Story of Shailaputri

Story of Shailaputri - the first of the nine Swarupa of Durga Devi, worshipped on the first day of Navaratri!

"Vande Vanchitalabhaaya chandrardha krutashekaraam |

Vrushaarudhaam shuladharaam Shailaputrim yashaswinim ||" 

I pay my Vandana to the Shailaputri , who bestows upon the choicest boons to the devotees. The moon in the crescent form is adorned as the crown on Her forehead. She  mounts on the Vrushabha- the bull and carries a Trishula. She is Yashasvini - the one who makes us victorious. 

Ma Shailaputri is worshiped on the first day of Navaratri, the 9 days of prayers and celebration in India that mark the 9 days of battle between the goddess Durga and the demon Mahishasura. She was the daughter of the God of Mountains, Himavanta, hence the name Shailaputri. She is popularly known as Parvati, her husband is Shiva and she has two sons – Kartikeya and Ganesha. 

To understand the story behind the birth of Ma Shailaputri, let’s have a look at one of her earlier incarnations in the form of Sati.

Devi Sati, was the daughter of a great king, Daksha Prajapati. According to the legend, Daksha Prajapati was one of the sons of Lord Brahma.

Daksha did not want his daughter, Sati, to marry Shiva as he considered Shiva to be a ascetic not worthy of marrying a girl from a noble family. 

Sati, an incarnation of Adi Shakthi was meant to be united with Shiva, however, disobeyed her father and married Shiva. After marriage, she moved with her husband to Kailash Parvata, the abode of Lord Shiva, leaving behind the royal palace of Daksha. 

Once, Daksha organized a grand yagna and called upon all the gods to attend the grand yagna. He disliked Shiva and did not invite Sati and Shiva for this yagna. When Sati came to know of the grand yagna, being organized by her father, she longed to go home and attend it.

Shiva dissuaded her from going to the yagna. He tried to reason with Sati that since they had not been invited, it was obvious that the King did not want them there. 

But for Sati she did nit need an invitation to go to her parents home and against her husband’s advice and she went to the ceremony, all by herself. 

There she felt uninvited as none of the relatives were happy to see her, including her own father, King Daksha. 

Only her mother, Prasuti, was delighted to see her daughter and embraced her.

Sati felt a great sense of pain at being un-welcome in her own house. Daksha even insulted Shiva in front of her and in the presence of all the guests. 

This was too much for Sati to bear. In extreme grief of hearing insults for her husband, she decided to invoke the power of Adi Shakthi within and immolated herself.

The news of Sati self-immolation reached Shiva. In his anger, he invoked Veerbhadra, his paralaya swarupa, and at once proceeded to destroy Daksha. He decapitated Daksha and annihilated the entire yagna.

Shiva then carried the half burnt corpse of his wife as he could not part with her, even after death. As Shiva carried the body with him, the body parts fell at various places. These places later came to be known as Shakti-peethas. 

There are 52 Shakti-Peethas in India. King Daksha was later forgiven by the intervention of Lord Vishnu and was given life by attaching a goat's head to his body. He was able to complete his yagna in the presence of all the Gods.

In her next birth, Devi Sati was born as the daughter of Himavanta, and was named as Shailaputri. Her other names in this incarnation were Parvati and Hemavati. In this birth again, she was married to Lord Shiva. 

Ma Shailaputri is the most prominent goddess among the Nava Durgas- the nine swarupa of Devi Durga. She is worshiped on the first day of Navratri due to her endless glories. 

She is Devi of the Muladhara chakra, who, upon awakening, begins Her journey upwards. Sitting on Nandi and starts her first journey from the Muladhara chakra, it depicts her journey from a loving daughter of her father to a loving wife of Mahadeva – the awakening Shakti, beginning Her search for Lord Shiva or making a move towards her Shiva. 

So that, in Navratri pooja the first day Yogis keep their manas concentrated on Muladhara. This is the starting point of their spiritual discipline. They start their Yogasadhana from here. 

Shailaputri is the Muladhara Shakti to be realized within Self and sought for higher depths, in the yogic meditation. She is the rock of spiritual standing and the whole world gets strength from the Shailaputri Swarupa of Purna Prakriti Durga.