Sakta Vidyas

Philosophy

Sakta Vidyas acknowledge Advaita Vedanta. However Sakta view of Advaita differs from Sankara Advaita or Vivarta Vada.

Sri Vidya

The most popular vidya in Sakta is Sri Vidya. The devata of this vidya is Tripura Sundari. Tripura Sundari as the name suggests, is the most beautiful of all the devatas.

There are many vidyas/variants under Sri Vidya. Two major ones are Pancadasi (mantra with 15 syllables) and Shodasi (mantra with 16 syllables). Of these, Shodasi is counted under dasa maha vidyas. The original seer of Pancadasi is said to be lord Dakshinamurthy Himself. There are 12 variants in Pancadasi called Manu vidya, Candra vidya and so on. The seers of these include Agastya, Lopamudra, Durvasa and others.

Pancadasi is said to be the Gayatri of Sri Vidya. The distinct feature of this is the 15 syllables are classified into three groups of 5 syllables each, called 3 kutas/khandas. These are Agni, Surya and Soma khandas (this is the reason she is called Tripura Sundari, as she presides over these three transcendental worlds). The mantra is said to be the sound-form and the body of the Mother Goddess, with Agni khanda as her head, Surya khanda as her trunk and Soma khanda as the lower half. Thus realizing the total essence of the mantra is realizing the Mother. The story of Lalita Tripura Sundari narrated in Brahmanda Purana symbolically explains the entire vidya, in which Devi kills Bhandasura, the king of Asuras. The three devis that wage this battle against the powers of ignorance, Lalita, Syamala and Varahi preside over the divine powers of Will (Iccha), Knowledge (Jnana) and Action (Kriya) and represent these three khandas of the Pancadasi.

The yantra used in Sri Vidya is called Sri Cakra, which is said to be the sakta model of entire universe. The yantra is worshiped as the Mother. It has 9 levels or avaranas.

Texts

The Sri Suktam of Rig Veda. It has fifteen Riks, equal to the number of beejas in Pancadasi. Adding Sri Gayatri it becomes 16 Riks, equal to the number of beejas of Shodasi.

Lalita rahasya nama found in the Brahmanda purana, is said to be the compendium of all sakta vidyas, though primarily the text for Sri Vidya. It is a consciousness overview and is called Yoga Sahasra. Lalita Trisati, which has a commentary by Adi Sankara, is the stotra form of Pancadasi.

Sri Vidya is found in tantras like Rudra Yamala.

Upadesa and alternative

The Sri Vidya needs initiation. However Lalita Sahasra nama, can be read as a stotra without initiation. Namavali, where each name is used as a mantra for worship, can be done only by one having initiation into the vidya.

Usually the initiation of Pancadasi happens after an initial initiation into another Tripura Sundari mantra like Bala. Lalita and Bala are the Saguna and Nirguna versions of the vidya respectively. Hence the former also has nama mantras.

Candi Vidya

Candi is the other most popular Sakta vidya. Candi is also worshiped as Durga, Camundi, Mahisha mardini during the nava ratris for Vijaya Dasami.

Candi navakshari (9 syllables) is the primary mantra of this vidya, though there are many vidyas as part of this. Devi Mahatmya of Markandeya Purana, which is also called Candi Saptasati, narrates the story of the Mother slaying Mahishasura. She assumes 9 different forms on nine days to eliminate the Asura along with his army.

Texts

Durga Suktam of Taittiriya Aranyaka.

Candi Saptasati, though in sloka form, is treated as mantras and is used for Homa. Besides, Ratri Suktam, Devi Atharva Seersha are also used.

Candi vidyas are found in tantras like Rudra Yamala.

Upadesa and alternative

The Candi/Durga vidyas, including Candi Saptasati need initition from a guru. The stotras like Mahishasura mardini Stotra, Durga Astottara, Durga Sahasraa can be read without initiation (not as namavali).