Goddess Parvati is the benevolent aspect of the ultimate female form of mother Devi. As per Shiva Purana, Parvati was reincarnation of Sati. Being the daughter of the mountain King Himawan and Queen Mena, she is also known as "daughter of the mountain".
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She was drawn to Shiva since she was a little kid. On her birth, Sage Narad had predicted, no matter what she will marry only Lord Shiva. As she grew, her love for Shiva knew no bound. To marry him, she went to the forest and performed rigorous tapas.
She gave up all food, water, eating not even a leaf, earning the admiration of forest ascetics who named her Aparna.
Aparna matched Shiva in her capacity to cut herself from the world & completely master her physical needs.The power of her tapas shook Shiva out of his meditation.
After years of penance and many hurdles, he accepted Parvati as his wife. He married her in the presence of the Gods, following the sacred rites, and took her to the highest peak, Mount Kailasha, the pivot of the universe. With Parvati by his side, Lord Shiva became a family man.
But he did not abandon his ways as a hermit. He continued to meditate. His carefree attitude, his refusal to shoulder household responsibilities sometimes angered Parvati. But then she would come to terms with his unconventional ways and make peace.
She's the mother of Ganesha & Sakanda (Kartikeya).As the world revolved all around them, they became one.Parvati melted Shiva's stern heart with her affection.Together they played dice on Mount Kailasha or spent time at the Lake Manasarovar, discovering the joys of married life.
She awakened Lord Shiva's concern for the world by questioning him on various issues. As he spoke, he revealed secrets of the Tantras and the Vedas that he had gathered in eons of meditation. Inspired by her beauty, he became the fountainhead of arts, of dance and drama.
He sang and danced to the delight of the gods who were pleased to see his enchantment with the Goddess. Parvati gave Shiva's aura to the gods. "From this will rise the warlord you seek," she said. The gods gave Shiva's aura to Svaha, consort of Agni, the God of fire.
Unable to bear the heat of the auro and Agni for long, Svaha gave the aura to Ganga,who cooled it in her icy waters until it turned into a seed. Aranyani,the Goddess of forest, embedded the divine seed in the forest floor where it transformed into a child with 6 heads & 12 arms.
Six forest nymphs called the Krittikas found this magnificent child in a lotus. Over come by maternal affection they began nursing him. The six headed son of Lord Shiva, born of many mothers, came to be known as Kartikeya.Parvati turned him into a celestial warlord called Skanda.
Skanda took command of the celestial armies, defeated Tarakasur in battle and restored the heavens to the gods. As guardian of the heavens, he went on to destroy many demons who opposed the reign of the gods. But he could not defeat the demon Raktabija.
Whenever this demon's blood touched the ground, a thousand new demons sprang to life. He seemed unconquerable. To aid her son in his endeavor to rid the three worlds of the demon, Parvati entered the cosmic battlefield as the dreaded Goddess Kali.
Her appearance was dark as death, gaping mouth, long disheveled hair covering her body. She spread her tongue over the battlefield & licked the demon's falling blood with her long, outstretched tongue before the drop could find its way to the ground springing a demonic life anew.
Skanda was able to dispatch Raktabija and his remaining duplicates with ease. He then thanked his mother. To celebrate her victory, Kali danced wildly on the battlefield, bedecking herself with a garland of served heads and a girdle of severed hands.Lord Shiva tried to calm Her.
But intoxicated with Raktabija's blood, she ran amuck across the 3 worlds, destroying everything in her sight. To restrain her,Shiva took the form of a corpse and blocked her path. As the goddess,blinded by bloodlust,tripped on his lifeless body, she was jolted out of her frenzy.
She wondered if she had killed her own husband! She placed a foot on His chest & brought him back to life.He took the form of a child & began to cry, stirring maternal love in Kali.This forced her to shed her fierce form; Kali became Gauri,the radiant mother,bestower of life.🙏
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