The Patriarchy Is Impotent

Goddess, Shakti,

source of all energy,
She who embraces the entire universe,
She who dances Her way into our lives.
The Patriarchy Is Impotent

The Great Guru Shankaracharya once went to Kashmir, wanting to engage in debate the followers of Goddess (Shakti) known as the 'Shaktas.' No sooner had he reached the place than he was rendered immobile by a severe bout of dysentery. So seriously was he affected, that unable to get up from his bed, he for the moment, lost the power to speak.

Soon after, a twelve-year-old girl came near him and whispered in his ears: "O Shankara, do you think you can negate the cult of Shakti?"

Feeling helpless, Shankaracharya said, "Devi, I have come here for this very purpose, but right now I feel devoid of any potency. When I gain enough power to speak, only then will I be able to do so. Without Shakti, I cannot do anything."

The charming girl replied thus: "O revered preceptor, when you yourself cannot move an inch without your Shakti, how will you refute its cult? O Wise One, know me to be Shiva's Shakti - The supreme power activating this world. Charged by my own energy, you want to negate me?"

His mind now at rest, Shankaracharya bowed to Goddess, and left Kashmir as soon as he recovered.

(the top picture, of the dancers, is the Shakti Dance Movement: http://tribes.tribe.net/shaktidancemovement and http://www.myspace.com/shaktidancemovement and http://www.shakti808.com/ )