Shiva and Parvati: Symbol of Divine Love and Faithfulness

In Hinduism, even the gods fall in love and marry the person of their choice. One such couple who marry for love is Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati. Unlike many other Hindu deities, Shiva is monogamous and is associated only with Parvati, who took rebirth to unite with him in another life. In an earlier life, she was Sati, the daughter of Daksha, who immolated herself on her father’s Yagna fire when he humiliated Shiva. She was reborn as Parvati, the daughter of Himavat, the king of the mountains, and married Shiva after rigorous penance.

The love story of Shiva and Parvati is full of passion, adoration, devotion, and fidelity. It has the power to inspire and move one’s heart. Together, they embody love, passion, and faithfulness. It is the reason why young, unmarried men and women worship this divine duo to find true love and have a blissful marriage.

It is said that one must worship them together if the worship is not to be in vain. Such is the significance they have in each other's life.

This article is an attempt to explain why Shiva and Parvati symbolize divine love and union in marriage.

Durga is the hero and defender goddess. She rides on the back of a brutal tiger, surging into a fight and obliterating evil. Kali is the maker and destroyer goddess. Her blood-drenched sword cuts the obligations of obliviousness and ego, which are represented by the cut-off head she holds in one of her many hands.

Goddess Parvati has many forms the Love Goddess, Kamakshi, the Goddess of abundance, Annapurna, Kali, the destroyer of evil, etc. Shiva, too, has several forms- the cosmic dancer Nataraja, the handsome mendicant Bhikshadanar, Adiyogi, the androgynous Ardhanarishwara, Pashupata, the Lord of animals, etc. Together, they are the ultimate power couple in Hindu religion.

Sati and Parvati

Sati was the daughter of King Daksha. When she fell in love with Shiva, Daksha was not pleased. He did not think Shiva was husband material for his beloved daughter, as Shiva wore tigerskin and hung out at burial grounds with a bunch of ghouls and goblins. But Sati was adamant about marrying Shiva, so Daksha had no choice but to perform their marriage.

Once, Daksha performed a Yagna, to which he invited all the deities, kings, and sages. But he pointedly did not issue an invitation to Sati and Shiva. Despite Shiva’s misgivings and entreaties not to go, an indignant Sati went to the Yagna. However, Daksha insulted Sati and Shiva. A humiliated Sati immolated herself in the Yagna fire.

On hearing this, a furious Shiva destroyed the Yagna and decapitated Daksha. Overwhelmed by grief, he then took Sati’s body and began his dance of cosmic destruction, the Tandava. To prevent Shiva from annihilating the world and bring him back to his senses, Vishnu sent his discus and severed Sati’s body into many pieces, which fell to different places on Earth. At these sites, the Shakti Peethas came up, and the Shakta or Mother Goddess cult emerged.

Meanwhile, Shiva went into deep meditation, sequestering himself from the world. Taking advantage of Shiva’s withdrawal, the evil demon Tarakasura wrangled a boon from Brahma that only a son of Shiva could kill him. Thinking that he was invincible as Shiva had no son, Tarakasura began to unleash chaos in all the 3 worlds.

Meanwhile, Sati who had been reborn as Parvati fell in love with Shiva and was determined to wed him. She undertook severe penance to woo Shiva. The Gods, to help her along, sent Kamadeva, the god of love, to disturb Shiva’s meditation.

Struck by Kama’s arrow, Shiva opened his eyes. On seeing Kama, he became angry and opened his 3rdeye, burning Kama to death. But the gods intervened and explained to him about Tarakasura’s boon. Shiva agreed to marry Parvati, but he wanted to test Parvati's commitment first. He approached Parvati in the guise of an old man and spoke badly about himself to her.

Parvati became very annoyed and was about to leave when Shiva revealed himself to her. As he was convinced of her love, he agreed to marry her. Kartikeya, also called Skanda, Muruga, Subramanya, etc., was born to them and he slew Tarakasura.

Parvati’s Penance

Even as a child, Parvati felt an intense love for Shiva. She would sit in the forest glade adorning his feet with flowers, uttering his name, and fantasizing about Shiva opening his eyes and embracing her. However, despite doing rigorous penance, Shiva continued to meditate.

Finally, Parvati told Kama to shoot one of his flower-tipped arrows into Shiva's heart. She felt it would work.

Kama’s arrow struck Shiva’s heart and awakened him. But all he felt was anger, and so he opened his 3rd eye. Kama was reduced to ashes. Then Shiva shut his eyes again and withdrew into himself. Parvati was forced to think of another strategy.

She did penance on one leg, standing on hot coals for a millennium. For the next millennium, she stood on one leg on snow. During her penance, she developed her own power to the extent that Shiva, deep in meditation, felt her essence and came out of his meditation. Later, they got married.

Ardhnarishwara

After doing many things to please him, Parvati won Shiva’s heart, and they got married. Shiva loved Parvati immensely and wanted to share all his experiences with her.

Parvati also wished to share the ecstasy that Shiva felt. Shiva told her to sit on his lap. So, Parvati sat on his left lap.

Shiva then pulled her in and made her one-half of his body. Thus, Shiva and Parvati merged into one. This form of Shiva is Ardhanarishwara.

Ardhanarishwara contains three words: "Ardha," "Nari," and "Ishwara," meaning "half," "woman," and "lord," respectively. Together, it means the Lord, whose one-half is a woman. Ardhanareeshvara represents a productive and generative power. It signifies male and female standards that cannot be separated. It is the union of Purush and Prakriti, two contrary energies in the universe. Purush is the male half, while Prakriti is the female half.

Ardhanarishvara also represents the two different lifestyles of Shiva and Parvati, with the former being an ascetic and the latter being a householder.

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