Sakta
(ˈʃɑːktə)
Also 9 Sacta.
[a. Skr. śākta relating to power or to the Sakti; a worshipper of the Sakti.]
A member of one of the principal sects of modern Hinduism which worships the Sakti or divine energy, especially as indentified with Durgā, the wife of Siva. Also attrib. Cf. Saiva n. and a. Hence ˈSaktism, the worship of the Sakti.
| 1810 E. Moor Hindu Pantheon 116 Those, of whatever sect, who worship exclusively the female power..are called Sactas. 1845 Encycl. Metrop. XXIV. 443/1 The Hind{uacu}s are almost always either 1. Vaïshnavas..; 2. Saïvas..; or 3. Sáktas. 1877 Monier Williams Hinduism ix. 123 Tāntrism, or Śāktism, is Hindūism arrived at its last and worst stage of medieval development. 1920 [see nada1]. 1931 G. Macmunn Relig. India 69 The Sakta groups have borrowed much from aboriginal practices and influence. Ibid. 160 The really secret cult of Saktism. 1974 Encycl. Brit. Macropædia VIII. 896/2 The Tantric movement is not rarely inextricably interwoven with Śāktism. Ibid. 897/2 Śākta adepts are trained to direct all their energies toward the conquest of the Eternal. |