Sahasranama position 951 of the 1,072 names

Shiva-Shakta

शिव-शक्ता

Śiva-Śaktā

What Shiva-Shakta means

Shiva-Shakta is name 951 in the Adya Mahakali Sahasranama, the 1,072-name devotional text to Maa Kali. The one who is the power of the auspicious, Lord Shiva.

Also spelled

  • Siva-Sakta
  • Source transliteration: SHHIVA-SHHAKTA

Sanskrit names travel into English in several romanizations. This page keeps the common spelling, the IAST form, and the source transliteration together so the same name is discoverable under each spelling readers use.

Meaning and elaboration

Meaning: The one who is the power of the auspicious, Lord Shiva.

Elaboration

Shhiva-Shhakta directly translates to "The Shakti (power) of Shiva." This name emphasizes Mahakali's inseparable and primordial connection with Lord Shiva. It presents Her as the dynamic force animating Shiva's transcendent consciousness.

The Inalienable Union In Shaivism and Shaktism, Shiva is the static, transcendental consciousness, while Shakti is the dynamic creative power through which all manifestation appears. Shhiva-Shhakta means that Kali is fundamentally that kinetic force of Shiva. Without Shakti, Shiva is inert (Shava); without Shiva, Shakti lacks Her ultimate ground.

Cosmic Dance of Creation and Dissolution The name points to the cycle of creation, preservation, and dissolution as one living movement. Kali, as Shiva's Shakti, is the force that carries out this transformative dissolution. She is the fierce energy through which everything is returned to ash, so Shiva can remain as pure, undifferentiated consciousness.

Consciousness and Energy Shhiva-Shhakta also expresses the Advaitic truth that consciousness (Shiva) and energy (Shakti) are two aspects of one ultimate reality. Kali is the cinmaya energy of Shiva: dynamic, compassionate, and absolute. She gives form to Shiva's will, and devotion to Shhiva-Shhakta becomes devotion to the unity of awareness and its own power.

Text and sources

The name list follows the Adya Mahakali Sahasranama as compiled for this project. The English meaning and elaboration are interpretive notes for devotional study, not a translation of a single critical edition.

Read the editorial method and source notes →

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