Goddess Sati: The Hindu Goddess Of Marital Felicity And Longevity

Goddess Sati, also known as Dakshayani who is the Hindu Goddess of power and longevity. Sati was the daughter of Daksha, so she is called Dakshayani. She got the name Sati because she was the granddaughter of Brahma and Daksha being Brahma's son he named her daughter after the feminine form of "Truth" which is called "Sati". According to the Devi Bhagavata Purana, both Sati and Parvati are the aspects of the Adi Shakti and the consorts of Lord Shiva. Sati is also known to be extremely fierce, frightening at the same time caring, loving, and benevolent by nature.

About Goddess Sati

Once Queen Prasuti and her husband, King Daksha had a desire to get a daughter, they requested Lord Brahma (Father of Daksha) for advice and he suggests them to meditate on goddess Adi Parashakti. After his advice, they immediately left the palace in order to appease all-powerful Devi. They both went into a deep forest and choose a suitable spot and started to meditate on the Deity. In spite of harsh weather conditions and wild animals, they quietly sat in meditation. Devi Adi Parashakti became quite pleased with the couples' devotion, and she herself went to the spot in an effulgent form with thousands of hands and by holding infinite weapons.

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Both the couples told the goddess about their desire and asked her for a daughter. Devi, being pleased from their devotion granted the boon saying that she herself will be born to them. Similarly, she also warned that if she will be insulted in any case, she will immediately take her original form and will leave everyone forever. Both the couples agreed on Devi's condition and went back to their palace. Goddess Adi Parashakti took human birth and was born to Daksha and Prasuti. That's why she is known as Dakshyani – the daughter of Daksha.

Her Marriage

After Daksha and Prasuti were blessed with a baby child Dakshyani, they got extremely happy. The father of Daksha, Lord Brahma had desired that Sati should grow up and marry Lord Shiva. She wanted to bring Shiva out of penance and she started to follow him since childhood. Sati's devotion to Shiva grew up and she decided that she would only marry Lord Shiva.

She rejected all the proposals from rich and well-known kings, as she had the desire to marry only Shiva. In order to win the ascetic heart of Shiva, she left all of her comforts and bade goodbye to her parents, and walked away into a deep forest. She knew that the only way to win the heart of Shiva is by performing penance. So, she started to do penance by fasting and chanting sacred mantras. In spite of the extreme cold and unfavorable weather conditions, she continued to meditate in the name of Lord Shiva.

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Finally, her penance became fruitful. Lord Shiva became quite pleased by her devotion and decided to manifest in front of her. According to her will, Lord Shiva agreed to marry her. Sati got extremely happy beyond her belief and then she returned back to her palace, awaiting the day Shiva will come and marry her. That is how her deep struggle turned into the great achievement of marrying Lord Shiva.

Her Demise

Soon after the wedding, Daksha organized a Yagna at his palace where he had invited all gods, goddesses, kings, and princes. But he neither invited Lord Shiva nor Sati. It was because Daksha was unhappy about his daughter marrying Shiva. When Sati knew about the Yagna, and Daksha not inviting both of them, she got extremely sad and rather disappointed.

She requested Shiva to go with her but he refused and also warned Sati not to go there because Shiva knew that she will be insulted and humiliated there. However Sati did not listen and disobeying Shiva's advice, she went to the palace. On seeing her arrival at the Yagna, Daksha became very furious and started to shout at her and he made clear that neither she nor her husband would ever be welcomed there. Daksha just kept on shouting and humiliating her and Shiva in front of everyone.

Finally, Sati could not take it more. As in the past, she had warned Daksha and Prasuti that if she would ever be insulted in any way, she will take back her original form. As Daksha broke her promise, she flew into a burning fire and ended her human life.

Shakti Peeths

The demise of Sati was a great loss to Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva loved Sati immensely, thus, he went into deep sorrow. Out of grief and sorrow, Shiva carried Sati's body and roamed around the universe reminiscing about their moments as a couple. Shri Vishnu had cut her body into 52 body parts, using his Sudarshana Chakra, which fell on Earth to become sacred sites where all the people can pay homage to the Goddess. To complete this massively long task, Lord Shiva took the form of Bhairava.

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These sacred sites where the body parts of Goddess Sati fell are known as Shakti Peeths. Among many Guhyeshwari Temple, also spelled as Guhyeshwari or Guhjeshwari, is one of the Shakti Peeth and also a holy temple located in the Kathmandu district of Nepal. In the same way, the Maya Devi temple is also an ancient religious temple of goddess Sati which is located in Haridwar, India. Similarly, Chandika Sthan is a Hindu temple situated in Munger, India. Likewise, there is Katyayani Peeth temple situated in the peaceful town of Vrindavan, the state of Uttar Pradesh in India.

After ages, Goddess Sati reincarnated as Goddess Parvati and married Lord Shiva.