trikālagya sarbagya tumha gati sarbatra tumhāri.
kahahu sutā kē dōṣa guna munibara hṛdayam̐ bicāri. 66.
The king said to sage Narad—‘Oh Lord! You are ‘Trikaalagya’, i.e. you are able to
see (know) everything of the past, the present and the future (the three dimensions of
time). Hence, everything is known to you, and you have access to all spheres of the
world and phases of time.
Oh the greatest and the most exalted of all sages (“Munibar”—◊ÈÁŸ’⁄U)! Please
contemplate in your heart and tell me truthfully the virtues and the shortcomings of
my daughter. [That is, please tell me what fate holds for her; what will be good for her
future, and what precautions I should take.] (Doha no. 66)
[Note—In Tulsidas’ “Parvati Mangal”, verse no. 9 it is said that Parvati’s parents
were worried about finding a suitable groom for her, and in verse nos. 13-14 it is said
that Maina, the wife of Himwaan and the mother of Parvati, fell at the feet of Narad
and requested him to tell her about a suitable groom for Parvati.
There is another episode narrated in Ram Charit Manas where Narad had been
asked to outline the goodness and drawbacks in a girl when he visited her parent’s
palace—refer: Ram Charit Manas, Baal Kand, line no. 2 of Doha no. 130.]
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caupā’ī.
kaha muni bihasi gūṛha mṛdu bānī. sutā tumhāri sakala guna khānī. 1.
sundara sahaja susīla sayānī. nāma umā ambikā bhavānī. 2.
The sage smiled and said pleasant words that had a significant meaning and were
cloaked in mystery^1.
He said—‘Your daughter is a mine of all good virtues. (1)
She is pretty, simple, courteous, wise and dignified. Her name is ‘Uma’, and
she is the ‘Mother of the world’ (“Ambikaa”) known as Bhavaani^2. (2)
[Note—^1 What was significant and mysterious in Narad’s words will be revealed
shortly.
Narad was “Trikaalagya”, i.e. he knew well that Uma was Lord Shiva’s consort
Sati in her previous life, and that she was destined to marry Lord Shiva in her present
life too. But he restrained from telling everything in detail and divulging the truth.
Why? Because Uma’s previous form as Sati had many negative characters as we have
already read about in the previous verses. She had burnt herself in anger, she had lied
to her husband, and she had disobeyed him and shown disrespect even to an
incarnation of the Supreme Being in the form of Lord Ram. If Narad had divulged
these facts, Uma’s parents would have gone in severe depression and may be they
would have begun loathing her and treating her with contempt. This would be an ugly
situation which Narad wished to avoid.
So, whatever he said was cloaked in mystery and had a double-meaning. He did
not wish to divulge that Shiva would be her husband according to destiny because of
one very obvious reason—Parvati’s father was the king of the mountains, and Shiva
was a renunciate ascetic-god living in Mt. Kailash which also fell within his kingdom
or realm. A king worth his name would never like his daughter, the princess of the
kingdom, to marry such a person!