The Supreme Devotion of Parvati:: Merging with Shiva ::
Parvati however soon recovered herself and understood that to unite with Shiva she had to go beyond beauty and desire. She had to make every part of her being yearn for this union and concentrate all her will, energies and capacities focusing them on this sole purpose. All other preoccupations had to be discarded.
For his sake, who himself made a mockery of social conventions, she would have to surpass social restrictions and brave reproach from the world. Her body had to forget all needs or enjoyments, her mind still all resolves (except the one to marry Shiva) and the heart abandon all other attachments. Only the need for Shiva, the thought of Shiva and the love of Shiva would remain. She would exist only as an intense flame burning for Shiva.
Towards this end she decided to undergo severe austerities (tapasya) in the dense jungles of the Himalayas. Her parents, distressed at the thought of their fragile daughter repairing to the dangerous woods tried their best to dissuade her from doing so. In fact, one of Parvati’s most popular epithets, Uma, is derived from her mother’s call to her not to go to the forests – O (daughter) ma (don’t). The mother said:
"O Parvati, if you are distressed and wish to perform penance, you can do it at home. Why do you wish to go out when we have gods here at home? Dear child, for a woman to go out to the forests is something never heard of before." (Shiva Purana: Rudrasamhita III.22)
Parvati however soon recovered herself and understood that to unite with Shiva she had to go beyond beauty and desire. She had to make every part of her being yearn for this union and concentrate all her will, energies and capacities focusing them on this sole purpose. All other preoccupations had to be discarded.
For his sake, who himself made a mockery of social conventions, she would have to surpass social restrictions and brave reproach from the world. Her body had to forget all needs or enjoyments, her mind still all resolves (except the one to marry Shiva) and the heart abandon all other attachments. Only the need for Shiva, the thought of Shiva and the love of Shiva would remain. She would exist only as an intense flame burning for Shiva.
Towards this end she decided to undergo severe austerities (tapasya) in the dense jungles of the Himalayas. Her parents, distressed at the thought of their fragile daughter repairing to the dangerous woods tried their best to dissuade her from doing so. In fact, one of Parvati’s most popular epithets, Uma, is derived from her mother’s call to her not to go to the forests – O (daughter) ma (don’t). The mother said:
"O Parvati, if you are distressed and wish to perform penance, you can do it at home. Why do you wish to go out when we have gods here at home? Dear child, for a woman to go out to the forests is something never heard of before." (Shiva Purana: Rudrasamhita III.22)
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