Śiva-Pārvatī Vivāha (Vāmana Purāṇa)
Chapter 27 of the Vāmana Mahā Purāṇa tells the wedding of Bhagavān Śiva and Devī Pārvatī in full. All the devas come in procession and the whole round of wedding rites is done. Two special events happen: the vara (boon) that the gandharva woman Mālinī asks of Bhagavān Śiva, and the birth of the Vālakhilyas. The account ends with the first night of Bhagavān Śiva and Devī Pārvatī together and the golden palace built for them by Viśvakarmā.
The grand procession
Himavān and Menā had formally accepted the marriage proposal. After this Bhagavān Śiva set out for the wedding in a great procession. All the devas came: Bhagavān Brahmā, Bhagavān Vishṇu, Indra, the Ādityas, the Vasus, the Rudras, the Maruts, Agni, Varuṇa, Yama, Kubera, and all their followers. Never before had so great a gathering of the worlds been seen. The gandharvas sang, the apsarasas danced, and divine music filled the three worlds. The mountains and the rivers also came, each in the form that suits its divine nature. (Chapter 27)
The wedding ceremony
The wedding of Bhagavān Śiva and Devī Pārvatī was done with the full Vedic rites. Bhagavān Brahmā presided over it. The saptarshis (seven ṛshis), led by Aṅgiras, took their parts in the rites. The sacred fire was set up, the vows were spoken, and all the saṃskāras (sacred rites) of the vivāha (wedding) were completed. Himavān gave away his daughter with a father’s joy, as a great gift, and so performed the kanyādāna, the giving of the bride. Menā had been unwilling when Umā left for her tapas (austerity). Now she saw her daughter’s divine fulfilment and wept for joy. (Chapter 27)
Mālinī’s vara
During the wedding a gandharva woman named Mālinī was overcome by devotion and by the greatness of the event. She came to Bhagavān Śiva and held his feet. She asked a vara (a boon): that Bhagavān Śiva’s own gotra (his family line in the ritual sense) be the one linked with Bhagavān Vishṇu’s saubhāgya (auspicious good fortune). Bhagavān Śiva granted the vara. (Chapter 27)
Brahmā’s seed and the birth of the Vālakhilyas
When Bhagavān Brahmā saw Devī Pārvatī in the brightness of a bride, his seed fell without his will. From that fallen seed the Vālakhilyas were born. They are tiny ṛshis of great tapas-śakti (power of austerity). Several Purāṇas describe them as small as a thumb, yet burning with spiritual light. (Chapter 27)
The first night and the golden palace
When the wedding rites were over, Bhagavān Śiva and Devī Pārvatī spent their first night together. The Purāṇa shows this as the joining of Bhagavān Śiva as pure consciousness with Devī Pārvatī as the śakti (power) that makes creation possible.
Bhagavān Śiva then had a splendid golden palace built. Viśvakarmā, the divine builder, made it to house the divine couple. This palace became the home of Bhagavān Śiva and Devī Pārvatī as a household, beside Kailāsa, the great mountain where Bhagavān Śiva lives. (Chapter 27)
Sources
- Vāmana Mahā Purāṇa, Chapter 27