Saturday, 18 July 2020

THE ETERNAL AND HAUNTING LOVE STORY OF MAHADEV AND SATI MAA


                                           
                                         Shiva Preaches to Sati

The eternal love between Mahadev and Sati Maa has been immortalized in this world and will be remembered till the end of times and beyond. I am writing this story on the basis of Puranik Kathas, Devon ke Dev Mahadev and Goswami Tulsidas’s  Shree Ramcharitmanas .
I believe it is time to spread such stories so that our youngsters do not remain ignorant about our religion, culture and heritage. With the blessings of Mahadev, I will begin my story.
Lord Brahma and Lord Vishnu were hoping for Aadi Shakti and Aadi Purush (Mahadev) to unite and bless their creation even further. During these times Daksh Prajapati, a son of Brahma and Aditi  performed a severe penance to beget another daughter. He was the proud father of thirteen exceptional daughters before this (and would be having total of 24 daughters all in all), yet he always found something missing in his life, hence the penance. Aadi Shakti was very pleased with him and promised to be born as his fourteenth  daughter
                        दक्ष प्रजापति भगवान शिव से क्यों ...
Overjoyed Daksh returned and soon Prasuti and he were blessed with a beautiful daughter. They named her Sati (the feminine form of truth) as per the wish of Aadi Shakti herself. Sati, from her childhood, showed all signs of greatness and was the darling of everyone around, especially her father. Daksh doted on her and pampered her to no end. Time seemed to fly and very soon Sati was of marriageable age, which set Daksh worrying about finding the perfect the groom. He wanted to give up his gems only to the most deserving groom. He approached his father Brahma, who told him, Aadi Shakti could only be married to Aadi Purush and Daksh agreed.
This is not what has been shown in Devon Ke Dev Mahadev, however, so I beg the indulgence of my readers. This is written in the Purans. After many hurdles they were arrived but were never, wholeheartedly blessed by Daksh. Soon after their wedding the couple was invited to attend a ceremony, which they attended in all their splendor. Daksh too was an invitee and was received very warmly by everyone present. In respect to his prominence, everyone but Mahadev stood up in greeting. Daksh was very annoyed and pledged to organize a huge ‘Yajñá (यज्ञ)’ and invite all prestigious people to the most common people to the ‘Yajñá’ but not Mahadev and Sati Maa.
Mahadev is ‘Trikaal Darshi’ and he had seen this future event and the outcome too, that was exactly the reason why he had not been ready to wed Sati Maa (as Aadi Shakti had been born as a human and had no recollection of her original form). As destiny would have it, Sati Maa was adamant about attending the ‘Yajñá’ invited or not. She refuted all advice, and told Mahadev in no uncertain terms that she could not  think of any discomfort in her own father’s house and go she must. All appeal fell on deaf ears, as even Gods are not spared by destiny when they are born as humans.
There is another tale too, which I have read in Shree Ramcharitmanas and seen in Devon Ke Dev too. Once, Mahadev was relating the story of Shri Ram to Sati and he told her that even in his human form Ramji knew that he was an incarnation of Lord Visnu and was able to recognize all the Gods. This was very perplexing for Sati, maybe because she had not yet been connected to her real self and so she decided to test Shri Ram. However when she disclosed her plans before Mahadev, he was horrified and forbade her to do so. The human trait within Sati did not pay heed nor did she try to understand  why she had been asked to desist. She soon went to the sea shore where Shri Ram was searching for Sita in Dandak Aaranya.  Here Sati Maa made her second and an unpardonable mistake, to test Shri Ram she disguised herself as Sita Maa. She was not able to fool Shri Ram, he immediately recognized her and asked her to bless him, and he also addressed her as mother.
The enormity of her folly struck Sati but the deed was already done and she could do nothing to undo what was already done. Mahadev not thought it fit to disturb Shri Ram, so after Sati Maa came back, both returned to Kailash. An infuriated Mahadev informed Sati that she had lost the right to sit on his left side (Vamangi) as his wife because she had taken the form of Sita, whom he worshiped as mother. This further saddened Sati Maa and she resolved to go to her father’s ‘Yajñá’ come what may. It is believed that Sati Maa had lost her purity and thus had to shed her human form to become Mahadev’s true partner in life.
Sati Maa was insulted by Daksh on her arrival and when he abused Mahadev in the vilest of language, she could bear it no more. She took her real form (Aadi Shakti) and self-immolated herself. The wrath of Mahadev could not be withstood by anyone and Daksh had to pay with his life. However, Mahadev brought him back to life at the ardent prayers of Prasuti and all the people who were present at the venue.
So deeply did Mahadev love Sati that he carried away her body and roamed about in abject misery? At last to stop his anguish from destroying “Shristi”, Vishnu Bhagwan parted the body of Sati Maa into 51 parts  and scattered them in different places on the earth. These places were converted into Shakti Peeths by Mahadev and then he went away to an unknown place to meditate and pledged never again to be pulled into any relationship. He wanted to meditate and teach himself to be an ascetic from there on. Who among us can hold a candle to this colossal love? No one ever can.
HAR HAR MAHADEV!!!






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