Transcript Swami Vivekananda

AdiShakti, in Hindu
Dharma represents supreme
cosmic energy which exists
from the beginning of the
universe.
o Shakthi is depicted in
femenine gender word and
means power or energy.
o Its only in sanAtana Dharma that Hhakti
in feminine form is celebrated.
AdiShakti, also referred as
‘the great divine mother’ in
Hindu Dharma.
o The complete incarnation of the Goddess of power.
She has three chief manifestations:
- Durga, Goddess of strength and valour,
- Mahakali, Goddess of destruction of evil
- Gowri, the Goddess of benevolence.
o The other forms of shakti are Lakshmi, Saraswati
and Parvati
o Saraswati the wife of Brahma is the godess of arts,
knowledge and learning
o Mahalkshmi the wife of Maha Vishnu is the other
form of
shakti. She is the godess of wealth (health and
wealth)
Parvati/Durga : the goddess of power and love,
spiritual fulfillment
The word शक्ति means Power in samskRut
Sanatana Dharma and Shakti
o Sanantana Dharma recognises the significance of shakti
o The masculine power is considered incomplete without the
feminine power
o Classic example of the equality of the two powers is in
Lord Ardhanarishvara
o Lord Ardhanarishvara is half woman and half male. Half
Shiva and half Parvati
Bharat and shakti -Education
In Ancient Bharat there were a lot of women who were very highly
educated .
Anasuya.
o Anasuya was the wife of Maharishi Atri and the sister of Maharishi Kapila
o Kapila Maharishi was her guru.
o She was a very intelligent and knowledgeable.
o When Rama Lakshmana and Sita visited them in chitrakoota, she gave
Sita clothes that would never soil and a cream that
Would prevent aging.
Anasuya Pictured with Brahma, Vishnu
and Shiva as her children
Maitrayi
o Maitrayi was a highly educated philosopher in ancient India
o She was capable of debating and defending the vedas
o Ten hymns in the “rig veda” are accredited to Maitrayi
Maitrayee debating Maharishi
Yagnavalika
Gargi
o Gargi was also a renowned vedic scholar of ancient India
o She had studied the vedas and is the author of “Gargi
Samhita” (Collection)
Lopamudra
o Lopamudra was the wife of sage Agastya
o Encouraged by Agastya she studied the vedas and also
composed hymns in the “Rig veda”
o Lopamudra was known to debate highly educated scholars
Lopamudra pictrued with her husband
Maharishi Agastya
Bharat and shakti-Powerful women of
Bharateeya itihasa (Indian History)
o Sita the wife of Prince Rama and daughter of the King of Mithila. Alone
she puts brave fight against eveil plans of Rakshsa king Ravana, and they
all get destroyed for humiliating Seeta
o Sita did not pick up a bow or an arrow, yet she achieved not only the
death of Ravana, but also the complete destrucion of the rakshasa race.
o Though faced with the challenge of bing single mother, living in a Ashram
in forests, she raised her children to be great warriors worthy to be
praised by Sri Ram and his army
o Draupadi was the daughter of King Drupada of Panchala. She
was born of the fire of her regal personality equally filled with
spark and flame. And Mahabharata describes her as extremely
beautifull
o She agreed to be wife of all five Pandava brothers and kept them
united. Gave Pandavas good support and guidance in both good and
difficult times.
o She refused to go to the court when Dushasana was asked to
Bring her to the court to disrobe her.
She was enraged when she came to know that her husband
Yudhishtira had gambled away his kingdom and his brothers and herself.
o She vowed to destroy the entire “kuru” race for the humiliation they
caused her and her family. And in the Mahabharata war she she made
her vow true.
With her
husbands
Draupadi being
disrobed IN Kuru court
Bheema Killing
Dushasana
Brave Indian Women Soldiers: Prowess of shakti
Rani Durgavati
o Born a Rajput princess she married an exremely brave
“Gond” Prince
o After his death she ruled the kingdom on behalf of her
young son
o She trained her son Vir Narayan to be a brave ruler
o When the mughals attacked her kingdom, she fought bravely
with her army and was successful in chasing the mighty
mughals away many times
o In her last battle with the Mughals (who repeatedly attacked
her kingdom) knowing she was going to lose she killed herself
than be captured
Kittur Rani Chennamma
o She was an ordinary woman who became
the queen of Kittur after marrying Mallasarja
o After his death she took over the reign of
Kittur
o After her son died young she adopted a child
o The British did not recognize the adoption and attacked Kittur to
annexe it
o Rani Chennamma and her forces fought bravely and won the first
round
o The British attacked again and this tie Rani Chennamma was captured
and imprisoned by the Birtish
o Thus ended the reign of an ordinary woman who rose to fight valiantly
against the British Empire
Rani Lakshmi Bai
o When we hear the phrase brave woman the
name Lakshmi Bai comes to our minds. Why?
o Rightfully so.
o She was born as “manikarnika” to a Marathi
family in Varanasi
o She was trained in horse riding and warfare
even when she was just a child
o She married the Maharaja of Jhansi
o Just like Rani Chennamma she lost her
child and adopted her husband’s cousin’s child just before her
husband’s death
o Once again just as in the case of Rani Chennamma the British did not
recognize the adoption and chose to annexe Jhansi
o She fought bravely to defend Jhansi and Gwalior in the 1857 soldiers
uprising against the Birtish
o She died fighting for her Kingdom, fighting to free India from the
British
o She is immortalized in the poem by poet Subhadra Kumari Chauhan
o “khoob ladi mardani who to Jhansi Vali Rani thi”
o The lady who fought bravely like a man was none other than the
queen of Jhansi
o Such was the power of this lady who was nothing but Shakti
During the later part of India’s freedom struggle a lot of women
fought bravely defying the roles society thrust upon them. These
women are also personifications of Shakti. They inspired other
women to join the struggle. Some of them are…
Sarojini Naidu: She was a brilliant woman with great
oratorical skills. She worked beside Mahatma Gandhi in
the civil disobedience movement and was jailed
repeatedly. She accepted it proudly. Her whole life was
dedicated to achieve India’s freedom.
Aruna Asaf Ali: During the time when in India women
were not educated, she was a graduate and a teacher. She
joined Congress and particiated in many agitations. She
was Jailed numerous times. She held a hunger strike while I
jail and craeted history. She participated actively I the “quit
India Movement”. She was awarded the Bharat Ratna for
her Bravery. Such is the power of woman.
Sister Nivedita: Sister Nivedita as she was
popularly known after hhaving been given the
name by Swami Vivekananda was born in
Ireland and came to India in 1898. She believed
India was a great country and that the woman
of India were forms of Shakti. She worked hard
for the empowerment of women and inspired great
people such as Swami Vivekananda, Sri Rabindranat
Tagore and Sri Aurbindo. Swami Vivekananda
called hera “lioness”, Sri Tagore as “ Lok-Mata”
and Sri Aurbindo as “Agni Shikha”. She started an all grils school in India
which is now the Ramakrishna Math Sarada Mission Sister Nivedita’s Girls’
high school.
Kasturba Gandhi: She was the wife of mahatma
Gandhi. She was instrumental in the success of
the “satyagraha”
movement. She fought for
India’s independence shoulder to shoulder with her
husband, taking in multiple imprisonments by the
British. She was also involved in women ‘s
education and educating women about cleanliness
and hygene. She was an ordinary woman who
proved to be very powerful in India’s freedom
struggle just by her sheer ability to stand up.
Padma Subramanyam A rare combination of a
flawless dancer, choreographer, music composer,
singer, research scholar, teacher and author, Dr.
Padma Subramanyam is one of the most
respected and reputed Bharatanatyam dancers.
Born in Chennai in year 1943
Lata Mangeshkar: She at one time even held the
world record for recording the most number of
songs, a record that was taken over by her
contemporary and a great singer herself, Asha
Bhonsle. She has recorded songs for more than 30
regional languages and has laid a claim to every
entertainment award that there is on offer. Easily
one of the most memorable voices in Indian music,
she has given more to playback singing than any
other singer, dead or alive
Kalpana
Chawla
Nivedita
Indian American
Astronaut
Irish origin Hindu, who
contributed to India’s
freedom
Shakuntala
Devi Women with
Magical
Mathmeatical
capabilities
Kiran Bedi
Sadhvi Ritambara
She runs an ashram
for abandoned children
and women in Mathura
called “Vaatsalya
Gram”.
Successful career
Indian Police
Service officer
Sadhvi uma Bharati
Minister for Water
resources,River Development
and Ganga Rejunvenation in
Union Government of India
Smt. Sushma
Swaraj
Minister for External
Affairs in The Union
Government of India
o We have taken a look at the various forms of Shakti
and the different embodiments of Shakti
o Starting from Vedic times, Hindu History has a
number of women who are nothing but Shakti
herself
o We have to be proud to be a part of a culture that
celebrates such women