S'AKTAS is the name of one of the great divisions of Hindu sects (see INDIA). The term is derived from the Sanskrit ilakti, which means "power, energy;" but, in its special application, denotes the energy of the deity, and particularly that of the gods or the Hindu triad, Brahma, Vishn'u, and S iva. This energy, originally spoken of as the wish or will of the Supreme Being to create the universe, and afterward dilated upon in metaphorical and poetical speech, assumed at the Pauranik period (see Ilinda under INDIA) the form of a separate deity, thought of as the wife of the god to whqm it belongs. Accordingly, Sartiswati (q.v.) became the S'akti or wife of Brahman; Lakshmi (q.v.), the Sakti or wife of Vishn'u; and Devi, or Durga, or Uma (q.v.), the S'akti or wife of S'iva. Sata, properly speaking, means, therefore, a worshiper of any of these female representations of the divine power; but,-in its special and usual sense, it is applied to the worshiper of the female energy or wife of S'iva' Hobe; and the Saktas, properly so called, are, therefore, the votaries of Durga, or Devi, Or Uma (q.v.). Since S'iva (q.v.) is the type of destruction, his energy or wife becomes still more so the type i of all that is terrific; and, in consequence, her worship is based on the assumption that she can be propitiated only by practices which involve the destruction of life, and in which she herself delights. That such a worship must lead to the brutalization, and degenerate into the grossest licentiousness, of those addicted to it, is but natural; and it will easily be understood that the S'akta religion became the worst of all forms which the various aberrations of the Hindu mind assumed. Appealing to the superstitions of the vulgar mind, it has its professors, chiefly among the lowest classes; and, among these again, it prevails especially in Bengal. where it is cultivated with practices even scarcely known in most other provinces. The works from which the tenets and rites of this religion are derived, are known by the collective term of 711 afros (q. v.), but as in some of hese works the ritual enjoined does not comprehend all the impure practices which are recommended in others, the sect became divided into two leading branches, the Dakshia'aclirins and Rime/Ma/ins, or the followers of the right-hand and left-hand ritual.
The Dakshin'dcfsdrins are the more respectable of the two. They profess, indeed, to possess a ritual as pure as that of the Vedas. Nevertheless, they annually decapitate a number of helpless animals, especially kids, and in some cases the animal to death with their fists, or offer blood without destroying life—practices contrary to the Vedic ritual. The Vaincielairins, on the other hand—the type of the S'akta—aral among these especially that branch called Kaula or Kultna, adopt a ritual of the grossest impuri ties. Their object is, by reverencing Devi, who is one with Siva, to obtain super natural powers in this life, and to be identified after death with S'iva and his consort. "According to the immediate object of the worshiper," Professor Wilson says, "is the particular form of worship; but all the forms require the use of some or all of the five letters M—viz., mansa, matsya. madya, maitluma, and mudra—i.e., flesh, fish, wine, women, and certain mystical gesticulations. Suitable mantras (or formulas) are also indispensable, according to the end proposed, consisting of various unmeaning monosyllabic combinations of letters, of great imaginary efficacy. Where the object of
the ceremony is to acquire an interview with, and control over, impure spirits, a dead body is necessary. The adept is also to be alone, at midnight, in a cemetery or place where bodies are horned or buried, or criminals executed; seated on the corpse, lie is to perform the usual offerings, and if he does so without fear, the Bhfitas, the Yoginis, and other male or female goblins, become his slaves. In this. and many of the observances practiced. solitude is enjoined; but all the principal ceremonies comprehend the wor ship of S'ilkt i, and require for that purpose the presence of a female as the living repre sentative and type of the goddess. This worship is mostly celebrated in a mixed society, the men of which represent Bhairava (or S'iva as the Terrific), and the women, Bliairavt (S'akti or Devi as the Terrific). The Sakti is personated by a naked female. to whom meat and wine are offered, and then distributed among the assistants; the recitation of various mantras and texts, and the performance of the mralra, or gesticulations with the fingers, accompanying the different stages of the ceremony • and it is terminated with the most seandalous orgies among the votaries." The same author adds that, " in justice to the doctrines of the sect, it is to he observed, that these practices, if instituted merely for semsaal gratification, are held to ho as illicit and reprehensible as in any other branch of the iIuiln faith:" but full assent must he given to his remark which follows a text quoted hint in support of this view, for lie says: "It is only to be added that if the promulgators of these doctrines were sincere, which is far from impossible, they must have been filled with a strange frenzy, and have been straugely ignorant of Inman nature." " The members of this sect are very numerous, especially among the Brahmanicel caste; all classes are, however, admissible, and equal at the ceremonies of the sect. The particular insignia of these S'ilktas are a semicircular line or lines on the forehead, of red sanders or vermilion, or a red streak up the middle of the forehead, with a circular, spot of red at the root of the nose. They use a rosary made of the seeds of the eleocar pns, or of coral beads, but of no greater length than may be concealed in the hand ; they keep it in a small purse, or a bag of red cloth. In worshiping, they wear a piece. of red silk round the loins, and decorate themselves with garlands of crimson flowers.", Two other sects are likewise mentioned as belonging to the S'aitas, the Kdnchnliyas and Kurtirins, but it is doubtful whether they are still in existence. The former are said to have belonged to the s. of India; and the latter seem to have been worshipers of Devi in her terrific forms, the offering to her of human sacrifices being the principal feature of their ritual. if there are still any votaries of this sect, Professor Wilson believes that they are the miscreants who, more for pay than devotion, at certain festivals, inflict upon themselves bodily tortures, such as piercing their flesh with hooks or spits, reclin ing upon beds of spikes, gashing themselves with knives, etc.—See H. H. Wilson, A Sketch of the Religious Sects cf the Hindus; Works, vol. i. (edited by Dr. R. Rost, 1862), pp. 240, if.