Devalok
Origin · 2 tellings · Pan-India

The daughter of the mountain: Parvati's birth and Narada's reading

Mena's long worship, the birth of the mountain's daughter at midnight in spring, Narada's reading of the strange husband in her palm, and the girl who answers Shiva when her father cannot.

Who is in it

  • Parvati the child, Sati reborn, who knows whom she will marry
  • Himavat her father, who asks Narada and brings her to Shiva
  • Mena her mother, who worshipped for her
  • Narada reads the palm and names the bridegroom
  • Shiva comes to the mountain to meditate; refuses, then relents
  • Vishnu with the gods, praises the child in the womb
  • Brahma narrator of the Shiva Purana account
  • Nandi with Shiva on the ridge

Places: Mount Kailash · Texts: Shiva Purana, Kumarasambhava

The story, beat by beat

  1. After Sati's death the gods ask the Goddess to be born again; she agrees to be the mountain king's daughter.
  2. Mena worships for twenty-seven years with a clay image on the Ganga's bank and asks for a hundred sons and a daughter who will be Rudra's wife.
  3. Mainaka, the mountain who keeps his wings, is born first.
  4. Vishnu and the gods praise the child in the womb; she is born at midnight on the ninth of Chaitra with drums, flowers and a clear sky.
  5. The Goddess shows Mena her true form first, so that her mother will know her, then becomes a crying baby.
  6. Himavat names her Kali; the family calls her Parvati; she plays with dolls on the Ganga's sand and her old learning comes back.
  7. Narada reads her palm: every good sign, and a husband who is a naked yogi without parents or qualities.
  8. Her parents are distressed; the girl understands the marks mean Shiva and is glad.
  9. Narada says the lines cannot lie, that defects do no harm in the majestic, that she was Sati, and that she will win him by penance and be half his body.
  10. Shiva, grieving, comes to the ridge of Gangavatara with Nandi and the ganas to meditate; Himavat clears the ridge for him.
  11. Himavat brings his daughter with fruit and flowers and asks that she serve Shiva; Shiva closes his eyes, then says a woman is a phase of illusion and the girl must stay at home.
  12. Himavat falls silent, frightened; Parvati bows and speaks: his penance is her energy, speech and sight and action are hers, I am Prakriti and you are Purusha, and if you are beyond me you need not fear me near you.
  13. Shiva answers that he is Brahman and master of illusion, laughs, and lets her stay and serve him fearlessly.
  14. She washes his feet, brings grass and flowers, worships him with sixteen offerings and sometimes stays to look at him; he sees her every day and does not see her.
  15. He resolves to take her only when her own penance has burned the last of her pride, which is the story told in How Parvati Won Shiva.

birth prophecy father prakriti service

How it is told, place by place

Base telling · Primary text (translation)

Shiva Purana, Rudra Samhita, Parvati Khanda 5-13

Pan-India Shaiva

Brahma tells Narada how the Goddess came back. Mena, Himavat's queen, worships for twenty-seven years with a clay image on the Ganga's bank, fasting on the eighth day and feeding brahmins on the ninth, and the Goddess grants a hundred sons and a daughter who will be Rudra's wife. Mainaka is born first. The Goddess enters the mountain's mind, Mena conceives, Vishnu and the gods praise the child in the womb, and at midnight on the ninth of Chaitra, with calm planets, drums and a rain of flowers, she is born, showing her mother her true form before becoming a crying baby whose light dims the lamps. Himavat names her Kali; the kinsmen say Parvati; later Uma, from her mother's 'do not'. She plays with balls and dolls on the Ganga's sand and her former learning returns. Narada comes, reads her palm and limbs, and tells Himavat her husband will be a naked yogi without qualities, parents or desires, of inauspicious dress. The parents are shaken; the girl is glad, for the marks are Shiva's. Narada explains that in the majestic, defects are harmless, that she was Sati, that she will win him by penance, be called Gauri, and become half his body. When she is eight Shiva, still grieving, comes to the Gangavatara ridge to meditate; Himavat clears the mountain for him, then brings his daughter with fruit and flowers and asks that she serve. Shiva closes his eyes, then says a woman is a phase of illusion and a hindrance to ascetics, and tells him to leave her at home. Himavat is silent with fear. Parvati bows and answers: the energy of his penance is Prakriti; speaking, hearing, seeing and doing are hers; 'I am Prakriti and you are Purusha'; if he is beyond her, he need not fear her near him. Shiva replies that he is Brahman, master of illusion, laughs, asks Himavat's leave to meditate on his ridge, and at the father's request lets her stay and serve without fear. She washes his feet, dries him with a warmed cloth, worships with sixteen offerings, brings kusha grass and flowers, sings in the hermitage and sometimes stays to gaze. He sees her every day and, absorbed, does not see her, resolving to take her only when her own penance has burned away her pride.

The Siva Purana, tr. J. L. Shastri (Motilal Banarsidass, 1950), Rudra Samhita: Parvati Khanda (2.3), Kumara Khanda (2.4), Srishti Khanda 16 and Vayaviya Samhita 1.16, on Wisdom Library § 2.3.5; The Siva Purana, tr. J. L. Shastri (Motilal Banarsidass, 1950), Rudra Samhita: Parvati Khanda (2.3), Kumara Khanda (2.4), Srishti Khanda 16 and Vayaviya Samhita 1.16, on Wisdom Library § 2.3.6; The Siva Purana, tr. J. L. Shastri (Motilal Banarsidass, 1950), Rudra Samhita: Parvati Khanda (2.3), Kumara Khanda (2.4), Srishti Khanda 16 and Vayaviya Samhita 1.16, on Wisdom Library § 2.3.7; The Siva Purana, tr. J. L. Shastri (Motilal Banarsidass, 1950), Rudra Samhita: Parvati Khanda (2.3), Kumara Khanda (2.4), Srishti Khanda 16 and Vayaviya Samhita 1.16, on Wisdom Library § 2.3.8; The Siva Purana, tr. J. L. Shastri (Motilal Banarsidass, 1950), Rudra Samhita: Parvati Khanda (2.3), Kumara Khanda (2.4), Srishti Khanda 16 and Vayaviya Samhita 1.16, on Wisdom Library § 2.3.9; The Siva Purana, tr. J. L. Shastri (Motilal Banarsidass, 1950), Rudra Samhita: Parvati Khanda (2.3), Kumara Khanda (2.4), Srishti Khanda 16 and Vayaviya Samhita 1.16, on Wisdom Library § 2.3.11; The Siva Purana, tr. J. L. Shastri (Motilal Banarsidass, 1950), Rudra Samhita: Parvati Khanda (2.3), Kumara Khanda (2.4), Srishti Khanda 16 and Vayaviya Samhita 1.16, on Wisdom Library § 2.3.12; The Siva Purana, tr. J. L. Shastri (Motilal Banarsidass, 1950), Rudra Samhita: Parvati Khanda (2.3), Kumara Khanda (2.4), Srishti Khanda 16 and Vayaviya Samhita 1.16, on Wisdom Library § 2.3.13; Green Message summaries: Shiva Purana Parvati Khanda 1-6 (the incarnation of Devi Parvati) and Skanda Purana Arunachala Mahatmya (Parvati's penance at Kanchipuram and at Arunachala) § parvati-khanda-1-6

Primary text (translation)

Kalidasa, Kumarasambhava, canto 1 (Griffith's translation)

Pan-India All traditions

The poem opens on the Himalaya itself, a god of a mountain stretching across the land, with lions and elephants in its forests, birch bark for lovers' letters, nymphs bathing in the mist and the Ganga watering its pines. The Lord of Life gives Himalaya a share of the sacrifice and he marries the nymph Mena. Their son Mainaka, wounded by Indra's bolt, hides beneath the sea. Then a daughter is born, the wife Shiva lost come again, and the sky turns rosy, the breeze grows fragrant, music sounds and flowers fall. She is called the Child of the Mountain; she will be Uma later, when her mother cries out against her penance. She plays with dolls and balls by the Ganga and the memories of her earlier life return; the poet describes her beauty limb by limb and says the Creator shaped her with care. Narada visits, sees her, and says she is destined to be half of Shiva and to share his throne. Himalaya is proud but will not offer his daughter unasked to so great a god, and waits for a way, like a devout man afraid his prayer will not be heard. Shiva, grieving, has come to the mountain to do penance in a coat of skin with his attendants and his bull and a sacred fire. Himalaya sends Uma with two companions to attend him; Shiva receives her courteously and accepts her service. She gathers flowers and sacred grass, tends the altar and brings water, and when she is weary she looks at the pale moon on Shiva's brow and her strength comes back.

What is different here:

No palm-reading, no list of the husband's marks, no debate on Prakriti; Narada says one sentence; the father will not ask; Shiva accepts her service at once; the moon on his brow restores her.

The Birth of the War-God, a poem by Kalidasa, tr. R. T. H. Griffith (Project Gutenberg #31968) § canto1; Wikipedia: Parvati; Ambika (goddess); Kena Upanishad; Shvetashvatara Upanishad; Kumarasambhavam § Kumarasambhavam

Sources: The Siva Purana, tr. J. L. Shastri (Motilal Banarsidass, 1950), Rudra Samhita: Parvati Khanda (2.3), Kumara Khanda (2.4), Srishti Khanda 16 and Vayaviya Samhita 1.16, on Wisdom Library; Green Message summaries: Shiva Purana Parvati Khanda 1-6 (the incarnation of Devi Parvati) and Skanda Purana Arunachala Mahatmya (Parvati's penance at Kanchipuram and at Arunachala); The Birth of the War-God, a poem by Kalidasa, tr. R. T. H. Griffith (Project Gutenberg #31968); Wikipedia: Parvati; Ambika (goddess); Kena Upanishad; Shvetashvatara Upanishad; Kumarasambhavam

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