Maina's Lament

When they heard that the 'Baraat' (the wedding party) was approaching, the town folks flocked to greet them. Everybody was impressed by the grandeur of Vishnu and the Devtas. But when they saw Shiva's entourage, the horses and the elephants of the carriages ran helter- skelter. The elders of the town stayed composed, not so the younger ones who ran for their lives in fear. All of them ran home and told their parents about the weird Baraat ( it looked more like a Halloween party!) the crazy looking groom, and his attire. The kids feared that only a lucky few would be brave enough to be able to see the actual wedding.

Knowing that it was Maheshwar's (another name for Shiva) group - the parents tried to console the kids and put them at ease but it did not work.

The Baraat settled in the Janwaasa (place where the groom's party is housed in Hindu weddings)
Maina along with her friends prepared the Aarti (burning of incense) to greet the groom. As soon as they saw him in that scary garb, they were so scared they scurried home. With tears running down her blue eyes Maina picked up her beautiful daughter and sat her down on her lap.

She cried and wailed and could not understand why the creator could make such an error. How could a couple be so mismatched. She could not allow this marriage to go through, as long as there was life in her body. She lamented that she would jump from a mountain with Parvati, drown in any ocean, do anything, but not in a million years give her daughter in marriage to that crazy person. She blamed Narad for introducing the idea of Parvati doing penance for Shiva.

Parvati tried to calm her mother and give her comfort, in the fact that it was her fate and everyone was powerless to change it.

When Himanchal heard what was going on in his house, he rushed home with Narad and the
seven Rishis.

The lesson here is that to be in Ram Rajya, we cannot believe everything we see - appearances can be deceptive, however as we shall see later all was good!!! JAI HO!