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<font size="4">The Mother- Worship of </font> <span style='font-size:18.0pt;
color:blue'><i> <o:p></o:p></i></span><font size="4">&nbsp;</font></b><span class=GramE><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><font size="4">the Bengalis</font><o:p></o:p></b></span></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none;tab-stops:71.5pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><i><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></i></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><st1:place>BENGAL</st1:place>
is the hallowed seat of Mother-worship in <st1:country-region><st1:place>India</st1:place></st1:country-region>.
Generally, in <st1:country-region><st1:place>India</st1:place></st1:country-region>
there are two modes of spiritual discipline which are popular. One is the <i>Sakti-sadhana
</i>or Mother-worship; the other is <i>Vedanta.<o:p></o:p></i></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:11.75pt;line-height:
150%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>There
are two principles in the creation. At the union of these two fundamental
principles, this universe has taken shape as <span class=GramE><i>lila</i></span><i>,
</i>the divine play. <i>Purusa </i>and <i>Prakrti –</i> these are the two
primal principles of the world-mystery. What is <i>Purusa </i>and what is <i>Prakrti?
Purusa </i>is <span class=GramE>Being</span> and <i>Prakrti </i>is Force. <i>Purusa
</i>is the immobile and inactive knowledge existence behind the creation. <i>Prakrti
</i>is the impulse and the force of Delight by which the world is born and
moves and adopts constantly new creative impulses. <i>Purusa </i>is the
existence and <i>Prakrti </i>is the motion. <i>Purusa </i>&quot;is&quot; and <i>Prakrti
</i>&quot;is in the process of being.&quot; The other name of <i>Purusa </i>is
Siva while the other name of <i>Prakrti </i>is Adya Shakti or the &quot;Primal
Power.&quot;<o:p></o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:11.25pt;line-height:
150%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Man
can <span class=GramE>proceed</span> Godward in two general directions,
resorting either to <i>Prakrti </i>or to <i>Purusa. Vedanta </i>proceeds with <i>Purusa,
</i>and the <i>Sakti-sadhana </i>with <i>Prakrti. </i>The aim of <i>Vedanta
</i>is to raise <i>Prakrti </i>into <i>Purusa </i>and immerse <span
class=GramE>Her</span> in the calm existence and oneness of <i>Purusa. </i>The
aim of the <i>Sakti-sadhana </i>is to make <i>Purusa </i>descend into
<i>Prakrti </i>and to reveal <span class=GramE>Her</span> most intense and
highest play. The ultimate aim of <i>Vedanta </i>is <i>Samadhi, </i>trance – the
final plunge<o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p>

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<span
style='font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;'>Page – 215<o:p></o:p></span></p>

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<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><span class=GramE>into</span>
the Supreme. The main aim of the <i>Sakti-sadhana </i>is to establish
a supreme Beauty, Victory and Vibhuti in the living existence.<o:p></o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:11.25pt;line-height:
150%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>The
revelation of <i>Purusa </i>in man and creature is the ego-sense: 'I', or 'I
exist.' The revelation of <i>Prakrti </i>is the person, <i>adhara, </i>and
the power that is at play in the person. The follower of <i>Vedanta </i>takes
his stand on the sense of 'I'-ness and proceeds on the path of negation:
&quot;I exist and my person exists; I am not this person; I am not the body; I
am not the vital; I am not the mind; I am merely a witness, and if I take away
my regard from these things, they will not exist for me. I will go still
higher. I will go to my real status, to my Siva-Self, the One without a second.
I will sunder all ties of <i>Prakrti </i>and be united with the original
essence of creation.&quot;<o:p></o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:12.45pt;line-height:
150%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>The
spiritual practice of the devotees of <i>Sakti </i>has for its pivot not the ‘I’-ness
but rather the Power active in the Adhara or the instrumental being. The 'I',
the absolute Brahman, is not so important to the followers of <i><span
style='font-family:"Arial Narrow";mso-bidi-font-family:"Arial Narrow"'>Sakti </span></i>as
it is to the followers of <i>Vedanta. </i>Those that follow <i>Vedanta </i>take
the ‘I’ as a means to attain to the supreme existence of the great <span
class=GramE>Self</span>. The worshippers of <i>Sakti </i>see the ‘I’ as a
channel for the joint play of <i>Siva-Sakti, </i>for myriad ways of their
manifestation. To the votaries of <i>Sakti, </i>the 'I' is but a part of the person:
it is to be dealt with in the same way as all the other parts.<o:p></o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:13.4pt;line-height:
150%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Knowledge
is the road leading to the Vedantic realisation. It is the path of
discrimination, conscience and 'I'-ness. <span class=GramE>A</span> <i>sadhaka
</i>devoid of the sense of personal effort cannot tread this path. On the
contrary, surrender is the path leading to <i>Sakti-sadhana. </i>Here
the attainment of spiritual perfection comes in effacing absolutely the
ego-sense. In fact, the Mother-worshipper himself is not the <i>sadhaka. </i>He
has sacrificed himself and his ‘I’-ness completely at the Feet of the Mother,
the Primal Power, and so Prakrit<i><span style='font-family:"Arial Narrow";
mso-bidi-font-family:"Arial Narrow"'> </span></i>Herself is the <i>sadhaka
</i>in him. The followers of <i>Vedanta </i>want<o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p>

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<span
style='font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;'>Page – 216<o:p></o:p></span></p>

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<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><span class=GramE>to</span>
conquer <i>Prakrti </i>like a hero with the power of <i>Purusa. </i>The worshippers
of <i>Sakti, </i>the Mother, want to conquer <i>Prakrti </i>by <i>Prakrti </i>Herself.
The followers of <i>Vedanta </i>are averse to the play of <i>Prakrti. </i>Their
purpose is to destroy <i>Prakrti </i>along with her root and rise above <i>Prakrti.
</i>The followers of <i>Sakti </i>have sacrificed all personal effort to the
Primal Power for Her revelation and play in the person according to Her Will.<o:p></o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:9.6pt;line-height:
150%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>The
Primal Power is the Power whose very nature is consciousness. The Primal Power,
no doubt, has also a power of illusion and, as a result, ignorance,
inconscience and incapacity have come into existence. In his attempt at
avoiding this power of illusion, the votary of <i>Vedanta </i>has avoided the
Primal Power too, and has resorted to <i>Siva </i>for rescue. The followers of <i>Sakti
</i>are aware that in the core of the Primal Power <span class=GramE>itself</span>
there dwells divinity. There is no need to search for it separately and
exclusively. Leaving aside all other standards of action and principles of
life, they make themselves instruments of the Consciousness-Force of <i>Siva. </i>And
the more one's offering and surrender are complete, the more the power of
ignorance diminishes, and the more a discipline, a rhythm of Knowledge-power of
the Mother, who is but Consciousness, starts blossoming in the person <i>(adhara).
</i>This <i>adhara, </i>itself having been transformed, manifests
itself in a divine frame and a divine fulfilment.<o:p></o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:12.0pt;line-height:
150%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><st1:place>Bengal</st1:place>
has realised this doctrine of Shakti-worship. Bengalis have realised that
liberation may be attained without the Grace of <i>Sakti </i>but the full
manifestation of life cannot. Bengalis have not longed for Nirvana, <span
class=GramE>nor</span> for a final plunge into the Supreme. They have pined for
victory; they have longed for beauty; they have cried for plenitude. Therefore,
the charming and graceful form of Nature – great beauty, great plenitude, <span
class=GramE>great</span> grandeur – are found in <st1:place>Bengal</st1:place>.
Bengalis, the worshippers <i>of </i>Nature, do not pray to the gods to the same
extent that they pray to the female deities. Consequently, the influence of Sri
Radha, the<o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p>

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<span
style='font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;'>Page – 217<o:p></o:p></span></p>

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<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:
none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Delight-Power of God, dominates the heart of <st1:place>Bengal</st1:place>
more. And that is why we see Siva lying down at the Feet of Sivani, his own
Power when he acts in the form of <i>Rudra.<o:p></o:p></i></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:11.25pt;line-height:
150%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>If
we want our nature to blossom and be fruitful, if human life has to be purified
and moulded into the image of a greater truth, then we must worship Prakriti or
Nature by committing ourselves and our all to the care of the Primal Power.
Otherwise, who will establish law and order in our nature? Nature herself can
formulate her own <span class=GramE>laws,</span> can manifest the Law of her
true Being. Man's personal efforts can hardly do that, nor can the static and
passive Supreme Being by Himself do that.<o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p>

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<span
style='font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;'>Page – 218<o:p></o:p></span></p>

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