and has him find another head immediately. In a
rush he gets a newly severed elephant head, and
thus the younger son Ganesha has the head of an
elephant.
Parvati is often said to play dice with Shiva,
and she always wins. She argues with him about
his constant smoking of marijuana (a staple of
Shaivite mendicants). Some stories connect Par-
vati with KALI, saying that she was originally dark
in color but because of Shiva’s teasing she changed
to a light color. In other stories, Parvati is actually
the left half of Shiva in his form as ARDHANARISH-
VARA. As with other female divinities, Parvati is
sometimes conflated with the great goddess or
creator and protector of all the universe; she gains
supremacy in some mythological contexts.
Further reading: Cornelia Dimmitt and J. A. B. van
Buitenen, Classical Hindu Mythology: A Reader in the
Sanskrit Puranas (Philadelphia: Temple University
Press, 1978); John Stratton Hawley and Donnie Marie
Wulff, eds., The Divine Consort: Radha and the Goddesses
of India (Boston: Beacon Press, 1986); David R. Kinsley,
Hindu Goddesses (Berkeley: University of California
Press, 1988).
Pashupati See SHIVA.
Patanjali (c. second century B.C.E.) author of
Yoga Sutra
In Indian tradition two books are ascribed to
Patanjali: the Mahabhashya (the primary com-
mentary to the grammar of Panini) and the com-
mentary on the YOGA SUTRA. Western scholarship,
however, dates the first work to around 200 B.C.E.,
and the Yoga Sutra to around 200 C.E., making it
impossible for the two Patanjalis to be the same.
Tradition has it that Patanjali was an incarna-
tion of the divine serpent ADISHESHA, upon whom
VISHNU reclines between ages on the MILK OCEAN.
Patanjali’s name, it is said, is from this serpent,
which in very tiny form fell (pat) onto the palm
(anjali) of either Panini himself or his mother,
Gonika, or fell from her womb (anjali) (the word
anjali has many meanings). Patanjali is sometimes
also referred to as Gonikaputra (son of Gonika).
Iconographically, Patanjali is depicted with the
lower body of a snake and a canopy of five serpent
heads over his head. He is shown offering anjali
MUDRA with his palms joined. This clearly refers to
the second element of his name.Further reading: Georg Feuerstein, trans., The Yoga-
Sutra of Patanjali (Rochester, Vt.: Inner Traditions,
1990); F. Kielhorn, Katyayana and Patanjali: Their Rela-
tion to Each Other and to Panini (Varanasi: Indological
Book House, 1963); Baij Nath Puri, India in the Time of
Patanjali (Bombay: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, 1957); Ian
Whicher, The Integrity of the Yoga Darsana: A Reconsid-
eration of Classical Yoga (Albany: State University of
New York Press, 1998).Periya Puranam
The Tamil Periya Puranam of SEKKILAR forms the
12th and final book of the TIRUMURAI, the Tamil
Shaivite sacred canon. Periya Puranam means
“Great Purana,” or great ancient story. It com-
prises over 4,200 stanzas.
Composed in the 12th century, the book tells
the stories of the 63 NAYANMARS or Shaivite saints.
These stories were originally recorded by the
eighth-century poet SUNDARAR in the Tondartokai,
or “compendium of the lives of the saints.” At
royal order the list of saints was expanded in the
10th century by Nambi Andar Nambi. Sekkilar, a
minister of the Chola empire, provides the most
complete compendium in his Periya Puranam. It
is said that he was inspired to create the work to
wean the Chola king Anapaya Chola away from
reading the highly erotic but heretical Jain text
Jivaka Cintamani. Sekkilar is said to have recited
this work at the Shaivite sacred shrine of CHID-
AMBARAM.
The book has 13 chapters. The longest story is
about Sambanthar (1256 quatrains), followed byPeriya Puranam 327 J