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Shakta Upanishads are a group of minor Upanishads of Hinduism related to the Shaktism theology of a Goddess (Devi) as the Supreme Being.[1][2] There are 8 Shakta Upanishads in the Muktika anthology of 108 Upanishads.[3] They, along with other minor Upanishads, are generally classified separate from the thirteen major Principal Upanishads considered to be from the ancient Vedic tradition.[4]
The Shakta Upanishads also contrast from other groups of minor Upanishads, such as the Samanya Upanishads which are of a generic nature, the Sannyasa Upanishads which focus on the Hindu renunciation and monastic practice, the Yoga Upanishads related to Yoga, the Shaiva Upanishads which highlight aspects of Shaivism, and the Vaishnava Upanishads which highlight Vaishnavism.[4][5]
Composed in medieval India, the Shakta Upanishads are among the most recent minor Upanishads, and constitute an important source of information on Devi worship and Tantra-related theology.[6][7] Some Shakta Upanishads exist in more than one version.[8][9]
The Shakta Upanishads are notable for declaring and revering the feminine as the Supreme, the primal cause and the metaphysical concepts in Hinduism called Brahman and Atman (soul).[10][11] The philosophical premises in many Shakta Upanishads, states June McDaniel, is syncretism of Samkhya and Advaita Vedanta schools of Hindu philosophy, called Shaktadavaitavada (literally, the path of monistic Shakti).[12]
- ^ Brooks 1992, pp. 76–80.
- ^ McDaniel 2004, p. 90.
- ^ Deussen 1997, p. 556.
- ^ a b Mahony 1998, p. 271.
- ^ Winternitz & Sarma 1996, p. =217–224 with footnotes.
- ^ Brooks 1990, pp. xiii–xiv.
- ^ Mahadevan 1975, pp. 235.
- ^ Gudrun Buhnemann (1996), Review: The Secret of the Three Cities: An Introduction to Hindu Śakta Tantrism, Journal of the American Oriental Society, Volume 116, Number 3, page 606
- ^ Brooks 1990, p. 34.
- ^ McDaniel 2004, pp. 89–90.
- ^ Brooks 1990, pp. 77–78.
- ^ McDaniel 2004, pp. 89–91.
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