Mata Parvati was the daughter of a great king. When she chose to marry Lord Shiva, her parents objected and ridiculed her decision. They asked her why she would want to stay at Mount Kailash where there is nothing but snow, instead of marrying a man owning a huge kingdom and a palace. To this, she replied that all of these are temporary.
When her parents didn’t believe her, she gave them a glimpse of their future. They were shocked to see that their lavish palace was nowhere to be seen, it didn’t exist. That is when they understood what their daughter was saying. That is when they got the gyan.
Everything that is a part of the physical world—the body, property, relatives, friends and riches—is unreal and will leave us one day. It is only when you are able to access Shiva that this gyan flows and you get the darshan of what is real.
The path leading to Shiva, however, is not easy. Sadhaks, who choose to tread this path, need to possess traits like Shiva—tapasya, vairagya (detachment) and internal strength. That is why, if you see, all Shiva temples are situated in places that are very difficult to reach and have an inhospitable environment (vidarbha), places where very few people will choose to go, places which are ideal for dhyan.
In contrast, if you visit a Vishnu temple, you will observe that they exude vaibhav and are full of devotees falling on each other to donate money. Some of the richest temples are of Vishnu, who is also the lord of Maya.
Treading Shiva’s path, therefore, requires tremendous amount of strength and determination. And it is the Shivaganas (attendants of Lord Shiva) who ensure that only the deserving reach him. Shiva and Shakti both love their ganas, Nandi is the first and closest to Shiva. That is why any sadhak, who takes care of Nandi (bull, in the common language), becomes close to Shiva and travels up this path very quickly. This progress, however, is not without hindrances. Other ganas—pret, pisach, and bhoots—who are also very close to Shiva, create disturbances for the sadhak to mislead him from his path. They actually want to make sure if the sadhak truly desires Lord Shiva.
Only the one who successfully overcomes these disturbances, is eligible to reach the final destination. These disturbances are meant to purify the sadhak and make him capable of accessing Shiva. Otherwise, if the progress is fast and unhindered and the sadhak hasn’t gone through this purification process, chances of failure are very high. That is why in yoga, disturbance is considered a good sign as it means that the sadhak is on the right path. But it is only the guru who can help the sadhak overcome these disturbances and get purified. This means that it is impossible to access Shiva without the Guru, as it is He who knows the capacity of the shishya and the amount of purification he needs.
Remember, only Shiva has Shakti. And to access Shakti of creation, one has to walk the path of Shiva or reality and permanency.
(The writer is the spiritual head of Dhyan Foundation. info@dhyanfoundation.com)