Vedic Wisdom - Parvati’s Tapasya

Vedic Wisdom

Parvati’s Tapasya

In shiva purana it is a constant and regular feature of Goddess Parvati doing penance in various of her avataras to marry Lord Shiva. In the ordinary sense it is seen as a deep desire of a woman to marry a person of her choice and her willingness and commitment to undergo any amount of austerity for that cause. There are many temples in India , particularly in south India , where the main Goddess will be in a Penance posture for her wish to be fulfilled.

Many of these Deities and temples are also recommended for worshipping for girls whose marriage is getting delayed. In fact there is a popular vrata ‘Swayamvara Parvati Vrataha’ recommended for such girls. In general sense it can be seen as the divine desire of a mundane wish. But the real mystic logic behind this is totally different. We have already seen that Shiva and Shakti are representing the omniscience and omnipotence, the two sides of the same coin and they are always together.

The Tiruvilaiyadal puranam deals on the hypothetical question of the so called fight between Shiva and Shakti as to who is superior, with lot of stories woven around it. Let us be clear that one without the other is neither possible nor fruitful. The human body as we have discussed is a combination of purusha and prakrti-the Shiva and Shakti. They are like the positive and negative energy fields. Without either of them, beings cannot manifest.

In human beings the principle of shakti – omnipotence- is resting in Muladhara as kundalini and the principle of Shiva – omniscience – is resting in sahasrara. That is why Sakti is seated and shiva is matted. Now in spiritual terms, for man’s ascend the Shakti in the muladhara has to be raised to meet Shiva in sahasrara so that the eternal bliss will flood us. This exercise requires enormous austerities, perseverance, practice and devotion.

That is what is represented by the tapasya of Goddess Parvati to unite with Lord Shiva.Once that Shiva - Shakti union takes place in a person, he becomes a jeevan mukta and thereafter no looking back. Only to achieve this, the Vedas have given various routes-Jnyana, Bhakti, Yoga and Karma. In practical terms this is to be attempted and achieved by Meditation and mind control. So Parvati’s tapasya signifies the human ascend to divine.

This is another example of the depth of the science of puranas and as usual it is sad that the outer story is understood but not the underlying philosophy.

This article is a snippet from the Book Vedic Wisdom, Authored by Pandit Sri Rama Sharma. Vedic Wisdom is available online at www.giri.in and across Giri Trading Agency Private Limited, A chain of Speciality Stores dealing in all kinds of products needed in Indian Culture and Tradition.