Shiva as will be narrated in the verses that follow below. She was brought home by
her father after he was instructed to do so by the same Sapta-rishis when they had
tested her at the end of her successful Tapa—refer: Ram Charit Manas, Baal Kand,
Chaupai line no. 1 that precedes Doha no. 82.^
The question is: why did the Sapta-rishis not go straight to Giri, Parvati’s father,
as asked by Brahma, but instead went to Parvati? Well, they wished to be absolutely
certain about Parvati’s devotion, faith and steadfastness in her vows of marrying
Shiva. Perhaps it is also possible that Shiva had quietly, by a wink of his eyes, hinted
to them to go and test Parvati’s loyalty once again, to be doubly sure and counter-
check the facts.
This being so, the next question is: why would Shiva still wish to test her
integrity though this testing had already been done before—refer: Ram Charit Manas,
Baal Kand, from Chaupai line no. 8 that precedes Doha no. 77—to Doha no. 81. The
answer is this—Shiva had had a bitter experience of Parvati when she was his consort
in her previous life as Sati. Though her physical body had changed, but the essential
element, the Atma or the soul, of Parvati was the same as that of Sati. So, Shiva was
very sceptical of her.
Another reason is that at the time of disowning Sati, he had taken a vow that he
will have have nothing to do with her any longer in this life—refer: Ram Charit
Manas, Baal Kand (i) Chaupai line nos. 7-8 that precede Doha no. 56; (ii) Chaupai
line nos. 1, 4 that precede Doha no. 57; (iii) Chaupai line no. 8 that precedes Doha no.
58.
That is why when Lord Ram requested Shiva to marry Parvati, the latter had first
expressed his strong reservations against it but had accepted the orders of the Lord
because it would be improper to disobey one’s revered deity, in Shiva’s case Lord
Ram (refer: Ram Charit Manas, Baal Kand, Chaupai line nos. 1-4 that precede Doha
no. 77).
So Shiva wanted to be doubly sure if Parvati had amended her nature and ways,
and if she would not give him more trouble once again after marriage. If even a
minute fault could be found with her, Shiva would get an excuse to avoid marrying
her; he would have told both Lord Ram and Brahma that it is not possible to follow
their requests because of the faults discovered in Parvati’s character or nature.(^2) The Sapta-rishis had done the same thing on the earlier occasion also when they
had gone to test Parvati—refer: Ram Charit Manas, Baal Kand, from Chaupai line
no. 2 that precedes Doha no. 78—to Chaupai line no. 4 that precedes Doha no. 80.
Especial attention should be given to Doha no. 78 that says that when Parvati had
tried to stop them from disturbing her, they had smiled cunningly and gone ahead
with their testing.]
ŒÙ0. ∑§„UÊ „U◊Ê⁄U Ÿ ‚ÈŸ„ÈU Ã’ ŸÊ⁄UŒ ∑¥§ ©U¬Œ‚–
•’ ÷Ê ¤ÊÍΔU ÃÈEgÊ⁄U ¬Ÿ ¡Ê⁄U©U ∑§Ê◊È ◊„U‚H 89H
dōhā.
kahā hamāra na sunēhu taba nārada kēṁ upadēsa.
aba bhā jhūṭha tumhāra pana jārē'u kāmu mahēsa. 89.
The Sapta-rishis told Parvati—‘You did not listen to our advice the last time we came
to you. You insisted that you will follow the advice given by Narad^1.
Now your vow (of marrying Shiva) has become false and unrealisable because
Mahesh (Shiva) has burnt Kaamdeo, the god of love^2. (Doha no. 89)