Śāradā and the Umā-Maheśvara Vrata

Śāradā was a brahmin girl from the country of Ānarta. She was married at the age of twelve and became a widow on the day of her wedding. A blind old muni named Dhruva taught her the Umā-Maheśvara vrata (a vow of worship). She kept it for a full year. On its last night Devī Pārvatī herself appeared, and Śāradā’s life changed. This account is told by the Sūta in the Skanda Mahā Purāṇa.

Widowed on her wedding day

Śāradā was the daughter of Nedāratha, a learned brahmin of good family in the country of Ānarta. At twelve years of age she was lotus-eyed and full of auspicious marks. A brahmin named Padmanābha asked for her hand. He was a wealthy and respected widower and a friend of the king. Her father feared what people would say if he refused such a man, and he gave his daughter in marriage.

The wedding took place at noon in the house of the bridegroom’s father. That evening Padmanābha went to a nearby lake for his sandhyāvandana (the evening prayer). A snake bit him on the way back in the dark. He died on the path that night, by the force of his own karma.

Śāradā became a widow on the day she was married. Her husband’s relatives came and then went, each to their own home. Śāradā went back to her father’s house and stayed there as a child-widow.

Dhruva Muni teaches the vrata

One day a blind old muni named Dhruva came to the house, led by his disciples. He was very old and had great tapas (austerity). Śāradā saw that a great one had come. She greeted him with deep respect, washed his feet, fanned him, seated him and gave him a good meal.

The muni was pleased and blessed her. He said she would enjoy life with her husband, have a son of great qualities and gain fame. Śāradā was moved, but she doubted. She said:

“O brahmin! I am unfortunate, a widow. How can your words come true for me? Does rain falling on a mountain help anyone? What use is the blessing of the learned to one of such poor fortune as me?”

The muni answered: “I spoke these words without seeing you. What I have said, I will make come true. Follow my instruction. Perform the Umā-Maheśvara vrata.”

Then he taught her the whole vrata.

The year of the vrata

Śāradā took the teaching with joy and firm faith. She said: “Even if it is hard, I will do whatever you have told me.”

The muni stayed in an āśrama near her family’s home. Śāradā kept the vrata in his presence for the whole year. She kept it on every Ashṭamī and Chaturdaśī of both fortnights. She worshipped golden images of Śiva and Pārvatī on the prescribed lotus maṇḍala (sacred diagram). She did the following each time:

• Ekādaśa Rudra japa (the repeating of mantras to Rudra, eleven times)
• pañcāmṛta snāna (the bathing of the images in five sweet substances)
• eight hundred repetitions of the Pañcākshara mantra
• the full sequence of upacāras (the offerings of worship)
• an evening meal of milk and havishya (simple offering food)

The year passed in pure and steady purpose.

Devī Pārvatī appears

On the last night of the vrata, Śāradā did the Pradosha worship at Śiva’s shrine near her home. Dhruva Muni was with her. Through the night they did japa, dhyāna (meditation) and tapas, all directed to Jagadambā, the Mother of the Worlds.

In the deep of the night, Devī Pārvatī was moved by a year of Śāradā’s devotion (bhakti) and by the tapoyoga of the old muni. She appeared before them in her own form.

At that moment Dhruva Muni received his sight. The blind old ṛshi’s eyes were opened by the darśana of Jagadambā. The muni and Śāradā fell at Pārvatī’s feet, their eyes full of tears.

Śāradā’s past life

Devī Pārvatī spoke to the muni:

“O muni! I am pleased with you. O bālā, O puṇyātmā, I am delighted with you. I will give you what you wish, even what is hard for the devas to get.”

The muni said: “This girl Śāradā is a widow. I gave her my word: ‘I will make you rejoice with your husband.’ I ask that my word be fulfilled.”

Devī Pārvatī then told Śāradā’s past life.

In a former birth Śāradā was Bhāminī, the second wife of a Draviḍa brahmin. She was very beautiful and charming. By her looks and her skill she kept her husband wholly devoted to herself. The first wife, the elder one and a faithful pativratā, was left without any care from him. She had no children and died in grief and sorrow. A young brahmin who lived nearby fell in love with Bhāminī just from seeing her. He could never win her and died of that longing.

Bhāminī had taken the husband away from his first wife. For this pāpa (sin), Śāradā received the karma of widowhood at her marriage, called kaumāra-vaidhavya (widowhood in girlhood).

But in that same past life Bhāminī had worshipped Pārvatī with great devotion. That puṇya (merit) had already burned away the karma. Only this one life of kaumāra-vaidhavya remained of its result.

The young brahmin who had died of love for Bhāminī was now born in the country of Pāṇḍya. He was a learned brahmin with a family and wealth. Every night he and Śāradā already met in svapna-samāgama (union in dream), and they were together as husband and wife in the dream. Through these nightly dream-unions a son had already been conceived, and Śāradā would give birth to him.

The pregnancy and the birth of Śāradeya

Devī Pārvatī told Śāradā that her true husband would come in person to a great tīrtha (holy place). Śāradā would know him there, for he was the one she had seen in every dream.

As Pārvatī had said, the pregnancy went on. The people of the community saw a widow carrying a child and were shocked. They accused Śāradā of wrong conduct. Then an ākāśavāṇī (a voice from the sky) spoke:

“This woman has not sinned. Her family line is not stained. Anyone who calls her a fallen woman, his tongue will split at once.”

Some doubters laughed at the voice. Their tongues split, and they vomited insects. After that the community accepted what had happened to Śāradā.

In due time Śāradā gave birth to a bright son. He was named Śāradeya, after her. He grew fast in learning. At eight years he mastered the Ṛgveda, at nine the Yajurveda and at ten the Sāmaveda.

The meeting at Gokarṇa

The great Śiva festival came at Gokarṇa, and people went to the tīrtha from every direction. Śāradā went too, with her son. Among the pilgrims she saw a brahmin and knew him at once as the man she had met in a thousand dreams. He saw her too and knew in her the woman of his dreams.

The brahmin came to her privately and said: “O Bhadra! Tell me who you are. Who is this shining child?”

Śāradā told him her story and the vision of Devī Pārvatī. The brahmin understood. Śāradā put their son in his hands and said: “This child was born of our union. He is yours.”

The brahmin was deeply moved and accepted the boy. He took Śāradā to his home, and she lived there as his companion.

The last journey

After some months the brahmin died. Śāradā performed satī and entered the funeral fire with him. Together they rose in a divine vimāna (a heavenly chariot) to the home of Bhagavān Śiva and were received there as one couple.

The Sūta then gives the fruit (phala) of this account:

“This sacred ākhyāna brings bhukti and mukti. For women it gives maṅgala, saubhāgya and santāna-sukha. It destroys all heaps of pāpa. Whoever reads it, hears it or sings it even once with bhakti, the puṇya of the Gaurī-Maheśa vrata, enjoys every bhoga and reaches the śāśvata pada.”

In plain English, bhukti is worldly enjoyment and mukti is liberation. Maṅgala is auspiciousness, saubhāgya is a happy married life and santāna-sukha is the joy of children. Bhoga is enjoyment and śāśvata pada is the eternal state.

Sources

• Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Dharmāraṇya Khaṇḍa, Uttarārdha, Chapter 18 (the widowhood, Dhruva Muni’s teaching, the start of the vrata)
• Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Dharmāraṇya Khaṇḍa, Uttarārdha, Chapter 19 (the end of the vrata, Pārvatī’s appearance, Śāradeya, Gokarṇa, the last journey)