75 - Discourses on Tantra Volume One

Chapter 20

The Pervasive Influence (2)

Later, many gods and goddesses were brought to the scene and linked with Shiva, because until an entity’s relation to Him was established in one way or other, that entity would not get any recognition at all. Take for instance the goddess Manasá. Sometimes she is said to be the daughter of Shiva, but in reality, there was no goddess named Manasá or Viśahari at the time of Shiva. In the Puranic Age, it was declared,

Ástikasya munermátá Vásukiibhaginii tathá;
Jaratkárumuner patnii manasáyae namo namah.

Manasá was said to be the mother of Ástika Muni and the sister of Vásukiinága and the wife of Jarátkáru Muni. We will not raise any objection to the statement that she was the mother of Ástika Muni, but we cannot accept that she was the sister of Vásukiinága. There is a story in one Purana that she was the sister of Vásukiinága,(2) but according to another Purana, Kadru was the mother of serpents and Maharśi Káshyapa was their father. In that case the father of Manasá is Káshyapa. Then how can she be the daughter of Shiva? So the Puranas are mutually contradictory. In fact, Manasá has no relation to Shiva; Manasá is only a laokik(3) goddess and was recognized as such in Buddhist Tantra and the Puranic religion. Shiva, however, was a great personality about seven thousand years ago, whose existence does not depend upon the tales of the Puranas. The Puranas were composed about 5500 years after Shiva.

After Manasá, let us take the case of Párvatii. What is the meaning of the word Párvatii? Some may derive it as Párvatasya duhitá, párvatasya kanyá (using śaśt́hii tatpuruśa(4) ) that is, “daughter of a hill”. Obviously the question will arise, and quite logically, how can a human girl whose body is made of five fundamental factors be the daughter of a hill? A river may be called the daughter of a hill, but in the case of a human girl we cannot say that. So the derivation of Párvatii as párvatasya kanyá is not logically acceptable; rather, the proper derivation is Párvatadeshiiyá kanyá ityarthe Párvatii (using madhyapadalopii karmadháray(5)): “a girl born in a hill state”. So when people say that Párvatii was the daughter of the Himalayas, it does not mean that she was the daughter of a person named Himálaya, but that she was a person born in the Himalayan Range. This Párvatii was fair-complexioned; that is, she was an Aryan girl.

In the then India, the mutual relations between the original inhabitants of India (Austrico-Mongolo-Negroids) and the outsiders, the Aryans, were by no means cordial. The Aryans, out of deep-rooted contempt for the indigenous people of India, used to call them sometime asuras, sometimes dánavas, sometimes dásas, sometimes shúdras.(6) The Aryans did not accept these people in their society; rather, they declared them to be outcastes. But these ancient people of India, of Austrico-Mongolo-Negroid blood, had their own civilization and culture. They were also developed people: they had their science of Tantra, and their medicine. There was a prolonged conflict between these people and the Aryans.

Párvatii was the daughter of an Aryan King, Dakśa, who ruled in the Himalayan regions. Many people were hopeful that after the marriage between Párvatii and Shiva, the relations between the Aryans and the non-Aryans would improve. During the period of the vow of penance that Gaorii (another name for Párvatii) undertook in order to attain Shiva as her husband, she used to dress in the fashion of a Shavara girl (the Shavaras were one of the non-Aryan communities). She used to stitch turmeric leaves together to make improvised outer garments. One of the Sanskrit words for “turmeric leaves” is parńa. As she would wear paŕńa as her clothes, she was called “Paŕńashavarii”. Later, after she became successful in her penance, people requested her, “Now please set aside the turmeric leaves and wear fine clothes.” When she actually discarded the crude turmeric leaves, she was nicknamed “Aparńá”. Unfortunately, even after the marriage between Shiva and Párvatii, the relations between the Aryans and the non-Aryans did not improve; rather they became more strained the conflicts became more acute than before. Gaorii’s father, Dakśa, and the Aryans continued their slanderous campaign against Shiva, and finally, to humiliate Shiva, they held a yajiṋa [sacrificial ceremony] to which Shiva was not invited. Párvatii went to attend the yajiṋa, and unable to bear the insults to her dear husband, immolated herself in the sacrificial fire.

Kśánta hao go pitá Shivanindá ár sahe ná;
Kuver yár bháńd́árii, Brahmá Viśńu dvárer dvárii
Ámi táṋri ájiṋákárii jeneo ki tá jána ná!

“‘I am a follower of Sadáshiva, the brilliance of whose divine presence outshines even the dazzling brilliance of the jewels of Kuvera’s(7) treasury; whose unmatched dexterity in creation excels even that of the creator Brahmá himself; whose unequalled love surpasses even that of the dissolver Maheshvara himself; in whose loving shelter not only humans, but also animals and plants, feel absolutely secure. You certainly know this. I cannot bear this insult to Shiva any longer. Stop, Father, stop!’” After that self-immolation the relations between the Aryans and the non-Aryans improved.