Chapter 24 - Śiva consents to marry Pārvatī

[Sanskrit text for this chapter is available]

The gods said:—

1. Obeisance to lord Śiva, obeisance to the destroyer of Kāma; obeisance, obeisance to one worthy of eulogy; to one of profuse splendour, to the three-eyed lord.

2. Obeisance to Śiva clad in skin; obeisance to the terrible, to the terrible-eyed, to great lord and to the lord of the three worlds.

3. You are the lord of worlds; you are the father, the mother and the lord; you are Śiva the benefactor. You are particularly compassionate.

4. You are the creator of all the worlds; O lord, you shall save us. O great God, except you who else is competent to destroy misery?

Brahmā said:—

5. On hearing these words of the gods, Nandikeśvara who was endowed with great sympathy began to inform Śiva.

Nandikeśvara said:—

6. O foremost among the gods, Viṣṇu, other gods, the sages and Siddhas eulogise you in order to see you. They are being threatened by Asuras. Hence they seek some remedy and resort to thy feet, the seat of great fearlessness.

7. Hence, O lord of all, the sages and the gods shall be protected by you. You have been particularly mentioned as the kinsman of the distressed and favourably disposed towards your devotees.

Brahmā said:—

8. Śiva, who was thus informed by Nandin and who was extremely sympathetic, slowly reverted from His meditation and opened His eyes.

9. Then lord Śiva, the highly efficient great Ātman, reverted from His trance and spoke to the gods.

Śiva said.—

10. “O great gods, Viṣṇu, Brahmā and others, why have you come near me? Mention the reason for the same.”

Brahmā said:—

11. On hearing these words of Śiva, all the gods rejoiced. They looked at Viṣṇu as if to induce him to speak.

12. Then Viṣṇu, the great devotee and benefactor of

the gods mentioned the matter of great importance of the gods as mentioned by me (before).

Viṣṇu said:—

13. “O Śiva, all the gods have come here to submit to you their misery perpetrated mysteriously by Tāraka.

14-15. O Śiva, the demon Tāraka will be killed only by your self-begotten son and not otherwise. Ponder over what I have said and take pity on me. Obeisance, O great lord, to you. O lord, redeem the gods from the misery brought about by Tāraka.

16. Hence, O lord Śiva, Pārvatī shall be accepted by you and grasped with your right hand. Accept her hand as offered in marriage by the lord of mountains. She is full of noble attributes.

17. On hearing those words of Viṣṇu, Śiva was pleased and said indicating to them the goal of the good, eager in Yogic feats as He was.

Śiva said:—

18-19. “If goddess Pārvatī, the most beautiful lady were to be accepted by me, she will be able to resuscitate Kāma on account of the marriage. Then all the gods, sages and ascetics will become lusty and incompetent in the great path of Yoga.

20. Kāma was burnt by me for the achievement of universal goal. It was at the suggestion of Brahmā, O Viṣṇu. No anxiety need be felt in this connection.

21. O lord of gods, O intelligent one, it is your duty not to be obdurate after considering the situation of what shall be done and what not.

22. O Viṣṇu, a great favour to the gods has been done by me when Kāma was burnt. May ye all stay free from lust certainly along with me.

23. Just as I, so also you, O gods, can without effort perform difficult tasks being endowed with the energy of great penance.

24. Kāma not being with you, you can be endowed with the supreme bliss and be free from aberrations by means of spiritual contemplation, O Gods.

25. O Brahmā, O Viṣṇu, O Indra, O sages and O gods, what had been done by Kāma formerly and forgotten by you may be recollected and pondered over.

26. O gods, meditation of everyone had been spoiled by the stubborn Kāma, the great archer formerly.

27. Kāma leads to hell; lust to anger, anger to delusion and delusion destroys penance.

28. Anger and lust shall be eschewed by you, the best of gods. My words shall be headed by you all and not otherwise.

Brahmā said:—

29. After saying thus, the bull-bannered lord Śiva expressed the wish that Brahmā, Viṣṇu, the gods and the sages, should speak.

30. Śiva became quiet after resorting to meditation again. Śiva, as before, was surrounded by His Gaṇas.

31-33. Śiva thought within Himself His own Soul, the form that is unsullied, free from distortions, aberrations and ailments, the form which is greater than the greatest, eternal, free from sense of possession, free from obsessions, beyond the ken of sounds and words, devoid of attributes and knowable through perfect wisdom. Thinking upon His own features thus in His meditation, the lord, the cause of great enjoyment and protection became engrossed in supreme bliss.

34. On seeing Śiva again engaged in meditation all the dwellers of heaven, Viṣṇu, Indra and others, humbly told Nandin.

The gods said:—

35. What shall we do now? Śiva has become detached and has gone on meditation. You are a companion of Śiva and pure assistant. You are omniscient.

36. O chief of the Gaṇas, we seek refuge in you. Please guide us. What is the remedy by which Śiva can be propitiated?

Brahmā said:—

37. O sage, thus urged by the gods, Viṣṇu and others, Nandin, the favourite Gaṇa of Śiva replied to the gods.

Nandīśvara said:—

38. O Viṣṇu, O Brahmā, O Indra, O gods and O sages, pay heed to my words gratifying to Śiva.

39. If you persist still in your wish that Śiva shall marry, you shall eulogise with respect and piteous request.

40. O gods, great lord cannot be made subservient by ordinary devotion. The supreme lord does even what shall not be done when moved by extraordinary devotion.

41. O Brahmā, Viṣṇu and other gods, then act accordingly, otherwise go the way you have come. Tarry not.

Brahmā said:—

42. O sage, on hearing his words, Viṣṇu and other gods, considering that it must be so, eulogised Śiva with pleasure.

43. O great lord, lord of the gods, O ocean of mercy, lift us up from the great distress. Save us who have sought refuge in you.

Brahmā said:—

44. Thus the gods eulogised Śiva with many piteous entreaties. They cried loudly being agitated by their devotion.

45. Viṣṇu accompanied by me spoke out many piteous words, remembering Śiva with great devotion.

46. Śiva was thus eulogised by the gods, Viṣṇu and me. He, the great lord, ceased His meditation due to His attachment for His devotees.

47. The delighted Śiva said heightening the pleasure of Viṣṇu and other gods, after glancing at them with merciful looks. Śiva is favourably disposed to His devotees.

Śiva said:—

48. O, Viṣṇu, O Brahmā, O Indra and other gods, why have you all collectively come here in my presence? Tell me the truth.

Viṣṇu said:—

49. O great lord, you are omniscient. You are the immanent being and the lord of all. Don’t you know what is in our mind? Still I speak at you bidding.

50. O Śiva, many kinds of miseries have befallen us due to the demon Tāraka. It is for that that you have been propitiated by the gods.

51. For attaining you Śivā is born of mountain Himācala. The demon’s death can be at the hands of your son alone begotten of her.

52. This is the boon granted to him by Brahmā. Incapable of being killed by others, the demon harasses the entire universe.

53. At the instance of Nārada, she is performing a great penance. All the three worlds consisting of the mobile and immobile beings have been enveloped by her refulgence.

54. O lord Śiva, please go and grant Śivā the boon. O lord, destroy our misery and bestow happiness on us.

55. O Śiva, there is a great enthusiasm in my heart as well as in those of the gods to witness your marriage. Please get it performed in a fitting manner.

56. The opportune moment for the fulfilment of the boon granted by you to Ratī has arrived. Make your promise fruitful.

Brahmā said:—

57. After saying this and bowing to and eulogising Him with different hymns, Viṣṇu, the gods and the sages, all of us waited in front of Him.

58. On hearing the words of the gods Śiva, subservient to His devotees, laughed and replied. Śiva is a strict preserver of Vedic conventions.

Śiva said:—

59. O Viṣṇu, O Brahmā, O gods, all of you please hear with attention. I am going to say a specific thing in a suitable manner.

60. Marrying is not a proper thing for men. Marriage is a great fetter that binds firmly.

61. There are many base bondages in the world. Association with women is the toughest of all. One can free oneself from all bondages except that of women.

62. Anyone bound with nooses of iron and timber can secure release but one bound with nooses of women never frees oneself.

63. Worldly enjoyment tightens the bondage. Salvation is inaccessible to a man drawn to worldly enjoyment even in his dream.

64. If he wishes for happiness, an intelligent man shall duly forsake all worldly pleasures. Worldly enjoyment that dooms persons is on a par with poison.

65. O Indra, a man attains downfall even by conversing with a sensuous person. Great preceptors say that worldly enjoyment is a bitter beer mixed with sugar.

66. Although I know and realise all these, although I have specific wisdom yet I shall accede to your request and make it fruitful.

67. I am definitely subservient to my devotees. Hence I may do everything. I am known all over the three worlds as one who performs ill fitting things.

68. The vow of the king of Assam (Kāmarūpa)^[1] was made fruitful. I saved king Sudakṣiṇā who had become a hireling and a prisoner.

69. I am the three-eyed God who bestows happiness but brought about the misery of Gautama. I especially curse those wicked persons who harass my devotees.

70. I have the feelings of endearment towards devotees. I drank up poison for the welfare of the gods. O gods, the miseries of the gods have always been removed by me.

71. For my devotees, I experienced many sufferings. I removed the misery of the sage Viśvānara by becoming a householder.

72. What is the use of talking much? O Viṣṇu, O Brahmā, I speak the truth. All of you know truly that I have vowed as follows.

73. Whenever any devotee of mine is involved in any adversity I remove it instantaneously and completely.

74. I know the sufferings you undergo from the demon Tāraka. I shall remove them. Truth, I tell you the truth.

75. Although I am not interested at all in dalliance I shall marry Pārvatī for begetting a son.

76. O gods, all of you go back to your respective abodes fearlessly. I shall achieve your task. In this respect you need not be anxious at all.

Brahmā said:—

77. O sage, after saying this, Śiva became silent and entered into spiritual contemplation. Viṣṇu and other gods went back to their respective abodes.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Kāmarūpa was also known as Prāgjyotiṣa. The designation applies to the country now called Assam. In ancient days it comprised the north-eastern part of Bengal and the western portion of Assam.