Shiva Kalayana Sundara
    
by Gregorian Bivolaru

Parvati was the young beautiful daughter of Mount Himalaya and of his wife Mena. As a young maid, Parvati was not interested in playing with other children. Since she was little she had the tendency to make profound meditations upon the Supreme Shiva, periodically going into retreats in the mountains. She wanted very much to be Shiva’s spiritual bride and lover.

 For this, she started a retreat in order to meditate uninterruptedly in the snowy mountains of Himalaya. Her parents hesitated to give her permission to do that, but the determination of the young girl, who was also extremely beautiful, sensual and full of vitality, convinced her parents. Then, Parvati went to an ashram in the mountains, doing all the meditations and tapas consecrated to Shiva.

Shiva, delighted by the extraordinary firmness and aspiration of this young girl, came Himself to the place where she meditating profoundly, in order to test the fervour of her devotion. Taking the form of an old aspirant, He approached the young girl. The young Parvati treated Him with all the respect due to an old man devoted to worshipping her beloved Shiva. Immediately, the old man told her that it is useless to waste her young years and energy doing all those severe austerities, and that it would be better if she married, since she was so young, so sensual and so beautiful. Moreover, the old man suggested that it would be best if she married him, who was a great worshipper of Shiva. What was the point, he added, to desire Shiva, the one dancing in graveyards and carrying bones and skulls for jewellery?

Parvati, who did not realize in the beginning that in the form of that old man was her beloved Shiva, became very angry at his words. Revolted, she told the old man that so far she had treated him with respect only because he seemed to be an honest worshipper of Shiva, but now he wants to distract her from her spiritual practice, therefore from that moment on she does not wish to hear any more blasphemies from him regarding Shiva. With a very firm and authoritative voice, she told the old man to leave that place immediately.

Delighted by the unshakable faith that the young beautiful Parvati had in worshipping Him, Shiva revealed Himself to her in the aspect already familiar to her. Parvati was pleasantly surprised by the unexpected apparition and apologized immediately for not recognizing Shiva in the old man. Shiva told her that He accepted her rebuke as an honest and profound call that expressed the longing of the young beautiful girl to embrace Him full of love. Was not that rebuke actually coming from a profound love for Shiva? Then, Shiva decided to offer to the young and beautiful Parvati the priceless gift that she strongly desired - to become His lover.

The royal family of the girl from Himalaya was delighted to find out that their beautiful beloved daughter was going to get married. The entire region was beautifully decorated and started to prepare for the celestial ceremony, full of bright divine rapture. Close to her ecstatic fusion with Shiva, Parvati was adorned and she radiated an unequalled divine happiness. Shiva was expected.

At the wedding ceremony, Shiva came riding a bull, with skulls and bones hanging on His body, for jewellery, and having a tiger skin around his waist. His wedding suite was made of a few cohorts of phantom spirits – Bhuta Gana – of the dead. Seeing this, the mother of the young bride fainted instantly, being very resentful at the thought that the groom of her sweet daughter, who was full of sensuality and more beautiful then any flower on Earth, looked so terrifying.
Reaching the wedding place, the divine groom Shiva immediately transformed His ascetic look and appeared to those present with an extremely beautiful face and clothes, full of brightness and wearing priceless jewellery, and wonderful garments. When the mother of the daughter, Mena, recovered from fainting, she was delighted by the appearance of her daughter’s groom and now she was very happy to see that He was most appropriate for her beloved daughter.
In the end she realized that Shiva’s mysterious divine game is unlimited. In this case, initially the mother of young Parvati could only see the exterior, apparent aspect of Shiva, but in reality no other being could see in advance the greatness and splendour of the divine groom Shiva and the glory that emanates continuously from His divine being, except His lover Parvati. The charming Shiva in His wedding gown married the daughter of the mountains, Parvati, and ever since His beautiful form, that was seen by people on His wedding day was called Kalayana Sundara.


Published by Natha.net

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