Shakti (śakti): Power, the Goddess, and the Pairing with Shiva
शक्तिśakti
Written and reviewed by The Kriya Yogi · Updated 27 September 2026
Shakti means power — the active, creative energy of the universe, personified as the Goddess and paired in tantra with Shiva's stillness.
In short
- Śakti means capacity or power: the ability of anything to act.
- In tantra, Shiva is consciousness and Shakti the energy by which anything happens.
- Kundalini is described as shakti in the individual body.
- Schools that place the Goddess first are called Shakta, one of the major streams of Hinduism.
- 'Feminine energy' is a loose modern gloss; the classical term is not about social gender roles.
Derivation
Śakti comes from the root śak, to be able. It means capacity, ability, power — the potency by which anything acts at all.
What the texts actually say
In tantric philosophy shakti is the dynamic principle of reality, personified as the Goddess in her many forms: Durga, Kali, Parvati, Lalita Tripurasundari. The pairing with Shiva is the central image — consciousness still and unchanging, energy moving, creating and dissolving. A much-quoted opening line of the Saundarya Lahari makes the point sharply, that Shiva without Shakti is unable to stir. In the body, kundalini is described as shakti coiled at the base of the spine, and her rise to the crown as the reunion of the two.
Shakta traditions
Schools centred on the Goddess are called Shakta, alongside Shaiva and Vaishnava as one of the major streams of Hinduism. They have their own texts — the Devi Mahatmya above all — their own temples, and festivals such as Navaratri, the nine nights of the Goddess.
Modern usage
"Feminine energy" is the usual English shorthand. It fits loosely at best: shakti is not gendered in the social sense, belongs to everyone, and the classical texts do not use it to prescribe how men and women should behave. Statements about Shiva and Shakti are theology, reported here as the tradition's own account rather than as fact about the world.
Where this is practised here
Questions people ask
+ Is shakti the same as kundalini?
+ Is shakti 'feminine energy'?
+ Which goddesses are forms of Shakti?
References
- Devi Mahatmya (Markandeya Purana).
- Saundarya Lahari, attributed to Shankara.
- Gavin Flood, "An Introduction to Hinduism" (Cambridge University Press, 1996).
Educational content, not medical advice. Check with a doctor before starting new practices if you have a health condition or are pregnant.