mendicant

 

 

STRICT TAPASWI

 

 

Shiv learnt that his wife Sati had been reborn as daughter of king Himvant and his wife Maina. Having experienced a long separation following which he had got used to practice only meditation, he decided to do meditation at mount Himalaya only. Thus he reached Himalaya and sat down to perform meditation. His dedicated servitor Nandi used to sit beside him and escort him all the way. Bhringi etc. also stayed around to serve their master. King Himvant felt elated to find lord Shiv staying in his lap. He took auspicious articles and offered them to lord Shiv to please him. He said with folded hands,-“Lord! My life has attained fruition by seeing you here. Please allow me to serve you in someway….”

 Lord Shiv looked perfectly calm and serene and replied,-“King! I intend to meditate in solitude. Please just ensure that none should disturb me here..”

“My lord I shall surely take care of you and your needs.” Saying so Himvant retreated to his palace and told his queen about arrival of lord Shiv. He instructed all to maintain perfect peace around the abode of lord Shiv and to serve him whatever way he needed. His daughter Parvati had dreamt of a Brahman who guided her to please lord Shiv to be his consort.  As soon as he learnt that he had already arrived there, she dressed up and put best of jewels and fragrance to attract him and reached near him with her father king Himvant. Himvant bowed before lord Shiv and implored,-“here is my daughter and her friends. They will take care of your all needs well. Please allow them to serve you.”’ Lord Shiv did not even open his eyes and replied,-“King! You should come here alone leaving your daughter home.”

 Himvant said,-“Please let me know as to why should I not bring her here to serve you. Don’t you find her worthy of serving you?”

 Lord Shiv replied,-“King! Your daughter is blessed, beautiful and young. You should not send her to me. I tell you again. Vedas describe women as incarnation of Maya (illusory power of GOD).She is an obstruction to meditation. I am not inclined to seek her services. Please try to understand this.”

 King got the hint and became quiet. Parvati felt a bit hurt and said,-“Salutation to lord Shiv! O Yogi! Please mind your words. Although you are well known as abode of dispassion and spiritual wisdom yet I dare say that the power to act and think is born of nature. Please also ponder over what you are and what is nature? Purush and Prakriti are inseparables. For you too, are creation of nature alone.”

 Pleased by her spiritual discourse lord Shiv said,-“I conquer nature only through tapasya.  I dwell as single and all the way away from nature.”

 Parvati found him interested in furthering the discussion and replied with a smile,-“O, Lord! When you speak, is speech not part of nature? How can you consider yourself away from nature? Speaking and doing are natural phenomena. If you are away from nature then why are you sitting here and doing tapasya and for what purpose? Shiv! You do not know yourself as nature has usurped your ability to realize yourself. I do not find a need to argue with you further. You are Purush and I am Prakriti. This alone is true. You are all the way incomplete and helpless without me. Even if what you say is correct that you are away from nature, then why are you afraid of my presence? What scares you then?”

 Lord Shiv felt bemused over such discerning speech of Parvati and replied,-“O enlightened daughter of King Himvant! If you believe in this philosophy, then fine. You can take care of me here.”

Thus he allowed Parvati to be around her and then addressed king Himvant,-“King of Mountains! I shall rejoice in divine bliss, steeped in meditation in the serene surroundings of this place. Please allow me to stay here and carry on my penance.”’ King Himvant was overwhelmed and said,-“Lord! Entire world is your abode. I am just a non-entity before you. What more can I say..?”

 Thus Parvati began to serve lord Shiv while he spent his time in meditation alone. She used to see her bones of past birth adorn on his resplendent bosom and her ashes smeared all over his ageless body and yet found it most disheartening that her husband of past birth showed no sign of any amorous inclination to her. She would bathe his body, salute him and go home disappointed. Lord Shiv remained a calm and strict meditator alone. A long time passed and one day seeing her devotion and expectation he thought within,-“She is proud of her beauty. I shall accept her as my consort only when she had given up her pride fully.”

 Finding the opportune moment lord Brahma and other deities prayed to Kamdev to target lord Shiv as his consort Parvati was now around him. Kamdev dreaded lord Shiv always but could not dare defy the command of Lord Brahma. As soon as he created spring around Lord Shiv and unleashed his arrows, lord Shiv opened his third eye and the fire lolling out of his third eye turned Kamdev into ash in an eye blink. Seeing the ruler of three sphere turned into ashes, all began to wail and bemoan. What a stupendous deed! How would the creation go on..! Devtas exclaimed with remorse seeing the fire of dispassion of lord Shiv. Tarakasur had been creating constant turmoil for devtas. Their hope rested in lord Shiv only whose son alone could end the menace of Tarakasur. Seeing lord Shiv in such a mood of destruction, all lost hope. Lord Vishnu had witnessed failure of his Sudarshan chakra and Lord Brahma knew well that lord Shiv was an urdhvreta who had completely sublimated his creative power. Their only hope was goddess Parvati who was considered capable of attracting lord Shiv and beget a son of him.

 Seeing Parvati turning pale on finding the Kamdev dead, all fell in anxiety and despair.  Sage Narad took the reigns and reached the palace of king Himvant. The disappointed parents of Parvati consulted sage Narad to show her the path to win lord Shiv. “Your daughter is incarnation of divine mother and born to wed only Lord Shiv. But he can never be won by any means other then penance. She served him but could not shed her pride in her beauty. Lord Shiv is a perfect continent and greatest of yogis and can not withstand her pride. Let her go and do that only to win lord Shiv” advised sage Narad. Parvati then gave up her pride in her beauty and sat down at a lonely place to perform tapasya. She took a mantra from sage Narad began to chant it to attract lord Shiv. The spot where she sat and chanted the mantra is known as Gauri-Shankar. Parvati was up to her best in proving her power of renunciation. She grew plants and ate only leaves and came to be called thereby as Aparna as she lived only on leaves. She would light fire and sit in the middle of fire to please Shiv. She would allow her body to be bathed in rains under the open sky and in winters sat in chilled river water

and chanted mantra incessantly. Seeing her undergoing such tough penance, all devtas were awestruck. Lord Vishnu and Lord Brahma got together and reached mount Kailash where lord Shiv sat in Samadhi aware of all and everything yet away from all. All the devtas led by two major leaders worshipped lord Shiv to come out of Samadhi. Nandi found it fit to pass on the entreaties to his master. He saluted in the feet of his master and said,-“ Lord! All devtas are here awaiting your grace and blessings. Please get up and relieve them from their sufferings…”

 Lord Shiv slowly opened his eyes. He found the flock of esurient devtas surrounding him with eagerness. As the parched land longs for a drizzle from clouds so did they all looked craving and longing for his grace alone.

 

 

The magnanimous lord Shiv spoke in a calm and serene voice,-“Lord Brahma! Lord Vishnu! What brings you all here please let me know.”

 Lord Vishnu clasped hands with profound veneration and said,-“Lord Shiv! You are all knowing yet I say daitya Tarakasur is a constant menace to poor devtas. He is destined to be killed only by your son. Please wed daughter of king Himvant and relieve the suffering devtas from this calamity”.

Lord Shiv smiled and replied,-“Devtas you are all knowing yet you say so. The moment I accept daughter of king Himvant, the entire creation, even the greatest of yogis and continents will be devoured by Kamdev. Mere touch of goddess would resurrect Kamdev. I burnt down Kamdev to make sages and yogis desire less so that they could focus on supreme self and experience the bliss of Samadhi.. Desire begets anger; anger begets delusion and delusion destroys peace and purity of mind.” Thus lord Shiv began to explain spiritual wisdom before his guests who felt rather uncomfortable as their longing was otherwise. They began to wail within like babies longing for sops. How they wished to see lord Shiv eager to wed goddess! To their dismay here was this groom instructing the cycles of delusion and enlightenment showing not the least interest in marital bliss. Lord Shiv enjoys only in dispassionate devotion to lord Hari and realizing the ultimate truth within. Right from the moment of his appearance he was reluctant to enter into wedlock yet as asked by lord Srikrishna in Goloka he was destined to wed goddess Durga which he dared not defy. He went on preaching spiritual truth and his guests patiently waited for him to stop preaching them. Shiv ultimately stopped and began to smile being aware of plight of his listeners.

 Lord Vishnu came forward and put forth his entreaty,-“Lord! You are omniscient. Daughter of King Himvant has been performing hardest of penance on the advice of sage Narad for a long time. Her determination and devotion to you alone is matchless and unparallel. Please bless her now and accept her as your consort. Also it is the appropriate moment to resurrect the husband of Devi Rati.”

 Lord Shiv broke into a hearty laughter knowing within that he himself was a mere puppet on the stage of worldly drama of creation being controlled by Lord Hari himself. He said,-“Lord Vishnu and all devtas! I say with utmost sincerity and conviction. Marriage is not the right path for  any wise person seeking liberation from the drudgery of mundane bonds. It is the strongest shackle to bind one. Of all the evils present in this creation, intimate association with females is the worst. One who gets involved with women is spontaneously deprived of liberation. ..Yet to ensure welfare of you all I shall accept it. I will wed Parvati and beget a son to relieve you all from your suffering. Worry not.”

 Thus bestowing the grace on guests lord Shiv invited seven celestial sages who are immortal and stand witness to endless drama of creation.

“Venerable sages! Please listen. Daughter of king Himvant has been undergoing penance since long to win me as her husband. I wish to know how chaste she is. Please go to her and find out how pure and devoted she is to me”

 The enlightened sages were thrilled to get the assignment. Testing the divine mother for her devotion to their spiritual father was such a difficult and yet such a uniquely significant task they had been entrusted to do.

 The seven sages flew to mount Himalaya and reached where Parvati was meditating. They discussed the strategy and appeared before the examinee. The scintillating aura surrounding the sleek feminine figure amazed them and they virtually bowed in reverence before her before beginning their assigned role. As she sensed their presence and opened her eyes the sages said,-“Daughter of king Himvant! You are so skinny and so glowing with the power of penance. Please let us know as to for what are you undergoing such hardship? What makes you torture yourself in this surrounding to such extent as you are a princess who can comfortably reel in the luxury of the palace of your father.”

Parvati smiled and replied,-“Munis! Please listen and do not ridicule me for what I reveal to you. I dream of wedding lord Shiv”

 Sages appeared surprised and said to her,-“O Innocent daughter of king Himvant! Sage Narad is expert in misleading others. He is well known for having spoiled many a homes. His only entertainment is creating quarrels amongst others. Do you know that lord Shiv is a born enemy of lord Kamdev? He has no home and knows no relation whatsoever. He possesses nothing. Surrounded by ghosts and devils he roams like a lunatic in the cremation grounds.  He had a wife in the past but could not maintain her and threw her out of home. One who enjoys only in solitude, how can you dream of living with such a husband? Please try to understand. It is not yet that late to realize and mend your ways to secure a better future. We advice you to better marry lord Vishnu who is an abode of bliss and prosperity. Heed over our advice seriously..”

Parvati rejoiced in hearing about the properties of yogi Shiv. As the sages came to a halt she broke into a laughter and replied to them,-“Sages! What you narrate about lord Shiv is absolutely correct. But you know being born of a mountain I am as impertinent and stubborn as a rock. I still believe in the preaching of sage Narad. Now having lapped up this cause, I fear not whether I die or suffer forever, the consequences of what I am determined to get. I very well know that Shiv is the greatest of yogis in this creation. I am fully determined to serve and wed only him. If I fail in this then I shall rather prefer to lead a single life.”

 

 The sages tried hard to tempt her and change her mind showing fears of various kinds yet the daughter of mountain proved herself to be such hard headed that the sages saluted her and retreated to deliver their report to the groom Shiv.

 As the groom listened to the investigation report form the mouth of celestial sages he reeled in delight all the more and could not contain his smile that rekindled hope in the hearts of all beings.