Pārvatī Becomes Gaurī
Chapter 28 of the Vāmana Mahā Purāṇa holds three connected accounts. Pārvatī leaves Śiva after he calls her “Kālī” and receives a golden form. The devī Kauśikī is born from the dark kośa (covering) she sheds. And Gaṇeśa is made from the paste of her bath. The chapter also tells of the devas’ fear of a son born to Śiva, of Agni’s part in it, of Pārvatī’s śāpa (curse) on the devas, and of Śiva naming Gaṇeśa Vināyaka and leader of all the gaṇas.
Śiva calls Pārvatī “Kālī”
In their life together Śiva called Pārvatī “Kālī”, the dark one. This pointed to her first dark colour, as a daughter of Himavān. Pārvatī was deeply hurt. Being called by the name of her darker side by her own husband was not a pet name to her but an insult to her dignity. Full of wounded pride and the firm resolve that had driven her earlier tapas, she left the golden palace and went into the forest to do tapas again. (Chapter 28)
Tapas and the tiger
In the forest Pārvatī did tapas, and a tiger in the same forest also took up tapas of its own. (Chapter 28)
Brahmā’s vara and the golden form
Brahmā was pleased with the tapas of Pārvatī and appeared before her. He gave her the vara (boon) she wanted: her outer kośa, her dark covering, would be taken away and she would receive a bright golden form. The dark kośa was peeled off, and Pārvatī came out as Gaurī, golden, shining and fair. The darkness of her birth was shed. She became the embodiment of śubha-śakti (auspicious power), which holds up the world. (Chapter 28)
Kauśikī is born from the dark kośa
From the dark outer kośa that Pārvatī had cast off, an independent devī was born: Kauśikī. She rose from the dark covering with an identity and power of her own, and carried the fierce, dark side of Pārvatī’s nature. Indra saw the great power of Kauśikī and took her to the Vindhya mountains. There he set her as Vindhyavāsinī, the devī who lives in the Vindhyas.
Chapter 19 tells that Kātyāyanī settled in the Vindhya mountains as Vindhyavāsinī. In the Vāmana Purāṇa, Kauśikī, born from the kośa of Pārvatī, and Vindhyavāsinī are the same. (Chapter 28)
Pārvatī returns, and the thousand years
With her dark kośa gone and her golden form gained, Pārvatī went back to Śiva as shining Gaurī. Their reunion was the full completion of the divine marriage. The text tells of a thousand years of union between Śiva and Pārvatī. (Chapter 28)
The devas’ fear
As the union of Śiva and Pārvatī went on through long ages, the devas became afraid. They saw that a son born of Śiva’s immeasurable tejas and the tapas power of Pārvatī would be so mighty that he would push Indra from his place in svarga. Fear of being replaced made them act. They sent Agni, the deva of fire, who can enter anywhere, to go in as a haṃsa (swan) and break up the union. Agni took on this hard and dangerous task. The union was broken, and Śiva, seeing what had happened, agreed to stop. (Chapter 28)
Pārvatī’s śāpa on the devas
Pārvatī was furious. The devas had interfered with the union of Śiva and his wife out of selfish fear for the place of Indra, and she saw this as great presumption. She pronounced a śāpa (a curse) on the devas: from then on none of their wives would bear sons. (Chapter 28)
Gaṇeśa is made from bath-paste
Pārvatī wanted a son of her own, one who would belong wholly to her. She made Gaṇeśa by her own power, without Śiva. She gathered the bath-paste (nalugu piṇḍi, the paste from her body at her bath), shaped it into a form, and gave it her own life-force. The being had the face of an elephant (gaja-mukha). The child was wholly the creation of Pārvatī, born of her śakti and her will alone. (Chapter 28)
Śiva names him Vināyaka and makes him leader of the gaṇas
Śiva saw the being his wife had made and named him Vināyaka: the one who removes obstacles and leads without another leader (vi-nāyaka). Śiva made Vināyaka the leader of all the gaṇas, the great companies of attendants and powers who serve in the household of Śiva. So Gaṇeśa-Vināyaka became Gaṇapati, the lord of the gaṇas. His place at the head of all the gaṇas, and as remover of obstacles, comes from this appointment by Śiva himself. (Chapter 28)
Sources
- Vāmana Mahā Purāṇa, Chapter 28: Śiva calls Pārvatī “Kālī”, her tapas, Brahmā’s vara, the birth of Kauśikī, the thousand years, the devas’ fear and Agni, the śāpa of Pārvatī, the creation of Gaṇeśa, the naming of Vināyaka.
- Vāmana Mahā Purāṇa, Chapter 19: Kātyāyanī settled at the Vindhya mountains as Vindhyavāsinī.