Wife of शिव .

पार्वती is known under different names and worshipped in different forms. अमरकोश (Sanskrit lexicon) gives the following synonyms for पार्वती :

उमा , कात्यायनी , गौरी , काली , हैमवती , ईश्वरी , शिवा , भवानी , रुद्राणी , शर्वाणी , सर्वमङ्गला , अपर्णा , दुर्गा , मृडानी , चण्डिका , अम्बिका , आर्या , दाक्षायणी , गिरिजा , मेनकात्मजा , चामुण्डा , कर्णमोटी , चर्च्चिका , भैरवी .

Some of these names refer to the various dispositions of पार्वती , while a few are the names in the various incarnations of पार्वती . The origin of पार्वती and her other prominent births are given below:--

Incarnation of सती

शिव was born from ब्रह्मा . To make शिव active, सती , an aspect of महामाया , was born as the daughter of दक्ष , one of the प्रजापतिस् . The ९थ् स्कन्ध of देवी भागवत gives the following story about the incarnation of सती :

While ब्रह्मा was engaged in creation a few दैत्यस् named हालाहलस् were born. They were very valiant and ferocious and they did penance to propitiate ब्रह्मा and after obtaining boons from him conquered the three worlds and asserted their supremacy in all the three worlds. They defied the त्रिमूर्तिस् (trio of ब्रह्मा , विष्णु and शिव ). शिव and विष्णु in despair went to war against them. The war continued for sixty thousand years and both the दैत्यस् and Devas were exhausted. विष्णु and शिव refused to attend to their duties. ब्रह्मा understood the situation and taking into his hands the work of शिव and विष्णु also and calling his sons, सनक and others to his side said "Oh sons, शिव and विष्णु are incapable of doing their work now, I have therefore, taken on myself the charge of their duties also and hence I do not find time to do penance. You must therefore, do penance to propitiate महामाया . Let her be pleased and when she incarnates in this universe the world will be happy."

As soon as they heard this the प्रजापतिस् headed by दक्ष went to the forests on the side of the हिमालयस् . They started doing penance reciting the mantra of मायाबीज . The penance lasted for a hundred thousand years and then the goddess was pleased. She graciously appeared before them with three eyes and four hands bearing पाश , अङ्कुश , वर and अभीति . दक्ष and others praised her and she granted them boons. She did also promise to be born as the daughter of दक्ष . दक्ष and others returned happy.

महामाया incarnated as सती in the house of दक्ष . सती blossomed into a beautiful maiden and all the प्रजापतिस् joined together and made शिव marry her. The bride and bridegroom lived in the bride's house.

At that time the sage दुर्वासस् worshipped जगदम्बिका seated at जाम्बूनद meditating on her and reciting the मायाबीज mantra. The देवी was immensely pleased and appearing before him gave him the divine garland lying round her neck. The garland was highly perfumed. Honey flowed from it always. Wearing that garland the sage travelled through air and reached the palace of दक्ष , father of सती , and gave that garland to him. दक्ष received it with great delight and took it to his bed-room and placed it there. That night दक्ष inhaled the perfume of the divine garland and enjoyed an amorous sport with his wife. This act made the garland impure and the latent curse in it made दक्ष hate his daughter सती and her husband शिव . After that दक्ष conducted a याग and insulted शिव by not inviting either him or his wife. सती , however, attended the याग uninvited and she was insulted. Unable to bear the insult सती leapt into the fire and committed suicide. From that day onwards शिव roamed about in the world crying " सती , सती ."

सती , पार्वती ( काली )

During that time a son named वज्राङ्ग was born to कश्यप of his wife दिति . This virtuous असुर practised austerities for a thousand years and when he opened his eyes after his long penance he did not see his wife. वज्राङ्ग started in search of her collecting fruits and roots for his food on the way. Then he came across her standing underneath a tree weeping and she said: "All the time you were doing penance, इन्द्र was teasing me. I was living without food on the banks of the river keeping a vow of silence. इन्द्र came there in the form of a monkey and threw away all my articles used for worship. Then he came in the form of a lion and frightened me. Then again he came in the form of a serpent and bit me. Oh lord, am I, your wife, an orphan?" वज्राङ्ग got angry and decided to do penance again to find a remedy for this unjust act of इन्द्र . Then ब्रह्मा coming to know of the fierce decision of वज्राङ्ग appeared before him and said "Why do you go in for a penance again? Ask me what you want and I shall grant you." वज्राङ्ग said "Oh Lord, I did penance all these thousand years to get rid of the demoniac disposition of mine. But when I was engaged in meditation इन्द्र tormented my virtuous wife very much without any reason. If you will bless me I must get a son named तारक to kill all the देवस् including इन्द्र ." ब्रह्मा granted the boon.

वराङ्गी became pregnant and after twelve months was born a son to her named तारकासुर . तारक did severe penance sitting in the midst of पञ्चाग्नि (five fires) for a long time and ब्रह्मा was pleased and appeared before him. तारक then said: "If I were to die I must die at the hands of a seven-day-old babe. You must grant me a boon like that." ब्रह्मा granted the boon. तारक became arrogant with that boon and joined hands with such fierce demons as प्रसेन , जम्भ and कालनेमि to create havoc in the three worlds of स्वर्ग , भूमि and पाताल . They blessed the wicked and killed the virtuous. It was the time when शिव was sadly roaming about in search of his lost wife सती .

All the devas headed by Indra went and complained to ब्रह्मा . ब्रह्मा said:--"After all, this calamity is not without remedy. There is an escape from the boon I have given him. तारकासुर himself has allowed him to be killed by a sevenday-old babe. If there should be such a babe it should be from the virility of शिव . तारकासुर thinks that since शिव is observing ब्रह्मचर्य after the death of सती there is no chance of a babe being born to him. That was why he was prepared to allow that clause in that boon. I shall therefore suggest a plan. सती herself should be born as the daughter of हिमवान् and मेना in the name of काली . काली should do great penance and break the vow of celibacy of शिव . If शिव accepts her as his wife and a child is born to them we are saved."

शिव was all this time spending his time thinking of सती . Once during this time शिव bathed in the river कालिन्दी and then the waters of the river कालिन्दी became black and the waters remained black ever since that.

इन्द्र and others on their return from ब्रह्मा went to बृहस्पति to think about further procedure in the matter. बृहस्पति said:--"No obstacle would ever come to any act of the devas. हिमवान् was doing penance for a long time to obtain a child and by the grace of शिव , सती has already been born as the daughter of हिमवान् . (Skanda Purāṇa in its Sambhava Kāṇḍa states thus about the birth of Satī as Pārvatī. "Satī before jumping into the fire meditated on शिव and prayed that she should be born in her next birth as his wife. शिव granted that request. It was at that time that हिमवान् along with his wife मेना went to the vicinity of अमृतसरस् and started doing penance to get a child. One day when हिमवान् and his wife were bathing in the सरस् they saw a gem of a girl in the waters and they took it. Then they found the child with four hands and all other emblems of goddess on her. They praised her with verses from वेदस् and soon the divine emblems faded away and हिमवान् gave the child to his wife.") ब्रह्मा never wanted तारक to know that the child was an incarnation of देवी and so he made the babe black by sending निशा to do so. निशा entered the womb of the pregnant मेना while she was sleeping with her mouth open one day. The child was like a sapphire idol. हिमवान् was surprised to see the child. The child will do severe penance and obtain शिव as her husband. शिव and सती will never be separated in any of their births. Oh इन्द्र now go and try to get शिव interested in a married life."

हिमवान् and मेना had three daughters and a son. The देवस् were watching who among the three-- रागिणी , कुटिला and काली --would become the consort of शिव . All the three were interested in penance. The देवस् took रागिणी to ब्रह्मलोक and showed her to ब्रह्मा and the latter declared that रागिणी was incapable of bearing the virility of शिव . रागिणी got angry and ब्रह्मा cursed her and made her into सन्ध्याराग and she took her place in the sky. Then the देवस् took कुटिला to ब्रह्मा and the latter said that she was also incapable of being a mate of शिव . कुटिला also got angry and ब्रह्मा made her into a river and kept her in ब्रह्मलोक . मेना was greatly distressed at the loss of her two daughters and so she advised काली , her third daughter to go home, discontinuing the penance. She at first said उमा (Mā = do not) and so she got the name of उमा She was the daughter of a पर्वत ( हिमवान् is a parvata (mountain) and so she got the name पार्वती (mountain-girl) also. काली later went home. But after some time the natural inclination in her led her to start a severe penance again.

The young काली , who was only a small girl then, accompanied by two of her girl companions went to the shores of a river deep in the forests and started practising austerities. In summer she would sit in the midst of पञ्चाग्नि (five fires) and in the rainy season she would sit in water and do penance. The penance lasted for a thousand years.

शिव who was roaming about in search of सती went once to the palace of हिमवान् . शिव agreed to stay there for some time at the persistent request of हिमवान् . During his stay there शिव understood that one of the daughters of his host was doing penance meditating on शङ्कर . Curious to know more about her, शिव one day went to the आश्रम of काली . काली saw शिव and she stood up bowing before him. शिव was pleased with her. But before काली could have another look at शिव , he vanished from there.

काली was disappointed and continued her penance again. Years went by and one day there came to her आश्रम a वटु (a brahmin ब्रह्मचारी ). काली and her companions stood up and worshipped the वटु who looked brilliant with ashes on his body and wearing रुद्राक्ष and अक्षमाला (berry of a tree and rosary made of it) and carrying in his hand a दण्ड (stick) and a कमण्डलु (water pot). After formal introduction the वटु asked काली the purpose of her penance and काली told him all about it. Then the वटु asked her in tones of surprise why such a beautiful girl like herself born to be the wife of a king, should go after a crudely dressed aged man like शिव who goes on the back of a bullock always. पार्वती resented the statement of the वटु and got angry with him. Then शिव appeared before her in his real form and married पार्वती ( काली alias उमा ) in the presence of देवस् and महर्षिस् .

पार्वती changes into गौरी

शिव and पार्वती spent their honeymoon travelling throughout the world. Years went by like that. One day शिव in a spirit of sport called पार्वती 'Kālī, काली '. काली meant black one and पार्वती was as black as sapphire. पार्वती misunderstood शिव addressing her thus two times and thought, perhaps, शिव did not like her black body and trembling with grief said "If a wound is made by an arrow it will heal in due course; if the top of a tree is chopped off it will again blossom when the season comes; but the wound in the minds of others by harsh words is never healed. It was not my fault that I was born black and I would never again come near you with this black body. I am going." Saying thus with a firm determination, she rose up into the air and travelling for some time reached a big forest. She created by her reciting the स्मरणमन्त्र four attendants for her named सोमप्रभा , जया , विजया and जयन्ती and started doing penance there. She practised severe austerities standing on one foot for a hundred years and then ब्रह्मा appeared before her and sought the reason why पार्वती , wife of परमेश्वर should do such severe penance and then she narrated to him all that had happened. ब्रह्मा after hearing her story told her thus:-"Virtuous woman, from today onwards, your black complexion would change into one of the hue of a lotus petal. Because of that 'gaura' hue you would be called 'Gaurī'." By the time ब्रह्मा finished blessing her the colour changed into the one described by ब्रह्मा .

गौरी changes into कात्यायनी , विन्ध्यवासिनी , चण्डिका and चामुण्डिका

When देवी became गौरी her superficial skin peeled off and dropped down, it is said.

At that time there were two great demons called रम्भ and करम्भ . They had no sons and they started severe penance. Karambha was doing penance standing in deep waters and a crocodile swallowed him. The crocodile was none other than इन्द्र . Rambha did penance standing in the midst of fire and finding no result even after a long time decided to sacrifice himself into the fire. अग्निदेव then appeared before him and blessed him thus: "Oh Rambha, you will get a mighty son of the woman you love." Rambha stopped his penance and returned home with the boon. On the way he saw a beautlful she-buffalo and passion rose in him and he made contacts with the buffalo. The buffalo became pregnant and in due course delivered a child which later on became the notorious महिषासुर . In the meantime a buffalo loved Mahiṣāsura's mother and it attacked Rambha and gored him to death. The यक्षस् burnt his dead body in a funeral pyre and the she-buffalo jumped into the pyre and abandoned her life. From that pyre there arose then another demon and he was the notorious रक्तबीज . Mahiṣāsura became the king of demons and Raktabīja, चण्ड and मुण्ड became his ministers. They attacked the देवस् and drove them to exhaustion. The devas took refuge in ब्रह्मा to think of a plan to kill those असुरस् . विष्णु , and शिव took part in the conference. Viṣṇu the eternal, got angry along with Śiva and became fierce like the fire of death. Brahmā and the devas also became angry and from the face of everyone a brilliance emanated and all these brilliances joined together and reached the holy आश्रम of कात्यायन महर्षि and that eminent sage also sent out a brilliance. The ascetic brilliance joined with the divine brilliance and the combined brilliance shone like a thousand suns. Then this superior brilliance entered the peeled-off skin of काली to produce the fierce and divine form of a goddess named कात्यायनी . Each limb of the new form was made up of the brilliance from a particular god as follows: From the brilliance of महेन्द्र was formed the face; from अग्नि , the eyes; from यम , the hair; from Viṣṇu, the eighteen hands; from Indra, the central parts; from वरुण , the hip and the thighs; from Brahmā, the feet; from सूर्य , the toes; from प्रजापति , the teeth; from वसुस् , the fingers of the hands; from यक्ष , the nose; from वायु the ears and from the ascetic brilliance, the erotic eyebrows. Thus Kātyāyanī shone in the world with a figure formed with distinctive perfection.

All the gods and devas presented कात्यायनी with gifts:- शिव gave her a trident ( त्रिशूल ); विष्णु a Discus; वरुण , a conch; अग्नि , a javelin; वायु , a bow; सूर्य , a never-empty quiver; इन्द्र , Vajraghaṇṭā; यम , a दण्ड (stick); वैश्रवण , a mace; ब्रह्मा , a rosary garland; काल , a sword and shield; चन्द्र , चामर (white brush-like fan) and a pearl necklace; Ocean a garland; हिमवान् , a lion; विश्वकर्मा , a moondisced चूडामणि , earrings and a dagger; the King of गन्धर्वस् , a silver-plated drinking cup; the King of नागस् , a नागहार ; and the ऋतुस् (seasons), neverfading flowers. The three-eyed कात्यायनी on getting all these was highly pleased and made a roaring sound. देवी , thus worshipped and adored by all, mounted on the lion and went to the topmost peak of the विन्ध्यस् . इन्द्र and अग्नि went and served कात्यायनी thus living there. विन्ध्य called देवी , कौशिकी and अगस्त्य called her दुर्गा .

महिषासुर once went to the विन्ध्य s after conquering all the three worlds. He was accompanied by his ministers, रक्तबीज , चण्ड , मुण्ड , चिक्षुर and नरक . They met there the goddess कात्यायनी . महिषासुर fell in love with the beautiful and wellfigured कात्यायनी and he sent दुन्दुभि as messenger to the goddess to make her know his desire. दुन्दुभि approached कात्यायनी and told her to become the wife of महिष , the emperor of all the three worlds. देवी replied that she would accept as her husband one who defeated her and that was the custom also in her caste. महिषासुर with a huge army and heavy equipments went to war with her. But कात्यायनी entered the field alone mounted on her lion and the देवस् watching her enter the battlefield without wearing even an armour were shocked. देवी went forward reciting the mantra of विष्णुपञ्चाक्षर given to her by शिव and lakhs and lakhs of demons were killed by the adroit sword-swinging and the dinning roar of कात्यायनी . महिष and his ministers surrounded her and देवी stepping down from the lion started to dance wielding her sword. Swinging her sword to the rhythm of her dance-steps देवी picked up the leading demons one by one and killed them. Seeing that, महिषासुर approached her, burning with rage like the प्रलयाग्नि . All the attendants of देवी fled. Those who remained were trampled to death by महिषासुर . देवी at first killed the ministers and then faced महिषासुर . महिष became an elephant and देवी cut off its trunk. The elephant became a buffalo then. देवी sent a spike and it broke. Even देवी 's Discus, granted to her by विष्णु was blunted when it hit the rock-like body of महिषासुर . वरुणपाश , यमदण्ड and इन्द्रवज्र were all alike fruitless against the mighty महिषासुर . Angered देवी jumped on the buffalo form of the demon and drove it to exhaustion and when at last its power of resistance had failed, देवी plunged her spear into the ears of the buffalo and the demon fell dead.

Many years went by. कश्यप begot of his wife दनु three great sons named शुम्भ , निशुम्भ and नमुचि . All were fierce demons. नमुचि attacked इन्द्र but they soon came to a compromise. But इन्द्र hid in the foam of the ocean which entered the ears, nose and mouth of नमुचि while he was playing in the ocean. इन्द्र used his वज्रायुध from inside and killed him. शुम्भ and निशुम्भ were angry and they entered स्वर्ग and defeating everyone there, carried all the riches from there to the earth. They met रक्तबीज and he said "Oh Lords, I am रक्तबीज , minister of महिषासुर . कात्यायनी देवी killed virtuous महिषासुर . His two ministers चण्ड and मुण्ड are hiding inside the ocean afraid of कात्यायनी देवी ." While he was speaking thus चण्ड and मुण्ड also came there. When they all exchanged ideas शुम्भ called one of his men and said "Bho: सुग्रीवासुर , go and tell कात्यायनी to be my wife." सुग्रीव went to कात्यायनी and returned disappointed and said "Lords शुम्भ and निशुम्भ , I told देवी your message and she only laughed. She said that शुम्भ and निशुम्ह might be mighty lords but only those who defeated her could marry her."

Enraged at this arrogance of कात्यायनी , शुम्भ sent धूम्राक्ष to drag कात्यायनी down to him. धूम्राक्ष with six अक्षौहिणीस् of soldiers went to the seat of कात्यायनी and challenged her to a fight. देवी stepped down from her seat and stood before धूम्राक्ष and the latter leaped forward to catch hold of her. But धूम्राक्ष was burnt to death by the हुंकार fire of the goddess. Not only that, the हुंकार sound reached the ears of शुम्भ . शुम्भ felt small by this prowess of the देवी but his rage increased. शुम्भ then sent चण्ड , मुण्ड and the great demon रुरु also with an army of a hundred crores of demons to face देवी कौशिकी . When the enemies reached विन्ध्य the भूतस् of देवी made loud and shrill noises. The lion of कात्यायनी roared and she leaped into the midst of the army sword in hand. Lakhs and lakhs of असुरस् fell dead by the sword of the goddess. देवी once opened her mouth and lakhs of असुरस् entered it and then she shut her mouth keeping in her stomach the असुरस् till they all died. देवी beat the demon रुरु to death. देवी plucked her matted hair and struck it on the ground and from there arose the fierce form of चामुण्डी . चण्ड and मुण्ड fled but चामुण्डी followed them to पाताल and catching hold of them chopped off their heads and presented them to कात्यायनी . Then देवी , चामुण्डी and the भूतस् together tore to pieces all the remaining असुरस् and stored them all in their stomachs. Hearing this शुम्भऽस् rage knew no bounds and he started with an army of thirty crores of men. The army swept on like an ocean and finding it moving forward चामुण्डी roared. कात्यायनी made a sound like a lion's roar. ब्रह्माणी holding high the dagger jumped down to fight. माहेश्वरी with snakes and the spike, with the three eyes open got down in fits of anger. कौमारी with the javelin hanging round her waist and bright eyes entered the field. वैष्णवी swinging her sword and whirling the mace with many weapons rushed to the field. वाराही breaking open the earth with its tusk and bearing a large wooden pestle came to fight. इन्द्राणी with diamond on her sides came to fight. नारसिंही brushing the manes on her breast, shaking the stars and whirling the planets and making a fierce appearance came to the field. ( चामुण्डी , ब्रह्माणी , माहेस्वरी , वैष्णवी , वाराही and नारसिंही are the different forms of कात्यायनी . They are called सप्तमातृस् (seven mothers). These सप्तमातृस् were born when- कात्यायनी in her wrath beat the earth with her matted hair). चामुण्डी roared. The world became dark. Hearing the roar शिव descended to the field. The असुरस् surrounded the देवी again. But they all fell dead with blood flowing in a stream. The dead bodies of the असुरस् became heaped up and in despair शुम्भ and निशुम्भ wept. Seeing that, रक्तबीज got angry and rushed at देवी . The सप्तमातृस् shouted and चामुण्डी opened her mouth. The lower jaw of चामुण्डी touched पाताल when she opened her mouth from the sky. रक्तबीज , wounded and bleeding by a dagger stroke of चामुण्डी , fell into the mouth of चामुण्डी and disappeared. Then निशुम्भ interfered and the fight became one between निशुम्भ and देवी . The fat and sturdy hands of निशुम्भ and the mace he was carrying fell by an arrow sent by देवी . Then देवी struck him with her spike and निशुम्भ was killed. Both शुम्भ and निशुम्भ who came to weeak vengeance on her were thus killed. (See under Laṅkālakṣmī to know how Pārvatī became Laṅkālakṣmī).

पार्वती takes the forms of Elephant and monkey

शिव and पार्वती went about enjoying amorous sports in the forests. शिव turned himself into a tusker and पार्वती became a she-elephant then. गणपति was born as a result of that sport. शिव became a monkey and पार्वती became his mate and हनूमान् was born as a result of that sport. (See under Gaṇapati and Hanūmān) .

पार्वती became सीता

This happened when राम and लक्ष्मण along with सीता were in the forests. One day सीता went to the गोदावरी river nearby to bring water to the आश्रम and she stayed for some time watching two swans playing in the midst of lotuses in the lake there. Hearing a sound she looked into the river and saw श्री राम bathing there. She was surprised. When she left the आश्रम राम was sitting there. At the same time another thing happened in the आश्रम . श्री राम found सीता coming to him and when he arose to receive her the figure disappeared. Then श्री राम found bathing by सीतादेवी also disappeared. When an astonished सीता reached the आश्रम she found an equally astonished श्री राम sitting there. They then told each other their experiences and श्री राम on meditation understood that in the guise of राम and सीता शिव and पार्वती had come from कैलास to know about the welfare of the princes in exile.

पार्वती , विहुण्ड and जलन्धर

See under those names.

Other details

पार्वती shines in the court of ब्रह्मा . [mh-2-11-41 ] Mahābhārata • Sabhā parva .

When the पाण्डवस् were in exile पार्वती guarded अर्जुन always. [mh-3-37-38 ] Mahābhārata • Vana parva .

Once पार्वती appeared in person and blessed धर्मपुत्र . [mh-4-6-1 ] Mahābhārata • Virāṭa parva .

Once श्री कृष्ण pleased पार्वती and she granted कृष्ण boons. The first was that he would have sixteen thousand wives. The next was a beautiful form for कृष्ण and the next was love of his relatives. Another boon was that कृष्ण would have the prosperity to be able to give food for seven thousand travellers daily. [mh-13-15-7 ] Mahābhārata • Anuśāsana parva .

It was because of a curse of पार्वती that देवस् do not get sons by their own wives. There is the following story behind that.

शिव and पार्वती went to the हिमालयस् after their marriage and started living there. शिव and पार्वती were so much engrossed in their amorous sport that they were oblivious of the happenings outside. After a long time when their sport continued without a break the देवस् went in and informed शिव that the whole universe was trembling by their sport and if शिव produced a son the world would be incapable of bearing it and so he should withdraw from the act of producing a child. शिव agreed and drew his virile strength upwards. पार्वती did not like that and she cursed the देवस् that they would never have sons of their own wives. [mh-13-84-1 ] Mahābhārata • Anuśāsana parva

पार्वती once taught गङ्गादेवी the duties of women. [mh-13-146-33 ] Mahābhārata • Anuśāsana parva .

पार्वती resides in the mount of मुञ्जवान् in कैलास with परमशिव . There is a mount called मुञ्जवान् in the हिमालय . भगवान् उमापति ( शिव ) shines there on treetops, underneath the trees, on the mounts and in caves. [mh-14-8-1 ] Mahābhārata • Āśvamedhika parva

The महाभारत uses the following synonyms for पार्वती : अम्बिका , आर्या , उमा , भीमा , शैलपुत्री , सैलराजसुता , शाकम्भरी , शर्वाणी , देवेशी , देवी , दुर्गा , गौरी , गिरिसुता , गिरिराजात्मजा , काली , महाभीमा , महादेवी , महाकाली , महेश्वरी , पर्वतराजकन्या , रुद्राणी , रुद्रपत्नी and त्रिभुवनेश्वरी .

पार्वती प्रतिष्ठा

The installation of the goddess पार्वती in temples is done with the following sacred rites.

An inner temple should be constructed and the idol of देवी should be installed there. Before that, on the bed of the platform bearing the idol, amulets with spiritual inscriptions on them should be deposited there just as in the case of the installation of महेश्वर . Then पराशक्ति should be consecrated there with recitals of mantras followed by the deposition of पञ्चरत्नस् meditating on पिण्डिका . Then the idol of देवी should be fixed on the platform. After that क्रियाशक्ति should be consecrated on the platform and ज्ञानशक्ति on the idol. Finally अम्बिका named शिवा should be invoked with the mantras as ordained in the scriptures.

The different zones like the east and the west and the guards of the Universe like इन्द्र should also be worshipped. apc-98-1 • [bk-1-36-1 ] bk • Book 1 • vmp-51-1 • vmp-53-1 • [db-7-1-1 ] db • Book 7 • [bha-4-1-1 ] bha • Book 4 • brp-43-1 • utt-rmkm • pdp-121-1 • [mh-1-186-1 ] Mahābhārata • Ādi parva • [mh-3-37-1 ] Mahābhārata • Vana parva • [mh-4-6-1 ] Mahābhārata • Virāṭa parva • [mh-6-23-1 ] Mahābhārata • Bhīṣma parva • [mh-7-202-1 ] Mahābhārata • Droṇa parva • [mh-12-283-1 ] Mahābhārata • Śānti parva • [mh-13-15-1 ] Mahābhārata • Anuśāsana parva • [mh-13-84-1 ] Mahābhārata • Anuśāsana parva • [mh-13-140-1 ] Mahābhārata • Anuśāsana parva • [mh-13-146-1 ] Mahābhārata • Anuśāsana parva • [mh-14-8-1 ] Mahābhārata • Āśvamedhika parva Bāla Kāṇda, Āraṇya Kāṇḍa from Uttara Rāmāyaṇa and Kamba Rāmāyaṇa references. .