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| Shiva arrives with guests to marry Parvati |
Prakriti (nature) on the other
hand is unpredictable, uncontrolled, and always evolving, taking new forms and
going in cycles. Nature treats all its creations alike, everything is her
favorite or none are her favorite, she doesn’t take sides. We humans, like
other living forms, are result of this evolution cycle. Our default instinct is
still animal instinct but instead of embracing nature for what it is, we try to
control it, we try to dominate it. In this process, we have ended-up adding layer
of forced instincts called the human instinct. As if it was not enough, we humans
made rules and laws to stop other humans from returning to animal instincts.
For nature, it is important that
like other life forms, we humans too embrace her for what she is and not spend
lifetime fighting against it. This can happen once our consciousness seeks
enlightenment. As Shiva has already achieved enlightenment, he can show us a
path to achieve it too. But Shiva remains in meditative form, detached from
everything. For him to show a path, he must first break out of meditative state
and engage with the world, engage with nature.
Thus, for welfare of humans, nature
tries her best to engage Shiva with the world, to domesticate him, to transform
him from Pashupati (king of animal instincts) to Shankara (sham – auspicious,
kara – maker). She wants him to connect with humanity by engaging in
similar lifestyle like others, to marry, to have kids, to build a house,
and through example, guide everyone towards enlightenment. She wants Shiva to break
his ascetic isolation and engage in creative participation with the world.
Prakriti incarnates as Sati,
daughter of Daksha (one who is skilled). He is one of the mind-born sons of
Brahma and had responsibility of establishing human instinct. This was a
problem for Sati, she wants to marry Shiva, but Shiva believes in mastering
animal instincts while her father masters human instincts. Both are two banks
of river, never to meet. To her father, she expresses her desires to marry Shiva,
which quickly gets turned down. With no other choice, she elopes and against
her family, marries Shiva. As a result, her family disowns her.
Soon after marriage she realizes
that Shiva shows no interest in her, he fails to recognize her presence, fails
to attach with her and remains to be in meditative state. But she has no
problems with it, she married him for what he was and continues her efforts to
engage him into worldly activities, to break his meditation. One day Daksha
organizes a big event, invites everyone in this world except for Sati and
Shiva. Sati assumes, probably her father forgot to invite her. Being a daughter,
she takes liberty to attend the event anyways.
On reaching the venue, she learns
that her father had intentionally ignored her and is insulted for being an
uninvited guest. She tries her best to melt her father’s heart, to make him accept
her and Shiva, but all attempts fail. On the other hand, Shiva remains
indifferent to worldly things, indifferent to Sati’s presence and sacrifices.
She finds herself in a tough situation, helpless and drained of ideas, she realizes
that the purpose of her incarnation has failed. She failed to engage Shiva with
the world, she failed to make the world (Daksha) to accept Shiva. By jumping into
the holy fire of altar, she offers herself to Shiva. As Shiva embraces everything
which is offered to him, he receives Sati’s offering which breaks his
meditation and finally he opens his eyes to her.
When we look at someone and see
them scared, it not only means that they are scared, but also means that we
appear scary to them. If they are happy, probably they see us as source of
happiness. Thus, when we look at others, we are looking at our own reflection.
This is called darshan, to see our own reflection in others.
When Shiva opened his eyes, all
he saw was charred body of his wife, which was reflection of his own self. His
indifference to nature, his detachment from everything make him appear charred
in the eyes of everyone who looks at him. He takes her body out of the altar
and carries it in his arms for several years, wandering around the world and
mourning her death. He who is the Adiyogi, he who is the master of sanjeevani
could have easily revived her, but his grief and sorrow is so intense that it
never strikes him to revive her. Later, lord Vishnu cuts Sati into 52 body
parts, which fell on earth and became foundations of Shakti Peeths. Eventually
Shiva calms down, returns to Himalayas, detaches himself from worldly things
and goes back to meditative state, reflecting inward and enters the state of
eternal bliss.
One attempt of prakriti might
have failed, but she had not given-up yet. To engage Shiva, she takes second
incarnation in the form of Parvati. This time she does not want to repeat mistakes
she did in last incarnation. She wants to marry Shiva, but with complete
permission of her family, and only when Shiva accepts her, he recognizes her
presence and is willing to engage in married life. But Shiva can be obtained
only through true and undivided devotion and complete submission. To please an
ascetic, she herself becomes an ascetic and finally Shiva is moved by her
dedication and opens his eyes to her. This time, he sees love, affection, and
dedication in her, and promises to marry her and engage in worldly activities.
Parvati, must convince her family
too, and it would not be an easy task. On one hand, Parvati being a princess and
most beautiful of all, whereas Shiva is an ascetic, smears ash all over his
body, wears animal hide, and is surrounded by evil spirits. If she introduces
him to her family, they will immediately reject him. This time she cannot take the
risk. The only way her family would agree for Shiva without seeing him is if
someone very trusted brings Shiva’s marriage proposal to her family, she
requests Narada (A sage who carries enlightening wisdom) for the job. Finally, her family agrees and wedding day is
finalized. The entire kingdom is decorated, everyone is eagerly waiting to see who
the groom is and how he looks like.
Poet Vidyapati being a devotee of
Shiva has captured this celestial union of the two through his poems and hymns.
Parvati and Shiva are two opposite thoughts and their post marriage life is
full of events. Vidyapati has also captured all of it through his hymns. These hymns
have taken deep roots in Mithila culture and have become part of numerous folk
songs. Devotional hymns in praise of Shiva are called Nachari.
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