Dharma Katha · Season 2: Navratri · Episode 83

The gods had been waiting a very long time for this child. They waited while Sati burned in her father's hall. They waited while Shiva sat in meditation, his eyes closed to the world. They sent Kama, and Kama was burned. They watched Parvati climb the mountain and sit in the snow. They walked, as attendants, in the wedding procession. All of it, from the very beginning, for one child. The only one who could kill the demon Taraka.

Missed the previous story? Listen to Episode 76 first.

Source note. Label: Purana, retold. The story follows the Shiva Purana, Rudra Samhita, Kumara Khanda, chapters two and three, in the English translation on wisdomlib.org: Agni as a dove, Parvati's curse, the gods burning and releasing Shiva's energy, the six sages' wives, the peak of Himavan, the Ganga and the reed forest, the birth on the sixth day of the bright half of Margashirsha, Parvati's milk, the six Krittikas and the six faces, Vishvamitra, the spear and the mountain, and Indra's attack. The later chapters, his return to Kailasa, his command of the gods' army and Taraka's death, are summarised only. The Mahabharata and other Puranas tell the birth differently; the Mahabharata's version, in which he is the son of Agni and Svaha, is in its Vana Parva. The names of Skanda and the Pleiades identification are standard. The note on Kalidasa's authentic cantos reflects common scholarly opinion. The reflections are my own.

Note: this episode is narrated with an AI voice and the script was written with AI assistance. Sanskrit verses are checked against published editions; corrections are welcome.