The Legend of Lord Shiva
BOOK 1
The Story Of Lord Shiva’s Marriage With Parvati:
(Based entirely on Goswami Tulsidas’ classics:
“Ram Charit Manas” & “Parvati Mangal”.)
INTRODUCTION
A brief outline of the story of Lord Shiva’ marriage with Parvati
Once upon a time, Lord Shiva, the Lord of the entire creation (‘Akhileshwar’) went to
sage Kumbhaj; he was accompanied by his wife, Bhavani, the Mother Goddess, who
was also known as Sati, the pure one. The sage narrated Lord Ram’s divine story as
he usually used to do at his hermitage. This filled Shiva with immense joy and made
him feel ecstatic. On the request of the sage, Lord Shiva described Lord Ram’s
‘Bhakti’ (devotion) for the sage.
After staying for a long time at the sage’s hermitage and enjoying the nectar of
Lord Ram’s devotion as it poured out of constant discourses and discussions, Lord
Shiva finally started on his way back to his own abode.
Meanwhile, Lord Vishnu had incarnated as Lord Ram with a divine mandate
to eliminate the cruel demons from earth, and at the time Shiva was on his way to his
abode, Lord Ram was wandering in the Dandak forest searching for his abducted wife
Sita who had earlier been taken away by the demon king Ravana.
When Shiva saw his revered Lord Ram in the forest as he was passing
overhead in the sky, he (Shiva) saw it as a rare opportunity to have a close-up vision
of the Lord while he was alone in the forest in the guise of a hermit. Shiva could not
resist the urge to smile and bow before his beloved Lord, Sri Ram, before moving
ahead.
But his wife Sati could not fathom the mystery of her enlightened husband,
Shiva, bowing with great respect and getting his eyes filled with tears of love and
affection for a prince grieving and searching for his lost wife. Though Shiva told her
who this prince actually was, and that his searching for Sita was a well-thought out
plan so that the demons are not warned that Lord Vishnu has arrived to kill them and
that Sita was no one else but Laxmi, Vishnu’s eternal divine consort—because if the
demons came to know the secret they would either escape or surrender before the
Lord, and the Lord being merciful would be morally bound to forgive them. The
whole purpose of Lord Vishnu’s incarnation as Ram would be nullified in this case.
But Sati was so overcome with delusions that she would not listen. Such is the
power of being stubborn and not paying heed to the advice of the wise ones. She
doubted Shiva’s version and wisdom, wandering how it is ever possible for the
Supreme Being to behave the way Ram was behaving. Wouldn’t it be expected from