The Secret Doctrine of Goddess Lalita
(Sri LalitaAṣṭottara Rahasyārthamu)
12. icchāśakti, jñānaśakti, kriyāśakti svarūpiṇī
She who is in the form of the powers of will, knowledge, and action.
How does that one primordial energy manifest in so many forms? How does it perpetuate so many changes? This mantra answers this question.
Although śakti is a single entity, It has many aspects. The very nature of śakti is change. It changes or transforms in three ways. Originally śakti is in the form of jñāna or Consciousness. The mantra, chidēka rasarūpiṇī, indicates this. Since śakti is Consciousness, It is independent. Because It is independent, It can freely manifest or change forms at Its will (icchā). Will or intention is an attribute of Knowledge or Awareness. Therefore, unlike the inert forms of energy we perceive in the phenomenal world, such as electricity, śakti is Conscious Power. Atomic energy and electricity cannot function freely on their own. They depend on a Conscious entity to function. śakti, the Supreme Power of Consciousness, on the other hand, has the freedom to function on Its own as well as to enable other entities to function. It is distinct from everything, and everything ceases to exist if śakti is absent.
Knowledge (jñāna śakti) transforms into desire or intention, and desire (icchā śakti) transforms into action or the power to act (kriyā śakti). As pure Consciousness, śakti remains undifferentiated and absorbed in Itself. When the desire to expand arises, the desire transforms into action. Every action produces a result. This saṃsāra, the world we perceive, is the result of such action. Action and the result are for the enjoyment of the jīvā, the individual. The jīvā is therefore the bhokta, the enjoyer of the world and its pleasures and pains.
Therefore, the world is the result of the transformation of śakti, from the Infinite and un-manifest to the finite and manifest. Desire, action, result, and experience are the four milestones in this journey. jñāna śakti or Consciousness is the inner current or underlying substratum through every stage of transformation. Like an expert dancer, parā śakti, the Supreme Consciousness, plays multiple roles. An earnest seeker must contemplate relentlessly on the parāśakti that permeates every object and transaction. As our contemplation continues without a break, identification with the body and mind reduces. Although, in reality, Consciousness (jñāna śakti) precedes desire (icchā śakti) and action (kriyā śakti), this mantra starts with the word icchā to highlight the importance of the icchā śakti of the Goddess over the jñāna śakti of the Lord. Because icchā śakti, the desire to expand, is the source of creation, the mantra starts with the word icchā. Therefore it is by design, and not in error, that this mantra has been formulated in this manner.