Why Shakti Peethas Are Fifty-One in Number?

You must have definitely heard about the 51 Shakti Peethas, the powerful places where different parts of the body of Sati Devi fell.

Sati Devi discarded her body when she could not bear the insult that her father, Daksha, had meted out to her beloved husband, Lord Shiva, during the yaga that Daksha conducted. Shiva was moving around with her body, fully in grief. The body was giving him grief. He was not able to accept her departure. Sri Hari, with his chakra, cut that body into 51 pieces.

Why 51 pieces? Why not 108? Why not 1008? He could have done that.

Devi's body is made up of the 51 alphabets of the Sanskrit Varnamala. You can refer to the book called Ekakshara Nighantu. Each alphabet stands for a certain combination of energies and powers, a combination of divinities.

We will see Kakara as an example:

अधुना संप्रवक्ष्यामि ककारतत्त्वमुत्तमम् ।
रहस्यं परमाश्चर्य्यं त्रैलोक्यानाञ्च संशृणु ॥
वामरेखा भवेद्ब्रह्मा विष्णुर्द्दक्षिणरेखिका ।
अधोरेखा भवेद्रुद्रो मात्रा साक्षात् सरस्वती ॥
कुण्डली अङ्कुशाकारा मध्ये शून्यः सदाशिवः ।
जवायावकसंकाशा वामरेखा वरानने ! ॥
शरच्चन्द्रप्रतीकाशा दक्षरेखा च मूर्त्तिमान् ।
अधोरेखा वरारोहे ! महामरकतद्युतिः ॥
शङ्खकुन्दसमा कीर्त्तिर्म्मात्रा साक्षात् सरस्वती ।
कुण्डली अङ्कुशा या तु कोटिविद्युल्लताकृतिः ॥
कोटिचन्द्रप्रतीकाशो मध्ये शून्यः सदाशिवः ।
शून्यगर्ष्मे स्थिता काली कैवल्यपददायिनी ॥
ककाराज्जायते सर्व्वं कामं कैवल्यमेव च ।
अर्थश्च जायते देवि ! तथा धर्म्मश्च नान्यथा ॥
ककारः सर्व्ववर्णानां मूलप्रकृतिरेव च ।
ककारः कामदा कामरूपिणी स्फुरदव्यया ॥
कमनीया महेशानि ! स्वयं प्रकृतिसुन्दरी ।
माता सा सर्व्वदेवानां कैवल्यपददायिनी ॥
ऊर्द्ध्वकोणे स्थिता कामा ब्रह्मशक्तिरितीरिता ।
वामकोणे स्थिता ज्येष्ठा विष्णुशक्तिरितीरिता ॥
दक्षकोणे स्थिता विन्दू रौद्री संहाररूपिणी ।
ज्ञानात्मा स तु चार्व्वङ्गि ! कलाचतुष्टयात्मकः ॥
इच्छाशक्तिर्भवेद्ब्रह्मा विष्णुश्च ज्ञानशक्तिमान् ।
क्रियाशक्तिर्भवेद्रुद्रः सर्व्वे प्रकृतिमूर्त्तिमान् ॥
आत्मविद्या शिवस्तत्र सदा मन्त्रः प्रतिष्ठितः ।
आसनं त्रिपुरादेव्याः ककारं पञ्चदैवतम् ॥
ईश्वरो यस्तु देवेशि ! त्रिकोणे तस्य संस्थितिः ।
त्रिकोणमेतत् कथितं योनिमण्डलमुत्तमम् ॥
केवलं प्रपदे यस्याः कामिनी सा प्रकीर्त्तिता ।
ॐ जवायावकसिन्दूरसदृशीं कामिनीं परम् ॥
चतुर्भुजां त्रिनेत्राञ्च बाहुवल्लीविराजिताम् ।
कदम्बकोरकाकारस्तनद्वयविभूषिताम् ॥
रत्नकङ्कणकेयूरमङ्गदैरुपशोभिताम् ।
रत्नहारैः पुष्पहारैः शोभितां परमेश्वरीम् ॥
एवं हि कामिनीं ध्यात्वा ककारं दशधा जपेत् ।
प्रफुल्लञ्च ततो ध्यात्वा जपस्य फलभाग्भवेत् ॥
एतत्ते कथितं देवि ! ककारतत्त्वमुत्तमम् ॥

These shlokas talk about all the energies, powers, and divinities present in Kakara. What all tattvas are there in Kakara? Similarly, for all the 51 alphabets, it is there.

Take the word 'Vayu.' It has got Vakara, Akara, Yakara, and Ukara. All that which is there in these four alphabets comes together in the word 'Vayu.' They interact with each other and form the very nature of Vayu—its invisibility, variable speed, its power, its capability to carry smell. The capabilities of those four alphabets are the building blocks of this word 'Vayu,' which will be present in the real Vayu.

In the same way, the trillions and trillions of objects and beings in the world are created by the capabilities of the 51 alphabets. If you look at what something is called in Sanskrit, the components of that word, you can sort of infer what it will look like and what all it can do.

This is why we say that Devi is the Moola Prakriti, the basis of the world and the universe. The universe is created out of her body, which are the alphabets. The powers and capabilities of these sounds, which are the 51 alphabets of Sanskrit, shape everything. There is not a single object or being in the world which doesn't have a name in Sanskrit. If it doesn't have a name in Sanskrit, then it doesn't exist; it cannot exist.

So, what was it that Shiva was carrying? The building blocks of the entire universe. He took hold of them in his grief. He stalled the entire universe. The whole universe came to a standstill. The universe is not just beings and objects; it has all kinds of actions, emotions, and thoughts. That is how the universe functions. They all have names, derived from the 51 organs of Devi's body. Everything stopped. The Samhara Murthy took hold of everything, and everything stood frozen.

The Lord of sustenance, Vishnu, had to do something. He is the one who has to ensure that the universe continues till the end of the Kalpa. He swung into action. He knew he wouldn’t be able to negotiate with Lord Shiva, so he cut the body into 51 pieces. He released the 51 alphabets. They started interacting with each other in all permutations and combinations, and the universe started functioning again.

If you see the principles of the Shakti Peethas, you can see this alphabet connection. Kamakhya is connected to Akara. Gokarna is connected to Jhakara. This is one of the principles connected to this legend.

There are many more aspects to it, like why did Lord Shiva even get obsessed with her body? He is Yogiraja. This should not have happened to him. We will try to see them later.

Ramaswamy Sastry and Vighnesh Ghanapaathi