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one could break the bow to qualify to marry her daughter—refer: Ram Charit Manas,
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caupā’ī.
nārada kara maiṁ kāha bigārā. bhavanu mōra jinha basata ujārā. 1.
asa upadēsu umahi jinha dīnhā. baurē barahi lāgi tapu kīnhā. 2.
[Maina, the mother of Parvati, continued to lament—] ‘What offence did I do to
Narad that he sought venegeance upon me by throwing a spanner in the happiness of
my home and ruining it^1 --- (1)
---by giving such an advice to my daughter Uma that she would do severe
Tapa (penance) to secure a crazy husband for herself*^2? (2)
[In other words, why has Narad created this mischief? What wrong did I do to
him that he became so angry with me that he decided to punish me by undermining
the peace and happiness of my family by brain-washing my innocent daughter to
undergo severe hardships associated with doing Tapa just to request for a absurd boon
that would make it possible for her to marry the craziest of husbands one can ever
imagine in this world? Narad behaved as if he is our well-wisher and a saintly person,
but I could not imagine that he had some ulterior motives in his heart. I could not
imagine that my beloved daughter’s groom would be so odd and repugnant that one
would even tremble by simply looking at him.]
[Note—^1 Refer: Ram Charit Manas, Baal Kand, Doha no. 78 along with Chaupai line
nos. 1-8 that follow it.
(^2) Refer: Ram Charit Manas, Baal Kand, (i) Chaupai line nos. 1-7 that precede
Doha no. 74 that describe the sort of Tapa Parvati did; (ii) Chaupai line no. 1 that
precedes Doha no. 75 where Brahma, the creator, has acknowledged the severity of
Parvati’s Tapa, saying that no one had ever done such a severe Tapa in the past; and
(iii) Chaupai line no. 2 that precedes Doha no. 78 where the Sapta-rishis too have
acknowledged this fact that Parvati had done a very severe Tapa.
Even the Sapta-rishis had accused Narad of ruining the life of Parvati by giving
her a wrong and misleading advice—refer: Ram Charit Manas, Baal Kand, Chaupai
line nos. 1-4 that precedes Doha no. 80.
Though Narad has been accused by Maina here and by the Sapta-rishis earlier of
misleading Parvati to do Tapa for having Shiva, who looked most crazy and
unconventional from his external appearances, as her husband, but when we examine
the story closely we come to the conclusion that the great celestial sage Narad had no
intentions whatsoever of harming the interests of Parvati or her family at all. It was
her father Himwaan who had asked Narad to prophesise about her future as the great
sage was a “Trikaalagya”, i.e. one who could see the events that occur in a creature’s
life, in the present, in the past as well as the future.
Now, since it was written in Parvati’s destiny that she would be married to
someone who matched the crazy appearance of Lord Shiva, what would one expect
Narad to say—tell lies to please Parvati’s parents that everything was rosy and honey
in her life, or tell them the truth? Well, being a sage, it was not expected that Narad
would tell the parents of Parvati any sort of lie, and therefore he divulged the truth.
Then, Parvati’s anxious father had himself asked Narad to advice some way out. The
sage had clearly told him that though it is not possible to change one’s destiny that