How Sati Searched Lord Shiva in thousand of princes

* How Sati Searched Lord Shiva in thousand of princes *

Then the day came, a big festival arranged by her father, called 'swayamvara', during which royal brides could chose their husbands. While most ordinary girls would enter arranged marriages, where the parents present the girl with a few 'suitable boys' to choose from, the kings would invite thousands of suitable partners, assemble them all in an arena on the same day, the daughter would come out of the palace, which was always made of gold, silver, gems and sandalwood, she would have a garland in her hands, look at each of her suitors, and when she had found the one she liked best, she would hang the garland over his shoulders. Then they were engaged and had to be married and there was nothing the girl's parents could do about it. It was her choice, her decision and it was final.

There were thousands of kings, princes, and even gods, at Sati's swayamvara, but King Daksha had taken great care not to invite Shiva and had stationed Security Guards from Securicor and from Group Four (oh yes, it is a very old company) all around the arena and given them whips, fierce Rottweiler dogs and machine guns to keep Lord Shiva out, just in case he should come uninvited, be it dressed as a tramp, with matted hair and his body smeared with ashes, or in all his glory as a God.

So Lord Shiva, who surely knew by now that Sati loved him dearly, that no other living soul loved him as dearly as Sati, did not come to the swayamvara. Or did he?

Sati, on the other hand, was sure that her beloved Shiva would be there, and with a radiant smile she came out of the palace, garland in both hands, and started walking around the arena, filled with kings and gods, their ornaments and weapons glistening in the sunshine of an early Indian morning when it is still cool. She looked at each suitor in turn and could not see her beloved Shiva. How could he let her down? She walked around the arena three times and became more and more sad each time. She almost started sobbing. Where was the God whom she loved with all her heart? How could he let her down, her who felt so infinitely close to him as if they had always been lovers?

Then she made up her mind. She stepped into the middle of the arena, threw the garland into the air and cried: 'Lord Shiva, I choose you for my husband.' Suddenly everybody could see him, just three yards above the ground, Sati's garland around his neck, there was Lord Shiva, the god who is everywhere, whose dance maintains the whole universe, who vibrates in every atom, every molecule, in every sound, in every ray of sunlight, in every emotion. Here he stood in front of his beloved Sati, looking like a tramp, showing that he did not care for outward appearance, and rewarding Sati who had proved that she could detect and love what is godly or divine even in creatures who do not look like it at all.

Her father, King Daksha, was very angry: 'How can you be so stupid and marry that dirty stinking beggar? Just say one word and I will call my bodyguards to evict him. What right did he have to come here uninvited, and through the air at that. Who does he think he is? Batman? I think, he is a bloody sorcerer. Send him back to Pendle Hill where he belongs! Of course, you are entitled to marry whom you like, but if you marry that filthy scoundrel I never want to see you again, not together with him anyway. You can have him as your husband, stupid goose that you are, but I will never accept him as my son-in-law, just go away and live with him in misery - a beggar's wife!'

But Daksha could not persuade his daughter to change her mind, and so Sati and Shiva were married, her sari was tied to his úttar­ya vástra (uttar­ya vastra), his scarf, they took the seven steps round the sacred fire, she put a morsel of sweet into his mouth and he did the same to her, they promised to always take care of each other and then returned to his abode in the Himalayas on top of Mount Kailasha. There they lived happily for many years.