Om Shakti Para Shakti Om: Meaning, Translation, Pronunciation, and How to Chant

Om Shakti Para Shakti Om is a short Sanskrit devotional chant invoking Shakti, divine power, and Para Shakti, supreme or highest power. The chant is associated with devotion to the Divine Mother and is particularly suited to repeated chanting, meditation, and kirtan.

The Sanskrit concepts behind the chant are traditional and deeply rooted in Hindu theology. The exact short formula, however, does not currently have a securely identified ancient scriptural source. Closely related forms appear in modern Sivananda-style Devi kirtan traditions, where Shakti is praised as the power of creation, preservation, transformation, will, knowledge, and action.

The Mantra

Devanagari:
ॐ शक्ति परा शक्ति ॐ

Normalized IAST:
oṃ śakti parā śakti oṃ

Common English Spelling:
Om Shakti Para Shakti Om

Common Alternate Spelling:
Om Shakti ParaShakti Om

The compound theological term Parashakti may also be written together in Sanskrit as पराशक्ति. In the chanting phrase, writing parā śakti separately makes its basic structure especially clear: “supreme Shakti.”

Translation

Literal translation: “Oṃ. Shakti. Supreme Shakti. Oṃ.”

Readable devotional translation: “Oṃ. Divine Power. Supreme Divine Power. Oṃ.”

The old translation “Om, the Supreme Power, the Ultimate Power, Om” obscures the actual structure slightly. The first śakti simply means power, potency, capacity, or energy. Parā śakti means supreme, higher, or transcendent Shakti.

The chant therefore moves from Shakti toward supreme Shakti, enclosing both within Oṃ.

In a devotional context, this can be heard as an invocation of the Divine Mother as power itself and as the supreme source from which particular powers arise.

How to Pronounce Om Shakti Para Shakti Om

Pronunciation: ohm shuk-tee puh-raa shuk-tee ohm

Text	Pronunciation	Note
Oṃ	ohm	Allow the ending to carry a gentle nasal resonance.
Śakti	shuk-tee	Ś is similar to English “sh.” The first vowel is short.
Parā	puh-raa	The final ā is a long vowel and should be given more duration.
Śakti	shuk-tee	Repeat the same pronunciation as the first occurrence.

The common Western pronunciation “shahk-tee” is understandable and widespread, although the Sanskrit short a is generally closer to a short central vowel than the broad “ah” used in many English chanting guides.

Listen to Om Shakti Para Shakti Om

Use this recording as an example of the chant in practice. Because this formula circulates primarily in devotional and modern yoga contexts rather than as a formally preserved Vedic recitation, melody and pacing can vary considerably.

How to Chant Om Shakti Para Shakti Om

The short structure of Om Shakti Para Shakti Om makes it especially suitable for continuous devotional repetition.

Bring Shakti to mind. Understand Shakti as divine power, the Goddess, or the sacred capacity through which manifestation and action unfold according to the tradition or philosophy that informs your practice.
Chant the full phrase. Recite “Om Shakti Para Shakti Om” clearly and at a natural pace.
Let the final Oṃ lead into the next repetition. The symmetrical structure allows the mantra to move naturally in a continuous cycle.
Remain with the meaning. Allow the words Shakti and Para Shakti to remain present as more than sounds. Contemplate power moving toward its highest source.
Continue for your chosen period. The chant can be repeated musically, used in meditation, or counted with a mala.

A Simple Chanting Pattern

The mantra works naturally as a repeated refrain:

Om Shakti Para Shakti Om
Om Shakti Para Shakti Om
Om Shakti Para Shakti Om

In group chanting, a leader can sing the phrase and the group can repeat it as a response. The melody can gradually develop while the underlying words remain unchanged.

Using a Mala

Om Shakti Para Shakti Om can also be used as a simple japa practice. Recite the complete phrase once for each bead of a mala. Completing all 108 beads creates one full round of practice.

No historical repetition count has been identified specifically for this short form. A mala provides a practical structure for counted practice without implying that 108 repetitions are an ancient requirement of this particular chant.

Breath and the Mantra

No established traditional breath pattern has been identified for Om Shakti Para Shakti Om. You can allow breathing to follow the chant naturally.

If you deliberately coordinate the mantra with pranayama, breath retention, or another formal breathing practice, that becomes an additional practice rather than an intrinsic part of this mantra's documented transmission.

Om Shakti Para Shakti Om at a Glance

Mantra	Om Shakti Para Shakti Om
Normalized IAST	oṃ śakti parā śakti oṃ
Language	Sanskrit devotional vocabulary
Tradition	Modern Hindu devotional and yoga practice, with strong connections to Shakti theology and Sivananda-style kirtan
Classification	Devotional Shakti refrain; modern mantra or kirtan form
Associated With	Shakti, Parashakti, the Divine Mother, divine power
Exact Early Source	Not securely identified
Related Documented Form	Longer twentieth-century Devi kirtans invoking Om Shakti, Adi Shakti, Maha Shakti, Para Shakti, Iccha Shakti, Kriya Shakti, and Jnana Shakti
Practice	Kirtan, devotional chanting, mantra meditation, japa
Access	Openly transmitted devotional chant. No initiation requirement has been identified for this short form.

Word-by-Word Meaning

Sanskrit	Basic Meaning	Context
Oṃ	Sacred syllable, generally left untranslated	A sacred syllable used throughout multiple Hindu traditions. Here it opens and closes the chant.
Śakti	Power, capacity, ability, potency, energy	Can denote power generally, the power of a deity, divine energy, or the Goddess herself depending on context.
Parā	Supreme, highest, beyond, transcendent	Feminine form modifying Shakti in the phrase parā śakti.
Śakti	Power, divine power	Together with parā, forms the expression “supreme Shakti” or “highest power.”

What Does Om Shakti Para Shakti Om Mean?

The chant invokes power at two related levels: Shakti and Para Shakti.

Shakti begins with a remarkably broad Sanskrit idea. It can refer to power, ability, capacity, potency, or the ability to accomplish something. Hindu theology develops this ordinary concept of power into something much larger.

A deity's Shakti is the power through which that deity acts. Creation requires power. Knowledge requires power. Intention requires power. Transformation requires power. Life itself continually reveals capacities to move, perceive, create, sustain, and change.

In Goddess traditions, this principle becomes personal and ultimate. Shakti is worshipped as Devi, the Divine Mother, rather than merely as an abstract force.

Para Shakti takes the idea toward its highest level. Parā means supreme, highest, or beyond. Para Shakti can therefore mean the supreme power from which particular powers emerge.

The short chant can consequently be contemplated as a movement from manifestation toward source:

Shakti: power as it appears, moves, creates, knows, and acts.

Para Shakti: power understood at its highest or supreme level.

Oṃ: the sacred frame within which the invocation begins and returns.

This is a philosophical interpretation of the words rather than evidence that the exact short chant historically carried one fixed esoteric explanation.

What Is Shakti?

Shakti is one of the most important concepts in Hindu religious and philosophical traditions.

The Sanskrit word fundamentally concerns power or capacity. Something has Shakti when it possesses the ability or potency to act, produce an effect, or manifest a capacity.

Religious traditions apply this concept in different ways.

Shakti as Divine Power

A deity may be spoken of together with that deity's Shakti. In this sense, Shakti is the power through which divine activity becomes possible.

This helps explain why the concept appears across Hindu traditions rather than belonging exclusively to one school. Vishnu can have Shakti. Shiva can have Shakti. Brahma can have Shakti. Knowledge, will, action, speech, creation, preservation, and transformation can all be described through different Shaktis.

Shakti as the Goddess

In Shakta traditions, the relationship becomes more radical. Shakti is worshipped as the Goddess herself and can occupy the highest theological position.

Durga, Kali, Lalita Tripurasundari, Bhuvaneshvari, Lakshmi, Saraswati, Parvati, and many other goddesses can be understood through different Shakta systems as manifestations, forms, powers, or identities of the Goddess.

The Divine Mother is therefore more than a poetic metaphor for energy. She is a deity, theological principle, object of devotion, and in some traditions ultimate reality itself.

Shakti and Shiva

Shakta and Shaiva tantric traditions develop sophisticated relationships between Shiva and Shakti.

Depending on the school, Shiva may represent consciousness while Shakti represents its power of manifestation, or Shiva and Shakti may be understood as inseparable aspects of a single reality.

This is the background behind the widespread image of consciousness and power belonging together. The precise metaphysics differ considerably between traditions, so no single Shiva-Shakti formula should be presented as universal to Hinduism.

What Is Parashakti?

Parashakti comes from parā, meaning highest, supreme, or transcendent, and śakti, power or potency.

The compound therefore means supreme Shakti, highest power, or supreme divine power.

The term appears in several Hindu theological and tantric environments. Its exact meaning depends upon the system using it.

In some Shakta contexts, Parashakti refers to the Supreme Goddess herself.

In Shaiva Tantra, the term can describe the highest level of divine power or consciousness-power.

Other Hindu traditions can use similar language for the supreme potency belonging to their understanding of the Divine.

This means Parashakti should not automatically be treated as the proper name of one universally defined goddess. It is a theological designation whose meaning changes with context.

Origin and History of Om Shakti Para Shakti Om

The Exact Short Form

A secure ancient textual source for the exact sequence Om Shakti Para Shakti Om has not been identified during research for this article.

This matters because the words themselves are traditional Sanskrit, while the specific arrangement of those words may be considerably more recent.

There is currently insufficient evidence to assign the short chant a Vedic source, Purana, Upanishad, classical Tantra, rishi, meter, or formal tantric viniyoga.

It is therefore more accurate to present the chant according to what can actually be established: a short Sanskrit devotional invocation circulating within modern yoga and chanting culture.

The Longer Shakti Kirtan

A closely related and better documented chant appears within twentieth-century Hindu kirtan traditions:

Om Shakti Om Shakti Om Shakti Om
Brahma Shakti Vishnu Shakti Shiva Shakti Om
Adi Shakti Maha Shakti Para Shakti Om
Iccha Shakti Kriya Shakti Jnana Shakti Om

Versions differ slightly in ordering and additional lines, but the basic structure is well established in modern Sivananda-related and other devotional chant collections.

Swami Jyotirmayananda's Mantra, Kirtana, Yantra and Tantra, whose publisher notes that the book was first printed in the United States in 1975, contains this Shakti kirtan family. The accompanying explanation describes the Divine as Mother Shakti and connects her with the powers of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva as well as will, action, and wisdom.

Related Sivananda chant collections continue to preserve versions containing:

Adi Shakti · Maha Shakti · Para Shakti Om

The Asivana short form, Om Shakti Para Shakti Om, appears closely related to this devotional family. Without a documented chain showing exactly when the abbreviated form emerged, it is best described as a shortened or related modern chanting form rather than declaring the longer kirtan its proven direct source.

The Longer Shakti Kirtan Explained

The longer chant provides useful context for understanding the theology surrounding the shorter refrain.

Brahma Shakti, Vishnu Shakti, Shiva Shakti

The chant associates Shakti with the three major divine functions commonly represented through Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva:

Brahma Shakti: creative power.

Vishnu Shakti: sustaining or preserving power.

Shiva Shakti: transformative or dissolving power.

This follows a common devotional way of understanding the Divine Mother as the power through which the cosmic functions operate.

Adi Shakti, Maha Shakti, Para Shakti

These expressions praise Shakti through different dimensions of greatness:

Adi Shakti: primal or original power.

Maha Shakti: great power.

Para Shakti: supreme or highest power.

The progression presents the Goddess as primordial, vast, and ultimately supreme.

Iccha Shakti, Kriya Shakti, Jnana Shakti

These three powers have a much deeper history in Hindu tantric and philosophical traditions:

Iccha Shakti: power of will or intention.

Kriya Shakti: power of action.

Jnana Shakti: power of knowledge.

The exact philosophical relationship among these powers varies by tradition, but the triad is particularly important within Shaiva and Shakta thought.

The longer kirtan therefore presents Shakti through cosmic, theological, and experiential dimensions at once.

Traditional Interpretations of Shakti

The short chant does not come with one securely identified ancient commentary. The concepts it invokes do.

Shakta Interpretation

From a Shakta perspective, Shakti can be understood as the Goddess and ultimately as the supreme source of manifestation.

The world is not separate from her power. Creation, preservation, transformation, knowledge, and activity can be understood as expressions of Shakti.

Chanting “Shakti, Para Shakti” can therefore function devotionally as remembrance of the Goddess in both manifest and supreme dimensions.

Shaiva Tantric Interpretation

Many Shaiva tantric systems understand Shakti as inseparable from Shiva. Divine consciousness possesses the inherent capacity to know, will, and manifest.

Within nondual traditions, Shakti is therefore more than an external force added to consciousness. She is the power of consciousness itself.

A practitioner approaching the chant through this framework might hear parā śakti as pointing toward power at its highest level, before the distinctions of ordinary experience fully unfold.

Modern Yoga Interpretation

Contemporary yoga often uses Shakti to describe vitality, creative energy, feminine power, spiritual potential, and embodied aliveness.

These associations can be meaningful within modern practice, while they should be recognized as a broad synthesis. Traditional uses of Shakti include far more than the modern category “feminine energy.”

Using the traditional Sanskrit term accurately gives the modern interpretation a stronger foundation.

Shakti and the Divine Feminine

“Divine feminine” is now one of the most common English explanations of Shakti.

The phrase can be useful because Goddess traditions express divine power through explicitly female forms. Durga, Kali, Lalita, Parvati, Lakshmi, Saraswati, and other goddesses are central to living traditions of Shakti worship.

The Sanskrit concept remains broader.

Shakti can refer to the power of a male deity, a particular capacity such as knowledge or action, a tantric metaphysical principle, the potency of mantra, an individual goddess, or the Supreme Goddess depending on context.

For this mantra, Divine Power is therefore the strongest basic translation, while Divine Feminine Power accurately describes one important devotional interpretation.

Shakti and Kundalini

Shakti and prana are sometimes blended with Kundalini in modern yoga language, yet these terms have distinct meanings.

Shakti is the broad concept of power or potency.

Kundalini Shakti refers to a specific manifestation or form of Shakti within particular tantric and yogic subtle-body systems.

Prana refers to vital breath or vital force within its own Sanskrit and yogic contexts.

Om Shakti Para Shakti Om does not contain a direct reference to Kundalini, chakras, or the ascent of energy through the subtle body.

It can certainly be used by practitioners whose spiritual framework includes Kundalini, but labeling the chant itself a “Kundalini activation mantra” would add a claim not established by the words or known provenance of the chant.

What This Shakti Chant Can Support in Practice

Because no ancient practice manual has been identified for the exact short form, specific traditional “benefits” should not be invented for it. Its actual structure still lends itself naturally to several contemplative and devotional uses.

Devotion: repeating the names Shakti and Para Shakti as an invocation of divine power or the Divine Mother.
Contemplation: exploring the relationship between particular powers and their highest source.
Remembrance: returning repeatedly to the presence of Shakti throughout activity and experience.
Concentration: using a short repeated phrase as a stable object of attention.
Kirtan: chanting collectively through rhythm, melody, repetition, and response.
Japa: repeating the phrase privately, either aloud, quietly, or mentally.

The traditional theology surrounding Shakti also gives the mantra a useful contemplative question: What is the power through which this moment is occurring?

Movement, thought, speech, creativity, perception, knowledge, intention, and action can each become places to recognize Shakti.

Sanskrit and Grammar

The short chant contains very little grammatical structure. It functions more like a sequence of sacred names and concepts than an ordinary Sanskrit sentence.

Śakti is a feminine noun.

Parā is the feminine form of an adjective meaning higher, supreme, beyond, or transcendent. It agrees naturally with the feminine noun Shakti.

The phrase:

parā śakti

therefore means:

supreme Shakti
highest power
supreme power

Sanskrit also permits the concept to appear as the compound:

parāśakti

For the chant itself, the separated form parā śakti reflects the devotional phrasing clearly. When discussing the theological concept as a term, Parashakti is also appropriate.

Variations of the Shakti Mantra

Short Asivana Chanting Form

Om Shakti Para Shakti Om

Normalized Sanskrit Form

oṃ śakti parā śakti oṃ

Compound Spelling

Om Shakti Parashakti Om

This spelling treats Parashakti as the compound theological term rather than the two-word phrase parā śakti.

Longer Devi Kirtan Family

A commonly transmitted related kirtan is:

Om Shakti Om Shakti Om Shakti Om
Brahma Shakti Vishnu Shakti Shiva Shakti Om
Adi Shakti Maha Shakti Para Shakti Om
Iccha Shakti Kriya Shakti Jnana Shakti Om

Other devotional versions add, rearrange, or repeat lines. These should be treated as kirtan variants rather than attempts to reconstruct one ancient canonical Sanskrit mantra.

How Om Shakti Para Shakti Om Is Used Today

The short form is particularly suited to the way mantra has developed within modern global yoga culture.

Practitioners may encounter it in:

yoga classes,
mantra meditation,
kirtan,
satsang,
Goddess-centered practice,
retreats and festivals,
recorded mantra music,
mala practice,
and personal devotional practice.

This contemporary life of the chant does not require an invented ancient history to give it value. Its Sanskrit vocabulary already connects it to a substantial body of Hindu reflection on divine power, Goddess theology, and the many forms of Shakti.

Bringing the Shakti Mantra Into Daily Practice

For mantra meditation: Use Om Shakti Para Shakti Om as the repeated focal point of a mantra meditation.

For mala practice: Repeat the complete phrase once on each bead until completing the full 108-bead mala.

For contemplation: After chanting, sit with the meaning of Shakti as capacity. Notice the powers of awareness, intention, knowledge, movement, creativity, and action already present.

For devotional practice: Approach Shakti as the Divine Mother and let the mantra function as a simple invocation.

For kirtan: Repeat the mantra melodically as a call-and-response phrase. You can also expand into the longer Om Shakti kirtan and its invocations of Adi Shakti, Maha Shakti, Para Shakti, Iccha Shakti, Kriya Shakti, and Jnana Shakti.

For more context on group chanting, explore kirtan and kirtan yoga.

Related Concepts

Shakti: power, capacity, divine potency, and the Goddess.
Parashakti: supreme or highest Shakti.
Adi Shakti: primordial or original Shakti.
Maha Shakti: great Shakti or great power.
Iccha Shakti: power of will.
Jnana Shakti: power of knowledge.
Kriya Shakti: power of action.
Devi: Goddess or female deity.
Kundalini Shakti: a particular manifestation of Shakti within selected tantric and yogic systems.
Kirtan: devotional singing or proclamation.
Japa: repeated recitation of mantra or sacred name.

Related Mantras

Om Krim Kalikayai Namah, a mantra associated with Kali within Shakta practice.
Complete List of Yoga Mantras for the broader Asivana mantra library.

Common Questions About Om Shakti Para Shakti Om

What does Om Shakti Para Shakti Om mean?

A close translation is “Oṃ. Shakti. Supreme Shakti. Oṃ.” Shakti means power, potency, ability, or energy. Parā śakti means supreme or highest Shakti. In devotional practice, the phrase can therefore be understood as an invocation of divine power and Supreme Divine Power.

Is Om Shakti Para Shakti Om an ancient mantra?

A secure ancient scripture containing this exact short formula has not yet been identified. Closely related Shakti chants are documented in twentieth-century Sivananda-related devotional and kirtan traditions. The Sanskrit concepts are considerably older than the specific short chanting arrangement.

Is this a Shakta mantra?

The chant invokes Shakti and fits naturally within Goddess-centered devotional practice. Its exact short form has not been securely traced to a classical Shakta Tantra or formal Shakta mantra system, so it is more precise to describe it as a modern Shakti devotional chant with strong compatibility with Shakta theology.

What is Shakti?

Shakti means power, ability, capacity, potency, or energy. Hindu traditions use the term for divine power in many ways. Shakta traditions also identify Shakti with Devi, the Goddess, and can understand her as supreme reality.

What is Parashakti?

Parashakti means supreme Shakti or highest power. Different Hindu traditions use the term according to their own theological systems, including Shakta and Shaiva traditions.

Is Parashakti a goddess?

Parashakti can function as a designation of the Supreme Goddess in Goddess-centered traditions. The word can also function more abstractly as “supreme power.” Its exact meaning depends upon the tradition and text in which it appears.

How do you pronounce Om Shakti Para Shakti Om?

A Sanskrit-oriented approximation is ohm shuk-tee puh-raa shuk-tee ohm. The ā in parā is long, while the a in śakti is short.

Can I chant this mantra with a mala?

Yes. Recite Om Shakti Para Shakti Om once per bead. One complete 108-bead mala gives you one full counted round.

How many times should I chant it?

No historical repetition count has been identified for this exact short chant. You can practice for a chosen period, chant continuously in kirtan, or complete one or more full malas when using prayer beads.

Is Om Shakti Para Shakti Om a Kundalini mantra?

It invokes Shakti generally and does not explicitly refer to Kundalini. Kundalini Shakti is a particular form of Shakti within certain tantric and yogic systems. Using this chant within a Kundalini-oriented practice is a practice choice rather than an intrinsic meaning of the mantra.

Do I need initiation to chant Om Shakti Para Shakti Om?

No initiation requirement has been identified for this short devotional form. Related Om Shakti chants are publicly sung in kirtan traditions. This differs from specific tantric Goddess mantras that may carry lineage and initiation requirements.

What is the longer version of the Shakti chant?

A related modern kirtan commonly includes: