Who is Parvati? Devine or human? When did she become the complete manifestation of Adi Sakti? Did Siva help her directly or indirectly? Did she know about her previous birth as Sati?
When Divinity takes birth in human form, it accepts many imperfections of the human body and its emotions. The human form cannot merge with the Universal Consciousness by any normal means other than severe penance
. Only tapas mantra japa and meditation over a period of time brings purification which enables man to finally merge with the Cosmic power.
Nothing in the Universe is there which cannot be obtained by tapas. Tapas is the means to obtain material as well as spiritual goals, heights and then ultimate salvation.
Divinity assumes human forms many times and teaches us by example about how to do tapas and attain purity and perfection. The Union of Goddess Parvati with Lord Shiva is one such example.
Lord Shiva went into extremely long period of meditation after Maa Sati left Her Body. The whole creation waited for the Union of Sakti ,power of nature to merge with Siva the eternal consciousness.
After a long wait Shakti manifested Herself as a girl child at the home of Himavan the King of Mountains. Goddess Parvati is the personification of Adi Shakti the Primeval Power of the Universe.
Parvati is the power that holds all the galaxies in their place without dashing into each other. She is the source of all Forms of Divinity. She is the Mother of all humanity and creation. She is the heat of our body, She is the warmth of our breath, She is the Kundalini Shakti who takes us back to our home.
In Her righteous anger, Parvati manifests Herself as Durga and Kali, in Her blessings of wealth as Lakshmi and in wisdom and knowledge as Saraswati. The means by which She transformed Herself from Her human form into Her original divine form is through intense tapas.
Parvati knew that the only way of winning over Siva is by intense tapas or austerities. She obtained permission from her parents and went to the sacred spot at Himalayas.Today this spot is also known as Gowri Peak.
Parvati's penance was rigorous. During summer, in the sweltering heat, she lit fire on all four sides and sat in between them and did tapas. In rainy season, She sat on a rock in the pouring rains and howling winds and meditated with Shiva as her sole focus. In winter, She stood neck deep in cold water of the pond and immersed in the form of Shiva.
Heat, cold, rain, pain, sorrow nothing affected Her. Her mind was fixed on Shiva and She had full control of Her senses and emotions.
Parvathi wore simple bark garment and twisted Her Hair on top of Her Head. She performed the most rigourous Tapas through self mortification.
She chanted mantras with full focus and concentration which enabled her to conquer hunger and thirst. In the early days, She ate only fruits and gradually gave up that also. Then She lived on leaves or parnas'. Soon She left that also and lived on air.Hence she was called Aparna'.
The heat that emerged from Her Tapas changed the entire environment around Her. The creatures of the forest became mild and peaceful. The area around Her was full of love, peace and kindness.
The power of heat from Her tapas fulfilled two purposes.Firstly She successfully united with her source energy ,the universal power, the Prakriti.and became complete manifestation of Adi Sakti.
Secondly her penance shook Shiva out of His meditation and made Him accept Her as His better half. Shiva married Parvati in the presence of all the Gods and took Her to Kailas which is the pivotal centre of the universal power.
The tapas of Parvati transformed Her from a human to Goddess and manifested the full stature of Her Inner Divinity. Shiva taught Her the secrets of Vedas, yoga shastras, tantra and worship . The Lila of Shiv and Sakti is to enlighten the universe through their conversations and interactions.
Yes. Sakti waited to unite with Shiv. But Shiv also is equally desparate to get his Sakti back. On the outer level we see Parvati do penance to reach her Aradhya. But at inner level Shiv also did penance to win Adi Sakti back.
Adi Sankaracharya describes the unity of Shiv Sakti in his Saundarya Lahari and Sivananda Lahari in a beautiful manner.
kalabhyam Chudalankrita Sasi kalabhyam nija thapa
Phalabhyam bhaktheshu prakatitha phalabhyam bhavathu me
Shivabhyam asthoka thri bhuvana shivabhyam hridhi punar
Bhavaabhyam ananda sphura danubhavabhyam nathiriyam
Let my salutations be dedicated ,
To those who are dedicated to arts
To them who wear the moon on their head,
To them who are the ultimate result of mutual penance,
To them who teach devotees about the results of penance,
To them who grant only good to the three worlds,
To them whose every memory becomes newer and newer,
To them who are supremely happy due to their great experience(of each other)
And to the result of mystic union of Shiva and Shakthi.
Sankaracharya says both are so similar in every way. Both are artists. Both hold moon on their head.
Both obtained each other through penance. Nija Tapa Phala is the word.
Parvati's penance for Shiv is visible. Shiv's penance for Adi Sakti is invisible.
They both played their roles perfectly to show the world the power of penance,yoga.
So what did Shiv Puran,Devi Puran,Other scriptures say regarding Parvati's divinity.? Not the translations but source language Sanskrit should be taken resort to...
To be continued.
Edited by ltelidevara - 7 years ago
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