Chapter 3: The Talk Between Lord S'iva and Satî
(1) Maitreya said: 'Thus the heartily enmity that existed between the son-in-law and father-in-law, continued for a very long time. (2) When Daksha by Brahmâ was appointed the chief of all the progenitors of mankind, the supreme teacher, he became very arrogant. (3) Neglecting S'iva and his followers he, after first performing a Vâjapeya sacrifice ['the drink of strength or battle'], began the best of all sacrifices called the Brihaspati-sava sacrifice [the initiatory sacrifice to the honor of the chief offerer of prayers and sacrifice]. (4) To that occasion all the God-conscious and learned souls of wisdom, the ancestors and the demigods including the nicely decorated wives who accompanied their husbands, came together. (5-7) Satî, the daughter of Daksha and wife of S'iva, heard the denizens of heaven talk in the sky about the great festival to be performed by her father. When she thereupon near her residence from all sides saw the beautiful wives of the godly souls with glittering eyes, in nice dresses with golden earrings and ornaments around their necks, move about in their heavenly vehicles to go there together with their husbands, she highly anxious addressed her husband, the Lord and master of the Bhûtas [those in favor of matter and the dead]. (8) Satî said: 'Your father-in-law, Daksha, has initiated a great sacrifice where all the God-conscious souls are going and where we surely thus also may go to, my dearest, if you like. (9) I am sure that my sisters together with their husbands will also be going there, eager to see their relatives. I would like to attend that gathering together with you and all the ornaments given to me. Do you consent? (10) I will meet my sisters there with their husbands as also my sweet aunts and my mother. I have been waiting for a long time to see them including the sacrificial flags raised by the great sages, oh merciful one. (11) This manifestation of His external energy, that was created as an interaction of the three modes, appears so wonderful to you, oh unborn one. But I am just your poor woman, not conversant with the truth, who would like to see her place of birth, oh Bhava [S'iva as the Lord of existence]. (12) Oh never-born blue-throated one, all the other women, ornamented and with their husbands and friends, are flocking in large numbers going there, standing beautifully out against the sky with their white swans that carry them high. (13) How can I as a daughter be emotionally unaffected, oh best of the demigods, as I hear about the festival taking place in the house of my father? Even not being invited one can go to the house of a friend, one's husband, one's father or one's spiritual master, is it not? (14) Be therefore so kind to me, oh immortal one, and fulfill my desire, oh you honorable compassionate Lord with your unlimited vision. See me as the [full] other half of your body, please be so gracious to consent to my request.'
(15) The sage said: 'The deliverer from mount Kailâsa [Lord S'iva] thus being addressed by his sweetheart, amiable to his relatives as he was, replied with a smile, as he remembered the heart-piercing, malicious words spoken by Daksha in the presence of the masters of creation. (16) The great Lord said: 'What you said my dear beauty, is perfectly true; one may, even uninvited, visit friends, provided they are not finding fault with you or, more important, when they are free from anger in being proud of their material achievements. (17) Those who are arrogant, are blinded in their pride over the six qualities of pious education, austerity, wealth, beauty, youth and heritage. Not of respect for the glories of the great souls they, to the contrary, get entangled in untruth and lose their sense of reality. (18) One should not go to the house of relatives and friends who, in their suppositions, do not see things as they are and thus offer their guests a cold reception by regarding them with raised eyebrows and anger in their eyes. (19) One is not hurt as much by the arrows of an enemy as one is aggrieved in the core of one's heart by the deceitful, harsh words of relatives, for such grief makes the one hurt suffer day and night. (20) It is clear that you with your pretty face and good behavior are the darling of the daughters of the Prajâpati [Daksha], yet, you will, because of being connected to me, meet with pain because your father does not honor me. (21) Someone upset with a burning heart is not directly capable of rising to merely the standard of the exemplary pious behavior of those whose minds are always turned to the Original Person, just as demons envious of the Lord cannot act piously. (22) My dear young wife, to stand up and welcome one another with obeisances is a virtue of the wise who, with intelligence unto the Supreme, do so for the sake of the Original Person residing within the body and not for the person identified with the body. (23) The pure consciousness known as Vasudeva ['God's goodness'] is revealed there [within the heart] because the person in that position is in goodness and is not covered [by darkness]. The Supreme Lord as such I always respect by the name of Vāsudeva [the 'God of the Soul'] because He is the transcendence. (24) We should therefore not go and see your father Daksha and his Vis'vasrik followers present at the sacrifice. Even though he gave you your body, oh Satî, [remember that] he with cruel words enviously has insulted me who was innocent. (25) When you decide to go there ignoring my words, matters will not turn out good for you. The moment that you, being so most respectable, are insulted by your relative, that insult will be equal to dying on the spot.'
