The Encyclopedia of World Religions

sakti, Saktism S 403

J UDAISM , the GURU and SADHU in H INDUISM , the sage in C ONFUCIANISM , and the ARHAT , the BODHISATTVA , and the lama in B UDDHISM .

another by their teachers, teachings, gods, dress, body-marks, and other factors. The relative rank of sadhus and sadhvis emerges at festivals like the Kumbh Mela. There holy men and women line up in order of rank to proceed to the RITUAL bath. Not all Indians respect sadhus and sadhvis. Some see them as freeloaders. Some sadhus are in fact con artists or criminals on the run. They have given those who are genuinely religious a bad name. During the course of the 20th century sadhus and sadhvis became very active in Indian politics. In general they are confirmed traditional ists, so they often opposed the government’s policy of neutrality toward religion. They also tended to champion reactionary causes. Groups of sadhus and sadhvis were important supporters of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a pro-Hindu politi cal party that governed India during the 1990s and early 2000s. saints Holy people. Especially Christians use the term “saint.” In the N EW T ESTAMENT , P AUL the A POSTLE calls all Christians “saints.” Most Protes tants use the word in the same way. They do not recognize a special class of Christians known as saints. Catholic and Orthodox Christians, however, call special Christians saints. They have a position in the church similar to the position of heroes in the army. They are special because of their per sonal characteristics, not simply because they hold an office. Martyrs are saints ( see MARTYRDOM ). So are Christians who perform MIRACLES —often after death. Catholic and Orthodox Christians vener ate—but do not WORSHIP —saints. They preserve their RELICS and visit their shrines. They also dedi cate special days to each saint. Christians celebrate the lives of saints in literature known as “hagiog raphy.” Orthodox Christians venerate pictures of saints known as icons ( see IMAGES , ICONS , IDOLS IN RELIGION ). Other religions have persons similar to saints. These include especially the wali or “friend [of God]” in I SLAM , and also the tsaddiq in Hasidic

sakti, Saktism The manifestation of G OD in female form in H INDUISM and the groups that wor ship it. Sakti is a word in Sanskrit, an ancient lan guage of India, that means “power” or “energy.” It is a female divine principle and the power of all the gods. At a higher level of abstraction, some Indian schools of thought distinguish between spirit and nature. Spirit is male, nature is female. Spirit is also eternal and unchanging—inactive and inert. Nature is active, energetic, and creative. As such, some people consider it better to worship the active principle or sakti. People who worship sakti in its various forms are called saktas. Taken together, their beliefs and practices are called Saktism. Sakti is as much an abstract principle as a divine being. It may refer to the highest god or to the consort of a god, especially S IVA . In personal form sakti is most generally known as Devi, “the Goddess.” Hindus know many GODDESSES , whom they usually revere as mothers. They may think of all of them as different forms of Devi or as dif ferent, independent goddesses. Some goddesses have fierce characters; others are benign. Two well-known fierce goddesses are D URGA and K ALI . Benign goddesses include Annapurna, Gauri, and P ARVATI . In addition, most villages have their own goddesses. A common goddess at this more popu lar level is the goddess of smallpox. She is wor shipped in order to keep the disease away. Many Saktas worship the goddess through PUJA . They pray and offer gifts to her with the help of images and sacred symbols, such as the Sri-cakra-yantra. This yantra consists of a series of five triangles pointing down and four pointing up, surrounded by stylized lotus petals, which are themselves surrounded by a rectangular border. One distinctive feature of such worship among forms of Hinduism is that saktas’ gifts may include the SACRIFICE of animals, such as goats. Animal sac rifice especially characterizes the worship of Kali