[And therefore, she must not feel contrite at all; there is no reason why she should
regret at Parvati having Shiva as her husband, for does she not know that Shiva is the
Great God of creation, the ‘Maha-deva’, and it is the good fortune of their daughter
that the Lord had accepted her hand in marriage, something that is rare and a privilege
of sorts. So instead of complaining she should rejoice at the good fortune of the
family that they have Lord Shiva as their groom and son-in-law.]^3 (Chanda no. 13)
[Note—^1 Refer: Ram Charit Manas, Baal Kand, Doha no. 90—to Chaupai line no. 7
that precedes Doha no. 92.
(^2) Refer: Ram Charit Manas, Baal Kand, Chaupai line nos. 6-8 that precede Doha
no. 96.
(^3) In Ram Charit Manas, Himwan has comforted and reassured his wife Maina in
Baal Kand, from Chaupai line no. 7 that precedes Doha no. 71—to Chaupai line no. 5
that precedes Doha no. 72.
But when Maina started lamenting once again when the marriage party arrived, it
was Narad who came and explained everything to her—about the previous life of
Parvati when she had sacrificed herself by burning her body in the fire sacrifice at her
previous father’s place when she discovered that Shiva was insulted by not being
offered his share like any other God during that fire sacrifice, and at the time of death
she had asked for a boon that she may be reunited with her eternal Lord, Lord Shiva.
It is precisely this reason why the Creator had written in her destiny that she will
marry Shiva because it is what she wanted. Therefore, no one should grieve or
lament. She is being married off to the greatest God of creation and not to some
ordinary god or some mad person. When Maina and the rest of the family heard this
tale from Narad, all of them realised the truth, and the atmosphere changed
immediatetly from one of sorrow and grief to that of rejoicing and joy.
This entire episode is narrated in Ram Charit Manas, Baal Kand, from Doha no.
97—to Doha no. 98.]
lqfu eSuk Hkb lqeu l[kh ns[ku pyhA
tg¡ rg¡ pjpk pyb gkV pkSgV xyhAA109AA
Jhifr lqjifr fccq/k ckr lc lqfu lqfuA
g¡lfga dey dj tksfj eksfj eq[k iqfu iqfuAA110AA
suni mainā bha'i sumana sakhī dēkhana calī.
jaham̐ taham̐ caracā cala'i hāṭa caihaṭa galī. 109.
śrīpati surapati bibudha bāta saba suni suni.
ham̐sahiṁ kamala kara jōri mōri mukha puni puni. 110.
109-110. Hearing these words, Maina felt comforted and reassured (because a father
cannot speak and think ill of his beloved daughter, and if he says that their daughter is
lucky to have Shiva as her groom, then surely it must be so).^1
Her companions proceeded to have a glimpse (of the groom and his party).
Everywhere—on the streets, in the lanes and by-lanes, in the market places and
central squares—there was talk of the marriage party. (109)
Hearing all this murmuring, chatter and gossip, Sripati (Vishnu), Surpati (Lord
of Gods—i.e. Indra) and other Gods laughed repeatedly with their heads turned
sideways and their faces covered with their palms like the closed petals of a lotus
flower. [That is, they hid their embarrassment by hiding their faces in their palms like
the closed petals of the lotus flower while they smiled and smirked and tried to
suppress their laughter at the ridiculous and funny situation by glancing sideways.