Śiva and Parvati

Author: Traditional Indian

Time Period: 1 CE–500 CE

Country or Culture: India

Genre: Legend

Overview

Known by many names and mentioned in the earliest Hindu literature, Śiva (Shiva), the god of destruction and transformation, is one of the most significant and powerful figures in Hindu mythology. Perhaps suiting his sprawling influence, he also is a god of seemingly contradictory qualities. He is a destroyer who often exhibits charity to the world and a devoted yogi who also has a wife. Śiva even appears as both male and female in one of his forms, dancing with snakes hanging from his neck and with ash rubbed across his body.

As Śiva is one of the most important gods in Hinduism, the story of Śiva and his second wife, Parvati, has also taken on particular importance. It is the story of a young woman, born in the Himalayas and blessed with incredible beauty, who falls in love with Śiva, eventually becoming his wife and entering the realm of the immortals as a goddess of immense power and influence. While the story resonates as a tale of love and devotion, it is also important as the story that brings Śiva into the world of the domestic household. At the start of the legend, following the death of his first wife, Sati, Śiva has withdrawn from the world, leaving it vulnerable to the attacks of a horrible demon. When Parvati (Sati reincarnated) wins his affection with her own yogic devotion and worship, she gains Śiva not only for herself but also for the world as a whole. In this way, the story is as much about the bridging of the household and spiritual traditions as it is about the two lovers.

Parvati stood with folded hands singing in praise of Shiva. Pleased with her devotion and delighted with her sweet voice, Shiva just for a moment stopped his meditation and looked at her once. Kama decided that was the most opportune moment and got ready to make Shiva fall in love with Parvati.

“Shiva-Parvati”

Like Śiva, Parvati is a complicated and contradictory figure. She is often peaceful and benevolent, handling the fallout from Śiva’s destruction, but in other forms, she fights demons and unleashes terrible wrath onto the world. She is the mother of another powerful god, the elephant-headed Gaṇeśa (Ganesh), and the counterpart to many other goddesses throughout the Indian subcontinent. Parvati is also understood almost exclusively in her relationship to Śiva. While the two maintain their individual characteristics, it is as a married couple—representing the complementary possibilities of married life and the domestic household—that they truly function. When considering Hindu mythology, it is important to remember that every essential quality of a god or a goddess will be balanced eventually with its opposite. Only in such opposites and contradictions can one find wholeness, transcendence, and peace. It is with this in mind that Śiva and Parvati, a terrible god of destruction and a beautiful, benevolent goddess, come together to form one of the most significant unions in Hindu mythology.

Summary

The god >Śiva resides among the Himalayas, the tallest mountains in the world. Śiva is one of the most powerful gods; he is called the destroyer, and within him rests the entire universe as well as the entirety of consciousness. Also in the Himalayas is a holy town, and its king, Giriraja, and his wife, Menadevi, are devoted worshippers of Śiva.

While Giriraja and Menadevi have a son with whom they are happy, after some time they begin to desire a daughter as well. In particular, they want a daughter of exceptionable beauty, devotion, and wisdom, who will marry Śiva when she is old enough. One day, Menadevi goes off into the mountains and meditates with all of her concentration, hoping to receive such a daughter. The goddess of faithful wives eventually appears to her and promises that she and her husband will have a beautiful girl, which comes to pass shortly after.

Giriraja and Menadevi are overjoyed at the birth of their daughter, whom they name Parvati, although they are soon troubled to discover that she will not open her eyes or even her mouth to take food. Days pass before someone approaches with a small statue of Śiva. The baby then opens her eyes and folds her hands in respect for the god. Having shown this respect, she eats for the first time. Everyone is amazed that she shows such devotion at a young age. As Parvati ages, her first word is “Śiva,” and she spends so much time worshipping the god that her family eventually realizes she is the reincarnation of Śiva’s previous wife, Sati. Seeing all of this, Giriraja realizes that his daughter truly should marry Śiva.

After some time, a holy sage comes to impart wisdom, and Parvati’s family asks about her future marriage. The sage confirms that Parvati will marry Śiva. However, he stresses that beauty will never win the god’s heart and that Parvati must instead show devotion and piety in order to win over her husband. At this time, Śiva resides not in his palace but in the wilderness of the mountains, where he lives as an ascetic. There, Giriraja learns, he is devoted fully to deep meditation and spiritual consideration, all spurred by the death of his previous wife. Giriraja approaches the god to ask if he can assist him, and Śiva asks only that he keep the people of his village away, for they distract the god from his meditation. Giriraja makes such a decree to his people but also takes Parvati to see the god, asking if she can meditate there as well. Śiva at first declines, saying that a woman will distract him too much, but he eventually agrees. Parvati then moves to the woods with her two servants, devoting herself entirely to meditation and worship of Śiva.

While Parvati performs penance, however, she comes to the attention of all the gods. A demon named Taraka has become incredibly powerful by winning the favors of Brahma, the creator god, and has used his power to terrorize the gods and wage war against all things decent in the world. The gods gather to beseech Brahma for help. Brahma, however, instructs them that Śiva must have a son with Parvati, for only this child can save the world.

The gods decide to send >Kama, the god of love, to win over Śiva. Kama and his wife, >Rati, both go to the wilderness where Śiva is deep in meditation, and their enchanted nature makes the flowers bloom around them. As she does every day, Parvati comes to sing praises of Śiva. While she does so, Śiva is briefly distracted from his penance and looks at her, at which point Kama shoots Śiva with flowery arrows of love. Śiva is enraged at this disruption of his meditation and shoots fire from his third eye, incinerating Kama. Rati is despondent and begs Parvati to marry Śiva and convince him to restore Kama to life.

While Parvati is greatly saddened that Śiva has not yet given her his affection, and while her family asks her to give up on her devotion, she commits herself to even more extreme penance, sitting beside hot fires and standing for days at a time in freezing water. Her worship is so great that the wild animals even became peaceful and the gods begin to beseech Śiva on her behalf. However, Śiva is not yet convinced of Parvati’s piety, and he decides to test it.

At first, Śiva sends some of his most learned sages. They approach Parvati and tell her that she has made a mistake and that she will never marry Śiva, urging her to stop. However, Parvati simply declares her devotion again and says she will continue to meditate. Almost convinced, Śiva decides to test her once more. He disguises himself as a student and goes to ask her why she is so devoted, questioning her decisions. When he then berates her, telling her how ugly and undesirable Śiva is, Parvati becomes enraged and defensive. Impressed by her devotion, Śiva transforms into his true form.

Śiva at first asks Parvati to move into his castle. However, Parvati insists that they follow the proper ceremonies and that Śiva ask her father for her hand in marriage so that they might perform the holy rites together. She also presents Rati to Śiva, asking that Kama be brought back to life. Śiva agrees to all of this. After they complete the wedding in the proper fashion, a new age of bliss begins in the world, with Śiva as the universe’s father and Parvati as its mother.

Bibliography

Kinsley, David. Hindu Goddesses: Vision of the Divine Feminine in the Hindu Religious Tradition. Delhi: U of California P, 1987. Print.

O’Flaherty, Wendy Doniger. Śiva: The Erotic Ascetic. New York: Oxford UP, 1973. Print.

Rushdie, Salman. Midnight’s Children. 1981. New York: Penguin, 1991. Print.

“Shiva-Parvati.” Indian Divinity. Webonautics.com, n.d. Web. 14 Aug. 2012.

Zimmer, Heinrich Robert. Myths and Symbols in Indian Art and Civilization. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1972. Print.