Sati - Bulbul Sharma

As Sati, a manifestation of Durga, the goddess is the beloved wife of Shiva. We see her now not as a great warrior but as his faithful, gentle wife Uma, who cannot bear the humiliation of her husband, whom she worships as a god, and gives up her life. Her name Sati has come to mean virtuous and it also describes a wife who commits self-immolation on her husband’s funeral pyre. The following legend is from the Bhagavata Purana and there are various other versions of this legend in the Mahabharata and Skanda Purana.

One day Uma was sitting with her husband, Lord Shiva, in their home on Mount Kailash when she saw a convoy of glittering chariots passing by. Each one carried a finely bedecked god and his consort. They passed by in a flurry of golden dust and Uma, curious to know what was happening, stood up to gaze at this magnificent convoy. ‘Where are they all going? All these gods and goddesses and even the gandharvas. Look, my lord, how they are all dressed up in fine clothes and jewels. You who knows all must know where they are going, dressed in their finest clothes and jewels? She asked Shiva who was sitting quietly by her side. At first the great lord was silent, but when Uma asked him over and over again, he told her with great reluctance, ‘They are all going to your father’s house to take part in a great sacrifice he has organized.’

© "The Book of Devi" by Bulbul Sharma, published by Penguin Books India (P) Ltd., 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi 110 017. Reprinted with permission.

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