The game of dice: Shiva loses everything to Parvati
Narada proposes a game; Parvati wins the moon, the serpents, the elephant hide and the loincloth; Bhringi takes Shiva's side and is cursed; Shiva walks out to the forest and Parvati fetches him back as a huntress. The sculptors of Ellora carved the moment before the quarrel.
Who is in it
Parvatiwins, strips him of his ornaments, follows him as a Shabari
Shivaloses, walks out, meditates at Siddhavata, is won back
Narada visits Kailash, praises the couple, and proposes that two can play dice for great happiness.
Parvati teases him for knowing gambling and says she will play Shiva in front of him.
She wins the first round and Narada and Shiva laugh at her; she takes Narada by the neck to throw him out.
Shiva stakes the crescent moon, a necklace and earrings and loses again.
He says he was never defeated and is invincible; she says invincible to others, but she beat him.
Bhringi takes Shiva's side, recalling Kama and Daksha's sacrifice; Parvati curses him to be without flesh.
She takes Vasuki from his neck, his ornaments, the moon, the elephant hide, the two serpents and his loincloth; the ganas look away.
Shiva says the sages are laughing at him and asks for the loincloth back; she mocks him; he glares with the third eye; she says the stare is useless, she is not Kama or Tripura.
He leaves for a lonely forest with the ganas behind him, Bhringi with the umbrella and Nandi with the chowries, and sits at Siddhavata with Shesha for a cloth and Vasuki for a belt.
Vijaya tells the dejected Parvati to go after him; she laughs that she beat him and goes as a dark Shabari with bow and quiver.
Shiva wakes from trance, reaches for her hand, loses her, wanders, finds her and proposes; she says he abandoned a lady he wooed by penance and has no ganas now.
He says be my wife and takes her hand; she says ask my father, and leads him to Himavat on Kailash; Narada warns him about young women; Shiva says he will go to another forest; the mountains and ganas beg his pardon.
At Gandhamadana the sages crown him and he sits on a divine seat with Girija.
At Ellora the game is carved four times over, with ganas frolicking and a bull in a belled belt below the board.
Narada comes to Kailash, praises Shiva and Girija, and when asked what he wants says that two can play dice for great happiness. Parvati asks how he knows gambling and says she will play Shiva before him. She wins the first round, the text saying fraudulently, and when Narada and Shiva laugh she takes Narada by the neck. Shiva stakes the crescent, a necklace and earrings and loses. She asks for the wager; he says he is invincible and was never beaten; she says invincible to others, but she beat him. Narada says the formless one cannot be beaten; she tells him to be quiet. Bhringi defends Shiva, reminding her of Kama's burning and of Daksha's sacrifice; she curses him to be without flesh. She takes Vasuki from Shiva's neck, his ornaments, the moon, the elephant hide, the serpents Kambala and Ashvatara and his loincloth, while the ganas and her friends look away. Shiva says the sages and gods are laughing and asks for the cloth; she mocks him and tells him to give up what he lost. He glares with the third eye and the ganas fear she will burn like Kama; she says the stare is useless, she is not Kala, Kama, Daksha's rite, Tripura or Andhaka. He leaves for the forest; the ganas follow, Bhringi with the umbrella, Nandi with the chowries, the bull leading; she goes to her rooms dejected; at Siddhavata the Earth makes him a seat and he meditates with Shesha for a cloth and Vasuki for a belt. Vijaya urges her to seek his pardon; she laughs, says she beat him and the universe is her making for his sport, and goes as a dark Shabari with bow and quiver. Shiva wakes seized by love, reaches for her hand and she vanishes; he wanders, finds her, asks who she is; she is seeking her husband, the omniscient lord; he proposes; she says he abandoned a lady he wooed by penance and has no ganas; she laughs at a yogi beyond attachment. He says be my wife and takes her hand; she says ask my father and leads him to Himavat on Kailash's peak. Narada warns him that young women bring affliction; Shiva says he was fascinated and will go to another forest; Narada has the mountains and the ganas beg his pardon. At Gandhamadana Angiras and the sages crown him and he sits on a divine seat with Girija.
The carvers of Ellora cut the game at least four times. In cave 29, Dhumar Lena of the eighth century, Shiva and Parvati sit at the dice board opposite the panel of their wedding, their two faces in subtly different moods, ganas frolicking round them and a great bull with a belled belt below. In cave 21, Rameshvara, the game is on the back wall of the sanctum beside Ravana lifting Kailash. In cave 14 the couple play with Nandi playing with the ganas beneath them; in cave 15 they sit on Kailash with four attendants, two holding fly whisks. The stone keeps the moment before anything is lost: the board between them, the household at ease, the bull waiting.
What is different here:
No Narada, no Bhringi, no stripping or walk-out; the carvers chose the game itself, with the bull and the ganas as the household at play.
Sources: The Skanda Purana, tr. G. V. Tagare (Motilal Banarsidass), Maheshvara Khanda: Kedara Khanda 27, 34-35 and Arunachala Mahatmya 3-13, on Wisdom Library; eSamskriti: Ellora caves, Hindu cave no. 29; Gangaur festival, Jaipur; Hindu group of caves in Ellora (Hindu Blog); Wikipedia: Ardhanarishvara; Bhringi; Ardhanareeswarar Temple, Tiruchengode; Elephanta Caves; Ellora Caves