History of the Śākta Religion

Book excerpt: Description: The present work deals comprehensively with the genesis and development of Saktism as an organised but flexible and receptive religion, its primitive, ancient, medieval and modern forms, its involvement with other religious systems and finally its functional role, in every turning point of Indian history. The social forces determining the process of historical development of Saktism from crude primitive fertility beliefs to more refined ideas and broader sentiments have been reviewed in this book in the general background of the corresponding historical development of other forms of Indian religious system as well. The author has succeeded in making a comparative analysis of their contents in chronological sequences and form a carefully worked out sociological approach. This has made the work indeed valuable for the basic understanding of the religious history of India as a whole. This is a revised and enlarged edition and some of the views and conclusions of the earlier edition have been changed besides new chapters have also been added.