Shakti · Suvarnaveda

THE LIVING ARCHIVE

About Shakti

The account calls Shakti the eldest of Vashishtha’s hundred sons. Like his father, he possesses the spiritual power associated with a disciplined sage. His death is therefore both a personal bereavement for Vashishtha and a crisis for a family that produces later teachers.

Adrisyanti is Shakti’s wife. After his death, she tells Vashishtha that the child in her womb is Shakti’s son. Her presence establishes how the next generation survives despite the destruction of the father’s generation.

AT A GLANCE

Identity & Context

Identity: Rishi
Form: Rishi / teacher / narrator
Tradition: Vedic · Puranic
World & Associations: Hermitage; solar dynasty stories

Shakti Rishi — Sage associated with Vashishtha as father and Parashara as son in a common genealogy.

Family & Relationships

ChildParashara
ParentVashishtha

Family Context

These relationships follow the traditions described here. Some details remain uncertain and should not be treated as a single universal genealogy.

THE STORY

Life & Stories

A Quarrel on a Narrow Path

Kalmashapada, tired after hunting, meets Shakti where the path is too narrow for them to pass together. They disagree over who should give way. The king strikes the sage with his whip. Shakti responds by cursing him to become a flesh-eating being, turning a dispute over precedence into a danger far greater than the original obstruction.

The King Turns Against the Sages

In this telling, Vishvamitra takes advantage of his hostility toward Vashishtha’s family and directs a Rakshasa, a destructive supernatural being, to enter the king. Under this terrible condition, Kalmashapada devours Shakti and his brothers. The catastrophe results from several actions together: royal violence, the curse and the further intervention against the family.

Adrisyanti Reveals a Surviving Child

Vashishtha is overwhelmed by grief after losing his sons. When Adrisyanti approaches, he hears Vedic recitation and asks where the voice comes from. She explains that it is the child she carries, Shakti’s son. Learning that a grandson survives gives Vashishtha a reason to return to the hermitage and care for the family’s future.

Story Connections

Parashara's ancestry
Kalmasapada traditions

ROLE & ESSENCE

Attributes & Significance

Shakti’s place in the genealogy is more than a link between famous names. His story explains the loss through which Parashara’s family passes and the circumstances in which a grandfather takes responsibility for the next generation.

Role

Sage associated with Vashishtha as father and Parashara as son in a common genealogy.

Attributes & Abilities

Sacred knowledge

TRADITION & MEANING

Traditions & Interpretations

Tellings of Kalmashapada’s curse arrange its causes differently. The sequence here belongs to the epic’s account of Shakti and Vashishtha; other versions should be recognized in their own context.

The tragedy begins with a small confrontation that neither side is willing to resolve peacefully. The surviving child does not erase that loss, but his discovery prevents the family’s history from ending with it.

From the Sacred Texts

Explore the sacred texts behind these stories in the Suvarnaveda library.

Bhagavata Purana Mahabharata

Artwork & Archive Notes

Objects & Emblems

No named weapon or artifact is specified in this profile’s reference record. This does not establish that the figure never used one.

Visual Identity

Where artwork is shown, it is a contemporary illustrative interpretation. This reference record does not establish a fixed portrait, colour scheme, or complete set of iconographic attributes for this figure.