Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol. 7

BENGAL is the hallowed seat of Mother-worship in India. Generally, in India there are two modes of spiritual discipline which are popular. One is the Sakti-sadhana or Mother-worship; the other is Vedanta.

There are two principles in the creation. At the union of these two fundamental principles, this universe has taken shape as lila, the divine play. Purusa and Prakrti – these are the two primal principles of the world-mystery. What is Purusa and what is Prakrti? Purusa is Being and Prakrti is Force. Purusa is the immobile and inactive knowledge existence behind the creation. Prakrti is the impulse and the force of Delight by which the world is born and moves and adopts constantly new creative impulses. Purusa is the existence and Prakrti is the motion. Purusa "is" and Prakrti "is in the process of being." The other name of Purusa is Siva while the other name of Prakrti is Adya Shakti or the "Primal Power."

Man can proceed Godward in two general directions, resorting either to Prakrti or to Purusa. Vedanta proceeds with Purusa, and the Sakti-sadhana with Prakrti. The aim of Vedanta is to raise Prakrti into Purusa and immerse Her in the calm existence and oneness of Purusa. The aim of the Sakti-sadhana is to make Purusa descend into Prakrti and to reveal Her most intense and highest play. The ultimate aim of Vedanta is Samadhi, trance – the final plunge

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into the Supreme. The main aim of the Sakti-sadhana is to establish a supreme Beauty, Victory and Vibhuti in the living existence.

The revelation of Purusa in man and creature is the ego-sense: 'I', or 'I exist.' The revelation of Prakrti is the person, adhara, and the power that is at play in the person. The follower of Vedanta takes his stand on the sense of 'I'-ness and proceeds on the path of negation: "I exist and my person exists; I am not this person; I am not the body; I am not the vital; I am not the mind; I am merely a witness, and if I take away my regard from these things, they will not exist for me. I will go still higher. I will go to my real status, to my Siva-Self, the One without a second. I will sunder all ties of Prakrti and be united with the original essence of creation."

The spiritual practice of the devotees of Sakti has for its pivot not the ‘I’-ness but rather the Power active in the Adhara or the instrumental being. The 'I', the absolute Brahman, is not so important to the followers of Sakti as it is to the followers of Vedanta. Those that follow Vedanta take the ‘I’ as a means to attain to the supreme existence of the great Self. The worshippers of Sakti see the ‘I’ as a channel for the joint play of Siva-Sakti, for myriad ways of their manifestation. To the votaries of Sakti, the 'I' is but a part of the person: it is to be dealt with in the same way as all the other parts.

Knowledge is the road leading to the Vedantic realisation. It is the path of discrimination, conscience and 'I'-ness. A sadhaka devoid of the sense of personal effort cannot tread this path. On the contrary, surrender is the path leading to Sakti-sadhana. Here the attainment of spiritual perfection comes in effacing absolutely the ego-sense. In fact, the Mother-worshipper himself is not the sadhaka. He has sacrificed himself and his ‘I’-ness completely at the Feet of the Mother, the Primal Power, and so Prakrit Herself is the sadhaka in him. The followers of Vedanta want

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to conquer Prakrti like a hero with the power of Purusa. The worshippers of Sakti, the Mother, want to conquer Prakrti by Prakrti Herself. The followers of Vedanta are averse to the play of Prakrti. Their purpose is to destroy Prakrti along with her root and rise above Prakrti. The followers of Sakti have sacrificed all personal effort to the Primal Power for Her revelation and play in the person according to Her Will.

The Primal Power is the Power whose very nature is consciousness. The Primal Power, no doubt, has also a power of illusion and, as a result, ignorance, inconscience and incapacity have come into existence. In his attempt at avoiding this power of illusion, the votary of Vedanta has avoided the Primal Power too, and has resorted to Siva for rescue. The followers of Sakti are aware that in the core of the Primal Power itself there dwells divinity. There is no need to search for it separately and exclusively. Leaving aside all other standards of action and principles of life, they make themselves instruments of the Consciousness-Force of Siva. And the more one's offering and surrender are complete, the more the power of ignorance diminishes, and the more a discipline, a rhythm of Knowledge-power of the Mother, who is but Consciousness, starts blossoming in the person (adhara). This adhara, itself having been transformed, manifests itself in a divine frame and a divine fulfilment.

Bengal has realised this doctrine of Shakti-worship. Bengalis have realised that liberation may be attained without the Grace of Sakti but the full manifestation of life cannot. Bengalis have not longed for Nirvana, nor for a final plunge into the Supreme. They have pined for victory; they have longed for beauty; they have cried for plenitude. Therefore, the charming and graceful form of Nature – great beauty, great plenitude, great grandeur – are found in Bengal. Bengalis, the worshippers of Nature, do not pray to the gods to the same extent that they pray to the female deities. Consequently, the influence of Sri Radha, the

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Delight-Power of God, dominates the heart of Bengal more. And that is why we see Siva lying down at the Feet of Sivani, his own Power when he acts in the form of Rudra.

If we want our nature to blossom and be fruitful, if human life has to be purified and moulded into the image of a greater truth, then we must worship Prakriti or Nature by committing ourselves and our all to the care of the Primal Power. Otherwise, who will establish law and order in our nature? Nature herself can formulate her own laws, can manifest the Law of her true Being. Man's personal efforts can hardly do that, nor can the static and passive Supreme Being by Himself do that.

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