The Story of Shiva and Parvati's Divine Marriage

In Hindu spirituality and mythology, there is a story of Shiva and Parvati's divine marriage. Now a lot of us wonder, what is the significance of this story and is it still relevant to us in the modern day? So today I want to explain to you the actual story, but more importantly, the hidden meaning that it has for each and every one of us. To understand this story, first you need to understand Shiva, and also you need to understand Parvati. And to understand Parvati, you first need to understand Shakti. So first to understand Shiva, we need to understand the Trimurti. Now the Trimurti are the three gods that represent Brahman, the ultimate reality. Now those three gods are the creator, Vishnu, the preserver, and Shiva, the destroyer. Now these three deities are the personification of a universal process. So they are the personification of the creative element of the universe, the sustaining element of the universe, and then the destructive element of the universe, which we all experience on a personal level, but the universe also experiences itself. So we have the universe is created, it's sustained for a certain amount of time, and then it is destroyed to be reborn again, likewise with us on an individual level. That's what these deities represent. So Brahman represents the creative force, Vishnu represents the sustaining force or the preserving force, and Shiva represents the destructive force. Now all three of them are the process of Brahman in this reality. Now Shiva is worshipped differently amongst different people. So people can look at this from this perspective and worship Shiva as the destructive element of the universe, meaning that Shiva destroys not only the world of the universe, but also destroys the ego within oneself. That which eclipses our union with Brahman, the ultimate reality, and Shiva is that destructive element that destroys that ego and unites you with Brahman. So a lot of people worship Shiva in that way, and when we look at Shiva in this context, we are worshipping Shiva as almost like a representative of Brahman. Now this is where, especially the two main sects of Hinduism, if we look at Shaivism, which is the worship of Shiva, and Vaishnavism, which is the worship of Vishnu. So a Vaishnava, for example, would worship Vishnu, and they would worship Vishnu as Brahman. So Vishnu to them is Brahman itself, and likewise in Shaivism, Shiva is Brahman itself. So we need to think of it in this sort of context. We need to think of Shiva, especially in this context, in this story, as Brahman. But as I mentioned, the Trimurti is a model of the universe through these deities that represent the ultimate reality being Brahman. And when we think of Brahman, we need to think of not as a he or a she, but more of an androgynous god, so to speak, a godhead. God is kind of a useless term in Hinduism, because God usually implies a personal god. It's better to say ultimate reality when you are trying to relate to Brahman. So if you've ever spent any time in India, you've probably seen pictures of Shiva everywhere. And when you think of yoga, and you think of the great yogis, then you think of Shiva. Because Shiva is the deity that majority of yogis worship, majority of yogis practice to merge with Shiva, as Brahman, remember as Brahman. So Shiva has served the yogis more than any other deity. And this is why in a lot of the modern yoga movement around the world, people are probably unknowingly worshipping Shiva, especially when we think of Ishvara. When we use the word Ishvara in the classical text of the Yoga Sutras, Patanjali is likely referring to Shiva here, even though Vaishnavas would like to counter that and say that he is likely referring to Vishnu. But when we look at the influence of Shiva within the yogic traditions, then likely they are speaking about Shiva. So now I've given you some context as to what Shiva is. Shiva is that ultimate reality, but also that destructive element of the universe, which is represented by fire, the ability to burn out the ego within ourselves, to purify ourselves through fire, to burn out all of our vasanas, all of our karma, and all of our latent samskaras to become that pure being. That is what Shiva represents. Shiva represents that element, that destructive element, but also that absolute principle of the universe we know as Brahman. Now to understand the Parvati, as I mentioned, we need to understand Shakti. Now what is Shakti? Shakti is the feminine power and energy of the universe. And more importantly, Shakti is the power and energy of Shiva. Now Shakti is fundamental in the metaphysics and spirituality behind Shaktism and also Tantrism. So when we think of Shakta followers in India, or we think of people who follow Tantra, then we have to think of Shakti and the power of Shakti. Shakti in Hinduism is depicted in iconography as such goddesses as Parvati, Sati, Kali, Durga, Radha, and hundreds of others. Shakti is commonly referred to as Devi, or mother of the universe, or the spouse of the divine masculine, whether that be Shiva, Vishnu, or Brahma. This principle of Shakti, this feminine power and principle of Shakti within Hinduism, is very similar to Yin and Taoism because both equate to receptivity, humility, and the world of matter, the world that we see and experience with our own two eyes and ears. So both Yin and Shakti are, we could say, identical in that sense because they represent the feminine principle of the universe, which is very important. Shakti is also symbolized in the Yoni. Now we see the Yoni all around India when we see the worship of Shiva because we see the Shiva Linga, or the Lingam Yoni, where we have the Lingam and we have the Yoni at the base. So the opposite of this feminine principle of Shakti, as you could guess, is Shiva, the ultimate reality of Brahman, that primordial condition in its unqualified aspect as pure consciousness or light. And this is the transcendental reality that actually gives birth to Shakti. And this is symbolized in the Lingam. And this Lingam with the Yoni is the main image of Shaivism. Or when we think of Shiva, we think usually of this image where we have the Lingam and also the Yoni at the base, the Shiva Lingam, or the Lingam Yoni. And this is what most Shaiva followers would think of when they think of Shiva. So Shiva and Shakti belong together. This is the blissful union on the transcendental plane. And this is commonly portrayed in art, especially in Ecstatic Embrace, where we see an image of Shiva and Parvati in Ecstatic Embrace. And this is that blissful union on the transcendental plane of the masculine and feminine principles of the universe. But even though Shiva and Shakti belong together, Shakti is nothing without Shiva. And to use a Tantric dictum, Shiva without Shakti is dead because Shiva remains uncreative. So one could not be without the other. And we could then say, well, Shiva could be on its own. But again, as I said, to use Tantrism as an example, they would explain that Shiva remains uncreative, or there is no life without the Shakti energy, the Shakti power that emanates life and gives us this bliss and joy of experiencing this reality. So their transcendent marriage is the archetype for the empirical correlation between body and mind, consciousness and matter, male and female, and the masculine and feminine principles of the universe. So before we get into the story of Shiva and Parvati's divine marriage, to try and sum up this understanding of Shiva and Shakti, we need to remember that Shakti is that ultimate life force, which is driving all change and evolution in the world of matter. She is the universal energy of consciousness, which is Shiva. Creation and everything we experience within it then is the effect of the preeminence of the feminine pole, Shakti. But when we think of transcendence and spiritual liberation, they are associated with the predominance of the masculine pole, Shiva. In explaining Shiva and Shakti for you, we can now understand this divine marriage better, and also its hidden meaning. So when we look at the story itself of their divine marriage, we first have to start with Shiva's first wife, Shakti. Now, Shakti means the power of existence. Isn't that ironic? The power of existence. Remember, Shakti and Shakti, as I mentioned before, is a representative of this Shakti power, along with Parvati and Radha and many others. Now, according to Shakti's dad, Daksha, Shiva was not an ideal partner for her, and Daksha himself refused to honor Shiva, even though Shiva is a god. And this obviously infuriated Shakti, who loved Shiva. Now, the reason why Daksha refused to honor Shiva, or why he thought that Shiva was not an ideal partner for Shakti, was because of Shiva's characteristic, his wild nature, his wild paradoxical behavior. And when we think of Shiva, we think of Shiva and his retinue of animals and ghosts, and also of his wild behavior, and his very natural way of living, and his closeness with nature as opposed to society. And this runs counter to how Daksha follows convention, and this is why he could not accept Shiva's wild behavior. So you almost have this kind of battle between this intellectual understanding of how life should be and logic and so forth and so on, which creates society, and you have this Shiva element, where it's wild and connected to nature and just allows life to be as it will, without using intellectual force or interference. We have this kind of opposition, and this is why Daksha definitely refused Shiva's attitude, because he's in some sense a social stiff, who cannot accept his own wild nature, so how could he accept also the nature of Shiva? Where this story takes a tragic turn, is Daksha had a great fire ceremony, and he invited all of the gods, except Shiva. Now, this deeply offended Shakti, because she couldn't understand how her father could treat her like that. How could he ignore Shiva, who himself is a god? How could he just ignore him and show him contempt, and also her contempt as well? As a result, Shakti and Daksha got into a heated argument as to her father's actions. How could he do this to her? Her argument with Daksha fell on deaf ears. Daksha just would not accept Shiva, and he didn't approve of her marriage to Shiva, and this incensed her so much that she just couldn't handle the hatred from her father, and so she threw herself on the fire, immolating herself. As a result of Shakti immolating herself, Shiva was so enraged that he destroyed the ceremony. He pulled a lock of hair out and threw it to the ground, which then arose as two ferocious creatures known as Veerabhadra and Bhadrakali, and both Veerabhadra and Bhadrakali wreaked havoc on the ceremony. In wreaking havoc, Daksha was decapitated in the process, which a lot of us would probably think he got his own karma, he got his own just deserves for his actions towards Shakti. But Shiva being the all-forgiving god that he is, actually forgave Daksha and gave him a goat head. I don't know if this is actually forgiveness or some sort of cruel joke, but gave Daksha a goat head, and actually Daksha became a disciple and a dedicated devotee to Shiva. After the carnage of the ceremony, Shiva carried Shakti's burnt body away. Shakti then was reborn as Parvati. So we need to think about this, Shakti is Parvati. She was reborn as Parvati, a daughter of the king of the mountains, Himavat, which is actually a personification of the Himalayan mountains. Now that's the actual story of Shiva and Parvati's divine marriage. I could explain a lot of other things about this story, but I've given you the actual core of the story so that you can understand the hidden meaning behind this story. So what is this hidden meaning? In this story, Shiva represents the natural world, the natural way of life, which is actually symbolized through his wild character and unconventional attitude. So Shiva is the naturalness of the universe, the nature of the universe, the core of the universe that gives everything life. Daksha, on the other hand, represents propriety, convention, and the status quo. This Daksha realm is the mundane world that we all find ourselves caught in today, and it seems as though people have been caught in this for a long, long time if we take these stories seriously. So Daksha is the outer order of society and creation, bound by Thayirmankarama. So Daksha has his utilitarian correctness, but he is blind to the depths of consciousness and the spiritual dimension of life. Shiva, on the other hand, is the transcendent reality outside the laws of society and the material world itself. Shiva essentially is beyond conventional thought and beyond convention itself. Shiva cannot be understood in the Daksha realm. Now what I mean by this is Shiva cannot be understood by someone's mind who is bound by society, convention, and the material world. Someone who dwells in this Daksha realm, and who believes in this materiality, who believes in this material sphere, and this idea of logic and convention, cannot come to understand Shiva. So Shiva is not honored in such a world because in the Daksha realm people can't understand Shiva, they don't have any sense of Shiva, they don't understand their Atman, they don't have the feeling of Atman within themselves, because they're brought into this material world with its convention and logic, and have focused only on the intellect, and have diminished the naturalness within themselves. This is why they cannot understand Shiva. And this is the hidden meaning as to why Daksha refused to actually honor Shiva, because Daksha himself could not understand Shiva, and in a sense could not see Shiva, in a sense. He could not perceive the truth in what Shiva is, which is within Daksha himself, but he couldn't understand that, he couldn't sense that ultimate reality, and that naturalness within himself, and so he refused to honor Shiva. Now one of the main points within this story to understand is in understanding Sati, and what Sati represents. Now Sati represents the soul that is born within the realm of Daksha, that ordinary mundane reality that we all find ourselves caught in. But even though Sati found herself born within this Daksha realm, she seeks to align herself with Shiva, with that divine reality, that ultimate reality. Sati then is the highest potential that we all have, and that highest potential is when we strive to know the truth, and when we seek liberation from suffering. But to be one with Shiva, Sati had to be willing to die to the worldly realm of Daksha, to be reborn in the spiritual realm of Shiva. So what this means is, the soul dies to the outer world to take its new birth in the inner realm of Shiva. Actually her immolation was a purifying process. She threw herself into the fire of purification to be cleansed from the Daksha realm. As a result, she was reborn in the pure realms of yoga and meditation, so that she could be Shiva's wife and join him in eternity. She achieves this through the withdrawal and dissolution of the mundane world, and her former self that was trapped within that world. And so she then aligns herself with the bestower of liberation, Shiva. So in the end, Parvati represents the enlightened mind, the one who has recognized that Atman within oneself actually is Brahman, the ultimate reality. So this is the recognition of Shiva within all of us. And as a result from this recognition, this allows the grace of Shiva to enter our life, so we can experience the bliss of consciousness itself, Ananda. So I hope you all enjoyed that episode. I hope you take something away from that, the deeper meaning of Shiva and Parvati's divine marriage. And make sure you give it a thumbs up. And if you haven't subscribed, please subscribe to my channel. And also check out my Patreon page if you want to contribute to this channel for future videos, because I want to make more content. And your contribution is deeply appreciated and keeps me moving forward. And it keeps me focused on delivering the deepest content for you. And anyone who knows me, I want to present the traditional knowledge of the East, not so much the New Age knowledge that's out there in the world today. I actually want to present the actual teachings of the East. And this is my expertise, and this is what I love to write about and speak about as well. So if you do feel like contributing, that's all well and good. If you don't, that's all well and good as well. I just hope you all enjoy the content. And please share with your friends. And remember, turn on that little bell notification, so you are up to date when my next episode is out. And I hope you enjoyed. So thank you for watching. And remember that the divine marriage of Shiva and Parvati has a deep meaning for all of us. It's not just an old story. It has a deep meaning for all of us in the modern world, and also for future generations to come. Because the story itself is eternal. Shanti, Shanti, Shanti.