On the dark skin, the unruly hair covered her face partially and flew in the wind like smoke. The Shakti’s eyes were oozing wrath today. Her anger was
inducing havoc on earth causing destruction. All of sudden, her wrath changed to grievous sob, resulting in a downpour of rain. The land flooded, washing away people, flora and fauna. She sneezed, the air got infected with diseases. Holding a trident in hand, adorned in dark coloured clothes, driven by her unruly emotions, with broken energies, Shakti moved around the earth. Her moods, manifested on the earth’s condition, for she was a Parvati’s Swaroop (form), known as a Shakti.
One day, Shakti with her usual wavering mind was strolling beside a river.
Water splashed behind her. A huge crocodile emerged from water to sun soak on land. Driven by her uncontained reactions, fearsome, she immediately charged her trident, piercing the animal to death. Seated in his heavenly abode, Lord Shiva’s forehead wrinkled. He felt disturbed, witnessing the scene, the state of Earth and more so this form of Parvati’s Shakti. After a thoughtful moment, Shiva made a pair of earrings with a chakkar design on it. Descending on Earth, the Shankara (earthly name of Shiva) gifted the earrings to the Shakti, seated her on the bank of Cauvery River and proposed.
“Devi! Please sit in the Sat-Chit-Ananda pose until I return.”
The chakkars on the earrings trapped her energy and by the mellowing effect of the suprema’s voice, she did as asked for. She sat in this yogic mudra for months. She travelled within, with this practice. Years passed, Shiva looked below at the Shakti. Her raised eyebrows had eased. The creases on her forehead disappeared. The dark-skinned face bore a serene look. The cheeks looked fresh, without the dried tears. The earth was flourishing. It was time to meet her once again.
Seated facing each other, like a teacher and disciple, Shiva awakened her from the trance.
“Devi please open your eyes.”
After paying her reverence, she looked around the transcended earth. It was matching her inner world. It was flourishing, at peace. In an enlightened voice, she shared,
“I have acknowledged my fears, my broken energies. Now I neither fear them nor let it control me. I accept them as my own. I also know now, that the concept of the whole and absolute are illusionary. Like the world, even we are in a constant state of flux. Hence instead of resistance, we must be driven with acceptance. This acceptance now compels me to flow. This brokenness is my whole. I am at peace now.”
Just as she finished speaking, a crocodile appeared in the water. Unlike her
previous self, driven by fear. This time, the Shakti dived into the water. She
swam with the flow of water. She saw the bodily movement of the beast,
matched her motion with it. Hence by doing so, she stood atop it. Like a
victorious goddess, she rode across the river, balancing herself on it.
Shiva smiled at the sight.
“Hail! Akhilandeshwari. The Goddess of never not Broken.”
Written By Monica Gupta
