Parvati

“ I am stricken with curiosity to hear this story of Hari—do thou, O venerable Sir, relate this.
Parāçara said: Having seen Pārvati dallying with her lord Sambhu, Ushā, the daughter of Bāna, was inspired with a similar desire. The charming Gauri, knowing the hearts of all, said to her:—"Do not grieve; you shall have a husband". "But when will this be and who shall be my husband?" thought Ushā within herself, on which Pārvati said:—"He who shall appear to you, princess, in a dream, on the twelfth lunation of the light half of Vaishāk, shall be your lord". ”

“ Shiva conducts Parvati and the boy back to Mount Kailasa, where gods and fairies welcome them with music and dancing. Here the divine child spends the days of a happy infancy, not very different from human infancy; for he learns to walk, gets dirty in the courtyard, laughs a good deal, pulls the scanty hair of an old servant, and learns to count: "One, nine, two, ten, five, seven." These evidences of healthy development cause Shiva and Parvati the most exquisite joy. ”

“ So Mahadev consented to bestow upon Parvati the golden ball, which she had no sooner obtained than she threw it down upon the earth: whereupon the five-faced god demanded with a frown, "Why have you thrown away my gift?"
Parvati replied, "Lord! your ball must certainly possess some wonderfully beneficent property. I have cast it down to benefit mankind."
The god made answer, "Lady, no good can result from opposing the laws by which Prajâpati, Vishnu and I have framed the universe. Prosperity can come only from obedience to these laws. A golden ball can serve no purpose. ”

“ This is the God Shiva, in whose nature Parvati, the eternal Woman, is ever commingled in an ascetic purity of love. The unified being of Shiva and Parvati is the perfect symbol of the eternal in the wedded love of man and woman. When the poet opens his drama with an invocation of this Spirit of the Divine Union it is evident that it contains in it the message with which he greets his kingly audience. The whole drama goes to show the ugliness of the treachery and cruelty inherent in unchecked self-indulgence. ”

“ Parvati, the wife, unable to endure the sight of this poverty-stricken Brahman, took compassion on him, and requested her husband to bless him with riches. Whereupon Iswara replied and said that Brahma had not written on his face that he must enjoy wealth, and that he must, therefore, live and die a beggar. Parvati thereupon said:—Let me see how this Brahman cannot become wealthy when we will it," and threw a heap of one thousand gold mohars on his way. The Brahman came to within ten yards of the heap, when suddenly the thought struck him to see if he could walk like a blind man. ”

“ The race produced by Mahadeva were very numerous, and devoted themselves exclusively to the worship of the male Deity, but their intellects were dull, their bodies feeble, their limbs distorted, and their complexions of many different hues. Parvati had at the same time created a multitude of human beings, who adored the female power only, and were well shaped, with sweet aspects and fine complexions. ”

“ All the other gods came to worship it, and told mankind to do likewise. They said that if it was worshiped, Shiva's consort, the goddess Parvati, would come to receive the lingam in her yoni, and the earth would be made fertile. And even now we worship the stone lingam, set erect with a stone yoni as its base. We honor them with flowers and fire and incense. Shiva and Parvati are a symbol of the creation of life." She looked at him, puzzling. "Don't Christians have such a symbol?"
"Not quite like that one." Hawksworth suppressed a grin. "I guess the main symbol for Christians is the cross." ”

“ The generative organs themselves being revered as sacred, and symbolised in the mysterious Lingam which is enshrined in all the Hindu temples, and the object of special devotion.
The god Siva and Parvati his spouse form the principal subject among the sculptures of the Kylas. A striking design rather Egyptian in feeling was to be seen in a large carved panel of Parvati represented as seated on the water, or rather on a mass of lotus leaves and flowers—the flower of life—with attendant elephants symmetrically arranged on each side, showering water upon the goddess from their trunks. ”

“ Parvatī (Siva's consort) with the child Skanda on her right lap is seated on the left side of Siva. Her left foot is placed on the back of the couchant bull. She as well as her child have only two arms each. Close to her left foot, behind the bull, is a female attendant of Pārvatī, who raises her right hand resting it on the back of the bull. Between the head of the goddess and that of Vishnu is seen what is perhaps to be interpreted as the crescent of the Moon, corresponding to the Sun on the other side. ”

“ When the Kōmatis were getting worsted in the struggle for supremacy, they requested Parvati, the wife of Siva, to come and deliver them. It so happened that about that time Parvati was incarnate as a girl of the Kōmati caste, who was exceedingly beautiful. The Mlechas demanded that she should be given in marriage to one of their own people, and the refusal of the Kōmatis led to severe fighting, in which the Kōmatis, owing to the presence of the avatar of Siva among them, were completely victorious, and almost exterminated their enemies. ”

“ When they reach the mountain where Shiva dwells, Spring shows his power. The snow disappears; the trees put forth blossoms; bees, deer, and birds waken to new life. The only living being that is not influenced by the sudden change of season is Shiva, who continues his meditation, unmoved. Love himself is discouraged, until he sees the beauty of Parvati, when he takes heart again. At this moment, Shiva chances to relax his meditation, and Parvati approaches to do him homage. Love seizes the lucky moment, and prepares to shoot his bewildering arrow at Shiva. ”

“ Vrinda then threw herself into a burning pit, and Jalandhar, once Vrinda's chastity had gone, fell a prey to Siva's thunderbolts. Then the gods came forth from their hiding place, and garlanded Siva. The demons were driven back to hell, and men once more passed under the tyranny of the gods. But Vishnu came not back from Vrinda's palace, and those who sought him found him mad from grief, rolling in her ashes. Then Parvati, to break the charm of Vrinda's beauty, planted in her ashes three seeds. And they grew into three plants, the tulsi, the avali, and the malti. ”

“ The Kaikōlans or Sengundar are said to be the descendants of Virabāhu, one of these heroes. After killing the demon, the warriors were told by Siva that they should become musicians, and adopt a profession, which would not involve the destruction or injury of any living creature, and, weaving being such a profession, they were trained in it.”20 According to another version, Siva told Parvati that the world would be enveloped in darkness if he should close his eyes. Impelled by curiosity, Parvati closed her husband’s eyes with her hands. ”

“ Parvati soon after presented herself before him in the form of a Cirati, or daughter of a mountaineer, and seeing him enamoured of her, resumed her own shape. In the place where they were reconciled, a grove sprang up, which was named Camavana; and the relenting god, in the character of Cameswara, consoled the afflicted Reti, the widow of Cama, by assuring her that she should rejoin her husband when he should be born again in the form of Pradyumna, son of Crishna, and should put Sambara to death. ”

“ In the Asiatic Cusha-Dwip they supported themselves by violence and rapine. Parvati, however, or their tutelary goddess, Yoni, always protected them; and at length, in the fine country which they occupied, they became a flourishing nation. ”

“ Parvati's love-affair is the matter of the first half, Kumara's fight with the demon the matter of the second half. Further, it must be admitted that the interest runs a little thin. Even in India, where the world of gods runs insensibly into the world of men, human beings take more interest in the adventures of men than of gods. The gods, indeed, can hardly have adventures; they must be victorious. The Birth of the War-god pays for its greater unity by a poverty of adventure.
It would be interesting if we could know whether this epic was written before or after The Dynasty of Raghu. ”

“ Between the pilasters are niches containing mythological figures in basso-relievo, amongst which the Dasavatara, or ten incarnations, are conspicuous, they are arranged as follow:
No. 1, Vira-Badra. 2, Maha-Deva Nastik, with musicians and flying figures. 8, Maha-Deva altar and Linga. 4, Maha-Deva and Parvati playing at Choupers, the bull Nandi is underneath with children plaguing him. 5, The marriage of Maha-Deva and Parvati. 6, Maha-Deva and Parvati in heaven, supported by Ravana. ”

“ And then the hosts of the gods, that had fled and hid themselves out of fear of Vidyuddhvaja, assembled and surrounded him. As he was marching along with that large army, he saw in his way a great temple of Párvatí named Meghavana. His devotion to the goddess would not allow him to pass it without worshipping † [2] ; so he got down from his elephant, and taking in his hand heavenly flowers, he proceeded to adore the goddess. ”

“ The principal attraction to the traveler in Madura, which contains some fifty thousand inhabitants, is a remarkable and ancient pagoda, supported by two thousand stone columns. It was dedicated to Parvati, wife of Shiva, and is one of the largest and finest monuments of Hindoo art in existence, covering in all its divisions, courts, shrines, colonnades, and tanks twenty acres of ground. ”

“ According to another legend,35 Parvati once wanted to perform the ceremony called gaurinōmu, and, wanting a winnow, was at a loss to know how to secure one. She asked Siva to produce a man who could make one, and he ordered his riding-ox Vrishaban to produce such a person by chewing. Vrishaban complied, and the ancestor of the Mēdaras, being informed of the wish of the goddess, took the snake which formed Siva’s necklace, [54] and, going to a hill, planted its head in the ground. ”

“ One of the men of Bairaganni in the Paranganād division saw the woman in a dream. She told him that she was not a human being but a goddess, an incarnation of Parvati. The people of Nundāla built a strong bund (embankment) round the tank, and allow no woman to go on it. Only the pūjāri, and Badagas who have prepared themselves by fasting and ablution, are allowed to go on the bund to offer pūja, which is done by breaking cocoanuts, and offering rice, flowers, and fruits. The woman told the man in his dream to build a temple at Bairaganni, which is now the chief temple of Heththeswāmi. ”

“ This creature is called in Tamil, Yanci-Yali, which has the same signification, viz., "Elephant-Lion," and is one of the vehicles of Durga, a form of the goddess Parvati, who, in consequence, is called "Yali Yurthi," she who rides on a Yali. ”

“ Curious to know why even he had been forbidden to enter at that time without any apparent reason, Pushpadanta immediately entered, making use of his magic power attained by devotion to prevent his being seen, and when he had thus entered, he heard all the extraordinary and wonderful adventures of the seven Vidyadharas being narrated by the trident-bearing god, and having heard them he in turn went and narrated them to his wife Jaya; for who can hide wealth or a secret from women? Java the doorkeeper being filled with wonder went and recited it in the presence of Parvati. ”

“ The third panel—on the left of the principal one—in which the differentiation is complete, and Siva and his consort Sakti or Parvati are represented side by side as complete male and female figures, in serene and graceful pose—he colossal and occupying nearly the centre of the panel, she smaller and a little to one side—is a great success. Round them in the space above their heads a multitude of striding clean-legged figures bear witness to the energy of creation now fully manifested in this glorious pair. ”

“ They tell us that she had a double birth; first she was daughter to Datsja, son of Brahma, and of Sarasvati his wife. Her father gave her in marriage to Eswara, and some time after intended to perform a Jagam or sacrifice, to which he invited the Devetas, such as Deuendre, the Sun, the Moon, and the rest, but neglected Eswara, his son-in-law. Parvati told him he should also have invited him, but he, instead of agreeing with her, made her the following injurious answer:—Eswara, says Datsja, is not worthy of that honour, he is a fellow that subsists only on alms, and has no clothes to put on. ”

“ They seem to have entirely abandoned the military inclinations of their ancestors, never enlist in the native army, and almost wholly occupy themselves in agriculture. Their vernacular is Telugu, since they are immigrants from the Northern Circars, from whence most of them followed the ancestors of the Karvetnagar zamindar within the last two centuries. In religion they are mostly Vaishnavites, though a few follow Siva, and the worship of village deities forms a part of the belief of all. Their peculiar goddess is called Nimishāmba who would seem to represent Parvati. ”

“ He was thereafter called Mudrālopi and married to the sage Agastya.45
The warrior Shikhandi who assisted the Pāndavas in killing Bhishma (who had vowed not to raise his arms against a woman) was at first a girl, and was subsequently transformed into a boy by the boon of the gods.46
There is supposed to be a forest of Pārvati in a continent called Ilavrit. Any man visiting it is at once turned into a woman.47
A king named Sudyaman visited this forest and was transformed into a woman. ”