THE PRIMEVAL ENERGY One of the unique features of Hinduism is the fact that it conceives Divinity also as Mother Goddess. When Divinity has no name or form -- which is the most important declaration of the Upanishads, the next logical step is to recognize that the Supreme has no specifity in terms of gender. The Upanishads transcend the gender-specific connotation and invent the unique Sanskrit word tat, meaning 'that' for that Supreme Reality. And therefore they argue, whatever reason or rhyme we have in referring to God by a masculine pronoun, the same right there is for us to call God by a feminine pronoun. The energy of every Cosmic Divinity is taken to be feminine and thus arises the interesting concept of primordial power or the [[parashakti]]. Without this parashakti's life-giving inspiration, the Creator Brahma cannot discharge his creating function, the Protector Vishnu cannot perform his sustenance function nor can Rudra, the Destroyer, contribute to the Cosmic Ecology by performing His dissolution function at the time of pralaya, which must follow all creation, in due time! This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... The Upanishads (उपनिषद्, Upanişad) are part of the Hindu Shruti scriptures which primarily discuss meditation and philosophy and are seen as religious instructions by most schools of Hinduism. ... Brahma, the Creator, is depicted with four heads, each reciting one of the four Vedas. ... For other uses of the name Vishnu, see Vishnu (disambiguation). ... In Hinduism, Rudra (howler) is a storm, the hunt, death, wild nature and a wind god. ...

ENERGY MORE FUNDAMENTAL THAN MATTER

The concept of Primeval (Cosmic) Energy or 'Prakriti' in Sanskrit, is most fundamental to the understanding of Indian Philosophy an also to the central core of teaching in the metaphysics of the Gita. The innocuous translation of Prakriti as 'Nature' is vry often used but does not carry the full connotation of Prakriti. The difference is in the meaning of the word Energy, as understood by Science and as understood by Vedanta.

In Science, Matter is fundamental and self-existent; its motive power is Energy. In Vedanta, Energy is self-existent and Matter is the product or effect of this ever-present Energy.

The Devi Mahatmyam is one of the major pieces of Hindu religious literature which expatiates the glories of the parashakti.

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--69.251.143.213 13:56, 14 July 2005 (UTC)V. Krishnamurthy 14 July 2005