Dheeraj Kumar's Om Namah Shivay - Page 2

This legend is associated with the destruction of Daksha's sacrifice and the origin of the Shakti Peethas of India. This is one of the eight legends portraying Shiva as the destroyer of evil.

Sati, the consort of Shiva was the daughter of Daksha Prajaapati a descendant of Bhrama.. Sati had married Shiva against the wishes of her father. The vain Daksha performed a great yagna (with the sole aim of insulting Shiva), to which he invited all of the gods and goddesses except his son in law Shiva. Against Shiva's wishes, Sati attended this sacrifice and was insulted by her father. Unable to bear this insult, Sati immolated herself.

Enraged at the insult and the injury, Shiva through Veerabhadra, destroyed Daksha's sacrifice, cut off Daksha's head and replaced it with that of a goat, as he restored him to life. Still crazed with grief, he picked up the remains of Sati's body, and danced the dance of destruction throughout the Universe. The other gods intervened to stop this dance, and the disk of Vishnu cut through the corpse of Sati, whose various parts of the body fell at several spots all through the Indian subcontinent and formed the sites of what are known as Shakti Peethas today.

An image of Dakshaaari Murthy, the slayer of Daksha is enshrined at Tiruppariyalur near Thanjavur. The Veeratteswarar temple here is one of the 8 Veerata stalas celebrating Shiva as the destroyer of evil forces.