Legends of Satee

Satee was the daughter of Daksh Prajaapati and his wife Prasooti. In fact Daksh Jee had 16 daughters - 13 daughters he gave to Dharm. Their names were Buddhi (Talent), Medhaa (Discernment), Shraddhaa (Devotion), Maitree (Friendship), Dayaa (Pity), Shaanti (Calmness), Tushti (Satisfaction), Titikshaa (Patience), Hree (Intelligence), Unaati (Progress), Pushti (Weal) and Moorti (Statue). Each of them gave birth to children of various species. Moorti gave birth to Nar and Naaraayan. As they were born Heavens burst into music and the the Gandarv (angels) and the Kinnars (cherubs) began to sing on the fifth note. The 14th daughter was Swaahaa (Flame) who was married to Agni Dev (Fire god). The 15th daughter was Swadhaa whom Daksh Jee gave to the Pitars in marriage (deified saints). The 16th daughter was Satee and she was bestowed on the god Shiv.

Once it so happened that Brahmaa Jee organized a great Yagya. All Devtaa, Gandharv, Kinnar, Rishi, Muni came in that Yagya. Shiv Jee was also there. Daksh Jee came late. When he came everybody rose and greeted, but Shiv Jee neither rose from his seat nor greeted him. At this Daksh Jee filled with rage and abused Shiv Jee. And King Daksh then initiated the ceremonies of the Yagya which lasted for 1,000 years. Shiv's explanation of not being rising from his seat and greet him was that external honor was only good for those absorbed in the Karm Maarg (see Note below) and that he had really in his heart honored Daksh who had been too unenlightened to see it.

There are 4 Maarg (paths) according to the Hindu belief : (A) The Karm Maarg, the ordinary path of worldly affairs, followed by the careless and the unbelieving; (B) the Bhakti Maarg, the path of devotion and austerities, followed by the elect; (C) The Raj Maarg, the path of Government to which the elect are next promoted; and (D) the Gyaan Maarg or path of knowledge - the last stage before Moksh or release from the pain of living is obtained.

This way a quarrel arose between Daksh and Shiv. After a while Brahmaa Jee appointed Daksh as Prajaapati, so Daksh Jee also performed a Great Yagya. He invited everybody - all Devtaa, Rishi, Siddh etc but did not invite Shiv and Satee. When Satee saw Devtaa etc going here and there, she came to know that her father was performing a Yagya, a desire arose in her heart to see her parents. She asked permission to go to the Yagya from Shiv but Shiv said - "It is not good to go without invitation." But Satee was adamant, so Shiv sent her with his retinue and Nandee Bull. Shiv Jee was sure that something bad was going to happen. As Satee arrived in Daksh's Yagya, her mother and sisters got very happy to see her but Daksh and his courtiers ignored her. This made Satee angry and she abused her father and the guests sitting there. She then decided to destroy her own body. She wore yellow clothes, sat facing North, and then left her body by Yog. Daksh's sacrificial party broke up in disorder.

The Aachaman consists of sipping water in the names of Keshav, Naaraayan, and Maadhav and throwing it down in the name of Govind.

In the process of Yog her body became rigid and she united the Praan and the Apaan Vaayu beneath her navel. Next by an upward motion of the navel whee, she brought them to her heart and skillfully fixed them there. Lastly, she slowly forced them through her throat into her forehead. Now, as by living with Shiv she had become well-versed in the Yog, she was then able by its means to produce a flame that enveloped her body.

When this sad news reached Shiv Jee he was inconsolable and wandered vainly up and down the Earth and Heavens seeking for mental rest. And at last he one day found it under a Bel tree. For, seated in its shade, he cast his eyes upwards and from the shape of the fruit which resembled Sati's rounded bosom, he fancied that her spirit had become embodied in its trunk. Now it happened that later Satee incarnated as Paarwatee, the daughter of Himaalaya Parvat. She wished to wed with Shiv, and to gain her end, she had practiced various austerities. For twelve years she had sat with downcast eyes inhaling smoke. Then for 64 years she ate only withered leaves. In the month of Maagh (February) she entered water; in Vaishaakh (May) she sat between five fires, and in the rains she sat without food and without a roof. Now she had all but reached her object when Naarad Muni, the mischief-maker among the gods, visited Himaalaya, and urged him to unite Paarvatee to Vishnu.

Himalaya agreed, but Paarvatee fled with a waiting maid into the desert. There she drew a Ling on the sand placed on it Bel leaves, and abandoning all food and water, gave herself up to the worship of Shiv. At last, she conquered him by her devotion, he appeared and granted her the boon to marry her. Thus, the Bel is doubly sacred, for it granted rest to Shiv and won wedlock with Paarvatee. He who worships Shiv without the Bel leaves will be consigned to the blackest depths of Hell for one Kalp or seven ages of Nidraa, each of 7,000 years.