LORD SHIVA THE FISHERMAN

ॐ नमः शिवाय

Om Namah Shivay

One day Lord Shiva and Parvati were sitting together in their abode on Mount Kailash. Lord Shiva, who is most wise and learned, decided to narrate the Vedas to his beautiful wife Parvati. Parvati was delighted to be taught this sacred knowledge and excitedly urged Lord Shiva to begin.

Lord Shiva began explaining the Vedas. The Vedas are difficult and heavy to study. After a while Parvati’s concentration began to lapse and she started getting distracted.

In a tiny pond of water, not far from where she sat, Parvati noticed some fish merrily swimming about. Their antics caught her attention. She kept watching the fish glide through the water swishing their tails this way and that. Little bubbles were forming on the surface of the water as they breathed and Parvati was so fascinated that she could not take her eyes off the fish.

Lord Shiva, all this while, was continuing to talk to her about the Vedas. Though at first he did notice that Parvati’s attention had wavered, he never said a thing because he thought that she would, in a few minutes, be drawn back to the wondrous knowledge of the Vedas. Unfortunately, this was not to be. Parvati was totally engrossed in watching the fish and no longer even heard what Lord Shiva was saying.

Lord Shiva is known to have a short temper. Much as he loved his beautiful wife, he lost his temper and shouted, “Parvati you are so captivated by these fish that you have not been listening to a word I have said. Since you seem more interested in the fish than me, I will turn you into a fisherman’s daughter. Go live on earth with the fish that you seem to love so much.”

Parvati was startled by Lord Shiva’s outburst but knew that he was justified in losing his temper with her. After all she had urged him to teach her the Vedas and when he was doing so she had not even bothered to listen.

In moments Parvati was transformed into a little baby girl and there she was lying on a sandy beach by the azure, blue ocean. It so happened that, just at that time, the chief of all the fishermen in that village was walking along the beach carrying his nets. As he turned to the ocean he was surprised to discover a little baby girl lying happily on the soft sands. He rushed forward and picked her up. He was amazed at her beauty. The baby looked up at him and gurgled happily. The fisherman could not resist cuddling her close. He felt a surge of deep abiding love for this child.

He took the baby home. Every child needs a name. It is our parents who name us. Parents usually go through many names before deciding on the name for their child. Well in this case when he looked down at the gorgeous baby in his arms there was only one name that came to mind - Parvati. No other name even entered the fisherman’s mind. He knew he had to name his daughter Parvati. The original Sanskrit meaning of the name Parvati is "the daughter of the mountain”. It seems strange that a fisherman living by the ocean far far from the mountains should choose such a name for his daughter. Maybe this was because Goddess Parvati even in her human form was to be called Parvati.

Lord Shiva calms down as quickly as he loses his temper. So the moment his wife left he began to miss her. But Parvati was now the daughter of a fisherman who adored her and took very good care of her. She grew up to be extraordinarily beautiful and was happy and content with her life.

Up in Mount Kailash, Lord Shiva was growing sadder and sadder every day as he was missing his wife. His devoted disciple Nandi, the bull, could not bear to see Lord Shiva so unhappy. He went to Lord Shiva and said, “You are desolate without Goddess Parvati. Why don’t you call her back?”

Lord Shiva sadly shook his head and said, “I cannot do that. I see that her destiny is to marry a fisherman.”

On earth, Parvati was growing up and there were many suitors queuing up to ask for her hand in marriage. But her father wanted only the bravest and the best man for his darling daughter.

In Mount Kailash, Nandi could no longer bear to see Lord Shiva so downcast and decided to take matters into his own hands. He turned himself into a giant whale and entered the oceans near where Parvati lived.

The village by the ocean was inhabited by fisherfolk who earned their living by catching fish. Every day, at the crack of dawn, they would go out in their wooden boats, cast their nets and bring in a catch of fresh fish that they would sell in the village market. In this way they earned good money and were able to take care of their homes and families.

One day as they sailed out they encountered huge waves that tossed their little boats hither and thither. They were surprised as the weather was good and the ocean was calm. Then all of a sudden to their horror they saw a giant whale crashing through the waters. It was this enormous whale that was creating the huge waves that were causing their boats to almost capsize. They quickly turned and headed back to the shore. That day they all returned home without catching a single fish.

The next day too the story was the same. Those who tried to be brave and sail on despite the turbulence caused by the whale found that their boats were destroyed and overturned and as a result they had to hurriedly swim back to safety. Not just this. The whale seemed to have a huge appetite and gobbled up all the fish. So even if they did manage to cast their nets there were no fish to catch.

The fishermen were suffering. They were unable to earn a living. They decided to go to the chief fisherman and ask his advice on how they could solve the problem of this gigantic whale who had destroyed their fishing business completely.

Meeting with the chief they told him about all that had been happening over the last few days. Then the spokesperson said, “Chief, what do you suggest we do? Our boats are broken. There are no fish left to catch. We cannot earn any money. We are terrified of this giant whale. What’s even worse is that this whale doesn’t seem to ever leave our water. We will soon die of starvation if you do not help us.”

Parvati’s father replied, “I know the problems you face. I too am unable to catch any fish. I have been pondering over this matter and trying to find some solution. Unfortunately so far I have been unable to do so.”

All the fisher folk and their chief sat around looking very despondent. Each of them deep in thought, trying to come up with a plan to catch this whale or get rid of it in some way.

Then suddenly an idea struck the chief and he said, “I will give my daughter’s hand in marriage to the brave man who can catch and kill this whale.”

He felt that the men were too afraid to face the whale but given some incentive they would be ready to take a risk and show some courage. As all the young men of the village wanted to marry Parvati, he knew they would now make every effort to kill the whale.

He was right. All the young fishermen began repairing their boats. Very soon they began to take their boats back out into the ocean. In their endeavours, many boats were smashed to smithereens, nets were torn, men were injured and some were even gobbled up by the whale. After several such failures, the whole village gave up. There was no one ready to fight the whale.

This was the moment Nandi was waiting for. He quickly went to Lord Shiva and said, “Lord, the chief fisherman has promised Parvati’s hand in marriage to the fisherman who can destroy the whale. If you now change your form into that of a fisherman and overpower me, the whale, you can once again marry Goddess Parvati.”

Lord Shiva said, “Nandi, what a brilliant idea! I will change myself into a fisherman right now and win back my wife.”

Wasting no time Lord Shiva who is handsome and strong turned himself into a fisherman and began to stride along the beach. He was tall and muscular. His bronzed body gleamed in the noon day sun. He had perfectly chiseled features and his intense eyes were almost spell-binding. Nandi meanwhile went back to being the frightening, giant whale in the ocean.

From the ocean waters Nandi could see that Lord Shiva had certainly made a dramatic entrance. The whole village had come out to see the incredibly imposing man walking casually on the ocean front. Everyone wanted to know who he was. The chief too was curious to know who this handsome, stranger was. He came up to Lord Shiva and asked, “Young man, who are you?”

Lord Shiva replied, “I cannot tell you who I am. But tell me. Will you keep your promise and grant me your daughter’s hand in marriage if I am able to overpower the whale?”

The chief promptly replied, “Of course I will. I would be happy if my daughter marries a strong brave man - a man who has no fear and is willing to risk his life for my daughter. I could never find a better partner for Parvati than a someone who can save our village. We will all be eternally grateful to you if you can capture this whale.”

Hearing this Lord Shiva immediately headed into the ocean waters where Nandi, as the whale, was waiting to be caught by him. Not only did Nandi permit Lord Shiva to rein him in, he even allowed his Lord and master to ride him for a while.

On the shore everyone watched this spectacle in awe. They could not believe that the monstrous whale, who had terrorised them all for days, was so easily captured by this stranger. They watched as the stranger rode the whale far and deep into the ocean waters. They watched till Lord Shiva and Nandi almost disappeared from sight. Some of the young fishermen hoped that the handsome stranger would disappear into the ocean just as mysteriously as he had appeared in their village. After all if he did disappear they would once again be eligible to marry the beautiful Parvati.

Unfortunately for them, the fishermen, Lord Shiva was not about to disappear. He had come to take his wife back and he was certainly not leaving without her. A few moments later, with powerful strokes, the stranger swum back to the shore. Shaking out the water from his long hair he went directly up to the chief and said, “The great whale has returned to where he belongs (this was true as Nandi had returned to Mount Kailash). He will never trouble you again. Now it is time for you to uphold your promise and marry me to your daughter.”

The chief was more than happy to marry his daughter to this handsome and brave man.

The wedding was arranged on the very same day and Lord Shiva was able to bring back, to his home in Mount Kailash, his wife, Parvati, who he loved dearly and who had missed from the moment that she had left their abode.

LIFE LESSONS

1. Try not to lose your temper.

2. If you make a decision when you are angry you usually end up regretting that decision. Lord Shiva regretted that in anger he had sent Goddess Parvati to earth. As soon as she left he became sad because he really missed her.

3. Sometimes we need to be patient with those we love.

5. Be loyal and always help your friends when they are sad or lonely. Nandi saw that Lord Shiva was sad and devised a clever plan that ended in Lord Shiva being happy once again.