Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati

Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati

Ellora Caves, Rashtrakuta Dynasty, 8th Century CE

             Lord Shiva was not only a loner, but was also the one to defy the social norms. A recluse,  an ascetic, He is the symbol of pure intellect. He is the 'mahayogi' (the great yogi). While the ancient Indian society venerated the ascetic,  it did not hold him as the ideal person. It is the 'grahasthi ' ( the householder) who is the idol. Thus Lord Shiva had to be transformed from the yogi to the grahasthi.  

             Goddess Parvati is the symbol of the benevolence of Nature. She is the beauty of Nature,  She is the opulence of Nature. She represents the concepts of peace,  harmony and beauty. She is the emotional part of the human psychology.  The task of transforming the pure intellect into something more human, thus, fell on Her. 

             Here we see the happy couple together.  Since Parvati symbolises the fertile nature, the hearth and the home, since She is mother Earth, She holds a stalk of  sugarcane.

             The sugarcane itself is symbolic. It belongs to the grass family. Yet, it is useful to mankind. Like life, it undergoes an ordeal, being crushed, to become valuable.  We too have to undergo difficulties in order to emerge as a useful person. Like sugarcane we have to lend sweetness to people, to our relationships, to the world. Like Goddess Parvati we are the providers of hearth and home. We have to maintain harmony and peace like an ideal grahasthi. For, a house divided never stands.