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Chapter 3: Talks Between Lord S'iva and
Satî
(1) Maitreya said: 'Thus the heartily enmity that
existed between the son-in-law and father-in-law, continued for a very long time. (2)
When Daksha
was appointed the chief of all the progenitors of mankind by
Brahmâ, the supreme teacher, he became very puffed up with pride. (3)
Neglecting S'iva and his
followers he, after first performing a Vâjapeya sacrifice ['the drink of strength or battle'], began the best of all sacrifices called the
Brihaspati-sava sacrifice [the initiatory sacrifice to the honor of the
chief offerer of prayers
and
sacrifice]. (4) To
that occasion all the God-conscious and learned ones of
wisdom,
the
ancestors
and
the
demigods including the nicely decorated
wives who accompanied their husbands, assembled. (5-7) Satî, the
daughter of Daksha and wife
of S'iva, heard the denizens of heaven talk in the sky about the great
festival to be performed by her father, and when she saw near her
residence the beautiful wives of the godly ones with glittering eyes
from all directions, in nice dresses with golden earrings and ornaments
around their necks, in their heavenly vehicles move about along with
their husbands to go there, she highly anxious addressed her husband,
the Lord and master of the Bhûtas [the ones of matter and the
dead]. (8)
Satî said: 'Your
father-in-law, Daksha, has started a great sacrifice where all the
God-conscious ones are going and where we surely thus also may go to my
dearest, if you like to. (9) Surely
my
sisters
together
with
their
husbands will also be going there, eager
to see their relatives. I would like to attend that gathering together with you and all the ornaments given to me. Do you
consent? (10) I
will surely meet my sisters there with their husbands as well as my
sweet aunts and my mother. I've been waiting for a long time to see them as also the sacrificial flags raised by the
great sages, oh merciful one. (11) Unto
you oh unborn one, this manifestation of His external energy that was created as an interaction of the
three modes, appears so wonderful. But I am but your poor woman
not conversant with the truth who would like to see her place of birth
oh Bhava [S'iva as the Lord of existence]. (12) Oh
immaterial, blue-throated one, the other women, ornamented and with
their husbands and friends, are flocking in large numbers going there
standing beautifully out against the sky with their white swans
carrying them high. (13) How can I be emotionally unaffected oh best
of the demigods, when I as a daughter hear about the festival that
takes place in the house of my father? Even when one is not invited one
can go to the house of a friend, one's husband, one's father or one's
spiritual master, isn't it? (14)
Be therefore so kind unto
me oh immortal one, and fulfill my desire oh you honorable,
compassionate
Lord with your unlimited vision. See me as the [full] other half of
your body, please be so gracious to answer my request.'
(15) The sage said: 'The deliverer from mount
Kailâsa [Lord S'iva] thus addressed by his dearest, amiable to
his relatives as he was, replied
with a smile, meanwhile
remembering the heart-piercing, malicious words that Daksha had spoken
in the presence of the guardians of creation. (16) The
great Lord said: 'What you said my
dear beauty, is perfectly true; one may, even uninvited, visit friends,
provided they are not finding fault with you or, more important, when
they are
not of any anger in being proud of their material achievements. (17)
Those who are arrogant are
blinded in their pride over the
six qualities of pious education, austerity, wealth, beauty, youth and
heritage. Not of respect for the glories of the great souls they to the contrary get entangled in untruth and lose their sense of reality. (18) One should not go to the house of
relatives and friends who in their suppositions don't see matters as
they are and thus offer their guests a cold reception in regarding them
with raised eyebrows and anger in their eyes. (19) One
is not hurt as much by the arrows of an
enemy as one is grieved in the
core of one's heart by the
deceitful,
harsh words of relatives, for such grief makes the one hurt suffer day
and
night. (20) It is clear that you with your pretty face
and good behavior are the darling of the
daughters of the Prajâpati [Daksha], yet you will because of
being connected to me, meet
with pain because your father doesn't honor me. (21) Someone
upset
with
a
burning heart is not directly able to rise to merely the standard of the exemplary pious
behavior of those whose minds are
always turned to the Original Person, as much as
demons envious of the Lord cannot act piously. (22) My
dear young wife, the intent to rise to our feet and welcome
one another with obeisances is proper, but the wise, being intelligent
unto the Supreme, direct themselves to the
Original Person who resides within the body and certainly not to the
one
who identifies himself with the body. (23) The pure
consciousness known as Vasudeva [God's goodness] is revealed there
[within the heart]
because the person is in goodness in that position and not covered [by
darkness]. The Supreme Lord as such I always respect by the name of
Vâsudeva [the 'God of the Soul'] because He is the transcendence. (24)
Therefore we should not go
and see your father Daksha and his Vis'vasrik followers present at
the sacrifice. Even though he gave you your body oh
Satî, [remember that] he with
cruel
words
enviously has insulted me
who was innocent. (25) And if you decide to go there in neglect of
my words,
things will not turn out good for you. When you being so most
respectable are insulted by your
relative, that insult will be equal to dying on the spot.'
