As Shiva and his sons Ganesha and Kartikeya continued to walk the halls of the temple, they asked their father all manner of question in hopes of understanding his might. After some time, Kartikeya became entranced with a stone carving of Shiva and Parvati.
"Father," interjected the young god Kartikeya, "how was it that you and my mother fell in love?"
Shiva grinned, for there was nothing dearer to his heart than Parvati.
"When my first wife Sati passed, I lost everything. With her death, so died my will to live. I retreated to the top of this very mountain and sat in solitude. I found that I had lost the source of my power. Without Sati I had no interest in any of the three worlds. Fortunately the goddess Shakti, from whom Sati emerged, took pity on my love-sick heart. She reincarnated as Parvati with the sole purpose of joining with me, thus restoring both my power and my will to be. As soon as I saw Parvati, I knew she was once my Sati," replied Shiva.
"Oh, it was that simple, was it?" retorted a voice that cut through the corridor and bounced off the walls, ringing in the ears of the listeners far after the words had been spoken.
The three could now make out the figure approaching them, the tall and breathtakingly beautiful woman was none other than Parvati. She emanated such power and grace that it was impossible not to feel her mighty presence. She was adorned in the finest of robes and her dark curly hair cascaded down her back and over her shoulders, framing her gentle smiling face.
"Your father is technically correct. As soon as he saw me he knew me to be the goddess Shakti and saw in me my previous life as Sati. However, it was no easy task to get Shiva to look upon me," continued Parvati as she made her way over to her husband's side.
"From my youth I knew that Lord Shiva was the only man I could be with. Athough my father, King Himavan, brought me many suitors, still I chased after your father," said Parvati as she knelt down to be at eye level with her children. "I tried to grab Shiva's attention by showing him my wifely potential. I cleaned and decorated the cave in which Shiva was meditating atop this mountain, but he seemed incapable of awaking from his trance. Truthfully the only movement I saw from your father that day was when he incinerated Lord Kama after Kama unsuccessfully tried to enchant him with an arrow of desire."
"I still feel bad about that," interjected Shiva, somewhat embarrassed of his loss of control.
"Anyway," continued Parvati, "it was then that I realized that only through devotion could I catch Shiva's attention and thus, I went to serve penance in the forest. It was here that my past lives were revealed to me and my power grew tenfold in my meditation. I pushed myself further than any of my past lives. Some say I even matched your father in my asceticism. The heat that the energy my introspection produced, my Tapasya, began to glow so bright that Shiva could no longer ignore it. This was when he appeared to me and asked for my hand. My devotion restored his full power and he was once more able to be the great god for whom I had fallen."
"Yes, this is true," replied Shiva. "As I said before, I was distraught when Sati was no longer with me and lost sight of myself. Although your mother saved me, in my absence the demon Taraka took advantage of a boon of invincibility I had bestowed upon him and tormented the earth and heavens. Even though I wanted to help...I could not."
"But why, Father?" interjected the young Ganesha, who had never heard of his father being unable to do anything.
"Because your father and I are two parts of one whole. I am the source of his power. Without me he was unable to provide any assistance to the other Gods. We knew that in your father's absence the demon had become more powerful than Shiva. That is why when the Gods came to me when I was Shakti, I agreed to return to the earth and devote myself to your father. So that one day, a child that we bore might defeat the demon."
"But which one of us will face him?" retorted the boys, their voices full of fear and excitement.
Without answer Shiva and Parvati began to walk once more. Shiva glanced over his shoulder and said, "Come with us, and I will explain to you both the purpose of your birth. For just as Parvati was born to be with me, we are all born with a purpose."
Since I introduced Shiva in the previous story, I decided that Parvati ought to be next. I love the intimate connection that these two share, a love that outlasts lifetimes. I thought that one key thing about the stories I read researching this is that Parvati is just as essential to maintaining peace and balance in the worlds as Shiva is. I tried to stress this by making the story I chose that of their meeting and the restoration of cosmic balance. I also noticed the connection between Kartikeya and the demon Tarakasura (whom I will elaborate more on in the next story) and I loved the idea of a son destined to destroy the chaos his father had created. I decided that because these Gods were born with a direct purpose, I would next focus on the origin of Kartikeya and Ganesha as well as the greatness they are both destined for in the last two stories of my project!