“Vaishnavas are the True Śaktas”

Vaishnava and Śakta Bhakti in West Bengal

Abstract

This article explores the complex relationship between Vaishnava and Śakta bhakti in West Bengal, two dominant forms of Hindu devotion. It investigates the varying perceptions practitioners hold of each other, ranging from universalism, where deities like Krishna and Kali are seen as essentially the same, to tolerance, and even rivalry. The paper delves into how figures such as Rādhā and Kālī are reinterpreted across these traditions, examining cases like the Rādhā Tantra where Vaishnava and Śakta ideas intermingle. It also highlights the influence of Śakta practices within folk Vaishnavism and the Sahajiyā schools. The article concludes by emphasizing that despite theological differences, the core distinction often lies in aesthetic and stylistic approaches to divine love and suffering, with Vaishnavism tending towards the comic and Śaktism towards the tragic.