When Sati observed the behaviour and attitude of Shiva (that clearly hinted at his
disenchantment with her), Sati’s heart trembled (in fear) because she realised that the
Lord has abandoned her. (3)
Since it was she who was at grave fault and had committed a horrific sin, she
did not know what to say to the Lord in her defence; she could not protest to Shiva
that he should not be so heartless with her so as to abandon his chaste and loyal wife.
Perturbed and distressed beyond measure, Sati’s heart was smouldering in
grief and contrition like being put in a furnace. (4)
[Note—Through these verses, the great saint Tulsidas wishes to tell all of us what fate
awaits us if we take recourse to falsehood, deceit and pretensions in our lives, if we
tell lies and disbelieve our well-wishers like Sati had disbelived and lied to Shiva who
was her best well-wisher in this world.
Even the best of relationship, the most cordial and the coveted relationship,
would crumble like a house of cards and sour like milk in which acid is dropped if
one is not careful not to use cunning and falsehood, distrust and dishonesty in it.]
‚ÁÃÁ„ U ‚‚Ùø ¡ÊÁŸ ’η∑§ÃÍ – ∑§„UË¥ ∑§ÕÊ ‚È¢Œ⁄U ‚Èπ „UÃÍH 5H
’⁄UŸÃ ¬¢Õ Á’Á’œ ßÁÄUÊ‚Ê – Á’SflŸÊÕ ¬„È°Uø ∑Ò§‹Ê‚ÊH 6H
satihi sasōca jāni bṛṣakētū. kahīṁ kathā sundara sukha hētū. 5.
baranata pantha bibidha itihāsā. bisvanātha pahum̐cē kailāsā. 6.
When Lord Brishketu (literally the Lord who has the sign of a bull on his
standard/flag; i.e. Shiva) realised that Sati was very sad and contrite, he narrated
different stories to divert her mind and keep her engaged^1. (5)
In this way, while narrating stories from the different Purans and Itihasas
(ancient scriptures and mythological histories) on the way, the Lord of the world,
“Vishwanaath”, reached Kailash, his abode. (6)
[Note—^1 Shiva is a very merciful Lord. The measure of his graciousness and kindness
is that instead of taking any severe punitive action against Sati and scolding her using
stern language, he remained quiet. Then when he observed that Sati is suffering from
guilt and remorse, and feeling contrite, he decided to divert her attention by telling
her stories so that her pain and sorrows are diffused a bit.
The use of the epithet “Vishwanaath”, the ‘Lord of the world’, is significant here.
It implies that Lord Shiva was aware of the fact that this world is not perfect; it is full
of contradictions. Delusions and ignorance, falsehood and deceit are as much part of
it as are enlightenment, knowledge and wisdom, as well as truthfulness and honesty.
They coexist in this world; they are a part of the nature of creation.
Another point to note is that it is said in verse no. 4 herein above that “Sati’s heart
was so much tormented by grief as if it was put in a furnace”. It means that she was
already getting self-punished by her own conscience, and this was more effective than
any other form of external punishment. She has realised her mistake, and she is
already suffering like hell inside, so, being a merciful Lord, Shiva thought that it
would be extremely cruel to torment her any further. Therefore he decided to comfort
her a bit by telling stories.]