The story starts with the tale of Shiva's marriage with Sati. Sati is a partial incarnation of the Supreme Goddess and is born as the daughter ofPrajapati Daksha, who is a staunch devotee of Vishnu. She is drawn towards Shiva against the will of her father. Shiva and Sati get married and start living in Kailash. Soon after Daksha organises a yajna where all the gods except for Shiva are invited. Sati is distraught as this slight, and against Shiva's wishes, journeys to her parental home to question her father. Daksha, drunk on his own power and piety insults Shiva in front of Sati. Torn with remorse on having ignored her divine husband's wishes Sati gives up her body in the fires which emanate from her own body - pranagni. The grief-striken Shiva produces an aaveshavatar an incarnation of a fierce moodVirabhadra, who slays Daksha. Later, on hearing the prayers of Daksha's wife he restores Daksha's life. A distraught Shiva leaves with burnt corpse of Sati and wanders around the universe. Vishnu with the use of his divine discus dismembers the body into pieces, scattering them on earth. Shiva transforms the pieces into Shakti Peethas, embodiments of the power of the Goddess Adi Shakti.After an age, during which Shiva plunges into austere tapas, Sati is reborn as Parvati, the daughter of Himavan, king of the Himalayas and Mainavati. She is also the sister of the river-goddess, Ganga. Parvati is raised in the hermitage of the Shaivite sage Dadhichi, who instructs her. As Parvati matures, she is captivated by the thought of attaining Shiva himself as her husband. Gradually the memory of her previous birth as Sati awakens in her; and she undertakes the most severe of austerities to please Shiva. He is appeased and they are married in the presence of all the gods and goddesses.Kartikeya is born to Shiva and Parvati. The gods are pleased because it is Kartikeya who is destined to slay their arch foe, the demon Tarakasuraand his brothers. Kartikeya is also nominated for the throne of the King of Devas but Shiva asks Indra to continue as the king. After this Kartikeya is sent to the Dakshin (south) where he is cared for by Meenakshi and here he slays the demon (asura), Tripath with her help.The narrative also relates the destruction of the demon Tripura, by Shiva who is also called Tripurari. But just before the destruction of the Tripurasura, the little known legend of the birth of Shiva and Parvati's daughter, Ashoksundari has been included in the series.On destroying Tripurasura, Shiva is praised by all the sages and gods except for Indra. Rishi Durvasa offers Shiva a special garland, which Shiva presents to Narada as prasadam. Narada, in his turn, offers the holy garland to Indra who, accepts the garland by placing it on the trunk of his tusker, Airavata; intoxicated by the fumes, Airavata tosses the garland and tramples it. This enrages the sage Durvasa and he curses Indra that all the gods will soon be bereft of all wealth and fortune. Not long after, to avenge the death of Tripurasura the demon king Bali attacks heaven and attempts to steal Amrita (the nectar of immortality). But it falls into the Ocean of milk. To regain the Amrita the defeated Devas are advised to join hands with the Asuras and churn the ocean.The churning of the ocean is known as Samudra Manthan and is an elaborate process. In the process the Devas employ crafts to disadvantage the Asuras in many ways. Lord Vishnu comes to the aid of the gods and incarnates as a giant turtle, Kurma.A myriad range of objects emanate from the churning of the ocean of milk. The very first is the lethal poison known as Halahala. Its presence puts the world at great risk. Shiva drinks the poison to save the universe from certain destruction, but Parvati comes to his rescue by pressing his neck to stop the poison from spreading. As a result, Shiva's neck sports an eternal blue patch and so he is called Nilkanth (The Blue-Throated One). The churning reveals many precious treasures, such as the Goddess of Wealth herself Lakshmi, who becomes the consort of Vishnu, the divine nymphs, many celestial animals etc. Finally, the divine physician Dhanvantari emerges carrying the vessel which contains the nectar. He is chased by the demons and gods until Vishnu cunningly cons the demons and distributes the nectar among the gods.The narrative next shows us a grown up Kartikeya, who is no longer Senapati (head of the army), much to Indra's pleasure. Kartikeya journeys to the north and meets a grown-up Ashoksundari, as well as his parents. He instructs Ashoksundari on meditation techniques and, inspired, she retires to a life of meditation, much to Parvati's sadness.As the ages pass, the darkness of the world increases. After the holy woman Ahilya is seduced by Indra, Parvati decides to give birth to the god of auspiciousness - Ganesh. Shiva is lost in his meditation hence Parvati does not disturb him with this decision. Once, she decided to perform a puja in a cave in Kailash with some other women, and she requests Ganesh to stand on guard outside and not allow anyone to enter within. The Devas and sages, who have assembled outside to gain an audience with the divine mother Parvati are refused by the child Ganesh. Infuriated by his apparent impertinence they battle him, but are roundly defeated. Finally, Shiva himself comes to meet Parvati but is bluntly refused entrance by Ganesh. An enraged Mahadev cuts off his head with his trident. At the commotion Parvati comes out and is stricken with the turn of events. She tells Shiva the truth of the situation and pleads for her son's life. Shiva fixes the head of an elephant calf on to the boy's torso as a fulfillment of a boon given to a devout elephant years ago.Kartikeya returns to Kailash, and is given a warm welcome by his family.The narrative continues with sundry tales such as Ganesh's fight with the sage Parashurama; the resolution of the question of who is to be worshipped first among gods; etc.After a leap the tale lands upon the story of Ashoksundari's marriage with Nahush. Meanwhile when Parvati insists, Shiva permits to build a house on Kailash. Kartikeya and Ganesha leave for journey to find the most appropriate house for Kailash. In the mean time Ashoksundari meets Nahush at Rishi Vashishta's ashram,where in he is completing his studies.On knowing this,Asura Hunda attacks the rishi's ashram.A horrified Ashoksundari screams for her mother and as a result Parvati takes on the Kali avatar. She saves her daughter and is later pacified by Mahadeva's Batuk avatar.After this parvati with her yogic powers makes Nahush older for his safety from Hunda
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