Sri Lalita Sahasranama is an ancient hymn of 1,000 individual mantras describing various aspects of the Divine Mother. Shiva Shakti swarupini is the 999 mantra and praises her as the unified form of Shiva and Shakti. Her goal is to bring man back to the ultimate state of oneness with Her. She is shiva jnana pradayini, she confers knowledge of Shiva, the ultimate. This article talks about her in the form of energy such as Shiva and Shakti.
This whole universe is a network. Everything is in constant motion. The planets are in constant motion; their movement in relation to each other forms a network.
Take the smallest atom. Even she is in constant motion. The movement of protons, electrons and neutrons move along certain paths and form a network.
When considering the body, we find that the blood capillaries and nerves and all the energy channels are intertwined in a network and are performing their respective functions efficiently for the benefit of the body.
Is everything in the universe moving? There are certain elements that do not seem to move and are stationary. However, upon close investigation it will be found that even these seemingly stationary objects are in constant motion but in a limited dimension. That is, they are vibrating.
What holds them all in their respective places in the wide space that is infinite? It is energy with the property of attraction and repulsion. This energy pervades everything, is indestructible, unlimited and does not diminish. When concentrated through the law of attraction, it manifests in the form of an object. When it is dispersed or, rather, when it merges in its original state, it is the omnipresent, omnipotent, omnipresent subtle energy. It is the basis of everything that exists and everything that will exist. It is the seed, the root cause of everything. This invisible energy manifests as the universe and becomes visible. The unmanifest becomes manifest. When Advaitic philosophy speaks of the one principle, it refers to this energy, which is the underlying principle or substratum of everything. On the gross level, it gives the kaleidoscopic view of the world. But it takes years of training or instant enlightenment to catch a glimpse of this subtle principle and realize that it is just energy, without a second, the substratum or underlying principle of everything.
The Upanishads have also attributed the principle of intelligence to that energy which they called consciousness. That is why they called this consciousness ‘prajnana ghana’. Thus, this energy with the nature of intelligence and energy (having the property of movement) is called Shiva and Shakti. Shakti energy is also called jnana shakti as well as kriya shakti. There is also a third element in this principle and that is iccha shakti. Iccha, which means desire, is the triggering factor in the manifestation of this energy from its unmanifest state. Thus, desire also becomes the root cause of all that is manifest and unmanifest: the underlying principle.
This energy is described in Lalita Sahasranama as vyakta, avyakta swarupini: She who is both the manifest form and the non-manifest form.
When a human being, who is nothing but consciousness with the power of jnana shakti, iccha shakti and kriya shakti, functions with strong desire in its purest form, he manifests the world of his desires. When he/she limits her desires, he/she moves into the unmanifested state of energy that is both Shiva and Shakti. Eliminating the element of desire unites Shiva and Shakti in an inseparable unit: the bindu swarupa, which resides in the Sri Chakra.
