this body of mine is produced by his sperms (because most unfortunately I happen to
be his daughter) [6]. (5-6)
ÃÁ¡„U©°U ÃÈ⁄Uà Œ„U ÃÁ„U „UÃÍ – ©U⁄U œÁ⁄U ø¢º ̋◊ıÁ‹ ’η∑§ÃÍH 7H
•‚ ∑§Á„U ¡Ùª •ÁªÁŸ ÃŸÈ ¡Ê⁄UÊ – ÷ÿ©U ‚∑§‹ ◊π „UÊ„UÊ∑§Ê⁄UÊH 8H
tajiha'um̐ turata dēha tēhi hētū. ura dhari candramauli bṛṣakētū. 7.
asa kahi jōga agini tanu jārā. bhaya'u sakala makha hāhākārā. 8.
It is for this reason (as narrated in verse nos. 3-6 herein above, but especially verse no.
6) that I will leave my sinful, hateful and vile body immediately (because it is born
out the despicable sperms of my sinful father Daksha). And while I do so, I will
enshrine Lord Shiva, who is adorned with the cresent moon on his forehead and
whose flag has the emblem of the Bull (“Brish”—which stands for the virtues of
righteousness, auspiciousness, probity, propriety, and noble conduct), in my heart.^1 ’
(7)
Saying thus, Sati burnt her physical gross body in the fire of produced by
doing Yoga^2. As soon as she burnt herself, there was a tumultuous plaintive cry of
dismay and horror^3. (8)
[Note—^1 Sati has now realised that the root cause of all her miseries is that she carries
the genes of her sinful, stubborn, stupid and haughty father Daksha. He had not
understood the divine nature of Lord Shiva, and had treated him as an ordinary god.
That Shiva had married his daughter Sati further reduced the stature of the Lord in his
eyes—for Daksha started treating Shiva as being inferior to him by the virtue of him
being Shiva’s father-in-law. In his ignorance, naivety and sense of false self-
importance, Daksha had forgotten that Shiva was the Lord of creation, and that is
why he is honoured by the epithet “Maha-Deva”, the Great God. No other god has
this honour.
Lord Shiva is a highly self-realised and enlightened Lord who knows that the
gross physical body is not the true self of any living being, but that the true self is the
Atma, the Soul which is a universal pure conscious entity that lives in the body of all
living beings. That is why Shiva is called “Jagdaatma”—the universal Soul of the
entire world.
It is said that when a person dies, the last thoughts that are in his or mind decide
where he or she goes in re-birth. For instance, if one thinks of Lord God then after
death his soul migrates to the abode of the Lord. If he thinks of this world and its
pleasures, then he is reborn in the world to fulfill his desires to enjoy it.
In the case of Sati, she enshrined Shiva in her heart, which is saying that her mind
and sub-conscience was fixed on Shiva, and therefore she was bound to go where
Shiva was in her next birth. As it eventually happened, Sati was re-born as Parvati in
the household of Himvaan, the king of the snow-covered mountains known as
Himalayas. She married Lord Shiva in this new incarnation.
(^2) The word used in the text for the fire in which Sati burnt herself is “Yog Agni”.
This is the type of fire that is kindled inside one’s body by friction caused by the vital
winds. Usually this is the sort of death achieved by ascetics who are expert in doing
Yoga. Since Sati was the consort of Shiva who is an expert ascetic himself and the
patron god of all ascetics, it is natural to expect that she had full knowledge of this
sort of death. It is painless and voluntary.
According to some versions, however, the phrase “Joga Agni” (¡Ùª •ÁªÁŸ) refers
to the fire of the sacrificial pit. If this is to be treated as the means by which Sati left
her body then it would obviously mean that she jumped into the fire sacrifice to burn
herself. The word “Sati” refers to ancient practice in India wherein the dead man’s