Gaurī Pārvatī

Gaurī is a devī, the wife of Bhagavān Śiva (Rudra). The Purāṇas speak of her under several names: Gaurī, Satī or Dākṣāyaṇī, Umā, Kṛṣṇā and Pārvatī. The Varāha Purāṇa tells of three births of Gaurī.

Her births, her tapas (austerity), her marriage to Bhagavān Śiva, the worship of her image and the vrata (vow) of Tṛtīyā are all told in the Purāṇas. Here is what the Varāha, Agni, Liṅga, Brahma Vaivarta and Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇas say about her.

Three births of Gaurī

The Varāha Purāṇa traces three births of Gaurī.

First birth: from Brahmā

The Varāha Purāṇa (Chapter 21) says that Brahmā made Gaurī directly from his own body, to be the wife of Rudra. Rudra refused to create. So Brahmā created Dakṣa and other mind-born sons.

The Marīci group did a great yajña (fire ritual). Marīci was the Brahmā priest, Atri did the yajña-karma, Aṅgiras was Agnīdhra, Pulastya was Hotā, Pulaha was Udgātā and Kratu was Prastotā.

At this yajña Brahmā gave Gaurī to Dakṣa as a daughter. Dakṣa in turn gave her to Rudra in the proper way. Rudra took her as his wife, and Brahmā gave them Kailāsa as their home.

Second existence: Satī, Dākṣāyaṇī

The Varāha Purāṇa (Chapter 21) points to the later role of Satī and to her giving up (tyāga) of her earlier body. It does not tell the full story of Satī. Gaurī made this resolve:

“He (Śiva) harmed my father (Dakṣa) and ruined his yajña. I will take another body. I will perform tapas and again enter his house.”

Third birth: Umā, daughter of Himavān

The Varāha Purāṇa (Chapter 22) says that after Gaurī gave up her Satī body, she was born again as the daughter of Himavān (the Himālaya). She was named Umā. In her time of tapas she was also called Kṛṣṇā, “the dark one”.

Her tapas

Umā went to the mountain Himavān to do tapas. She made this resolve: “Only that three-eyed one (Parameśvara) shall be my husband.” She kept up hard austerities until her body became like a lamp lit by an inner fire.

The test by Śiva

Mahādeva came to her as an old, weak brāhmaṇa asking for food. She gave him fruits and asked him to bathe in the Gaṅgā nearby. There a great crocodile, made by māyā, seized the old brāhmaṇa. He cried out for her to pull him free.

Umā faced a hard choice.

• She could not touch a husband without marriage rites.
• If she did not pull him free, she would bring on herself brahmahatyā, the death of a brāhmaṇa.

She chose to save him and took his hand. The moment she touched him, Śiva showed his true form. He teased her: “You have held my hand. How can you let it go now?”

Umā answered with modesty and firm purpose: “You are Maheśvara, my chosen lord in all births. But only my father has the right to give me in marriage. I shall go and ask him.”

The marriage

The Varāha Purāṇa (Chapter 22) says that Himavān gladly agreed, and Brahmā approved. Himavān sent the mountains, with Mandara as the messenger, to invite Bhagavān Śiva. A great wedding assembly met. It included:

• Tumburu, Nārada, Hāhā, Hūhū, Kinnaras, Asuras and Rākṣasas
• Mountains, rivers, smaller hills and plants, all in personal forms
• The seven seas as holy vessels (kalaśa)
• The sun and moon as lamps
• The rivers giving holy water

Śiva did the pāṇigrahaṇa (taking of the hand). Brahmā blessed the couple: “Daughter, your husband is the greatest among men. You are the greatest among women.”

Himavān gave attendants as gifts, and Kailāsa was set as their home. All the beings left in joy.

Forms and meaning

The Varāha Purāṇa (Chapter 17, in its teaching on the devas in the body) names Gaurī as:

• Vāk or Sarasvatī: speech, the tongue.
• Ākāśa: when she steps out of the body, as the ākāśa-tattva (the element of space).
• Māyā or Durgā: the māyā part of the body, which goes out and is taken in again.

In Chapter 28, Gaurī, as Durgā, appears on her own. She is the power (gāyatrī) born of Brahmā’s kṣetra. She comes out of the first waters to slay Vaitrāsura.

The Tṛtīyā vrata

The Varāha Purāṇa says that the events of Gaurī’s birth and marriage took place on a Tṛtīyā, the third day of the lunar fortnight. So Tṛtīyā is sacred to her.

The observance. Women, and men too, should not take salt (uppu) on Tṛtīyā. A woman who fasts and avoids salt on Tṛtīyā gains saubhāgya (good fortune and happiness in marriage). Women in any condition who keep this and hear the account of Gaurī gain health, shine, nourishment (puṣṭi) and the fulfilment of all wishes.

Gaurī in the Agni Purāṇa: form and consecration

The Agni Purāṇa speaks of Gaurī in two ways. Chapter 50 gives her form as Caṇḍī or Durgā. Chapter 98, the Gaurī-pratiṣṭhā-vidhi, gives the full rite for consecrating her image. Parameśvara tells it to Skanda.

Form of Durgā or Caṇḍī

The Agni Purāṇa (Chapter 50) describes Caṇḍī with twenty arms, each holding a different weapon.

• The right hands hold: śūla, khaḍga, śakti, cakra, pāśa, kheṭaka, āyudha, abhaya and ḍamaru.
• The left hands hold: nāgapāśa, kheṭaka, kuṭhāra, aṅkuśa, pāśa, ghaṇṭā, āyudha, gadā, darpaṇa and mudgara.

A ten-armed form is also given as another choice.

Caṇḍī has three eyes (trinetra). Her right foot stands on a lion, and her left foot stands on the buffalo-asura Mahiṣāsura. His cut-off head lies below her. From his neck the asura comes out in human form with a weapon, vomiting blood. The lion drinks the blood of the fallen asura. The nine-petalled lotus is the āsana (seat) for the full Durgā-pūjā.

An eighteen-armed form of Durgā (aṣṭādaśabhujā) is also given. In the right hands she holds: muṇḍa, kheṭaka, darpaṇa, tarjanī, dhanuḥ, dhvaja, ḍamaru, carma and pāśa. In the left hands she holds: śakti, mudgara, śūla, vajra, khaḍga, aṅkuśa, bāṇa, cakra and śalākā.

The Gaurī-pratiṣṭhā rite

The Agni Purāṇa (Chapter 98) gives the consecration (pratiṣṭhā) of Gaurī’s image in the full Āgama form. First comes the building of the maṇḍapa (hall) and the śayyādhivāsana, the ritual sleeping of the image. Then the ācārya (the teacher who leads the rite) does the following.

First he offers pūjā to the ādhāra-śakti, the supporting power of the earth, with “Oṃ Āṃ Ādhāraśaktaye Namaḥ.” The pīṭha (pedestal) is made holy in this order: Kūrma, Ananta, Nārāyaṇa, Aiśvarya and the lotus stalk. The karṇikā (the centre of the lotus) is honoured with “Oṃ Hrīṃ Karṇikāyai Namaḥ.” Then the three śaktis (powers), Puṣṭi, Jñānā and Kriyā, are set on the petals.

The Gaurī-mūla-mantra is:

Oṃ Hrīṃ Saḥ Mahāgauri Rudradayite Svāhā Gauryai Namaḥ.

The aṅga-mantras use these syllables: Gaṃ (heart, hṛdaya), Gīṃ (head, śiras), Gūṃ (tuft, śikhā), Grauṃ (armour, kavaca), Gauṃ (the three eyes, netra-traya) and Gaḥ (weapon, astra). They end with the dedications to Vijñānaśakti and Kriyāśakti.

After the prāṇa-pratiṣṭhā (giving life to the image), the eight directional forms of Durgā are set in the eight directions. They are Rudracaṇḍā, Pracaṇḍā, Caṇḍogrā, Caṇḍanāyikā, Caṇḍā, Caṇḍavatī, Caṇḍarūpā and Aticaṇḍikā. The ninth form, Ugracaṇḍā, is set in the centre.

The phala (fruit) of the Gaurī-pratiṣṭhā is given as the grace of Śiva, wealth (sons and riches) and the removal of all obstacles.

Gauryādi-pūjā in the Agni Purāṇa

Chapter 326 of the Agni Purāṇa gives a full system of Gauryādi-pūjā. It is the pūjā of Gaurī together with the group of devīs around her. Parameśvara tells it, and says it gives bhukti (enjoyment) and mukti (liberation), as well as saubhāgya and other blessings. The chapter teaches the mantra, dhyāna, maṇḍala, mudrā, homa and phala of this pūjā.

Mūla-mantra and nyāsa

The Agni Purāṇa (Chapter 326) gives the mūla-mantra of Gaurī-devī as “Gaurī-mūrtaye namaḥ.” The pūjā-mantra is given as “Oṃ Hrīṃ Saḥ Śāṃ Gauryai Namaḥ.”

From these, the three-syllable root joined with “namaḥ” and other endings forms the base of the ṣaḍaṅga-nyāsa, the placing of the six limbs. The praṇava (Oṃ) sets the āsana. The hṛdaya-mantra shapes the mūrti in the meditation of the one who worships. The kāla-bīja and the śiva-bīja are raised in turn. The longer jāti-yukta ṣaḍ-nyāsa uses the long-vowel forms (Yāṃ, Yīṃ and so on). The āsana-nyāsa is done with the praṇava, and the mūrti-nyāsa with the hṛdaya-mantra. The chapter also describes the Yāmala-mantra and the Eka-vīra form of the pūjā. The vyāpaka-nyāsa uses the agni-māyā-kula syllables.

Form and maṇḍala

The image of Gaurī for this pūjā may be made of gold, silver or stone. Another choice is a pañca-piṇḍa-pratimā, a five-body image. Four avyakta (unmanifest) images are set in the four directions, with the one vyakta (manifest) image in the centre.

In the āvaraṇa-pūjā (pūjā of the circle around her), the śaktis of Gaurī’s circle are honoured in turn.

• In the south-east and the other corner petals of an eight-petalled lotus: Lalitā, Subhagā, Gaurī and Kṣobhaṇī.
• In the east and the other main petals: Vāmā, Jyeṣṭhā, Kriyā and Jñānā.
• On the left side of the pīṭha: the avyakta form of Śiva.

Her manifest form has two or three eyes and is honoured together with the pure form of Śiva. She may sit on two pīṭhas or two lotuses. She has two, four, eight or eighteen arms. She sits on a lion (siṃha) or a wolf (vṛka).

• In the nine right hands: srak (garland), akṣa-sūtra (rosary), kalikā, muṇḍa (skull), utpala (blue lotus), piṇḍikā, bāṇa (arrow), cāpa (bow) and abhaya.
• In the nine left hands: pustaka (book), tāmbūla, daṇḍa, abhaya, kamaṇḍalu, Gaṇeśa, darpaṇa (mirror), bāṇa and cāpa.

The maṇḍala is a square one. Its central nāga-koṣṭha holds three-petalled (tri-dala) lotuses, and a half-moon figure (ardha-candra) is drawn in the upper part of each triangle. Each direction gets three doorways (dvāras). Or a Sarvatobhadra-maṇḍala is set up and the pūjā is done on it.

Mudrās and homa

The chapter gives both vyakta (clear) and avyakta (hidden) mudrās for this pūjā. To offer the āsana, the padma-mudrā is shown. When Śiva is worshipped together with Gaurī, the liṅga-mudrā, also called the śiva-mudrā, is shown. The āvāhanī-mudrā is used to call both together, and the śakti-mudrā, known as the yoni-mudrā, completes the set.

The worshipper faces north and offers red flowers (rakta-puṣpa). One hundred offerings of ghee in the homa, followed by the pūrṇāhuti (final offering), give all siddhis. After the homa, three or eight young girls (kumārikās) are to be fed, and the naivedya of the pūjā is given to the devotees of Śiva.

Phala of the Gauryādi-pūjā

The Agni Purāṇa (Chapter 326) states the results of this pūjā plainly.

• One who wants a daughter gets a daughter.
• One without sons gets sons.
• A woman in misfortune (durbhāgya) gains saubhāgya.
• A king wins in battle and gains his kingdom.
• Eight lakh repetitions of the mantra give vāk-siddhi (mastery of speech) and bring the devatās under the control of the worshipper.

The chapter adds the Mṛtyuñjaya-pūjā as a partner rite. Mṛtyuñjaya has four faces and four arms. He holds a kalaśa in two hands, and the varada and abhaya in the other two. The kumbha-mudrā is shown. The homa uses kṣīra (milk), dūrvā grass, ghee, amṛta, punarnavā, pāyasa and puroḍāśa. Before the homa, ten thousand japas of the mantra are done. The phala of the Mṛtyuñjaya-pūjā is ārogya (health), aiśvarya (wealth) and dīrghāyus (long life). Medicine made holy with this mantra becomes auspicious. Meditation on Mṛtyuñjaya, or his pūjā, removes untimely death (apamṛtyu).

Pārvatī in the Śrī Kṛṣṇa Janana Khaṇḍa

The Śrī Kṛṣṇa Janana Khaṇḍa of the Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa (Chapters 38–46) tells at length the story of Pārvatī. It begins with her earlier birth as Satī. It goes on through her tapas, the burning of Manmatha, her marriage to Śiva, and their union of one thousand years. Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa tells it to Rādhādevī as part of a series of garvabhaṅga (pride-breaking) accounts.

Earlier birth as Satī (Chapter 38)

Devī was born in the house of Dakṣa as Satī. She was the daughter of the great Prajāpati Dakṣa and the dharma-patnī (wife in dharma) of Śiva. Her death at the yajña of Dakṣa began the cycle of her births. She could not bear the insult to Śiva there, and she gave up her body by drawing in her life through yoga. After the death of Satī, she was born again in the house of Himavat as Pārvatī.

Pārvatī’s youth and pride in her beauty (Chapter 38)

Pārvatī was born to Himavat, the king of the mountains and the person of the Himālaya, and his queen Menā. She grew into a beauty greater than all the wives of the devas. An ākāśavāṇī (divine voice from the sky) said: “Perform tapas; Śiva will be your husband.”

Even so, Pārvatī was proud of her beauty. She thought that Śiva would simply come to her without the effort of tapas. She did the daily Ṣoḍaśopacāra pūjā of Śiva, but without the needed tapas. Bhagavān Śiva himself visited the home of Himavat and blessed her, but he did not ask for her hand.

Manmatha burned and her pride broken (Chapter 39)

Indra sent Manmatha to disturb the tapas of Śiva, so that Śiva would turn to Pārvatī. Manmatha shot his arrow of love at Śiva. Śiva’s third eye opened at once. A jet of fire came from it and burned Manmatha to ash. Rati fell down in grief.

Pārvatī saw this. The one she had been relying on without effort was destroyed before her eyes. Her pride was fully broken. She understood that she must do tapas herself. She left the palace and went to the forest.

Pārvatī’s tapas (Chapter 39)

Year one. She took no food, bathed three times a day, and did japa of the mantra without a break, in devotion to Śiva.

Year two: the pañca-tapas. This was the hardest form of austerity.

• In Grīṣma (summer), she sat among five fires (pañca-agni): the blazing sun above and four fires in the four directions.
• In Varṣā (the rains), she sat in a śmaśāna (cremation ground) in pouring rain.
• In Śīta (winter), she stayed in cold water.

When Pārvatī was about to enter the fire in her final resolve, Bhagavān Śiva appeared as a young brāhmaṇa student (brahmacārī), blessed her and vanished. This confirmed her tapas. Pārvatī went home in a grand procession.

The wedding arrangements (Chapters 40–44)

Śiva came to the gate of Himavat as a bhikṣuka (wandering beggar). He asked for Pārvatī herself as alms (bhikṣā). Menā strongly refused, for she thought Śiva was not a fitting husband. The devas sent the Saptarṣis (seven ṛṣis) with Arundhatī, the wife of Vasiṣṭha and the highest of devoted wives (pativratā), to advise Himavat and Menā. Vasiṣṭha gave a great talk on the true nature of Śiva.

Himavat agreed and gave Pārvatī to Śiva.

The auspicious time. The wedding was set for Mārgaśīra Somavāra (a Monday in the month of Mārgaśīra), under the Rohiṇī nakṣatra.

The wedding (Chapter 45)

Bhagavān Śiva came in a divine jewelled chariot (ratna-ratha), in a beautiful young form given by the grace of Nārāyaṇa. The women of the palace of Himavat fainted at his divine beauty.

Sixteen pativratās present. Sarasvatī, Lakṣmī, Sāvitrī, Jāhnavī (Gaṅgā), Rati, Aditi, Śacī, Lopāmudrā, Arundhatī, Ahalyā, Tulasī, Svāhā, Rohiṇī, Bhūdevī, Śatarūpā and Saṃjñā did auspicious rites. Each made a witty remark about the strange look of Śiva. Śiva answered each one: “You are all like mothers to me.”

Manmatha revived. Rati begged for the return of Manmatha to life. Śiva turned his kṛpā-dṛṣṭi (look of grace) on the ash, and Manmatha came back to life.

Union after the wedding (Chapter 46)

Śiva and Pārvatī were joined in one unbroken union of a thousand years at holy places, among them Śataśṛṅga, Malaya and Gandhamādana. This caused disturbance in the cosmos. The earth shook, Śeṣa strained, and the seven vāyus (winds) paused. Nārāyaṇa did not break in, for the karma of mithuna-bhaṅga (interrupting a married couple’s union) is severe. After a thousand years, the fallen tejas of Śiva would in time give birth to Skanda (Kārttikeya).

The ban on the nirmālya of Hara (Chapter 37)

Chapter 37 tells how the ban on eating the nirmālya (offering left over) of Śiva began. Śiva received the prasāda of Kṛṣṇa, brought by Sanatkumāra. In his joy of bhakti he did not share it with Pārvatī. When Pārvatī learned this, she was deeply hurt. Śiva said sorry through a stotra in her praise. Then Pārvatī made this decree: “Those who eat Śiva’s nirmālya shall take birth as dogs.” This ban, kept among Vaiṣṇava and Śaiva traditions, goes back to this event.

Pārvatī in the Liṅga Purāṇa

Satī as the female half of Ardhanārīśvara (Chapter 5)

The Liṅga Purāṇa gives its own account of the origin of Satī. At the start of creation, Brahmā saw Parameśvara in the Ardhanārīśvara form, the one form that is both male and female. He asked that the two halves be parted, so that the world could be filled through separate male and female principles.

The female half of Ardhanārīśvara parted and became Satī. She then came into the care of Dakṣa as his mānasa-kanyā (mind-born daughter). The text says: “All women in the three worlds are aṃśas of Satī; all men are aṃśas of Parameśvara.” So Brahmā told Dakṣa to do ārādhanā of Ādiśakti and to have a daughter. Dakṣa raised Satī and, with love and respect, gave her to Kailāsapati (Bhagavān Śiva) as his wife.

The Liṅga Purāṇa also has a śloka on the resolve of Satī:

dākṣāyaṇī satī yā sā pārśvaṃ rudrasya pārvatī |
paścāddakṣaṃ viniṃdyaiṣā — patiṃ lebhe bhavaṃ tadā ||

It means: Satī, the daughter of Dakṣa, after she blamed Dakṣa for the insult to Śiva, was born again as Pārvatī and again chose Bhava (Parameśvara) as her lord.

Gaṅgā and Umā, daughters of Menā and Himavān (Chapter 6)

The Liṅga Purāṇa gives the birth of Umā and her older brothers and sister in a well-known śloka:

Asūta Menā Maiñākaṃ — Krauñcaṃ tasyānujām Umāṃ |
Gaṅgāṃ Haimāvatīṃ jajñe — bhavāṅga-śleṣa-pāvanīm ||

It means: Menā bore Maiñāka, Krauñca and Umā. She also gave birth to Gaṅgā, the daughter of Himavān (Haimāvatī), who was made pure by the touch of the body (aṅga-śleṣa) of Bhava (Śiva). So the Liṅga Purāṇa places Umā (Pārvatī) and Gaṅgā as sisters, born in the same divine mountain household. It gives the holiness of Gaṅgā to her touch with the body of Parameśvara.

Umādevī from Ardhanārīśvara (Chapter 41)

The Liṅga Purāṇa says that in one cosmic cycle Brahmā died through grief. Bhagavān Maheśvara then appeared from the face of Brahmā in the prāṇa-granthi-rūpa form (the form of the knot of life-force). He took the form of Ardhanārīśvara. From his own half-aṃśa (half-part), Umādevī came into being.

As soon as she came forth, Umādevī began to create the divine feminine powers. She brought forth Durgādevī, Lakṣmīdevī, Sarasvatīdevī and countless other śaktis. Here the Liṅga Purāṇa names Umā not only as the wife of Śiva but as the source of all divine feminine powers, a direct extension of the being of Parameśvara. Bhagavān Maheśvara then declared her to be Māyā herself: eternal (ajā), birthless, and the inseparable power of the Paramātmā.

Pārvatī’s love for Nandī and the holy rivers (Chapter 43)

One of the most tender passages in the Liṅga Purāṇa is the presenting of young Nandikeśvara to Pārvatī by Bhagavān Parameśvara. Parameśvara had given Nandī deathlessness and a divine form. He took Nandī by the hand to Pārvatī and said, “This child is your son.”

Jagadambā (Pārvatī) drew Nandī to her, smelled the top of his head (the way of a mother’s love), and gently stroked him with her hands. In the overflow of her pure mother’s love (mātṛ-sneha), three streams of breast-milk mixed with divine nectar flowed from her hands. They anointed Nandī in a spontaneous abhiṣeka. The three streams joined and became a holy river called Trisoḥ (Trisotā), flowing out from that very place.

Nandī was overcome with joy and gave a great cry, the vṛṣa-dhvani (the sound of the bull). That sound too became a river, known as Vṛṣadhvani.

Parameśvara then put his own golden crown, set with gems, on the head of Nandī. He adorned him with kuṇḍalas (ear-rings) set with diamonds and sapphires. Clouds rained sweet, cool water on the occasion, and that water became the river Svarṇodaka. The holy water from the golden crown itself flowed into the river Jāmbūnadī.

With Jaṭodaka (water from the jaṭā of Parameśvara, let go earlier), these five rivers are the Pañcanadī, the five holy streams that rise at the tīrtha of Japyeśvara. The Liṅga Purāṇa says that one who bathes in these five rivers and does pūjā of Japyeśvara reaches mokṣa at the end of his prārabdha (karma that has begun to bear fruit).

Pārvatī at Kāñcīpura

The Lalitopākhyāna of the Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa (Chapter 40) holds an account of the tapas of Pārvatīdevī at Kāñcīpura. Once at Kailāsa, Pārvatī playfully covered the two eyes of Parameśvara from behind. The eyes of Śiva are the sun and the moon. So the three worlds fell into complete darkness. All acts of dharma stopped, the ṛṣis could not do their tapas, and all Vedic rites (vaidika karma) became impossible.

Parameśvara told Pārvatī gently but firmly that by this act, though unintended, she had gained a pāpa (sin) and must do tapas to clear it. He sent her first to Kāśī and then to Kāñcīpura.

Pārvatī went to Kāñcīpura and settled on the bank of the Kampā river. She placed a tulasī plant before her and did deep tapas. There she had darśana of Kāmākṣīdevī, who is Lalitā in her lasting form at the Kāmakoti Pīṭha. By the grace of Kāmākṣī, the pāpa of darkening the world was cleared, and Pārvatī went back to Kailāsa.

Sources

• Varāha Mahā Purāṇa, Chapters 17, 21, 22, 28
• Agni Mahā Purāṇa, Chapters 50, 98, 326
• Liṅga Purāṇa, Pūrvārdha (Chapters 5, 6, 41, 43)
• Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Śrī Kṛṣṇa Janana Khaṇḍa, Chapters 37–46
• Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa, Lalitopākhyāna, Chapter 40