ARDHAANGANI
I have always loved this picture of Shivji . It always makes me smile with the thought : Who’s are the hands behind Shiva’s back? We are used to thinking of Him as one with many hands, especially when we see His depictions like this. But consider for a moment that it may just be a great Shakti at His back, the 'woman' who is actually the Great Mother of all, Durga Parvati!
Shiva is different when He is alone, and different when he is with Parvati. By Himself he is a great meditator, a great warrior, a great dancer, a great chieftain. But when He is with Parvati, His meditations are translated to welfare of the world, His might is used to restore order by vanquishing Rakshasas who have gone astray, His Tandava is not Raudra Tandava-the dance of destruction, but Ananda Tandav-the dance of joy; and lastly, He is no longer the aloof God somewhere in a Himalayan cave, but a fond father- Kulapati to all the ganas of Kailash and the very Universe.
So we see through all the stories and narrations that Parvati gets out the best version of Shiva, who is already the best of all! She fulfills Him and His greatness, and we salute her as His Ardhaangani.
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