Śiva’s Stotra to Pārvatī

This is the stotra that Bhagavān Śiva (Śaṅkara, Mahādeva) sang to Bhagavatī Pārvatī, also called Durgā-Pārvatī. He sang it humbly, to calm her after she was left out of the prasāda (blessed food) of Bhagavān Kṛshṇa. It is found in the Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Śrī Kṛshṇa Janana Khaṇḍa, chapter 37.

The same episode gives the reason why Hara-nirmālya, the offering left on Bhagavān Śiva’s liṅga, is not eaten: Pārvatī put a śāpa (a curse) on it.

The setting

Sanatkumāra once worshipped Bhagavān Kṛshṇa at Vaikuṇṭha with great devotion. Pleased, Bhagavān Kṛshṇa gave him a part of his own bhukta-śesha (the food he himself had eaten) to take as prasāda to his guru, Bhagavān Śiva. This Vishṇu-naivedya (food offered to Bhagavān Vishṇu) is among the most prized of graces. The Purāṇa says its glory is greater even than that of amṛta (the nectar of life).

Sanatkumāra brought the prasāda to Śiva’s āśrama. Śiva received it with great joy. As soon as it touched his mouth, Mahādeva began to weep, dance, sing in many rāgas and play his ḍamaru (small drum). He was overcome with bliss. His ḍamaru, his horn and his tiger skin fell to the ground. He fell to the earth weeping, and then fainted in a divine swoon (mūrcchā). He came back to himself only by meditating deeply on the form of Bhagavān Kṛshṇa in his heart.

At that moment Bhagavatī Durgā-Pārvatī arrived, with a pleasant face. She saw Śiva weeping and unconscious on the ground, and she asked Sanatkumāra what had happened. When she learned that Śiva had been given the Vishṇu-naivedya and had eaten it without sharing it with her, she was deeply hurt. She said: “I too should have received this Hari-naivedya! You have deceived me. Without this prasāda I cannot bear this body.” She threatened to give up her body (deha-tyāga).

Śiva rose, trembling before Pārvatī. He apologised at length and praised her with this stotra, in humility, to end her wounded pride (māna-bhaṅga).

The stotra

Śaṅkara’s stotra praises Bhagavatī Pārvatī, in this hour of regret, with these attributes.

• Sanātanī: she is eternal and first, without beginning or end. She comes before all creation and goes beyond all dissolution.
• Brahma-Vishṇu-Maheśvara-Bījabhūtā: she is the bīja (seed) of Brahmā’s power to create, of Bhagavān Vishṇu’s power to sustain, and of Śiva’s own power to change and dissolve. Without her none of the three great devas can act.
• Nirguṇa-svarūpā: in her highest form she is nirguṇa, beyond the three guṇas, even though in her saguṇa form she governs all the guṇas. She is the svarūpa (own form) of the Goloka-śakti of Kṛshṇa, who is beyond the three guṇas.
• Sarvāṅgī of Kṛshṇa’s Goloka: she is praised as the whole of all the śaktis of Bhagavān Kṛshṇa, the master of Goloka, who is beyond the three guṇas: the full creative power of his all-powerful feminine energy.
• Svecchā-sākāra-nirākārā: she takes form (sākāra) or stays without form (nirākāra) only by her own free will (svecchā). She cannot be forced or held to any one form.
• Mahāmāyā, Sarva-bīja-svarūpiṇī: she is Mahāmāyā, the great māyā that veils Brahman, and also Sarva-bīja-svarūpiṇī, the essence of all the seeds of existence.
• Sarvā-siddhi-dātrī: she gives all siddhis (powers and accomplishments), including the eight mahāsiddhis. She gives both mukti (freedom from rebirth) and devotion to Kṛshṇa (Kṛshṇa-bhakti).
• Saha-cāriṇī who never leaves: Śiva says to her: “By the grace of that Prabhu Kṛshṇa alone you live in my chest for ever. You are the one who has never left me. It was Kṛshṇa’s own icchā (wish) that you did not receive the Hari-naivedya this time. I had no power to set that aside.” This is the central idea of the stotra: Pārvatī is Śiva’s inseparable eternal companion (saha-cāriṇī).
• Cosmic mother in all three: she is Lakshmī in the lap of Nārāyaṇa, Sarasvatī on the chest of Brahmā, and Mahāmāyā in the lap of Śiva. The one śakti appears in different ways as the consorts of the three great devas.

What followed

After hearing Śiva’s stotra and his gentle words, Pārvatī was not calmed at once. She said she could not keep a body that had been denied the Hari-naivedya, the greatest of all divine gifts. She said she would give up her body and enter nirguṇa-sthiti (the state beyond the guṇas).

Śiva then fully accepted this and said: “It is the will of Śrī Hari that you did not receive it. His will is final. You may enter nirguṇa-sthiti as it pleases you.” Pārvatī was satisfied by this dignified answer. She bathed in the Ākāśa Gaṅgā (the Gaṅgā of the sky) and worshipped Nirguṇa-Hari with the full pūjā. She cooked prasāda from the new food of the garden and offered it. Bhagavān Kṛshṇa himself came and ate it, and gave Pārvatī his prasāda in return. Pārvatī then ate the Hari-naivedya together with Śiva. She praised Śaṅkara with new joy, and peace returned.

Even so, Pārvatī had pronounced a śāpa. From then on, Hara-nirmālya, the naivedya (food offering) left on Śiva’s liṅga, would become dushṭa (spoiled, inauspicious). Anyone who ate it would be born as a dog. This śāpa is the origin of the rule against eating Hara-nirmālya, which stands to this day in Śaiva worship.

The phalaśruti

Whoever recites this Pārvatī stotra of Śaṅkara receives these fruits:

• Deliverance from all dangers: the devotee is freed from the particular danger or fear that troubled them.
• Mitra-saṃyoga: friends who have been parted are brought together again. Friendships broken by quarrels (mitra-bheda) are healed and joy returns.
• Pārvatī’s lasting presence: Bhagavatī Pārvatī is pleased and does not leave the devotee’s home. Her grace stays with them and protects them.

Sources

• Brahma Vaivarta Mahā Purāṇa, Śrī Kṛshṇa Janana Khaṇḍa, chapter 37