Jaṭilā, Naṭa and Dvija Avatāras

In the Śata Rudra Saṃhitā of the Śiva Purāṇa, Chapters 33 to 35 tell of three disguises of Bhagavān Śiva. All three are linked with the testing of Pārvatī’s tapas (austerity), and with her marriage to Śiva. In the Jaṭilāvatāra (Chapter 33), Śiva comes as an old brahmacārī and speaks against himself to test Pārvatī’s bhakti (devotion). In the Naṭāvatāra (Chapter 34), Śiva comes as a dancer to the door of Menā, and shows Himavān his divine forms. In the Dvijāvatāra (Chapter 35), Śiva himself comes to Himavān as a noble Vaishṇava brāhmaṇa and speaks against himself, as Brahmā had advised.

The Jaṭilāvatāra: testing Pārvatī’s resolve (Chapter 33)

After Satī gave up her body in the fire and was born again as the daughter of Menā and Himavān, Pārvatī went to the forest with her sakhīs (friends). There she did hard tapas to win Śaṃkara as her husband once more. Śiva first sent the Saptarshis to judge her. They tested her in every way and found no fault in her. They told Śiva this and left. Then Śiva decided to test her himself.

Śiva took the form of a very old brahmacārī brāhmaṇa with matted hair (jaṭā). He shone with his own tejas, was cheerful at heart, and carried a staff and an umbrella. In this disguise he entered Pārvatī’s tapovana (forest of tapas). He saw her there, bright as the clear disc of the moon, seated on a raised platform among her friends. She welcomed the visitor with every honour and asked who he was. The brahmacārī said that he was a celibate who wandered freely and helped others wherever he went. Then, as part of the test, he asked her: “You are young and beautiful and fit for great pleasures. Why do you waste yourself in such hard tapas in this lonely forest? Who are you, and why are you doing this?”

Pārvatī answered with full honesty: “In an earlier birth I was born as Daksha’s daughter Satī and took Śaṃkara as my husband. My father insulted my husband, and I left my body in the fire of yoga. In this birth, born to Menā and Himavān, I found Śaṃkara again. But he burned Manmatha and withdrew. I put aside Indra and the other devas, and even Brahmā and Vishṇu. I want Śaṃkara alone, the holder of the Pināka, as my husband. This is the truth.”

The old Jaṭila brahmacārī then tried to talk her out of it, speaking against Śiva: “I know that Rudra. He has matted hair and an ugly form. He is always alone, wholly given to vairāgya (detachment). Your looks and his are opposite in every way. This plan does not please me. Do as you see fit.” The brahmacārī then went on speaking against himself, that is, against Śiva, in many ways, to test Pārvatī’s firmness further.

Pārvatī’s anger blazed at this nindā (insult) of Śiva. She said: “A person who speaks against Śiva deserves death. But this is a brāhmaṇa, so he cannot be killed. We must simply leave at once.” She said to her friend Vijayā: “Stop this lowest of brāhmaṇas. He is getting ready to say more. Even hearing an insult of Śiva brings pāpa (sin). We cannot kill him because he is a brāhmaṇa, but we must leave this place at once.” Pārvatī then stepped forward to go.

At that very moment Śiva caught the edge of her garment. He showed the very divine form that she always saw in her dhyāna (meditation). He said: “O Pārvatī, do not leave me! I came in this brahmacārī form only to test you. O you who are full of puṇya (merit), your bhakti is firm. Ask for any vara (boon) you wish.” Pārvatī asked for one vara: “Be my husband.” Śiva agreed, married her with the proper rites, and took her to Kailāsa. There Pārvatī fulfilled the purpose of the devas. The Śata Rudra Saṃhitā tells this in Chapter 33.

The Naṭāvatāra: Śiva dances at Menā’s door (Chapter 34)

After the test of the Jaṭilāvatāra, Pārvatī had Śiva’s promise that he would come to her father’s house as a bhikshu (a beggar who asks for alms) to ask for her hand properly. She returned to her parents’ home, and Menā and Himavān welcomed her with great joy and festivity. While Himavān went to bathe in the Gaṅgā, Śambhu, who is kind to his devotees (bhaktavatsala) and loves fine līlās (divine plays), took the form of a skilled naṭa (performer) and came to Menā’s door.

The Naṭa held a horn (kombu) in his left hand and a ḍamaru (small drum) in his right. He wore a blanket on his shoulder and red clothes. He danced in many ways and sang very beautiful songs in front of the house. The whole city came running to watch: men, women, children and the old. Menā herself was charmed. She brought a golden vessel filled with jewels and gems to give the performer. But the Naṭa refused the gold. He asked for Pārvatī as his only bhikshā (alms), and then got ready at once to dance and sing more.

Menā was angry and tried to have him thrown out. But no one had the power to touch the blazing Prabhu Śiva. Himavān came back from the Gaṅgā, heard from Menā what had happened, and ordered his servants to throw the beggar out. They also found they could not do it. The Bhikshu-Naṭa then showed Himavān his endless prabhāva (power) through a series of changes. He appeared as Vishṇu, then at once as Brahmā, then as the Sun, and last in the great form of Rudra, bright and beautiful, with Pārvatī beside him and a smile of joy. Himavān was filled with wonder, and his heart overflowed with the highest bliss.

Śiva then asked Himavān and Menā for only one thing as bhikshā: Durgā (Pārvatī). He would take nothing else. At Pārvatī’s own urging and consent, Śiva vanished from there and went back to his own abode. Menā and Himavān came to understand: “Śivavibhu came, performed his wonderful līlā, and has gone back to his own place.” Their bhakti for Śiva was fully restored. They decided to give Pārvatī to Śiva. In time Śiva married Pārvatī with the proper rites and fulfilled the great purpose of the devas. The Śata Rudra Saṃhitā tells this in Chapter 34.

The Dvijāvatāra: Śiva as the noble brāhmaṇa (Chapter 35)

The devas had a deep worry. If Himavān gave his daughter to Śiva with full, one-pointed bhakti, then Himavān would reach moksha (liberation) and leave his place in the world. The devas went to Bṛhaspati and asked him to go to Himavān and speak against Śiva, to weaken Himavān’s bhakti. Bṛhaspati refused firmly: “I will not insult Śiva. Those who speak against Śiva lose happiness for good and gain sorrow forever.”

The devas then went to Brahmaloka and put the matter to Brahmā. Brahmā also refused to speak against Śiva. Instead he gave wise advice: “Let Śiva himself go to the house of Himavān and speak against himself. The ṛshis have declared that speaking against oneself brings fame, while speaking against others brings ruin.”

The devas went to Kailāsa and told Śiva what Brahmā had advised. Śiva heard them, agreed with a smile, and sent the devas on their way, content. Then Maheśvara, kind to his devotees, wishing to go to the house of Himavān, took the form of a noble Vaishṇava brāhmaṇa, a sādhu-dvija. He carried a staff and an umbrella, wore fine clothes and a shining tilaka, held a crystal rosary, wore a śālagrāma around his neck, and chanted the name of Hari. In this form he went to Himavān. Himavān received him with respect and asked who he was.

The sādhu-dvija said that he was a Vaishṇava, learned in paramārtha (the highest truth), who went everywhere helping others. Then he made a long speech against Śiva, which was Śiva speaking against himself in disguise. He listed all of Śiva’s supposed faults to Himavān. He said: “You plan to give your daughter, who is equal to Lakshmī in beauty, to Śiva, but you do not know his family or his character. He has no relatives and is always without family ties. He is wholly given to vairāgya. He is ugly in form and has no qualities. He lives in the cremation ground and looks terrible. He holds serpents, is naked, and is decorated only with vibhūti (sacred ash), with snakes wound round his head. He has fallen away from all the āśramas (stages of life), and his ways cannot be known even in principle.” After saying these words, the sādhu-dvija left and went back to his abode.

Menā and Himavān were both troubled and unsettled by what they had heard. But then Rudra, carrying out this great līlā for the good of his devotees and the devas, married Pārvatī with the proper rites and fulfilled every purpose. The Śata Rudra Saṃhitā says that this caritra (account) of the Sādhu-dvijāvatāra gives long life, svarga (heaven) and good fortune to those who read or hear it, and brings them the highest end (uttamagati). The Śata Rudra Saṃhitā tells this in Chapter 35.

Sources

• Śiva Purāṇa, Śata Rudra Saṃhitā, Chapter 33 (Jaṭilāvatāra)
• Śiva Purāṇa, Śata Rudra Saṃhitā, Chapter 34 (Naṭāvatāra)
• Śiva Purāṇa, Śata Rudra Saṃhitā, Chapter 35 (Dvijāvatāra)