Satnam Sakhi Har Har Mahadev Small Story of Mahadev Spring…Vasant in Sanskrit. Spring…the season where colours meet, where nature itself gives birth to new flowers, leaves, plants, animals simultaneously symbolising the revival of energy, hopes, of a new start, of a life afresh, of new thoughts, new experiences, new learnings; a handful of things which help us grow spiritually. Let’s invite the season of Vasant by gaining knowledge about an important part of the life history of our Goddess, our Mother; Adi Shakti who is Lord Shiva’s consort. Before Adi Shakti was embodied in Parvati, she was born in the form of Sati, as the daughter of Prajapati Daksh and Prasuti. Prajapati Daksh was, from the very beginning, against Lord Shiva in all ways and left no stone unturned to insult and disgrace him, although later, when his head was cut by Veerbadra (Lord Shiva’s Rudra avtaar) and was placed by a goat’s head by Lord Shiva he became a devotee of Lord Shiva. Sati was completely mesmerized by Lord Shiva. She was purely in love with him. This was bound to happen, and why not, after all she was Lord Shiva’s “other half”. Although everyone -and Lord Shiva more than anyone else- knew that such feelings would result in total destruction and along with that Sati would bear severe consequences. Daksh’s hatred and opposition towards Lord Shiva was above all limits. Moreover, his ahenkaar (proudness, arrogance) over him being Prajapati had no bounds. He had no idea that his enemy was no one else but his pride. He always lived under the impression that with his powers he could do anything. Such was the situation when Sati, during the celebration of spring, leaving all fears behind and overwhelmed with happiness of her love towards Lord Shiva, performed nritya (pure dance) which became the medium of expressing her love. In other words, her love had taken the form of nritya. She danced breathlessly. What happened next? Lord Shiva had to come.
He appeared in front of Sati and both together perfomed nritya resembling their immense and infinite love for each other and the union of Purush (Man) with Prakriti (Nature) in its most pure form. Such divine sight! Gradually during the nritya, Mahadev realised the situation and went away. He knew he should have not gone there. Sati’s love was so skin deep that she had lost herself in dancing and with her feet she began to spread the endless variety of colours placed on the floor. At this stage Daksh arrived and loudly called out Sati’s name. He was shocked. He was shocked on seeing Mahadev’s dhun (music) being played and Sati dancing on it. Sati fell on the floor and lost consciousness. Sati had printed her heart on the floor: with her feet and colours she had painted Lord Shiva. So powerful was her love, so powerful was the connection that she portrayed her own reflection. Everyone was worried for Sati’s condition. Her unconsciousness was growing even more and Rishi Kashyap, who was one of the sapt (seven) rishis and at the same time Daksh’s son-in-law, told Daksh that Sati was in a state of Yoga Nidra. Such state was not curable with any kind of medicine. It was only curable by Mahadev’s touch. If this did not happen by the time of sunset of the next day, then Sati would enter into Chir Yoga Nidra. Once she would cross the threshold of Chir Yoga Nidra then she would never be able to recover consciousness again. Everyone was worried, including Daksh. Daksh was determined and ready to give half of his powers and kingdom to anyone who would cure his daughter but by no means would he agree on approaching to Mahadev for help. Neither would he allow him to make her daughter healthy again. Time went on passing by, but neither Daksh’s brothers nor the Nav Grahs (nine planets) were successful. Sati’s health began to deteriorate even more and her body started to radiate. Rishi Kashyap knew that such radiation was a sign of Sati entering into Chir Yoga Nidra. Something had to be done quickly. Finally, Daksh decided to gather all his powers for he was confident that with his powers Sati would get alright. On the other hand, Lord Shiva arrived at Sati’s place and with his touch he brought Sati back into her normal state. On seeing this, Daksh became extremely furious. He asked Lord Shiva to leave. Later, having a discussion with his wife, Daksh asked Prasuti as to whether she thought that Sati had love for Lord Shiva. Prasuti assured him that it was no love, it was only attraction and that the problem was the age which Sati was presently living in. Prasuti said that in youth such attractions were obvious. Prasuti spoke to Daksh saying that she would have a word with Sati. She would tell Sati to ask his father for forgiveness. So it happened. Prasuti explained her daughter that all the doubts created within her were due to one reason: the truth. If you know the truth then doubts are not meant to be born. She told Sati that the Brahm (delusion) you are living in, the delusion that is inflicting you with pain and that is causing the suffering to your dear ones, that very delusion you have to break it, you have to get rid of it. With this Sati remembered that Lord Shiva had told her the same. That it was a delusion and that she should forget him for it was where her welfare laid. Prasuti even told her daughter to ask for forgiveness from her father, to tell him it is a delusion from Lord Shiva’s end and not from yours. She affirmed her daughter that whatever she felt towards Mahadev was just attraction and nothing else. Prasuti ended saying that she and her husband were longing to see again the sweet, loving Sati who was always filled with laughter. Sati went to her father and asked him to pardon her for her behaviour, for breaking the norms and for making him sad. She said that she will tell him the truth. She said that Lord Shiva never came on his own to meet her, he came because she had called him and it was not him but she who loved him. She said that Lord Shiva was not at fault; on the contrary he was innocent. Hearing such words coming out from her daughter’s mouth Daksh became even angrier. He took Sati callously by her hand and walked her to her room. He ruthlessly threw her on the floor and created a Daksh rekha (line, boundary) around her. He fumed at her telling her that this line will exist till she didn’t remove all her feelings, her love for Mahadev from her heart and life. The Daksh rekha became a
barrier between Sati and Lord Shiva where Sati could not come out and Lord Shiva could not come in. Sati was deeply saddened and her eyes were fully moist. Tears rolled down her cheeks. She was about to burn herself by stepping on the Daksh rekha for she thought it was the best way to end all pain and agony. At that moment, Mahadev arrived and stopped her. He told her that she could not oblige him to come all the time. He reminded her of her duties as a daughter and towards her family. He reminded Sati the importance of staying within the norms and rules imposed by her father. He reminded her about the ‘Mariyaada’. He also told her that one cannot force someone to love and Sati responded that one cannot stop someone to love. Sati also said that she won’t call him again but that didn’t mean she would stop loving him… Now, what does this convey to us? We learn that at its utmost, it is necessary to remain ourselves within the limits, within the ‘Mariyaada’. But in order to do that, first it is important to have control over our ‘mann’, over our emotions and understand the situation we are living and facing. Staying within our ‘Mariyaada’ is a way of standing by our dharma. Our spiritual master, our Acharya, pooj Satguru Swami Teoonramji Maharaj also mentioned about fulfilling our dharma as one of his sacred sixteen teachings: DHARAM APNE MAHI HARDAM, PYAR KAR NATNA NAHIN SEES JAVE JAAN DE, PAR DHARAM SE HATNA NAHIN Knowing that Daksh’s head was cut off, we could see how destructive pride can be. His head being cut meant the end of ahenkaar. Just like a spilt cup of coffee stains any written paper, likewise, ahenkaar (pride, ego), kaam (lust), krodh (anger), lobh (greed) and moh (attatchment) blemish your bhakti, your devotion; they become the impediment of self-realisation and the approach to God. These five brothers are known as the five thieves who dwell in us. The question is how to get rid of these thieves? How to get control upon our emotions? NAAM is the answer! KALYUG KEVAL NAAM ADHAARA JO SUMIRE SO UTARE PAARA Through Naam we can achieve victory upon the five thieves, we can achieve union with God, and we can acknowledge what is true and what is false. Satsang, bhajans are all ways to walk in the sweet path of spirituality, to connect with the Supreme Being. Ways to know that we were never separated from God for we are a part of him. Let’s recollect when Daksh created the rekha. His pride indeed became a barrier but at the same time, unknowingly gave the message that sadhana (meditation) is the solution. It is no coincidence that the rekha was made out of fire. Fire is the emblem of purity, of tap, the rise in knowledge. It constitutes, along with air, earth, water and space the five elements of nature or the Paanch Mahabhoot which with meditation we win over. And this is exactly what Mata Adi Shakti did when she was born as Parvati and attained Lord Shiva. Daksh’s rekha mirrored the future. Treading on the path of spirituality requires lots of patience. Its resemblance is that of a rose. It is neither a bed of roses nor a bed of thorns but the complete set, for a rose does not longer remain a rose if it doesn’t have thorns nor if it doesn’t have petals. In other words the thorns symbolise the difficulty and the petals the result; the wonders and the state of bliss once you fully attain it. The Naam, bhajans, satsangs, sewa are the water you pour constantly for the rose, for the spirituality to grow. And the inevitable fragrance is the selfless love towards God which will increase day by day. And the sun, which also serves as a nutrient and energy to any living being, resembles karma (actions) which have great influence on the development of spirituality. Just as the sun is powerful, our karma is powerful. So let’s think what we want to do. There is no such thing as impossible. On this year’s Vasant…let us give birth to spirituality within us. I want to grow…and you? But let us remember, to grow spiritually we have to abide, if you want to know the truth or not, it’s up to you to decide.