Pārvatī Tapas and Svayaṃvara: Union with Śiva

After Manmatha was burned, Pārvatī decided to win Śiva by tapas (austerity). She did four hundred years of the hardest tapas on the peaks of Himavat. Then Śiva came to her as a young brahmacārī (celibate student) to test her. When she passed the test, he showed himself and asked her to send word to her father Himavān for a svayaṃvara (a ceremony where the bride chooses her husband). At the svayaṃvara all the devas learned who Śiva is, and Pārvatī placed her garland at his feet.

This account is told in the Kaumārika Khaṇḍa of the Māheśvara Khaṇḍa of the Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Chapter 25.

Arjuna’s question to Nārada

The chapter begins with a question from Arjuna to Nārada. Arjuna said: “O Devarshi! You said earlier that Maheśvara was in tapas on Himavat, waiting for Satī Devī to return. You said that this longing for her was the reason Manmatha’s approach had any effect at all. If so, why did Śiva burn Manmatha?”

Nārada said: “What you have asked is exactly right. But tapas must come before union. A body that is not purified by tapas is not śuddha (pure), and union with such a body is not fitting. For all great purposes tapas is the foundation. Without it no great work succeeds. For this reason Parameśvara saw Manmatha draw his arrow and burned him. Then he went to Kailāsa, feeling lajjā (shame) that a trick had for a moment disturbed his tapas. He left Pārvatī standing there with her sakhīs (friends).”

Pārvatī’s resolve and her parents’ protest

Pārvatī said that she would do tapas. Her parents cried out: “Umā! Umā!” This means “Do not! Do not!” From this cry the name Umā was born. They said: “Your tender body cannot bear hard tapas. What must come will come anyway. What is ordained will happen even without effort.”

Pārvatī answered them: “What you say is not right. No one can gain a purpose by the will of the devas alone. A person gets the fruit partly through daiva (fate), partly through dhṛti (persistence) and partly through prakṛti (nature). There is no fourth cause. It was through the strength of tapas that even Brahmā reached the state of Brahmā. A body is not steady. If it is lost before one has gained what one wants, only śoka (grief) is left. So let me use this body, while it lasts, to reach my purpose. What is a body for, except for one’s own true purpose?”

She spoke of how short the body’s life is. It may die in the womb, at birth, in childhood, in youth or in old age. She ended: “With such a body that does not last, what purpose is there except one’s true goal?”

Then Pārvatī bowed to her weeping parents. She went with her sakhīs to a beautiful and wonderful peak of Himavat. There she took off her divine clothes and ornaments. She put on bark-cloth (nāra-cīra) and began her tapas under strict niyamas (rules). All the munis who saw her tapas felt respect for her.

The four hundred years of tapas

The text gives the exact order of her tapas. It lasted four hundred years, each hundred harder than the one before.

The first hundred years. She bathed three times a day and ate only pāṭala leaves (leaves of the trumpet-flower tree).
The second hundred years. She ate only bilva leaves that had fallen to the ground by themselves. She did not pluck them.
The third hundred years. She drank only water and ate no food at all.
The fourth hundred years. She stood on one big toe on the earth. She lived on air alone, with no food at all (nirāhāra).

By the fourth hundred years her tapas had grown so strong that all creatures began to be scorched. The text says prajāḥ taptum ārebhire (the created beings began to burn). Her tapas had gone beyond her own body and was spreading heat through the whole world. Śiva saw this and decided to go down to her.

The brahmacārī test

Śiva came to Pārvatī’s tapovana (forest of tapas) as a young brahmacārī. He wore ajina (deer-skin) and carried an āshāḍha staff (a staff of the ceremony). He was handsome and had good lakshaṇas (auspicious marks). Pārvatī’s sakhīs welcomed him and honoured him.

He said he wished to speak with Pārvatī. The sakhīs said: “This kālyāṇī (auspicious one) is finishing her niyama. Five minutes more and it will be done. Please wait. After that you may speak with her about all kinds of dharma.”

While Pārvatī finished her niyama inside, the sakhīs told the brahmacārī her whole history, with tears. They spoke of Śiva’s absence, of Manmatha’s burning and of Pārvatī’s firm purpose. Just before the niyama ended, the brahmacārī said he would look at the surroundings. He went to a pool nearby, entered it, and cried out loudly: “I am drowning! Someone come and lift me out!”

The sakhīs, Vijayā and the others, ran to the pool and held out their hands. But the brahmacārī refused. He said: “I will not take an impure hand. I would rather die than touch one who is asaṃsiddhā (one who has not achieved what she began). This is my truth.”

Pārvatī offers her hand

Her niyama was just then ending, and Pārvatī herself came to the pool. She held out her own right hand. The brahmacārī held back. He said: “Kālyāṇī! What is impure, and what has been done with a dosha (flaw), should not be taken. This hand of yours is impure. I will not use it.”

Pārvatī answered firmly: “This right hand is meant for Deva-deva alone. I cannot give it to anyone but Īśvara. But through my very fierce tapas, Śiva will be moved. This is true.”

Then the brahmacārī spoke as if in challenge: “If your purpose is so firm, who can stop you? Your pratijñā (vow) cannot be shaken, and neither can mine. Even Rudra respects us brahmins. But you pass me by, a brahmin in trouble, and go on with your yoga. Then go away! Your tapas is the kind that insults brāhmaṇas.”

Pārvatī thought: “To help a drowning brahmin is greater than any dharma.” She gave him her right hand and pulled him up out of the pool.

The brahmacārī now stood on dry ground. He spoke of the meaning of what had just happened: “Śiva himself used this scene to show that a woman lifts up a man who is sinking in the ocean of saṃsāra. This is why he acted so.” Then, having taken Pārvatī’s right hand, the brahmacārī sat down. Laughing, he asked: “Kālyāṇī! Why are you doing this hard tapas in your youth? It seems wrong to me.”

The brahmacārī speaks against Śiva

The brahmacārī then spoke at length against Śiva. He used every usual objection.

He said: “You do not know your own family. His lineage is not known. He goes naked (digambara). He holds a skull (kapāla). He holds a trident (śūla). He wanders with terrible companions. The cremation ground is his home. Ash is his ornament. A bull is his vehicle. He wears an elephant’s skin. He wears serpents as ornaments. His hair is matted (jaṭila). His eyes are uneven.

“Such a one is nirguṇa (he seems to have no qualities). How is he fit for you? Among the qualities praised in a groom are kula (family), śīla (character) and others. Not one of them is in him. So he is not right for you. In the past a woman wanted Śiva, and she became pitiable. Now you would be the second such woman. We tapodhanas (people rich in tapas) see all things alike. Yet what you are trying to do troubles us. It is like giving the honour of a yajña-stambha (the post of a yajña) to a mere stake. It would trouble good people.”

Hearing this list of faults from the brahmacārī, Pārvatī lost her calm. She felt krodha (firm displeasure, not rage).

Pārvatī defends Śiva

Pārvatī answered in a steady, deep voice. Her answer shows how well she understands Śiva.

She said: “O Brāhmaṇa! Do not speak against Śaṃkara! To speak against Deva-deva brings great tamas (darkness) on a person. You do not understand his actions rightly. Hear what these things truly mean, so that you may be freed from the dosha of speaking this way.”

Digambara (clothed in the sky). The whole jagat (universe) is his garment. One who fills all that exists cannot wear a garment. He himself is the cloth of creation. So he is digambara.
Śūlī (bearer of the trident). He holds the three guṇas, sattva, rajas and tamas, as his trident. He holds all that has a threefold nature.
Bhūtapati (lord of the bhūtas). Those without bondage, the muktas, are bhūtas in the highest sense. He is their lord. The name Bhūtapati shows his lordship over the freed.
Dweller in the śmaśāna (cremation ground). Śmaśāna means saṃsāra, the ground that consumes beings. Out of karuṇā (compassion) for those who seek moksha, he lives in saṃsāra, open to all who come to him.
Bhūti-bhṛt (bearer of ash). The special glories (vibhūtis) told in the śruti are what he wears as ash. This is his glory, not his poverty.
Vṛshin (rider of the bull). Vṛsha means dharma. One who rides on dharma is vṛshin. The bull is dharma itself.
Jaṭila (matted-haired). He holds in his matted hair all the knots of the world’s karma, all the tangled actions of all beings. The braided locks are the world’s actions, held by him.
Three eyes are the three Vedas. His three eyes are the three Vedas. Nothing more need be said.
Tripurāntaka (ender of Tripura). He burned Tripura, the body of three guṇas, and turned it to bhūti (ash). So he is Tripurāntaka.

Pārvatī went on: “Those of fine understanding know Maheśvara in this way. Which wise person would not worship Hara? The world is born into many fears of saṃsāra. People look carefully before they act. When they look rightly, they find no refuge except him. In whatever form he comes, śubha (auspicious) or aśubha (inauspicious), Śiva deserves worship. This is my settled understanding.”

Then Pārvatī said to her sakhī: “This brahmacārī wants to say something else. Stop him. Anyone who speaks ill of great ones, and anyone who listens to such speech, both gather pāpa (sin). What is the use of arguing with brāhmaṇas? Let us go, closing our ears.”

Śiva shows himself

Pārvatī rose, shut her ears and began to walk away with her sakhīs. At that moment the brahmacārī form faded. Śaṃkara stood there in his own true form and caught the edge of Pārvatī’s garment. She turned. She saw Śiva and knew him. She fell full length on the ground in sāshṭāṅga-praṇāma (full prostration) and praised him.

Śiva said: “Kālyāṇī! Your tapas has bought me. I am now your servant, bought by your tapas. Command me. Say what you want.”

Pārvatī answered: “Śiva! You are the master of the mind. I have given you my mind completely. But the masters of this body are my parents. You must honour them by having them give me to you in the proper way.”

Śiva said: “Pārvatī! Because of your beauty and virtue, your father has already promised in his heart to give you at a svayaṃvara. So it shall be. Go and tell your father Himavān to announce the svayaṃvara. Then I will come and take you.”

So they parted. Pārvatī went back to Himavān, who embraced her with great joy. She told them everything. Himavān now understood fully, and he announced the svayaṃvara to all the worlds.

The svayaṃvara

The invitation to the svayaṃvara was sent through the three worlds. All beings came.

The Aśvinīs, the twelve Ādityas, gandharvas, garuḍas, serpents, yakshas, siddhas, sādhyas, daityas, kiṃpurushas, mountains and oceans came. All the great beings of the three worlds gathered.
Thirty-three thousand, thirty-three hundred and thirty-three koṭi beings came.
Vishṇu came laughing and said to Meru: “Pārvatī is Devī herself. She is our own Devī. I will not compete for her hand. I will only bow to her and be honoured.”

Pārvatī sat in a beautiful golden vimāna (divine chariot) decorated with jewels and ornaments. Apsarās danced before her and gandharvas sang. Kinnaras and vandis (praise-singers) sang her praises. Her sakhī Śālinī stood near her, holding a garland of Kalpavṛksha flowers. The three worlds stood watching.

Śiva appears as a small child

Then something wonderful happened. Śiva, Vṛshabhadhvaja, appeared at the svayaṃvara as a small child (śiśu), in Pārvatī’s arms or sitting near her. The sakhī cried out: “Who is this child?”

What followed was swift and complete. Every being who raised a weapon, or made any act of attack, was held still.

Indra raised his vajra arm to strike the child. His arm froze in that position and could not move or let go.
Agni raised his śakti weapon and could not throw it.
Yama raised his daṇḍa and could not use it.
Nirṛti drew his sword (khaḍga), and it was stopped.
Varuṇa swung his noose (pāśa) toward the child, and it melted away.
Vāyu raised the dhvajastambha (flagstaff), and it was stopped.
Candra raised his guḍa weapon, and it froze.
Kubera raised his mace (gadā), and it was stilled.
The twelve Ādityas raised weapons of many kinds. None could move.
The Vasus raised the pestle (musala), and it was stopped.
The daityas, including Tāraka and the others, raised their own terrible astras (missile weapons) and could not release them.
Every being in all three worlds was frozen. Pūshan, a form of Sūrya, ground his teeth and stared at the child, stunned. When Śiva looked at him, his teeth fell out. Bhaga, also a form of Sūrya, tried to frighten the child with wide eyes. When Śiva saw him, Bhaga lost his sight.
In that moment Śambhu drew away the power, tejas (radiance) and yoga of all beings.

Brahmā understands and the devas submit

Brahmā went into dhyāna (meditation) and saw what Hara was doing. He came at once and praised Śiva with great humility. Then he turned to all the devas and said: “O foolish devas! You came here knowing that this Mahādevī is Śiva’s wife. Even so you came to compete. You knew, and still you entered this folly. If asuras take your kingdom, it is a fitting result. Yet it is also true that we are paśus (bound beings), and Śiva is our paśupati (master of the bound). We are moved by his māyā. Now know him, and seek śaraṇa (refuge).”

All the devas, their pride gone, bowed full length before Śiva. They said: “Mahādeva! We have done wrong. We came here even though we knew this is your Mahādevī. Forgive us. You are Parameśvara, the ātmā within all. By your māyā this whole world turns. We came, led by the confusion your māyā brings. Now we surrender.”

Śiva was pleased by their surrender. He gave back to them all their strength, tejas and yoga as they were before.

The daityas leave and Pārvatī places her garland

The daityas heard Śiva’s huṃkāra (thunderous sound). At once they were overcome. They forgot why they had come and forgot the svayaṃvara completely. They wandered back to their own cities in confusion. The text calls this Śiva’s prabhāva (power): a single sound dissolved their purpose.

Then Brahmā, in front of all the devas, praised Śiva with the old holy names, with sāma-gīta (Sāma chant) and the secret names from the Vedas. He said: “Mahādeva! Mahādevī! Namaskāra! By your prasāda (grace) the mind and all the movements of the world go on. O devas! You did not know Śaṃkara. Know him now! Surrender at once, if you wish to live!”

Śiva was moved by the devas’ surrender. He showed his divya-śarīra (divine body), his form beyond this world. All the devas who had gathered were given divya-cakshu (divine sight). Brahmā, Himavān and Pārvatī also received this gift, so that they could see Śiva’s true form. With divine eyes all of them saw Maheśvara in his fullness.

The munis chanted the Sāma. The sky-dwellers (khecaras) showered flowers. Divine drums (dundubhis) were beaten. Gandharvas and others sang. The groups of apsarās danced. All the gaṇas who guard Śiva rejoiced. Pārvatī herself was filled with great joy.

Brahmā and the devas thought: “Now Pārvatī is complete. Śiva is here. All is fulfilled.” Pārvatī, calm and joyful, took the fragrant divine vara-māla (garland of choice) and placed it at Śiva’s feet. The Kaumārika Khaṇḍa says that she placed the garland at his feet, not at his neck. “Jaya Śaṃkara!” sang the devas in joy. They bowed with their heads on the ground before Śiva and Pārvatī Devī.

Sources

Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Māheśvara Khaṇḍa, Kaumārika Khaṇḍa, Chapter 25