The Ascetic Written Upon Her Palm
Bala Kanda, Doha 67
Doha 67 · Movement 2 of 2
Keep this contemplation
Preserve, print, or share
Narada names the destined husband in terms no royal household would choose. He is a yogi with matted locks, desireless in mind, unclad, and dressed in signs the world calls inauspicious.
No palace lineage, ornament, or conventional dignity softens the image. Ash, solitude, and freedom from possession stand where Himavan and Mena might have imagined a splendid prince.
Yet the line is already inscribed upon Parvati's palm. What sounds like deprivation to worldly hearing is the unmistakable portrait of Shiva, the Lord for whom she has crossed death and birth.
Across Parvati's palm runs one unalterable line toward the ash clad yogi.
Read the passage from the Manas
AI-created devotional illustration · Doha 67
Narada speaks to Uma about the predicted ascetic husband; her offered palm is an illustrative gesture, with no future husband shown.
Source reference and artistic choices
Gita Press code81 undated · PDF pages 87, 88 · printed pages 85, 86. Reader passage: bala-kanda-doha-068. Printed numbering may differ.
Source facts
- Narada predicts Uma will receive an ascetic husband with matted locks, a desireless mind, unclad and in inauspicious guise, according to the line on her palm
- Adjacent source says Narada did not know the differing inward understandings of parents and Uma; no deliberate test intention is established here
Artistic choices
- Select clothed prediction conversation without future husband portrait; Uma's offered palm and Narada's indication are illustrative poses, not assertion of actual examination described in verse
- Conventional imaginative Narada and young-adult Uma appearances reused, chosen seated/standing forms, hand gestures, low seat/cushion, inactive vina placement, courtyard, botanical details and mountain scenery added; no authenticated ages/likenesses or magical palm writing
An imaginative interpretation, not a historical portrait or documentary evidence.
जोगी जटिल अकाम मन नगन अमंगल बेष।। अस स्वामी एहि कहँ मिलिहि परी हस्त असि रेख।।67।।
"A yogi, matted-haired, desireless of heart, unclad, wearing inauspicious garb. Such a husband shall she receive; this line is inscribed upon her palm."