Born in 1927 near Madras (Chennai) in the
village of Vayalur, the boy who was to become
Sri Parthasarathi Rajagopalachari became devoted
at age 18 to the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita,
and experienced a spiritual awakening as he read
the ancient book. He went on to graduate from
Banaras Hindu University with a B.S. and followed
a career as a chemical engineer and executive until
his retirement in 1985.
In 1964 he discovered Sri Maharaj RAM CHAN-
DRA and became a student of sahaja (spontaneous
or innate) YOGA as the teaching had been handed
down from Sri Ram’s guru, Sri Ram Chandraji of
Fategarh.
Parthasarathi Rajagopalachari, referred to as
Chariji, travels widely teaching a message of spiri-
tual awakening and enlightenment through sahaja
yoga. He conducts public seminars throughout
the world on a regular schedule.
Further reading: Parthasarathi Rajagopalachari, The
Principles of Sahaj Marg, vol. 8 (Shahjahanpur: Shri
Ram Chandra Mission, 1994); ———, Revealing the
Personality (Shahjahanpur: Shri Ram Chandra Mission,
1993); ———, Role of the Master in Human Evolution
(Munich: Shri Ram Chandra Mission, 1986).
Parvati/Uma
In Hindu mythology Parvati (she who belongs to
the mountains) is the daughter of HIMAVAT and
Mena, and the wife of the ascetic god SHIVA. She
is considered the REINCARNATION of Shiva’s first
wife, SAT I. She also goes by the name Uma. The
first textual mention of Parvati/Uma is in the
KENA UPANISHAD (c. 600 B.C.E.). Many scholars
believe that Parvati was a mountain goddess of the
indigenous, non-Aryan people of India who was
absorbed into the Brahminical tradition.
Parvati is born, according to most stories, to
lure Shiva away from asceticism so that he will
produce a son. The gods are desperate for this to
happen, since only a son of Shiva can kill the oth-
erwise invincible demon Taraka. However, Shiva
ignores all of Parvati’s seductions. The gods send
the god of love to make Shiva lustful, but Shiva
opens his third eye and destroys him.
Parvati then sets out on a quest to gain Shiva’s
love by doing austerities of her own. She does
the most difficult austerities, such as standing
on one leg for many years, and gains great merit.
The gods, noticing the tremendous power that
Parvati is accruing, ask Shiva to grant her wish to
marry him. Shiva, impressed by Parvati’s devotion
and steadfastness, agrees to marry her. The mar-
riage is often described, depicted, and enacted in
Indian literature and tradition. All the gods take
part in the wedding party. The stories all include
a humorous interlude when Shiva’s mother-in-law,
Mena, is outraged at his ascetic appearance—he is
smeared with ashes from the cremation ground,
and wears a garland made of a serpent and other
disreputable items.
Shiva and Parvati go to live in Mount KAILASA.
Some folklore shows Parvati as dissatisfied with
living in a mountain cave instead of a proper
house. Nevertheless, the lovemaking of Shiva and
Parvati is so intense that it shakes the cosmos.
One story recounts that Shiva’s amorous enthrall-
ment with Parvati turns all the animals, insects,
and plants in the pleasure grove where they make
love female. A hapless king who enters the grove
also turns into a woman, although he wins a
partial remission of this condition. (He is only
required to be female half of any month.)
As fate would have it, just as Shiva is about to
impregnate Parvati, the gods interrupt them and
his semen flies off, leaping from one container to
another till it finds a safe place only in the GANGES
River, which thus becomes the mother of Shiva’s
son, KARTIKKEYA. GANESHA, a second son, is born in
a similarly unconventional way: Parvati rubs her
arms, covered with sweet powder, before her bath;
takes the residue; and forms a child of it. Parvati
then has the child guard her bath (sometimes
bedchamber). Unknowingly, Shiva encounters the
child and thinks it an intruder. He cuts its head
off. When Parvati emerges she chastises ShivaK 326 Parvati/Uma