The One Bridegroom Beyond Every Other
Bala Kanda, Chaupai 70
Doha 70 · Movement 1 of 2
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Wine made even from Ganga water is not taken by saints, while impure streams entering Ganga are themselves made sacred. So the difference between the powerless soul and Ishvara remains decisive. Contact with the Lord raises the limited; limitation never lowers the Lord.
Shambhu is naturally sovereign, and union with him will make every aspect of Parvati's destiny auspicious. Mahesh may be difficult to worship, yet sincere devotion moves the easily pleased Lord swiftly. If the mountain daughter undertakes tapasya, Tripurari can transform what appears written against her.
Countless bridegrooms may exist, but for Uma there is no second. Shiva gives boons, removes the sorrow of those who take refuge, and delights the servant's heart. What she desires cannot be won through millions of scattered practices without worship of him.
Beyond the innumerable suitors of the world, one ash clad form remains written for Uma.
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AI-created devotional illustration · Chaupai 70
An iconic seated Shiva with a conventional blessing gesture evokes the passage's praise of his boon-giving nature; no particular boon event is shown.
Source reference and artistic choices
Gita Press code81 undated · PDF pages 90 · printed pages 88. Reader passage: bala-kanda-chaupai-070. Printed numbering may differ.
Source facts
- The source praises Shiva as boon-giver, reliever of petitioners' distress, compassionate and pleasing to devotees
- It emphasizes worship of Shiva for the desired result; image selects iconic praise, not an actual boon, tapas completion, erased destiny or marriage
Artistic choices
- Approved conventional Shiva appearance reused: blue-grey skin, hairknot/crescent, ash marks/third eye, rudraksha, benign neck serpent and cream/ochre drapery are iconographic additions, not authenticated physical facts
- Single seated Shiva, conventional raised blessing palm, resting hand, tiger-patterned waistband, plain stone ledge, banyan leaves, flowers, mountains and soft sky added; no petitioner or particular outcome depicted
An imaginative interpretation, not a historical portrait or documentary evidence.
सुरसरि जल कृत बारुनि जाना। कबहुँ न संत करहिं तेहि पाना।। सुरसरि मिलें सो पावन जैसें। ईस अनीसहि अंतरु तैसें।। संभु सहज समरथ भगवाना। एहि बिबाहँ सब बिधि कल्याना।। दुराराध्य पै अहहिं महेसू। आसुतोष पुनि किएँ कलेसू।। जौं तपु करै कुमारि तुम्हारी। भाविउ मेटि सकहिं त्रिपुरारी।। जद्यपि बर अनेक जग माहीं। एहि कहँ सिव तजि दूसर नाहीं।। बर दायक प्रनतारति भंजन। कृपासिंधु सेवक मन रंजन।। इच्छित फल बिनु सिव अवराधे। लहिअ न कोटि जोग जप साधें।।
If the water of the Sursari (Ganga) were made into liquor, no saint would ever drink it. Yet whatever is impure becomes holy the moment it merges with the Ganga, just as the distinction between Isha (the Lord) and anisha (the powerless soul) lives only in the devotee's understanding.