NAVARAATHRI SPECIAL SERIES #2 Brahmachaarini (Uma)

NAVARAATHRI SPECIAL SERIES #2 Brahmachaarini (Uma)

Yesterday we looked at what Paarvathi represents as the Goddess of sacred marriage. Today we will look at Uma, who represents the intermediary transformation process of the young princess Paarvathi into a Goddess of sacred marriage. Paarvathi becomes Uma the moment she made up her mind and will to perform intense spiritual practices in order to win Shiva’s attention. 

Paarvathi, when she first sees Shiva, is the archetypal maiden, just awakened to love and infatuated with an unattainable male. She’s young, naive and unaware of the consequences of her infatuation or what it takes to enter into a relationship with a masculine figure who is himself consumed by his internal passion for truth. Like a student falling in love with her teacher or a young woman falling in love with an artist and loving him from afar, Paarvathi at this stage is just a young girl, not yet self-empowered.
But young Paarvathi doesn’t stop there; she makes a quantum leap into mature adulthood, as Uma. Brahmachaarini essentially means one who is not willing to settle for anything else or anything less than her ultimate goal. She goes to the forest and stands on one leg in a Himalayan stream while repeating the name of Shiva, until he comes to her. It is this that the Tamil saying ‘Otthe kaal-le nikkirathu’ refers to: the single-minded persistence and strong will-power of Uma. Such are the austerities and spiritual practices done by Uma that the whole universe is shaken. 

On the other hand, Uma is a matured rebel when she deals with her family, who’s trying to discourage her from meditating and marrying Shiva. Her family tries find many candidate grooms for her, but she firmly rejects all of them. She is the premium example for women who are single-mindedly seeking success in any aspect of life, to the exclusion of every other diversion. It is impossible to make an Uma-type woman marry a man she doesn’t really love with all her heart. But Uma doesn’t rush for marriage either; she sees how empowered and self-satisfied Shiva is. So she focuses all her energy to raise herself to that level of Shiva; she turns to her own self and works on improving herself, instead of merely desiring to marry Shiva as an immature girl.

If, like Uma, our desire is strong enough, we make a full commitment. We see that it’s not enough just to be inspired, to feel longing, to be in love. Only if we’re willing to make the necessary sacrifices, we can have it all. Uma is particularly an excellent role-model for young adolescent girls who are just beginning to fall in love and are beginning to get carried away by hormonal infatuations. Rather than pursuing random enchantments, Uma wisely fixes her focus, i.e. self-empowerment and self-improvement. For women today, Uma’s penance is education, harnessing professional skills, self-introspection, gaining knowledge, becoming an all-rounder and so on.

Uma is a process, a transformative process; one wherein all the whims and fancies of a happy-go-lucky teenage girl are left aside, and the responsibilities and challenges of adulthood are welcomed with great determination.