Goddess Adi Parashakthi at Parashakthi Temple

Parashakti (

IAST The International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration (IAST) is a transliteration scheme that allows the lossless romanisation of Brahmic family, Indic scripts as employed by Sanskrit and related Indic languages. It is based on a scheme that ...

: Paraśakti,

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

: पराशक्ति) or Parā is one of the three chief goddesses in Trika system of

Kashmir Shaivism Kashmir Shaivism tradition is a 20th century umbrella-term for a body of Sanskrit learning, Sanskrit exegetical literature from several Nondualism, non-dualist Shaivism, Shaiva-Shaktism, Shakta Tantra, tantric and Monism, monistic religious t ...

along with Aparā and Parparā. In Siddhantic perspective, Parashakti is the counterpart of Paramshiva. Paramshiva is used to describe the ultimate form of

Shiva Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...

in Shaiva Siddhanta and Kashmiri Shaivism. Parashakti is the power of this primordial Shiva, who is emanated by Paramshiva. Adi Parashakti is used to describe the Divine Mother (Supreme Feminine Energy/Mother of whole creation) in Hindu scriptures. Parashakti is an all-pervasive, pure consciousness, power, and primal substance of all that exists and it has Mahamaya-form, unlike Parashiva which is formless. A Parashakti as the supreme being of puranic

Shaktism Shaktism () is a major Hindu denomination in which the God in Hinduism, deity or metaphysics, metaphysical reality is considered metaphorically to be a woman. Shaktism involves a galaxy of goddesses, all regarded as different aspects, mani ...

and of Sri Vidya obtained the name '' Adi Parashakti'' and Maheshvari-

Devi ''Devī'' (; ) is the Sanskrit word for 'goddess'; the masculine form is Deva (Hinduism), ''deva''. ''Devi'' and ''deva'' mean 'heavenly, divine, anything of excellence', and are also gender-specific terms for a deity in Hinduism. The concept ...

Parā in Trika

Trika is a Non- Saiddhantic Mantra Margic Saivite sect that praises Parā, Aparā, and Parāparā as three supreme goddesses. These three represent the three prongs of Shiva's

Trishula The ''trishula'' () is a trident, a divine symbol, commonly used as one of the principal symbols in Hinduism. It is most commonly associated with the deity Shiva and widely employed in his iconography. Etymology The name ''trishula'' ultimate ...

and they can be meditated upon in the Trishulabja Mandala. The three aspects emerge from Kulesvari Matrrusadbhava. Para means the highest form, beyond the range of human understanding. When it loses its transcendence and manifests, it becomes ''Parapara'', the mediocre level. When it further loses its strength, it becomes Apara. These three aspects symbolize Shiva, Shakti and Atman in the philosophical perspective of Trika.

Para in Siddhanta

According to Saiva Siddhanta, the lower part (pedestal) of Shiva lingam represents parashakti while upper part (oval stone) represents parashiva.

Para in Shaktism

References

{{Reflist Forms of Parvati Kashmir Shaivism Shaktism

Parā in Trika

Para in Siddhanta

Para in Shaktism

See also

References