Story Planning: Devi and Shiva

Story Planning: Devi and Shiva

"For most Hindus, God is best embodied in the form of three human couples: Brahma and Saraswati, Vishu and Lakshmi, Shiva and Shakti."

I thought this quote was especially important for the storybook that I am working on because these three couples form the basis of my story. I will need to read a little more about Shakti, though, since my story relates to Sati and Parvati.

Ardahanari's Secret

I thought this part was really interesting because it related the cultural view to the modern day perception of male and female counterparts. This really relates back to last week's reading that I did, where Shiva represented the spiritual aspirations and Parvati represented the materialistic desires. I find this to be an interesting perception because the materialistic desires mentioned specifically translate to having a family.

Shiva's Secret

I liked this part because I felt like it really clarified the difference between Shiva and Parvati as far as their aspirations. Shiva is essentially the "destroyer of desires." 

Then Kali entered the picture and Shiva became a little bit more confusing again. It's just difficult sometimes to understand the exact role of each deity in Hinduism because they all seem to be interconnected and there seem to be several different ways to explain every god, goddess, or divine concept. Although it is confusing, it really exemplifies the message I'm trying to portray in my storybook.

Shiva's Secret (continued)

After a thoroughly confusing introduction to Shiva in part 1, this again makes a little more sense. Shiva becomes the householder after Parvati is able to bring him out of a hermit-like state that starts when his first consort, Sati, kills herself because of her father's disapproval. Shiva then kills Sati's father, becoming the destroyer of social constructs. The Shri Yantra is the representation of balance between spiritual and material aspirations. I thought this was another really interesting concept and related well to what I am trying to explain in my storybook.

Devi's Secret: Desire and Destiny Create Life

This part of the reading made a lot of sense because I've done a lot of reading about Devi and the Tridevi already. I really like that the feminine aspect of the divine represents a balance between power and love, which translate into the concept of a mother. I think this is a very respectful view of the feminine aspect that isn't always appreciated or represented in this particular way in some cultures and is even lacking in some of the stories we read from the epics.

I think this week's reading could really help me with my storybook for this week because my next story is about Sati being greatly affected by her father's opinion of her marriage to Shiva and then killing herself in response to what she sees as an irreconcilable situation. I am trying to figure out how exactly I would like to portray Saraswati as being involved, but I think she will create these forms from a simple word (like Shiva from Brahma in the first story), but Sati and Sita will still be tied to her. I can see this working as a sort of in and out of consciousness experience for Saraswati as she bounces between each of the deities. Once Sati commits suicide, Saraswati will be devastated and console Shiva, urging him to seek vengeance for Sati.

I see this story being really big on balance and how things can quickly spiral out of control if Saraswati is unable to effectively divide her attention between her different forms. Saraswati is the powerful part of the tridevi as the primary creator (which will be revealed in the final story), while Sati and Sita represent the love portion of the tridevi.

Ardhanari (Web Source)

Bibliography:

Seven Secrets from Hindu Calendar Reading Guide by Devdutt Pattanaik (Web Source)