Hari Aum.
As Navaratri, the celebration of the glories of the Divine Mother, approaches, I would like to write a bit about a famous Puranic legend connected with Her. This is the story of Sati and the creation of the 'Shakti peethas' (sacred sites associated with Her as Shakti; in Sanskrit, the word 'shakti' means 'power' and the Mother as Shakti embodies Divine Power).
The reason I feel like writing about this topic currently is that I recently received an email that suggested performing worship of a particular form of the Mother that is associated with these Shakti peethas (this occurred as a result of my being on the mailing list of a spiritual organisation that teaches Goddess worship— this is not the exact tradition of my Guru though there are many similarities).
This was recommended due to the upcoming sacred period of Navaratri (and I have decided to perform this sadhana, and some additional related ones, but will not describe the exact details here— this is because, although it is very much a 'right hand' sadhana, it associated with the tradition of Tantra and may be prone to misunderstanding. I may write another post on this subject later).
So let us study the legend of the Shakti peethas, how these were formed and the reason for their great significance and importance in worshipping the Mother over many centuries up to the present day.
Once upon a time, Lord Shiva and His eternal Consort and Power, Mother Shakti, were in a state of separation (externally that is of course; no separation was ever possible internally). The Mother was in an unmanifested state (without form) at this time, and Shiva retreated to His home at the snowy peak of Mount Kailas and spent all His time absorbed in meditation.
Over time, a state of great imbalance and negativity manifested in the universe. To correct this and restore a healthy balance, it was deemed necessary for the Divine Mother to take on a physical avatar and unite with Shiva. In order to achieve this purpose, the Divine Mother was born as the daughter of a celestial being called 'Daksha'. He was the son of Brahma, the creative aspect of the Divine, and held an important position (known as 'Prajapati' in Sanskrit) within the material realms assisting his father in creation.
Unfortunately, Daksha was a rather proud and ignorant man. He regarded himself as a great devotee of Narayana/Vishnu. Due to his inability to perceive the oneness of the various forms of God, he regarded all other forms of the Divine as inferior, especially Lord Shiva whom he particularly despised.
Over time, Daksha and his wife, Prasuti, had a number of charming and beautiful daughters. Their youngest daughter, whom they named 'Sati' (meaning 'one who is the embodiment of Truth) was an avatar of Shakti. She was an exceptionally charming, sweet and intelligent child and Her father and family doted upon Her.
When Sati and Her sisters grew up into beautiful young women, it was deemed that it was time for them to marry. The sisters of Sati married various noble sages and left the family home. Eventually it was Sati's turn, and She had set Her entire heart and mind upon Shiva alone (being His eternal consort, this was natural).
When the time came, She declared Her wish and intention to seek and marry Lord Shiva. When this news fell upon her father's ears, he was shocked and greatly angered!
How could his own daughter even contemplate such a thing, he reflected! Determined to do everything possible to prevent Her from marrying Shiva, he approached Her and spoke in a manner that he had never spoken before.
Filled with fury, he stated that he would never permit Her to marry Shiva! Instructing Her to stay away from Him, he declared that She would be cast out of the family forever if She dared to go against his wishes!
Sati, who had only ever received great love and affection from Her father and family, was filled with great grief at his words. She listened to him silently and, after he had finished speaking, attempted explain Her desire to marry Shiva.
Her father, however, had no time for any explanations. He angrily left Her quarters stating that She was to obey his orders. He would find Her a suitable groom and She would marry the person he chose-- and that was to be the end of the matter!
Sati was deeply distraught at Her father's opposition to Shiva. However, as it was Her divine destiny to unite with Him, She sought and found Him and They got married. They experienced great peace, love and contentment as a result of Their divine union.
When the news of the wedding of Sati and Shiva reached Daksha's ears, He was filled with immense rage.
He declared that his once beloved daughter, was now dead to him! He stated that nobody in the family was ever to utter Her name again and She had ceased to exist as far as he was concerned.
Sati's mother, sisters and other family members were filled with great sorrow at Daksha's resolve, but were unable to change his mind. They were thus compelled to accept his wishes. Years passed and there was no contact between Sati and Her father or the rest of Her family.
One day, while in the company of Shiva at Their home in Mount Kailas, Sati noticed a large number of celestial beings passing by. They appeared to be on their way to a grand ceremony of worship. She called to them to ask where they were going, and they replied saying that they had been invited to Her father, Daksha's home. They explained he was going to conduct a great yajna (fire ceremony) in honour of Vishnu and other divinities.
The only exception was Shiva who would not be honoured in any way at Daksha's ceremony (though it was the tradition that He too ought to have been worshipped). All Her sisters, their husbands and extended family were invited to the grand event. Sati and Shiva, however, had received no invitation.
Sati was filled with anguish at the thought of Her father not wanting to see Her after so many years. She thought he would surely be willing to forgive his own beloved daughter if only She could meet and speak with him. She told Shiva that They should attend her father's home and that it did not matter that there was no invitation-- She was Daksha's daughter after all and had a right to visit Her own father!
Shiva heard Her impassioned plea in silence. He replied saying that They should not go; it would be unwise, He said, to go to places where one was not invited. Sati was very upset that Her husband did not seem to understand Her feelings. He did not seem to realise the grief and pain that She had experienced in separation from Her family. It was only natural that She would want to try and reconnect with them.
She told Shiva that She would go alone if He was unwilling to accompany Her. She would speak to Her father and make amends. All would then be well, She assured Him, and the rift between Her husband and father would be healed.
Shiva looked at Her with a mixture of immense tenderness and sadness. He told Her that all would not be well if She went, and therefore, She should not go-- She should remain with Him at Kailas where She would be safe. He knew that Daksha had no real devotion to the Divine (whether as Narayana or any other form), and the sole purpose of his worship, was only self-aggrandisement and to humiliate Him by the exclusion.
However (in accordance with the Divine Lila that was unfolding), Sati was unable to accept Shiva's advice. She insisted that She would like to attend the worship and meet Her family. Bidding Him goodbye, She said that She would soon return and then made Her way to Her parental home where the grand worship of Narayana was about to begin.
As She arrived at the entrance to Her father's magnificent palace, the guards tried to block Her way saying She had no invitation. She told them to stand aside as She was a daughter of Daksha and had every right to be there.
She then entered the palace and saw that it was filled with divine sages, the demi-gods, apsaras, gandharvas and all manner of celestial beings. The entire area had been decorated beautifully with heavenly flowers and lamps, and the air was fragrant with incense.
Seeing Her childhood home and family, Sati was filled with great joy. Her mother and sisters saw Her enter and were filled with delight. They rushed to greet Her and they all embraced each other with great affection.
Daksha heard the commotion and murmuring among the guests caused by the arrival of Sati. What was the matter, he demanded. What was all the fuss about! The palace attendants quietly told him that his daughter, Sati, had arrived. Hearing this, Daksha was filled with great rage and indignation.
Declaring that he had no daughter called 'Sati', he marched over to where She stood just within the entrance to the palace. After severely rebuking Her for coming home, he was still not satisfied.
To cause even greater pain, he launched into a tirade of abuse against Shiva. (I am not going to describe in detail the negative words he used here, but suffice to say, these were related to the appearance of Shiva, His character, His apparent lack of worldly wealth and so on-- all these statements were based upon spiritual ignorance, which Daksha embodied, and were entirely false).
Sati, who had managed to tolerate the insult and humiliation of Herself, could not bear to hear a word against Shiva. Upon hearing the slander of Him, She became inflamed with a terrible rage (until this time, She had manifested as a sweet youthful woman, with little evidence of Her divine power-- this now changed).
Blazing with divine wrath, She declared that every word that Her father had uttered against Shiva was completely false-- and that this was only a testimony to his own enormous pride, ignorance and undivine nature!
She then stated that She did not desire to remain his daughter for an instant longer, and therefore, would give up Her body immediately. Her ears, She said, had been polluted by being exposed to the ignoble statements about Shiva made by Her father.
He did not know anything at all about Shiva, She declared, closing Her eyes, and fixing Her mind upon His presence within. She then used Her divine power to create a mystic fire that engulfed Her physical body. Her burning body fell to the ground as She departed.
There was a terrible uproar in the palace upon this occurrence. Previously, nobody had dared to say a word as father and daughter confronted each other, but this was too much for them to bear! Everyone present was filled with great sorrow at Sati's departure, and had a dreadful sense of foreboding of things to come. Daksha however, was briefly startled, but then composed himself and remained unrepentant.
Meanwhile, at Mount Kailas, Shiva felt the energy of Shakti leaving Her physical body. He felt the immense suffering and grief that Sati had experienced before She left. He had not been affected by Daksha's foolish and ignorant statements about Him (which had been going on for years), but inflicting such suffering upon Sati and causing Her to leave Her body, was completely unacceptable to Him.
Filled with immense grief and divine wrath, He decided to teach Daksha a lesson once and for all. He then drew two strands from His matted locks of hair, and as He did so, the strands transformed into two, exceedingly fierce divine forms-- a male form, called 'Virabhadra', and a female form, called 'Bhadrakali'.
"Go", said Shiva to these divine manifestations, "and teach Daksha a suitable lesson". Virabhadra and Bhadrakali were exceptionally powerful manifestations of divine anger and were frightening to behold.
In accordance with Shiva's instructions, They set off rapidly for Daksha's home accompanied by various attendants. Upon arrival, They entered the palace and destroyed all the arrangements for the false, egoistic worship that Daksha had wanted to conduct. Next, they turned to Daksha himself.
Now, in the yogic tradition, the head is said to represent the ego. It represents the intellect. Daksha's conduct over the years, including his behaviour with Sati, had clearly demonstrated beyond any doubt that his intellect was severely corrupted and that he was devoid of virtually all goodness. His mind and intellect were filled mainly with pride, anger and other vicious, undivine qualities.
As a gesture to relieve Daksha of the burden of this terrible ego, Virabhadra severed his head from his body (this may seem a bit macabre, but this story has an esoteric meaning-- and does not in any way condone anyone severing heads in general!
It is the egoistic head that needs to be removed for us to make spiritual progress, so that our Higher Self can express itself, so that we can attune ourselves to the Divine-- this is a key message of this Lila. Perhaps this is the reason why, in many spiritual traditions, people bow down before the Divine, placing their heads upon the ground as an act of worship. This symbolises humility and giving up the ego before God).
Upon Daksha's head being severed from his body, there was an outcry at the palace. Shiva Himself appeared at this juncture, and upon seeing Him, various family members pleaded with Him to restore the Prajapati's life. Hearing their prayers, Shiva agreed, and Daksha was revived. He understood that he had been a victim of foolish pride and other negative qualities and repented for his past mistakes. He asked for forgiveness from Shiva who blessed him.
Another fascinating aspect of this Divine Lila now unfolded. Filled with immense grief at Sati's departure, Shiva lifted Her lifeless body from the ground and embraced this; the sight of the body served as a reminder of the injustice and cruelty that She had faced. This filled Him with extraordinary rage and and pain, and unleashed tremendous cosmic forces of destruction from within His being.
The serene, meditating form of Shiva now transformed into an avatar of cosmic destruction-- Rudra. As He held the body of Sati, He began to dance the dance of destruction, the Rudra Tandava (this is usually conducted at the end of a cycle of creation to pave the way for the next one)!
However, it was not yet time for that cycle of creation to end. Therefore, Vishnu, the Preserver of the universe, stepped in and took action to protect all of creation. He released His divine weapon, the fiery discus known as the Sudarshana chakra, at Shiva. The weapon sped towards Him and swiftly caused the disintegration of the body of Sati.
Shiva, seeing that there was no longer any physical trace of Sati, withdrew again from the world. Returning to His home at Mount Kailas, He went deep into meditation for many years (until Sati returned as Parvati and They were reunited for ever more-- will try and write another post about this happier event later!).
The disintegrated parts of Sati's body fell on to the Earth and became the famous 'Shakti peethas' (each part of Sati became a unique manifestation of the Mother). These are places that are said to have a potent presence of the personal aspect of the Divine Mother. (They are also associated with Shiva; it is said that He guards each one of these areas in a unique form known as 'Bhairava').
Worship of the Mother in the forms associated with the Shakti peethas is said to grant great spiritual and material blessings.
These places are particularly associated with the practice of Tantra (a specific method of worship of the Divine using certain mantras, pujas, homams and so on). This includes both the ‘right hand’ (dakshina marga) and ‘left hand’ (vama marga) paths of spirituality.
Tantra sadhana should generally always be performed under the guidance of a genuine Guru of the tradition. The student who embarks upon the path of Tantra in particular must have already cultivated a high degree of practice of the yogic ethics (particularly ahimsa, satya and brahmacharya; as without these, there is a very real risk of a serious spiritual fall).
The practice of the Tantric worship of the Divine Mother can range from the recitation of simple mantras to more elaborate types of ritual. The one that I am performing for Navaratri is a relatively simple one advised by a lady Guru whom I respect and regard as a genuine spiritual teacher (though I do not know her personally and have not met her—though I might try to one day). In accordance with the teachings of my own Guru, Sivananda, I am not practicing any elaborate mantras with many beejas and so on as this is not the main spiritual path that I usually follow.
I do find the Tantric forms of the Mother beautiful and fascinating though, hence the reason I have decided to perform a simple worship of one of these for Navaratri. I may write further posts on the various forms of the Goddess in the Tantric tradition as I learn more and perhaps practice a bit of this type of sadhana.
In summary, there are various messages in the story of Sati, ranging from the dangers of excessive egoism to the importance of being able to see One God in all names and forms (and thus being able to respect all, while practicing one's own spiritual path). And also, most importantly, the power of the grace of God that manifests as various personal aspects that we can connect with and worship to benefit spiritually.
May Mother Sati bless us all with spiritual progress and material happiness.
Om Shaktyai Namah.
Om Namah Shivaya
Om Namo Narayanaya.
Hari Aum Tat Sat.
P.S. There are a couple of eclipses coming up in the next two weeks (including one in three days time). These are excellent times for sadhana for spiritual and material progress. Let us chant mantras for the peace and wellbeing of ourselves, our loved ones and the entire cosmos during this time.
