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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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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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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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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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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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