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There is a beautiful story in the yogic lore. The wedding between Shiva the
Adiyogi and Parvati was a grand affair. Since Parvati was a princess, the
“who’s who” of the region were invited – kings and queens, gods and
goddesses, each in their finery, one more beautiful than the other.
And then came the groom, Shiva – dreadlocked, matted hair, smeared from
head to toe in ash, wearing the fresh skin of an elephant, dripping with
blood. He came fully inebriated, completely blissed out. His entourage was all
demented and distorted beings, not of human form. They were making all
kinds of noises among themselves in a language that no one could
understand.
Parvati’s mother, Meena, looked at this groom and fainted! Parvati went and
begged Shiva, “I don’t mind the way you are. All I want is you, the way you
are. But for my mother’s sake just show a little more pleasant self.”
Shiva agreed and put on a very beautiful form, attired himself well, and then
came to the wedding again. When they saw Shiva transformed, they said he
was a Sundaramurti. That means he was the most beautiful human being
they had ever seen. He was nine feet tall. They say when Shiva stood, he was
level with a horse’s head. When he came down to southern India, they said
he was twice the height of an average woman there, who were generally
four-and-a-half to five feet tall. He was approximately nine feet tall, the most
beautiful man, and everyone was awestruck by his presence.
Shiva simply sat quietly, remaining silent. He said nothing. None of his
accompanying entourage could speak any recognizable language. They were
making cacophonic noises. The bride’s father was disgraced by this: “A man
without antecedents. How will he marry my daughter? Nobody knows where
he comes from, who his parents are, what his lineage is. How can I give my
daughter to this man?” He rose up in anger.
Then sage Narada, who was also a wedding guest, stepped forward with his
single-stringed instrument called an ekatara. He plucked the single string,
“tangg, tangg, tangg.”
The king got even angrier. “What are you playing the ekatara for?”
Life has left everything open for you. Existence has not blocked anything for
anyone. It has been said, “Knock, and it shall open.” You don’t even have to
knock because there is no real door. If you know how to keep aside a life of
memory and repetition, you can walk right through. The way to realization is
wide open.