As you celebrate Valentine’s Day today, the theme of love and relationships is uppermost on everyone’s mind. It is often said, the highest form of love is divine love. Even in relationships, when love is true, it has the potential to become divine love. Just like the Shiva Parvati love story. Despite the love she had for Shiva, Parvati had to do a lot of penance to become equal to Shiva. Instead of helping her, Shiva tested her, going to the extent of telling her to marry someone else. But she was determined in her belief and she passed all His tests.
Similarly, true love involves total surrender of the Ego and rising up to the object of your love. Love also involves acceptance. Parvati was a princess who agreed to live with Shiva in the most inhospitable places after their marriage. Even their wedding was not without family opposition. On the wedding day, when Parvati’s mother saw the ghosts and ganas dancing in Shiva’s wedding party, she was horrified. And when she perceived the groom Shiva wearing snakes as earrings, she fainted.
Awakening Divine Love
On they were married, Shiva for his part, accepted Parvati as she was. Divine love awakens when you accept your partner for who they are. Instead of trying to change them, you try to accommodate them with all their failings. The most successful marriages are those where partners have not tried to change the other, instead learning to appreciate each other as they are.
Parvati or Shakti is the energy aspect and soul of the Lord. Shiva has no expression without Shakti, and without Shiva, Shakti has no existence. It is the beatific Union of these divine energies from which the whole manifests. So instead of falling in love, let us evolve in love until we have risen to our Higher Selves.
Gauri Shankar Rudraksha for love and unity
Gauri Shankar is the unified form of Shiva and Shakti, represented by two naturally joined rudraksha. It opens up the Hrit Padma chakra and awakens love, harmony and unity in the wearer’s life. Hrit Padma chakra is the spiritual heart which is the abode of Goddess Mahalaxmi. It is variously described as a lotus with 8, 16, or 1000 petals, being golden, red, or white of colour; inside of the lotus there are circular regions of sun, moon, and fire and in the centre of the Chakra, there are a whishing-tree (kalpavriksha), a throne consisting of Matrika letters (symbolizing the spiritual heart of the aspirant) on which he/she should place his or her Ishtadevata in meditation, and an altar.
Gauri Shankar which is the Unison of Male (Yang) Shiva and female (Ying) Shakti is the most powerful Rudraksha for spiritual wholeness. According to ancient philosophy, the entire universe is a manifestation of pure consciousness. In manifesting the universe, this pure consciousness seems to become divided into two poles or aspects, neither of which can exist without the other. One aspect retains a static quality and remains identified with unmanifest consciousness. In Tantra this quality is called Shiva, and is conceptualized as masculine The other part of this polarity is a dynamic, energetic, or creative aspect that is called Shakti, the great mother of the universe, for it is from her that all is born.
