Shakti or Shaktiman?
Updated On: 13 October, 2019 06:36 AM IST | | Devdutt Pattanaik
But it does lead to the important question on the difference between 'shakti' and 'shaktiman'. Shakti being the object and shaktiman being the subject that controls the object

Illustration/Devdutt Pattanaik
I was recently trolled by a group of people. This was because I apparently had stated a claim that women are not powerful in India. I tried to figure out from where they had derived this alleged statement of mine and eventually realised that I had made a statement where I said that the word 'shakti' is feminine, and the word 'shaktiman' is masculine. Now, while we use the feminine form to talk about power, we use the male form to represent the powerful. So, it was this sentence which was misquoted—as usual—by trolls, saying that Devdutt claims that women are not powerful in Hinduism.
Of course, one cannot do anything about the unique way of understanding trolls possess. This faculty twists and turns based on whoever happens to be paying them. But it does lead to the important question on the difference between 'shakti' and 'shaktiman'. Shakti being the object and shaktiman being the subject that controls the object.
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