things with his gross organ of sight, i.e. the eye, and had no power to see beyond. So,
though assuming the form of Sita was a wrong thing to do as such, but the intention
was not sinful.
The third error of Sati was to speak lies. Once again, she did so to escape harsh
punishment, and not done out of habit. Hence, this was also pardonable to some
extent.
These arguments are alright in themselves. But the problem was that all these acts
of Sati were sinful and fell within the ambit of impropriety and unethical conduct
from the perspective of the principles of Dharma—which means conduct that is
ethical, proper, righteous and noble. So she deserved punishment, and not
condonation.
These contradictory thoughts filled the heart of Shiva with grief and sorrow. It
would be hard to abandon Sati, and it would be equally hard to accept her now.]øı0. Ã’ ‚¢∑§⁄U ¬ ̋÷È ¬Œ Á‚L§ ŸÊflÊ – ‚ÈÁ◊⁄Uà ⁄UÊ◊È NUŒÿ° •‚ •ÊflÊH 1H
caupā’ī.
taba saṅkara prabhu pada siru nāvā. sumirata rāmu hṛdayam̐ asa āvā. 1.
Then, Shankar (Shiva) bowed his head (mentally) at the holy feet of the Lord (Sri
Ram). As soon as Shiva remembered the revered Lord (Ram), the latter emerged in
his heart (to bless Shiva and give him internal peace, as well as to guide him to decide
what is the proper thing for him to do now in the given set of situations that had torn
his mind).
[This verse has another interpretation and can also be read as follows: “Then
(when?—after Sati told him lies and he came to know the truth by contemplation),
Shiva mentally bowed his head at the feet of Lord Ram (in order to invoke the Lord
and request him to show the correct path to be followed at this juncture). As soon as
he invoked the Lord, he appeared in Shiva’s heart to inspire him to think in the
manner as described in the following verse.”] (1)
[Note—As we have read in Doha no. 56, Shiva could not decide what to do. In this
dilemma, he decided to take refuge with his beloved Lord Ram and seek the latter’s
guidance.
How does one seek the Lord’s advice and guidance? Here is the answer: first pay
your respect to the Lord God by bowing your head at the Lord’s holy feet and
invoking him in your heart. Then the Lord would answer your querries by inspiring
your soul to think in the way the Lord wants you to act.
Now, this is a great lesson for all of us. Remember: the voice of the soul is the
voice of the Lord God, and it reveals in the form of what we call the “voice of
conscience”. One who heeds the voice of one’s conscience treads the righteous path,
and one who neglects it turns a deaf ear to the Lord.
So, what was the advice of Lord Ram? The answer is found in the following
verse no. 2 herein below.]
∞®„U ß ‚ÁÃÁ„U ÷≈U ◊ÙÁ„U ŸÊ„UË¥ – Á‚fl ‚¢∑§À¬È ∑§Ëã„U ◊Ÿ ◊Ê„UË¥H 2H
ēhiṁ tana satihi bhēṭa mōhi nāhīṁ. siva saṅkalpu kīnha mana māhīṁ. 2.
Shiva decided in his Mana (mind and heart)—‘I cannot have any connection
(relationship) with Sati as long as she remains in the present body.’ (2)