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Shiva, Parvati And The Bull
Once lord shiva and his consort, Parvati, were travelling with
their vehicle - the Bull. The Lord had taken the form of an
old man, while, Parvatiji remained young and beautiful. On the
road all passers-by looked on with amazement at this odd couple
of an old man and a young woman.
On the way, Shiva said, ''Parvatiji, my dear, please sit and
ride on the bull durig this journey.'' She obeyed and mounted
the bull while Shiva walked alongside. The village folk and
other strangers bitterly criticised, ''What a selfish woman!
She is young and healthy and yet she chooses to comfortably
ride while forcing the old man to walk.'' Shiva changed his
mind. ''Parvatidevi, the people are mocking you. It is wiser
that I sit and you walk.'' So saying, Shiva sat on the bull's
back. Further along, other strangers came with sharper comments,
''O look at this mean, bully of a man. He's fat and robust,
and evil too. He enjoys the ride while forcing this young and
gentle lady to walk on foot.''
Hearing this both of them climbed the bull. At least, this would
ward off the criticisms. But they were gravely mistaken and
no sooner had they come to the next village, people sneered
and jeered. ''Look at this nasty couple. Both of them have mercilessly
climbed upon the bull. They'll kill the poor creature!''
Now there was only one option left. They dismounted and allowed
the bull to walk freely. They accompanied it on either side.
While they walked, they met new people with new bitterness.
They laughed at them, shouting ''What foolishness! They have
taken a bull as a vehicle and neither of them is using it.''
Straight away Shiva told Parvati, ''Come let us do what we think
is right, and live the way we want to. The world will never
appreciate or see what we do as correct.''
In this world, even if we perform a good deed not everyone will
like it and support it. The problem lies with the nature of
our world. If a Sadhu shows miracles people say, ''He's into
black magic and possesses evil powers.'' And if a Sadhu avoids
miracles, some will mutter complaints, ''O! He shows no miracles.
He's ordinary and is of no use.'' This is the line of thinking
our world works on. It is crooked from both ends and whatever
you do, the world will never see you straight. Therefore, pay
no attention to the words of the worldly people and continue
to devoutly worship God.
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