To be God, doesn't mean that You don't feel any pain.
But it means that You feel everyone's pain, in its raw, heart wrenching, chest clenching form.
And He is not only a God, but the God of the Gods. He is Mahadev.
No words could describe the pain He felt.
The kind of pain that shreds You to pieces and even consumes Your soul.
The destruction was over, and a calm but haunting silence covered the city of Kankhal. It was calm before the storm, the fury and anguish consuming Shiva like fire from within.
Yet, He could not find any emotions to express Himself. He was at a loss of words. And He didn't even know what to say.
To whom would He speak?
When there was no Sati to listen to His words.
With whom would He share His emotions?
When Sati wasn't there to reciprocate them.
For whom would He live?
When Sati was no more.
If He wanted, He could have blamed the entire world for taking away His Love from Him. But He chose to accept destiny.
A bone chilling wind blew. Everyone was frozen, either with fear or with trauma. They fainted or laid unconscious near the Yagya altar.
Shiva appeared.
He looked at the mortal body fallen on the floor.
He slowly stepped forward.
There was not a single expression of remorse or tears on His face.
He came to Daksha's palace, empty handed. But He didn't leave empty handed.
He picked up Sati's mortal body in His arms and left without saying a word.
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"Swami, I want to visit all the places all over the world with You. I'm so excited about this new phase of life and I'm sure it is going to be the best part of My life, with You by My side."
Shiva enveloped Sati in His arms. She could feel the warmth of His love and His adoration for Her. She realised that even though all the residents of Kailash lived in the chilly mountains, They never felt the cold, because Shiva's love had kept them warm.
"Sati, which place would You like to visit first? Let Me know so that I can make arrangements and We can start our journey soon." He was honestly eager to fulfil every dream and demand of Hers.
"Swami, I have heard about some of the holy cities and let's start Our journey from there. I have even prepared a list of 51 cities."
Life's irony doesn't even spare the Divine. Today, He was travelling with Sati around the world. But it was not with a lively Sati who would talk and chatter and had won Him over with Her playful and cheerful mannerisms.
It was a mortal body who didn't respond to Him, enveloped in His arms, the same arms He used to hug Her when She reciprocated His love.
Doom had made the Earth perish. And when the balance distorted and it had been several days like this, Lord Vishnu decided to use His Sudarshan Chakra and cut Sati's body into 52 pieces which fell at different places.
Shiva had to learn to let go and detach Himself from Her mortal body. But the Lord of Detachment not only detached, He also withdrew from the world and went into deep meditation.
It soothed His pain for a while and kept Him distracted. But even in His meditation, all He thought of was Sati.
A small tear escaped His eyes. He felt weak in His knees. And then He couldn't control or bear it anymore.
Tears overflowed, all these days of holding them back served no more. He fell on His knees. He lost His balance, both physically and mentally. His hands trembled and He lost His grip over His trident.
It fell on the ground, breaking the deafening silence. A silence no one wanted to hear or experience because of the haunting emotions.
He howled, screamed and cried. He wanted to completely get lost in the disbalance. He tried to dig His nails in His own skin and tear apart Himself.
He plucked and tore His hair in an attempt to kill Himself. But He was immortal, unlike Sati who had to take several births trying to unite with Him. He had no choice but to live on with this pain.
Moments ago, it all seemed too good to be true. But now, it was too horrible to be true. He didn't want to believe anything about this. He wanted to reverse time.
When times are good, they pass too soon. But even a single moment of melancholy feels like a decade.
Who would have thought that Death could hurt even the God of Death?
Truly we don't fear our own death but that of our loved ones.
He felt a hundred emotions and yet nothing at all, at the same time. He felt hollow, empty and totally disoriented. He was nothing without His Sati.
Perhaps His pain was far worse than mortals and no human could endure so much had this happened to them. Sometimes you've to look on helplessly and witness destiny and not do anything to change it, even if you're God.
He forgot about His worldly duties.It was important for Goddess AdiparaShakti to manifest again and unite with Him, and help Him engage with His wordly duties again. Lord Brahma and Lord Vishnu prayed to Her and She promised to be born again.
Shiva visited those places where pieces of Sati's body fell. He reminisced about Sati. Every piece of Her reminded Him of Her presence, as if She was still alive and talking to Him.
He would touch and feel those pieces but they turned into stones. Slowly, He started to get oriented with His worldly duties again. The detachment process worked and He realised that even though He couldn't move on, He had to wait, no matter how long.
Shiv and Shakti were destined to be united. And even though it could take millions of years, He decided to wait for Her till eternity. Or as He thought, till the Goddess' wish, because everything happens in this world as per Her desires.
He then decided to establish holy shrines at these places so that the mortal body remained immortalised. He blessed them and created a manifestation of Himself to guard these places from all evil.
He didn't want to fail at His role of protecting Her again. Even beyond life and death, He wanted to keep His promises and fulfil His vows. And He was even ready to take a fearsome form if that was needed. But He would take no chances or lose Her again.
He was named Lord Bhairava. He is worshipped in a different name and form in each temple as the consort of Goddess Shakti.
These places became pilgrimage sites of pious significance. Temples were built here and they were known as the Shakti Peeths - the Divine manifestation of the Supreme Goddess.
Lord Brahma tried to convince Lord Shiva and asked Him to resurrect Daksha. He was needed in maintaining order and administration of the world, for He was a Prajapati.
The ever kind and selfless Lord, decided to resurrect Him and gave Him life once again. His head had been destroyed in the fire. The Ganas brought the head of a goat, a mark of His ego, and attached it to His lifeless body.
Daksha decided to live a life of minimalism and free of ignorance. He was a humble and wise soul now. He became a devotee of the Lord and settled in Kashi with His family. He started restoring worldly order again.
In His last moments, He surrendered to Lord Shiva and gained enlightenment. Such is the greatness of the Lord that even a single prayer to Him, even at the last moment, or done only once in a lifetime, can change anyone's destiny.
Such is His greatness that even though He could, He didn't resurrect Sati, or change His pain and destiny. He is the God of Death, the One who has mastered Death, and nothing is impossible for Him.
He resurrected Daksha because He surrendered to Him and was needed to maintain balance in this world. He listened to Lord Brahma and Queen Prasuti's prayers to restore their loved ones.
He endured every human's pain of a million lifetimes in His own, and by His own.
To be God, doesn't mean that you don't feel pain.
To be God, means that you put everyone else's pain above your own. You have to be selfless without a choice.
Shiva retired to meditate in the Himalayas.
Withdrawing and never wanting to come back until He met His Shakti again.
।। ॐ नमः पार्वती पतिये हर हर महादेव ।।
।। ॐ नमः शिवाय ।।