How Lord Shiva Tested Goddess Parvati's Love

It was only after a hard penance that Goddess Parvati could get Lord Shiva as her husband. Lord Shiva had vowed that he would never get married. Taking advantage of this vow, many demons had even started using it for their protection.

For instance, a demon took a boon from Lord Brahma that nobody but Shiva's son should be able to kill him. Such strongly did everyone believe that Shiva would never get married. However, Goddess Parvati was determined to marry him. Lord Shiva, would also obviously test her devotion before breaking his vow. So, here is how he tested her love for him. Read how Lord Shiva tested Goddess Parvati's love.

Pleased, Lord Shiva Gave Her The Blessings

According to a story, Lord Shiva pleased by her penance, appeared before Goddess Parvati and gave her the blessings that her wish will be fulfilled soon. Near the place where she had been meditating, Goddess Parvati saw that a crocodile had caught a child in his mouth. She rushed to help the child, who started crying even louder for help after seeing her.

A Crocodile Appeared Before The Goddess

She could understand the language of the animals. Hence, rather than attacking the animal, she told him to leave the innocent child. However, the crocodile said that eating his fellow being was not wrong for him, since this was how the almighty had designed his system. He added that whatever he got by evening was what he generally ate, then be it even an innocent child. To this, the Goddess said that she would fulfil one wish of his if he spared the innocent child.

Goddess Parvati And The Crocodile Came To An Agreement

The crocodile asked her to give him the blessings of Lord Shiva which she had attained through hard penance for years. Since he had seen her meditating for Lord Shiva with utter dedication, he knew that Shiva had blessed her. He, therefore, asked her to transfer the blessings of the Lord to him. Goddess Parvati agreed to this. The crocodile asked her to think and rethink, but the Goddess was sure of her decision.

Goddess Parvati Gave Away The Blessings Obtained From Lord Shiva

As she agreed to give the blessings of the penance to the crocodile, its body started shining brightly. The animal asked her to think again and take it back in return for the child. But the Goddess having made up her mind said that the blessing could be obtained again after another penance, though it might take years again; however, the child once dead could never be brought back to life.

Lord Shiva Appeared Before The Goddess

Just then to her surprise, Lord Shiva appeared before the Goddess and told her that both the crocodile and the child were created by him to test her. He added that he was pleased by her decision and that there was no need to go through another penance. Thus, Lord Shiva then married Goddess Parvati.