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Hindu Goddess Parvati -
Daughter of the Mountain
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The Story of Parvati
After the death of
Shiva’s first love Sati,
Shiva isolated himself
into a dark cave buried amongst the snow covered peaks of the
Himalayas. He rejected the world outside so distraught was he by
the lose of his first true love.
Meanwhile the
demons lead by Taraka, rose from the netherworld and drove the
devas, gods, out of the heavens. The gods sought a warrior who
would help them regain the celestial realm.
“Only
Shiva can
father such a warrior,” informed Brahma.
But
Shiva,
immersed in meditation, was oblivious to the problems of the gods.
As he performed tapas, meditations that produce great heat
and energy, his mind was filled with great knowledge and his body
became resplendent with energy. But all this knowledge and energy,
bottled within his being, was of not use to anyone.
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here to see all of Lotus Sculpture's statues of Parvati |
Parvati
as Shivakami. Most Shiva or Nataraja Statues have a Parvati
statue of similar proportions next to them. |
Birth of Parvati
The gods invoked the
mother-goddess, who appeared before them as Kundalini, a coiled serpent. “I will coil myself
around Shiva, wean out his knowledge and energy for the good of the
world and make him father a child,” said
Shakti.
Shakti took birth as
Parvati, daughter of the Himavan, lord of the mountains, determined to
draw Shiva out of his cave and make him her consort.
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Parvati as Bogashakti,
"Boga" Pleasure. "Shakti" Goddess, Energy. |
Priti and Rati
Everyday
Parvati
would visit Shiva’s cave, sweep the floor, decorate it with flowers
and offer him fruits hoping to win his love.
But
Shiva never
opened his eyes to look upon her charming face. Exasperated, the
goddess invoked Priti and Rati, goddess of love and longing, to
rouse Shiva out of his mediation.
These goddesses
entered Shiva desolate cave and transformed it into a pleasure
garden filled with the fragrance of flowers and the buzzing of bees.
Death of Kama
Guided by Priti
and Rati, Kama, the lord of desire, raised his sugarcane bow and
shot arrows dripping with desire into the heart of
Shiva.
Shiva was not
amused. He opened his third eye and released the flames of fury
that engulfed Kama and reduced his beautiful body to ashes.
The death of Kama
alarmed the gods. “Without the lord of desire man will not embrace
woman and life will cease to be.”
“I shall find
another way to conquer
Shiva’s heart. When
Shiva becomes my
consort, Kama will be reborn,” said the daughter of the mountain,
Parvati. |
Not Even a Leaf
Parvati went into the
forest and performed rigorous tapas, wearing nothing to protect
her tender body form the harsh weather, eating nothing, not even a leaf,
earning the admiration of forest ascetics who named her Aparna.
Aparna
matched Shiva in her capacity to cut herself from the world and
completely master her physical needs. The power of her tapas
shook Shiva out of his mediation. He stepped out of his cave and
accepted Parvati as his wife.
Shiva married
Parvati
in the presence of the gods following the sacred rites and took her to
the highest peak of the cosmos, Mount Kailasa, the pivot of the
universe. As the world revolved all around them the two became one and Kama was reborn.
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Hermit to
Householder
Parvati melted
Shiva’s stern heart with her affection. Together they played dice
on Mount Kailas or sported on the banks of Lake Manasarovar,
discovering the joys of married life.
The goddess
awakened
Shiva’s concern for the world by questioning him on various
issues. As he spoke, he revealed the secrets of the Tantras and the
Vedas that he had gathered in eons of mediation.
Inspired by her
beauty, Shiva became the fountainhead of the arts, of dance and
drama. He sang and danced to the delight of the gods who were
pleased to see his enchantment with the goddess.
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here to see all of Lotus Sculpture's statues of Parvati |
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The Birth of the
Celestial Warlord
Parvati gave
Shiva’s
aura to the gods. “From this will rise the warlord you seek,” said the
goddess.
The gods gave
Shiva’s
aura to Svaha, consort of Agni, the fire god. Unable to bear the
heat of the auro and the god Agni for long, Svaha gave the aura
to Ganga
the river goddess who cooled it in her icy waters until
Shiva’s aura
turned into a seed.
Aranyani,
the goddess of the forest, embedded the divine seed in the fertile
forest floor where it was transformed into a robust child with six heads
and twelve arms.
Six forest nymphs
called the Krittikas found this magnificent child in a lotus.
Over come by maternal affection they began nursing him. The six headed
son of Shiva, born of many mothers, came to be known as
Kartikeya.
Parvati taught
Kartikeya the art of war and turned him into a the celestial warlord
called
Skanda.
Skanda took command
of the celestial armies, defeated Taraka in battle and restored the
heavens to the gods.
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Kali drinks
Raktabija’s Blood
Skanda, guardian
of the heavens, went on to destroy many demons who opposed the reign
of the gods.
But he could not
defeat the demon Raktabija. Whenever this demon’s blood touched the
ground, a thousand new demons sprang to life. He seemed
unconquerable.
To aid her son in
his endeavor to rid the three worlds of the demon,
Parvati entered
the cosmic battlefield as the dreaded goddess
Kali – dark as death,
gaunt with sunken eyes, gaping mouth, with long disheveled hair
covering her naked body.
Kali
spread her
tongue over the battlefield and licked the demon’s falling blood
catching on her long, outstretched tongue before the drop could find
its way to the ground springing a demonic life anew. Raktabija,
without his multiplying numbers was left powerless. Skanda was able
to dispatch Raktabija and all his remaining duplicates with ease.
Skanda thanked
his mother for her timely help. To celebrate her victory,
Kali
danced wildly on the battlefield, bedecking herself with a garland
of served heads and a girdle of severed hands.
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here to see all of Lotus Sculpture's statues of Parvati |
Shiva Calms Kali
Intoxicated with
Raktabija’s blood,
Kali ran amuck across the three worlds, destroying
everything and everyone in her sight.
To restrain her,
Shiva took the form of a corpse and blocked her path. As the goddess,
blinded by bloodlust, tripped on his lifeless body, she was jolted out
of her frenzy. She wondered if she had killed her own husband. She
placed a foot on
Shiva’s chest and brought him back to life.
Shiva then took the
form of a little child and began to cry, stirring maternal love in the
heart of Kali. This forced her to shed her fierce form;
Kali became
Gauri, the radiant mother, bestower of life.
Parvati’s Son
Guari
told Shiva
that she wanted a child.
But Shiva was not
interested in a family. He turned away from her and went into to the forest to
perform tapas.
Determined to be a
mother, Parvati
decided to create a son for herself without the aid of
her husband. She scrubbed her skin with sandal paste, scrapped off the
dead skin, mixed it with clay and molded out of it a beautiful doll into
which she breathed life.
She ordered her newly
created son to keep watch over her cave and keep out all strangers.
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Guardian
of Thresholds
When
Shiva
returned to Kailas,
Parvati’s son failed to recognize his mother’s consort and prevented
him from entering the cave.
Irritated by the
child’s insolence,
Shiva raised his trident and cut off his head.
When
Parvati saw
her son’s headless body she wept and out of her tears came her
fierce handmaidens, the Yoginis, who threatened to destroy
the whole world.
To placate
Parvati,
Shiva resurrected the child by placing an elephants head on
the severed neck.
Shiva also accepted
Ganesh as the first of his
sons.
Ganesh, who had
prevented
Shiva from crossing the threshold of his mother’s cave,
became keeper of thresholds, an obstacle to all that is undesirable.
He who seeks
access to the wisdom, bounty and mystery of Nature worships
Ganesh
beloved son and sacred doorkeeper of Shakti.
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The Divine Homemaker
With
Parvati by his
side, Shiva became a family man. But he did not abandon his ways as a
hermit: he continued to meditate and immerse himself in narcotic
dreams. His carefree attitude, his refusal to shoulder household
responsibilities sometimes angered
Parvati. But then she would come to
terms with his unconventional ways and make peace. The consequent
marital bliss between
Shakti and
Shiva ensured harmony between Matter
and Spirit and brought stability and peace to the cosmos.
Parvati thus became Ambika, goddess of the household, of
marriage, motherhood and family.
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