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Concept
Mahadevi
Summary
Mahadevi (महादेवी, ), also referred to as Adi Parashakti, Adi Shakti, and Abhaya Shakti, is the supreme goddess in the Shaktism sect of Hinduism. According to this tradition, all Hindu goddesses are considered to be manifestations of this single great Goddess, who is comparable to the deities Vishnu and Shiva as Para Brahman. Vaishnavas consider her to be Lakshmi, Shaivas consider her to be Parvati, Durga, Lalita and Kali, while Shaktas consider her to be Durga, Tripura Sundari, Bhuvaneshvari, and Kali. Author Helen T. Boursier says: "In Hindu philosophy, both Lakshmi and Parvati are identified with the great goddess—Mahadevi—and the Shakti or divine power".
The goddess Lakshmi is revered as Mahadevi in the Vaishnavite tradition, extolled to possess a thousand names and qualities. Various texts like the Garuda Purana, Bhagavata Purana, and Lakshmi Tantra refer to Lakshmi as Mahadevi.
Lakshmi is worshipped as maya, the delightful delusion, the dream-like expression of divinity that makes life comprehensible, hence worth living. She is true shakti, energy, boundless and bountiful.
इच्छारूपां भगवतस्सच्चिदानन्दरूपिणीम् । सर्वज्ञां सर्वजननी विष्णुवक्षस्स्थलालयाम् । दयालुमनिशं ध्यायेत्सुखसिद्धिस्वरूपिणीम् ॥
I always meditate on that Goddess who has the form of pleasure & salvation,
Who takes that form that is dear to the God, who is the form of divine joy,
Who knows everything, who is the mother of all,
Who lives on the chest of Lord Vishnu & who is very merciful.
The Shiva Purana says Adi Parashakti incarnated in materialistic form as Parama Prakriti from the left half of Lord Shiva i.e.Parabrahman during the beginning of the Universe. The Linga Purana states that Adi Shakti brings forth the evolution of life in every Universe through the union of every Shiva and Parvati in all of the Universes.
Shaktas conceive the Goddess as the supreme, ultimate, eternal reality of all existence, or same as the Brahman concept of Hinduism. She is considered to be simultaneously the source of all creation, its embodiment and the energy that animates and governs it, and that into which everything will ultimately dissolve.
Official source
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