When Parvati spent forty days with the Lord.

“So, tell me Nandi, your Lord… He drinks only water? I mean I have heard of His huge passion for Bhang and Soma. Is that true?”
“Yes, Shiva can drink Bhang like an ordinary man has water,” said Nandi. “It’s true. But that was a thousand years ago.”
“That long?”
“Yes. My master has not touched Bhang ever since…”
“Sati?"
“Yes,” said Nandi quietly. And then wanting to continue the conversation, added, “Why do you ask?”
“Oh, because I have so many notions of Him; so much I have heard, so much I have been told, and so much I feel intuitively. I want to know what is what with Him. So that I may serve Him well, for the rest of my life.”
“The rest of your life?” asked Nandi.
“Yes, where do you think I am going to spend the rest of my life?” She smiled.
“With Shiva!” said Nandi excitedly.
“Yes, with Shiva.”
“But…”
“But what?”
“You know, Ma, it’s one thing that Shiva condescended into letting you serve on Him in the cave, but… you can’t really spend all your life like that. You can’t be an attendant… you can’t be here always... unless …”
“Unless?”
“Unless you are married to Him,” Nandi spurted out his sentence hastily, like a child who gets something off his chest.
“I know, Nandi,” smiled Parvati.
“But that’s the problem!” cried Nandi. “I wish so much that you could get married to Him… but… I don’t think Shiva will ever marry again.”
“I have every intention of honouring your wish Nandi,” said Parvati resolutely. “I shall do whatever it takes to be His inseparable half, for ever.”
“I think I have become soft over the years,” said Nandi. “I think I am crying yet again.”



“I hope you are happy, now that you have run your first errand for me?” asked Shiva.
“Yes, I am,” smiled Parvati, gently extending Her hand to Him, to give Him His kamandalu of water.
“Master!” shouted Nandi, startling Shiva who turned quickly to look sharply to His left. His shoulder bumped into the kamandalu, which was still in Parvati’s hand. Because Parvati was watchful, She managed to quickly deflect the collision, saving the vessel from falling down.
“Yes, what is it Nandi?” asked Shiva with concern.
“Nothing, Master, I wanted to tell you, it was Parvati Herself , who drew the water from the cold stream for you.”
“Yes, indeed I know, Nandi.”
“No, I mean you shouldn’t think because I accompanied Her, that I drew the water from the well, It is She who did it by Herself; I was only a guide for the path.”
“Yes, I do know,” smiled Shiva. Nandi could act like a simpleton, but was in fact, giving a very deep allegory.
“I am sorry, I dropped a little bit of water on your back,” said Parvati, again handing the kamandalu to Shiva.
“It doesn’t matter,” smiled Shiva widely. “Whatever happens is for the good.”
“But…”
“But what? You managed to save the vessel, and also, now I shall get water from your hands, both on the outside and for the inside,” He gave a broad smile again, as He joined His palms and gently moved them towards Parvati as if He was asking for alms.
“Here you go, my Lord,” said Parvati demurely as She poured water onto Shiva’s hands. She looked at Shiva, only to see a full gaze from Him in return, which caused Her to quickly look away shyly. The water started dripping out from Shiva’s hands onto the floor of the cave. “Oh, my Lord! You have dropped the water!” said Parvati, with half a giggle.
“It is alright, the cave is thirsty too,” said Shiva.
“A cave that’s thirsty?” Parvati looked at Shiva enquiringly.
“Yes, the cave is also a being,” said Shiva. “It too longs for companionship.”
“Companionship?”
“I mean, it too thirsts; a little water will do it good,” said Shiva, finally raising His hands upwards like a cup to His mouth.
“Oh, and who else, my Lord, longs for companionship?”
“Who else? I wouldn’t know,” said Shiva taking His eyes off Parvati and looking at His own cupped hands instead.
“Ah, but you did say ‘also’… my Lord… are you the other one who wants company?”
“That was just a figure of speech… Company? Why would I need company? I already have Nandi…” fumbled Shiva.
“Because Nandi is a male. Male bonding is great for the soul, but ultimately Purusha must meet Prakriti, his counterpart in the cosmic balance of things…”
“Yogis need no such meetings,” said Shiva stubbornly, " They are balanced from within.”
“Whatever…” smiled Parvati, turning Her back to walk away, knowing that Shiva had not taken His eyes off Her.

The days passed quickly, full of conversation, camaraderie and companionship. While the talks with Nandi and Shiva were mostly full of humour, the ones between just Parvati and Shiva tended to be more reflective, more like an ongoing discourse. Somehow, they always seemed to border upon a person’s being in the manifest world, or then away from it; society or then individuality, worldly duty, or a sort of ascetic abandon. Parvati tended to uphold karma and duty; Shiva was more focused on the inner development. This often brought them to some intense dialogue about the role of a person in the world. Shiva’s talks centred so much around the reality of transcendence, urging Parvati to ponder, if the world itself was actually a reality, or then just a great cosmic illusion.
“ Samkhya is illusion. There is no such thing as numbers,” He said, during one such conversation. “It’s only the One divine consciousness that is projecting all the role play; there is, in reality, only ONE.”
“Then why does the presence of ‘another’ bother you so much? It should not matter at all!” said Parvati.
“Why do you want to be with me?” asked Shiva.
“Because, I love you,” said Parvati.
“I think it is the thirty ninth day, isn’t it?” said Shiva rather abruptly.
“Is it?” asked Parvati. “I was hoping it would never come… the end of my sanctioned time with you.”
“You know what…” said Shiva unusually sternly. “I know exactly how that feels.” “But,” He managed to put on a smile. " Now that I have set right the notion of time for you, let’s just enjoy the fortieth day together, shall we?”
“Yes, my Lord,” said Parvati quietly.


The next morning Parvati had already left by the time Shiva awoke.  

“Parvati, may I have some water?” said Shiva absent- mindedly and then corrected Himself. ”I mean, Nandi may I have some water, please?”
“Yes, my Lord,” said Nandi grumpily. It was absolutely out of character for him to be grumpy with Shiva, but Shiva knew exactly why Nandi was behaving in such a manner: Parvati had been gone less than four hours, and it seemed they were both missing Her. The cave also wore a desolate and damp look, devoid of the crisp cheer that Parvati's presence had  filled it with.

~ From the book Shiva The Ultimate Time Traveller Part 2

SHIVA,The Ultimate Time Traveller is available on Amazon as an E book, To order a copy click the link below:
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Art:Parvati offering flowers to Lord Shiva – Watercolors of Nature by Aquarellbilder.