physical and physical and physiological. The brightness of one’s eyes as
well as the tone of one’s skin is said to be a manifestation of shakti, as is
the ability to levitate, on the one hand, or lift an opponent into the air, on
the other. In other words, shakti means many different things, which makes
it possible to translate across various domains of experience, and the mar-
tial arts can be thought of as a critical, if often overlooked, point at which
this translation is most clearly worked out.
Whereas shakti can be derived from devotional and ascetic practices,
it is perhaps most closely linked, and clearly embodied, through the prac-464 Religion and Spiritual Development: India
An Indian miniature
of the defeat of a
devil by a prince on
horseback and a
warrior, Ragmala
Bikaner school,- (The Art
Archive/Marco Polo
Gallery Paris/Dagli
Orti)