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If you want to be attracted to him, you must accept that other part of him, too. Do not be selective in your perception of him.’
When a couple was destined to be together—like Lakshmi and Narayana—they simply saw each other, knew they belonged to each other and immediately united. It had been a long time since there was a great love story between a deva and a devi.
Everyone knew that sitting on a man’s left leg was reserved for a wife or lover. The right leg was for daughters and grandchildren.
‘But you see the patterns in the universe, the forces at play. You have studied so many thousands and millions of lives and know what brings happiness, what brings sorrow, which matches are auspicious and which are dangerous. From that perspective, please tell us what you think about Sati’s impending marriage.’
‘Sati, you are the greatest of the devis. Everybody knows this. Your destiny will not be decided by the fate of the stars when even the moon is nothing more than an adornment for your hair. Neither your father nor the greatest of the devas is going to command you to do this or that. If you want to marry, of course, you will be married. If the one who deserves you has not yet been born, we will turn the wheels of fate so that he is born immediately. Sati, as soon as you know what you want, you shall have it!’
‘Ultimately, there is only Purusha and Prakriti. Purusha is the male principle, uncreated, absolute, unmanifest, passive consciousness, totally inert. On the other, Prakriti is represented by you, Sati, the force of creation, dynamic, kinetic and the giver of all life. The material world is your play as the unfurling of Prakriti, whereas here in my abode—now our abode—Kailash represents Purusha and Purusha alone. ‘Because I am untouched by Prakriti, because I am unconcerned with any part of the material world, Prakriti does not contaminate Kailash.’
‘If my wife does not wish to be found, I will not be able to find her. It is beyond my power.’
‘Do not worry. I am sure she will come back as soon as she is a little calmer.’ Nandi pawed the ground. I am a celibate bull, but it looks like even I know more about marriage than you.
Shiva sighed. He had no practice in dealing with women and pacifying their feelings. He had hoped she would come back on her own when she felt like it, and until then he could rest in his meditation. But to his surprise, he discovered that he missed her.
‘Who says she is taking it personally? You were trying to teach her a lesson. Maybe she is teaching you one now.’
Her eyes were full of love and kindness, overflowing with compassion and warmth, as if they had never quarrelled.
‘I was never upset, to begin with. I was teaching you a lesson, just as you were trying to teach me. You use abstract words and metaphors, dense and arcane tracts of philosophy. I use simple examples and actions to prove my point.’
Shiva was silent for a time. It was not in his nature to argue or impose his will on anybody, including his wife. It was not in his nature to repeat himself. He believed in the paramount place of free will. He was not the one to stop anybody from following their heart. He
Shivam Satyam Sundaram, auspicious, truthful and beautiful,
He indulged her whims and desires, let her be as she wanted to be. He had never asked anything of her.
This was always the problem with Shiva and Sati. They were extreme. Inseparable to a fault. Impractical. Completely absorbed in the intensity of their love for each other. Impossible to part, other than by death.
Shiva was too unpredictable. And she was too strong, too stubborn.
‘Our daughter is bright and strong-willed. She is kind and gentle. She has lived her life in the wild forests of the Himalayas. She has made her choice. Who are we to control her destiny? I did not have visions when she was born, wife. But I did hear an akash vani, a voice speaking from the skies, that told me to let her be free, to let her be whatever she chose to be. And that has been my vow. No matter how much I worry for her, no matter how much I miss her, I will let her go. I will not own her as I do not own these mountains, which are my home. Let her go, Mena. Her fate is something
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‘The devas are in your debt.’
In her, they found that sprite who had delighted Swarga, the kind devi who had smiled upon everybody, who had wandered happily through their forests, who had clapped in appreciation for their music and dancing, whose laughter had thrilled their very beings; the one of incomparable beauty and power before whom all of them had once knelt.
But there was something about Parvati that made them think there was more to the world and life than this. That there was place for beauty and love and play. They wanted to see her succeed, to know that they themselves could have some glimmer of an existence higher than daily subsistence.
He saw through the eyes of love. And he saw the intensity of love and devotion writ on her face, which he had only seen once before.
‘Because we are friends.’ The four words were full of affection and longing, nostalgia for long walks through the forests of Mount Meru, pointing out flowers to each other, drawing rainbows across the skies, competing to see whose would be the most colourful and stunning. He always lost to her. She was Shakti, after all. What he accomplished through schemes, tricks and spells, she achieved naturally and spontaneously. Love was what he conjured; love was what she was.
Parvati’s eyes floated back to Shiva. ‘I have been trying for so long. So many years have passed already. I do not see how I could possibly succeed.’ Yet nothing would persuade her to desist. ‘Hmmph. Because you are doing it all wrong. You are trying to match him, ascetic to ascetic, penance for penance. Who can match the Adi Yogi in yoga?’ Her head fell. ‘Is it so hopeless?’ He lifted her chin with a green finger. Tenderly, he said, ‘Do not be him. Be you. When you remember who you are, that is when you will win.’
At the moment you feel all is lost, you will find yourself, and in finding yourself, you will have found everything.’
She could not see Rati’s or any other woman’s pain and not do everything in her power to help.
Now the two of you are more popular than ever before. The most romantic couple ever to grace Devaloka. Do you know, Parvati, there are now millions of women who are fasting to get a husband like Shiva? Not that anyone can match what you did, of course.’ A note of pride and admiration entered her voice. Shiva grunted. ‘To get a husband like me? What nonsense. If anything, the men should fast to get a wife like Parvati. Why would anyone want to have a husband like me? They should die to get a wife like mine.’
The greatest love is the one that does not make you choose between them but accepts all of them.
She had decided to dress up to visit her sister today. It was useless dressing up for Shiva since he hardly noticed whether she was dressed or naked.
‘So long as my son is dead, I shall not be at peace.’
‘We all see the world as we see ourselves. Shiva and Parvati have never experienced rivalry or jealousy, so they cannot conceive of it existing in their sons. They think of such contests as innocuous fun, like their own mock love quarrels.’
‘For me, my parents are the source of everything. They are my world. By circumambulating them, I have indeed gone around the world seven times. What need have I for anything else in this world when they are with me?’ There was no sophistry in his voice, only sincerity.
They relished this kind of play on words, the riddles with which they expressed their love for each other.
The lowest city, built of iron, was located on Earth. The middle city, built of silver, was placed in the sky. And the topmost city, with walls of gold, was built in Swarga. Only for a few moments every thousand years or so, when the Pushya constellation was in conjunction with the moon, would the cities be aligned. Only at that moment was their destruction possible.
‘I realised I could have done it on my own. You could have done it alone, too. And so could my wife. After all, we are omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent. But there is sweeter pleasure in doing it together, as a family and as a pantheon.’
