Oh children of the world,
Let this tale be unfurled;
A saga of divine love,
Which surpassed barriers of fate and time.
***
The peaks of Kailasa gleamed bright white,
But it failed to surpass the light,
That emanated from its meditating lord,
And the lady who refused to leave the one she adored.
For eons she had waited for him to wake,
The one for whom she was ready to put all at stake,
She lived only upon dried leaves and then forsake them as well,
Thus Aparna became her other name.
However in the heart of her beloved brewed unfathomable pain,
The ache he withheld was insane,
That he little realised his love had returned,
From fire had she emerged, unburned.
Elsewhere Himavan wept for his daughter faraway,
Pleading earnestly to gods to wash away her pain,
For how can a father reside in peace,
And see his child's agonies increase?
Then Himavan prayed to Manmatha, the lord of desire and love,
Pleaded him with the words said above,
Looking at his pitiful state,
Manmatha decided to intervene with fate.
Thus he brought forth an untimely spring,
And landed upon Kailasa with a swish of his brilliant wings,
Using his tricks and skills he cleared away his path,
And shot the mediating lord with an arrow of love, forgetting how severe might be his wrath.
Awoke the lord at this intervention,
Rage poured from his every pore at the atrocity of the intention,
With a voice akin to a cackle of thunder, the lord declared;
“Manmatha I shall not be snared,
“By thy prowess in the art of Kama,
How dare thou broke my concentration!” he growled,
With which shook the ground,
And then opened the lord's third eye which burnt Manmatha to ashes; not a part of his body was found.
However when his eyes landed upon the unperturbed lady,
With hair dark and wavy;
Signs of surprise his face expressed,
Thus he decided to take a test.
In form of a mortal he appeared,
And taking her name he referred;
“Oh princess of the mountains fair,
What do thou seek in these lands dire?”
Aparna opened her eyes elegant,
And from the ground raised her frame delicate,
Addressing to the god disguised,
“I penance to seek the great Shiva as my groom.” she described.
“Do thee know that he roams with wraiths,
And death accompanies him always?” he questions so to test her faith,
“How shall thou spent thy life with him,
He, who is so grim?”
Aparna said in a voice determined,“Oh mortal thou know not,
He is the one whom I want;
To him now belongs my heart,
Without him I shall break apart.”
Sensing the truth and love in her eyes,
The lord atlast took of his guise,
A
nd took her soft palms in his,
Promising her love which would not end for eternity.
***
Note; The Puranas tell the tale of Sati's marriage to Shiva against her father Daksha's wishes. The conflict between Daksha and Shiva gets to a point where Daksha does not invite Shiva to his yagna (fire-sacrifice). Daksha insults Shiva when Sati comes on her own. She immolates herself at the ceremony. This shocks Shiva, who is so grief-stricken that he loses interest in worldly affairs, retires, and isolates himself in the mountains, in meditation and austerity. Sati is then reborn as Parvati, the daughter of Himavat/ Himavan and Mainavati, and is named Parvati.
According to different versions of her chronicles, the maiden Parvati resolves to marry Shiva. Her parents learn of her desire, discourage her, but she pursues what she wants. Indra sends the god Kama – the Hindu god of desire, erotic love, attraction, and affection, to awake Shiva from meditation. Kama reaches Shiva and shoots an arrow of desire. Shiva opens his third eye in his forehead and burns the cupid Kama to ashes. Parvati does not lose her hope or her resolve to win over Shiva. She begins to live in mountains like Shiva, engage in the same activities as Shiva, one of asceticism, yogin and tapas. This draws the attention of Shiva and awakens his interest. He meets her in disguised form, tries to discourage her, telling her Shiva's weaknesses and personality problems. Parvati refuses to listen and insists on her resolve. Shiva finally accepts her and they get married.
***
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Forgotten ✓
Poetry"My heart resides in these pages." A collection of nonfiction poetry about the magnificent and benevolent gods of the past told through the eyes of a mortal girl millions of years younger than them. "What I hate, is the smallness of mind, the lack...
