorganized, scattered and superficial. Sir John throws in translations, criticizes his contemporaries and mixes Buddhism and Hinduism until you cannot make head or tail of it.

[Venkat Krishnan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book provides a superb overview of the worship of God as Mother.

The book contains four sections. The first section ("Introductory") introduces the religion of the Śāktas and their Tantras. The second section ("Doctrinal") elucidates Śākta Advaitavāda and distinguishes it from other schools of thought. It nicely illustrates the uniqueness of Śākta Advaitavāda. Śākta Advaitavāda takes a pragmatic approach to dealing with the real and unreal: "To the unliberated, the world is real, in the sense that, it imposes its reality on him, whatever his theories may be. In order that instruction should work we must assume a real basis for them. Therefore, the Tantra Śāstra deals with true bondage in a true world, and aims at true liberation from it. It is Śakti who both binds and liberates, and Sādhanā of Her is the means of liberation. Nothing is unreal or false. Śakti is and Śakti creates and thus appears as the Universe" (page 351).

The third section ("Ritual") explains the basics of Hindu ritual and elaborates the Śākta Sādhanā or spiritual disciplines described in the Tantras. The Śākta Tantra is a Sādhanā Śāstra of Monistic (Advaitavāda) Vedānta. The last section ("Yoga and conclusions") describes the Kundaliṇī Śakti in detail.

Anyone interested in understanding Śākta and Śākta Tantra should definitely make a thorough study of this book.