Unlike some of the more mindless books filed under the ‘Romance’ genre, this book is one rooted in the Puranas of Sanatana Dharma, based on one of the cosmos’ most celebrated consorts: The divine duo of Shiva and Shakti themselves. Despite knowing the story and its ending, I knew I’d come away from this reading session, both enthused and enriched.

The book is roughly divided into 3 sections. The first deals with Devi’s life experiences and encounters as the virtuous Sati. The second deals with the same Sati reborn as the daughter of the mountain king Himawat, now named Parvati, and her subsequent wooing of and wedding to Lord Shiva. The third and last section ‘Children’ deals with the entry of Karthik and Ganesha into the lives of the Cosmic Couple.

The first section is incredibly well written. We learn of Sati’s initial years, being tutored by the Divine Guru Brihaspati and being brought up by her somewhat over-protective father Daksha, the officiating priest of the Devas. We gradually learn of Sati’s temperament, her inclination for all things beautiful and elegant, her sensitive heart, and the love she showers on nearly all who interact with her. She spends her maiden years conversing and sharing company with her sister Devis, the radiant Lakshmi and erudite Saraswati, and shows every sign of living her life as per the conventions of her time.

Life however has other plans in store for her.

The momentum of the narrative picks up once the elegant Sati meets the mysterious, but fascinating Rudra. Inexplicable, but alluring, she finds herself more and more enamoured by this enigmatic Deva with whom she seems to share little in common, at first, that is. Over time their attraction grows and they undergo much together. Clandestine meetings under heavenly trees, ventures across the mortal realms when Sati must pick her Vahana, and many more misadventures! All this is amidst the growing displeasure and distaste of Daksha but encouraging approval of Lakshmi and her consort, Lord Vishnu. The eventual union does occur and the two lovers are happily married off.

But unfortunately, their joy is short-lived.

Devi soon finds out that Daksha is holding a Yagna to which he has invited all the major and even minor Devas but has deliberately disinvited her and Shiva. Despite assenting to her marriage, he continues to harbour ill will towards Rudra (or Shiva as he is now known ) and his dislike seems to show no signs of abating. Sati refuses to believe that her father would behave as such. She tries to convince Shiva of the contrary, however, Shiva wisely guesses Daksha’s true intentions. He grants her the freedom to do as she so deems fit but refuses to accompany her. She goes off, hopeful that she can remedy the situation although she is vaguely troubled by what the future portends. Shiva is proven right when Daksha refuses to acknowledge his superiority and goes so far as to viciously insult him in the midst of Sati and all the invited guests. Aghast and ashamed at the turn of events and angry with herself for having chosen to come, she publicly denounces Daksha. No longer wanting to be his daughter she focuses her mind, attention, and energies on Lord Shiva and enters a higher meditative trance.

Does she immolate herself?
Does she fall into the sacrificial fire?

This remains unclear although she does liberate her soul, leaving behind her lifeless body with a promise to reincarnate. To be reborn to a father whom she could respect and love and who would also love and respect her life decisions in turn.

In contrast to the former section which is fully fleshed out and detailed, the remaining two sections, ‘Parvati’ and ‘Children’ respectively feel more rapidly paced, as if too many events were compressed into too few pages. This is not to suggest that they were badly written. Far from it. It’s just that the book was so engaging that I wouldn’t have minded reading 100 more pages on the life of Devi Parvati and her subsequent wooing of Lord Shiva. In fact, the book could have been expanded upon into 2 books with the 2nd half dealing with events of sections 2 and 3 in greater detail. I would definitely have bought both.

I want to add a minor quibble. I wanted to know a little more about the author’s writing process, the source texts that inspired her, some of the creative liberties she took while adapting this into a novel, and why she did so. This made things a little tricky since there was no foreword/afterword. Fortunately, I was able to find an interview conducted wherein she clarified all that I wanted to know, which I am sharing for the benefit of my readers.

 

I have also read the author’s first book ‘The Curse of Gandhari‘ and have no doubts regarding her talents and prowess as a writer. While I didn’t find this book as excellent as the former, I still thoroughly enjoyed it.

Highly recommended.

Final Rating: 3.9/5 Stars

Further Reflections:

Chapter 10 is interesting as it features an incident wherein Devi gently teaches Shiva a lesson. After the divine duo is happily married, one specific chapter deals with her Annapoornashweri Roopa – The Goddess of food and nourishment who presides over the sacred city of Kashi. The tale is amusing but also an instructive one.

The newlywed couple have spent millennia together at Mount Kailash. Lord Shiva is in the midst of expounding subtle philosophical nuances of Dharma to Devi Parvati. He points to the mountains and addresses them as being a part of the masculine principle ‘Purusha ‘: pure consciousness that is not affected by the material concerns of the mortal realm: Food, Clothing, Housing, and Shelter. Was he a being a tad supercilious in proclaiming so? Devi certainly thinks so and mischievously makes up her mind to remind him of the importance of sustenance. Lord Shiva’s mistake here, I might add is a commonly held misconception even amongst Spiritual Sadhaks. They neglect to attend to their more material needs by assuming that becoming ‘Spiritual ‘ supersedes those very basic needs. When Nandi brings up a bowl of food, she grabs a hold of it and mysteriously disappears. Shiva is baffled and assumes she’s upset and cannot fathom why. Before he can come to any further conclusions, he hears his Ganas wailing for food. With Devi’s disappearance, her powers over Prakriti have vanished as well. As Shiva begins his frantic search for her across the various realms of the cosmos, he is alarmed to see the same situation everywhere. Vegetation and Crops are barely growing anywhere and the world’s inhabitants are miserable as they clamour for food. It slowly dawns on him that basic survival needs and the means to sustain oneself are equally as important as spiritual practices/Sadhana. Without a secure substratum/supporting base, it is not easy to attain higher spiritual states.

He then strives to seek her out but isn’t sure where she may be. What ensues? How does he finally locate her as the presiding deity at Kashi, famously known as Annapoorneshwari? Does he approach her directly? Is she satisfied with the lesson she taught him and does she have any pearls of wisdom to share with him? Curious readers would do well to pick up the book and find out more. For those who know the ending, it would not hurt to read a different dramatisation of an old tale in the hands of an adept writer. The captivating dialogue between the divine duo and the rapid pacing of the plot is sure to keep the reader interested and engaged.