What Is Chit Shakti?

Do objects such as stones, metals, do they have life? The inorganic objects. Sanatana dharma says, yes. It is quite obvious.

If objects don’t have life, then why do we worship shankha? Why do we worship the lamp and bell before a puja? They are offered flowers and akshata, praised, prayed to. In yajnas you will see vessels and ladles being spoken to, addressed with mantras.

For us, this is quite natural. We don’t consider them as symbols. An idol for us is not a symbol of divinity. An idol for us is the divinity. According to Vaishnavism, the Archa-bimba or the idol is the most expressive and active form of Bhagavan, as active and as powerful as his original self.

When do we in general call something a living being? When it responds. Responds to stimuli. You heat a piece of iron, it turns red, it melts. You put water into the freezer, it becomes ice. They may not talk back to you, but that kind of communication is mostly between humans. Plants and trees, they don’t communicate like that to us. Animals communicate, maybe through behaviors but not with words.

When there is movement, we say there is life. Subatomic particle movements are there in everything. The subatomic particles have a group feeling as well. They are always together, move about together. Their spatial arrangement is not random; it is structured.

Then, as you move on to plants, this Chit-shakti is more active. That is the term—Chit-shakti. Look at Sunflowers; they follow the movement of Sun. Lotus blossoms during the day. Lilly blossoms at night. Flowering plants and trees follow the seasons. The plant Touch-me-not is sensitive to touch. The biological intelligence is more visible in plants and trees.

Moving on to animals, the biological intelligence is much more active. They can save themselves from heat, rain, potential threats. They know when the water level in the body goes down, they drink water. They go in search of water.

And in man, biological intelligence is most developed, and also memory, consciousness, awareness, emotions, thought, reasoning, logic. What is behind all these? Shakti, Devi, these are all manifestations of Chit-shakti. Devi has got two aspects: the manifesting aspect and the veiling aspect. Chit-shakti and Maya-shakti.

Chit-shakti is the shakti that is present in every object and being. Maya shakti is in the form of the sattva-rajas-tamas gunas. What we see and experience as objects and beings are just limited manifestations of Chit-shakti veiled or masked by Maya-shakti.

In Lalitha Sahasranama, this term comes: चिच्छक्तिश्चेतनारूपा जडशक्तिर्जडात्मिका। चिच्छक्तिः - सर्वपदार्थप्रकाशकस्वयंप्रकाशचैतन्याभिन्ना शक्तिः चिच्छक्तिः. She is behind all objects and beings. Chit-shakti is pure knowledge, vidya. Maya-shakti is a mask upon it, avidya.

So is Chit-shakti contained inside these objects and beings? No, it transcends all of them. Objects and beings are like bubbles on the surface of a lake. The lake is at the foundation of all of them. That lake is Chit-shakti or चिच्छक्तिः. That has only manifested as the bubbles.

Chit-shakti is the changeless foundation of our ever-changing world experience. Maya-shakti is part of Chit-shakti, not different from it. When each and every activity of the mind stops, what remains is Chit-shakti. There is a calm lake, absolutely no movement. That is Chit. Throw a stone into it; it is disturbed. These are the experiences.

This Chit-shakti is Lalitha Parameswari, Devi Tripura Sundari.

Knowledge Bank

What is the meaning of Devi?

दीव्यतीति देवी. The term Devi is derived from the Sanskrit root दिव् क्रीडा-विजिगीषा-द्युति-स्तुति-मोद-मद-स्वप्न-कान्ति-गतिषु. Someone with an aura around her, and who is brilliant is called Devi. The name also points towards her pleasant and dynamic nature, her victory over the evil and all her activities which she does in a playful mood.