Canto 4 - Chapter 4: Sati burns herself with the fire of Yoga ...

Discourse IV

Satī burns herself with the fire of Yoga

Maitreya continued: Having said this much, Lord Śāṅkara (the Bestower of happiness) became silent; for He thought the death of His consort was inevitable in either case (whether she proceeded to her father's house or stayed behind). (As for the latter) she swung like a pendulum, (now) sallying forth in her eagerness to see her relations and (now) returning for fear of Lord Śiva (the Source of the universe). (1)
Vexed at the thwarting of her desire to see her relations and overpowered with emotion, she burst into tears and wept. Shaking with anger, Satī (the spouse of Lord Bhava) looked at her peerless lord, Bhava, as if she would burn Him. (2)
Thereafter, with a heart tormented by grief and anger and her judgment clouded by her womanish nature, and heaving deep sighs, she proceeded to her parents' home, leaving Lord Śāṅkara, the beloved of the saints, who had fondly given her half of His body. (3)
The servants of Lord Śiva (who is characterized by three eyes)—Manimān, Mada and others—accompanied by His own personal attendants and Yakṣas, followed her apace in thousands, placing Nandiśvara (the chief of the bulls, the mount of Lord Śiva) at their head and free from remorse (at their parting from the Lord, because they could not bear to see Satī going without escort). (4)
Placing her on (the back of) the chief of the bulls, they travelled (as her escort), duly equipped with her Sārikā (a thrushlike bird generally brought up as a pet by ladies of high rank), ball (to play with), looking-glass and lotus flower, white umbrella, chowrie and wreath etc., (as insignia of royalty) * and kettledrums, conchs, flutes and other accompaniments of music. (5)
Satī (presently reached her destination and) entered the sacrificial grounds, where Vedic hymns were being chanted in every direction, giving rise to a keen contest (among the Brāhmanas reciting the Vedas), nay, which were crowded with Brāhmana seers and divinities on all sides and strewn with utensils of clay, wood, iron, gold, Kuśa grass and hides. (6)
Afraid of Dakṣa (the sacrificer), who treated her with disrespect, nobody bestowed any attention on her when she arrived there, excepting of course her sisters and mother, who gladly and fondly embraced her, their throats choked with tears of love. (7)
Not addressed kindly by her father, Satī did not accept the presents or the exalted seat lovingly offered by her mother and mother's sisters; nor did she receive (with a glad heart) the enquiries of her sisters about her health, even though they were couched in a most appropriate language. (8)

Seeing that no share of the sacrificial offerings had been allotted to Rudra (Lord Śiva) and that her father (Dakṣa) had shown great disrespect towards the omniscient Lord, and herself slighted in the sacrificial assembly, Satī (a lady in supreme authority) flew into a rage as if she would burn (all) the worlds with her fury. (9)
Controlling by her command the hosts of ghosts (that had accompanied her and) who had sprung on their feet (to kill Dakṣa), she proceeded to reproach that enemy of Lord Śiva—whose vanity had been tickled by his proficiency in the ritual—in accents faltering with anger within the hearing of the whole world (all those assembled there). (10)

The worshipful goddess said: None other than you would antagonize Him (Lord Śiva), who is unsurpassed in this world, to whom no one is dear or hateful, who is the beloved Self of all embodied beings, nay, who is the cause of all and is free from enmity. (11)
People like you, O Brāhmaṇa, discover faults even in the virtues of others; but there are some pious souls who never do so. The greatest of all are they who are wont to magnify even the most trifling virtues (of others). You, however, have found fault even with such people. (12)
It is no wonder that those ignoble souls who declare the material body—which is no better than a corpse—as the self, always indulge in maliciously reveling exalted souls. Such a behaviour befits those people, since their glory is obscured by the dust of feet of those exalted souls. (Failing to reach the heights of glory attained by such exalted souls, they try to hide their shame by vilifying these people). (13)
You hate Lord Śiva of sacred renown, whose command is inviolable, nay, whose (celebrated) name of two syllables (ŚIVA), uttered with the tongue even once and that too casually, immediately wipes out the sins of men (who utter them) ! You are a coursed indeed. (14)
You bear enmity to that Befriender of the universe, whose lotus-feet are not only resorted to by the bee-like minds of exalted souls, thirsting for honey in the shape of the joy of absorption in Brahma (the Absolute), but also shower the blessings sought after by interested people. (15)

• Lord Śiva being one of the eight Lokapālas (regents of the quarters), Satī is depicted here as enjoying royal honours.

Do not people other than you, such as Brahmā (the creator) and others, who place on their heads flowers etc., dropped from His feet, know Him to be inauspicious, though bearing the appellation of Śiva (all-auspicious)—Him who lived in the company of fiends in crematories, throwing about His matted locks and wearing on His person the wreaths lying there as well as the ashes (of funeral piles) and human skulls? (16)
A man should shut his ears and leave the place where his master—a defender of righteousness—is being vituperated by unbridled men, in case he is powerless (to take the life of the reviler or to lay down his own life); or, if he has the power, he should forcibly cut off the vile tongue that indulges in such blasphemy, and then give up his own life as well (if need be). Such is the course of duty. (17)
Therefore, I shall no longer retain this body, begotten of you, a vilifier of Lord Śiva (the dark-necked) ! For the wise declare that one gets purified only by vomiting the impure food consumed through ignorance. (18)
The mind of a great sage reveling in his own Self does not (invariably) follow the utterances of the Vedas (in the form of injunctions and interdictions). Just as the movements of an immortal and a human being vary (while the one can tread on air, the other can walk on solid ground alone), even so the ways of the enlightened and the ignorant are not alike. Therefore, while holding fast exclusively to one's own duty, one should never cast aspersions against another. (19)
Activity in the shape of performing one's religious duties (pouring oblations into the sacred fire and so on) and that consisting of pursuits carried on in retirement (such as the control of one's mind and senses etc.) are equally right, both being prescribed in the Vedas severally for the two types of men, the one characterized by worldly attachment and the other by its absence, as will appear from the fact that the two are found incompatible in an agent practising both at a time. (But even as the one duty is not incumbent on the other type of men) so no duty of any kind devolves on Lord Śiva (who is the same as Brahma). (20)

The natural gifts (mystic powers) possessed by us, O father, cannot be acquired by you. They are not extolled in sacrificial halls by creatures following the path of ritual and gratified with the food offered in sacrifices; for their origin is unknown (depending as they do on our will) and they are enjoyed only by the knowers of Brahma. (21)
I have no longer any use for this body of ignoble birth, sprung as it is from the loins of one who has sinned against Lord Śiva (the Destroyer of the universe). Away, away with it! I am ashamed of my relationship with a vile man. Accursed be the birth from him who offends against exalted souls. (22)
When Lord Śiva (whose banner bears the device of a bull) calls me (jocularly) by the name of Dākṣāyaṇī (Dakṣa's daughter)—an appellation derived from your name, I shall feel deeply piqued, and forget all mirth and smile. Therefore, I will forthwith cast off this corpse-like body begotten of you (so that no such occasion may arise). (23)

Maitreya went on: Having thus addressed Dakṣa in the sacrificial assembly, O Vidura (queller of enemies in the shape of lust, anger and so on), Satī sat down silent on the floor, facing the north. She sipped (some) water (by way of purification), wrapped herself with a yellow piece of linen, closed Her eyes and resorted to the device of shedding the body after the manner of the Yogis. (24)
Having steadied herself in a squatting posture, she brought the Prāna and Apāna airs on the same level (at the navel) and forcing the Udāna* air upwards from the mystical circle at the navel, held it in the region of the heart along with the intellect. Thereafter the irreproachable lady drew the air thus held in the region of the heart to the middle of her eyebrows through her throat. (25)
Thus intending to drop her body—which had been lovingly placed on the lap more than once by Lord Śiva (the most adored even of exalted souls)—as a mark of displeasure against Dakṣa (her father), the strong-willed lady summoned the presence of air and fire in her limbs through (deep) concentration of mind. (26)
Thereafter Satī was so completely absorbed in enjoying with her mind the honey of the lotus-feet of her lord (Bhagavān Śaṅkara), the Preceptor of the whole world, that she perceived none else. She was thereby rid of the last traces of impurity (in the shape of the consciousness that she was a daughter of Dakṣa) and her body was soon ablaze with the fire produced by deep meditation. (27)

There ensued in the heavens as well as on the earth a tremendous uproar among those who witnessed this most extraordinary event : "Alas ! angered by Dakṣa (her own father), Goddess Satī, the beloved spouse of the most adorable Divinity (Lord Śiva), has given up the ghost ! (28)
Ah, look at the enormous wickedness of this lord of created beings, who is the father of all these mobile and immobile creatures, and slighted by whom Satī, his own high-souled daughter, gave up her life—Satī, who ever deserved honour at his hands ! (29)
Possessed of a jealous heart and an enemy of the Supreme Spirit, he will incur great infamy in the world. People will say that this Śiva-hater did not forbid his own begotten child when she was preparing to die because of the ill-treatment received from him !" (30)

While the people were observing thus Satī's attendants, who saw the wonderful self-immolation rose with uplifted weapons to kill Dakṣa. (31)
Seeing the vehemence of their onrush, the worshipful Bhrgu poured oblations into the fire known by the name of Dakṣiṇāgni, reciting the text of the Yajurveda possessing the efficacy of killing those who are out to wreck a sacrifice. (32)
While the sage Bhrgu (the priest officiating at the sacrifice) was pouring oblations, heavenly beings called the Rbhus, who had attained to (the sphere of) the moon-god by dint of their austere penance, rose (from the sacrificial pit) in thousands with great force. (33)
Beaten by these (divinities), who were armed with firebrands and resplendent with the spiritual glow investing a holy Brāhmaṇa, all the Pramathas (attendants of Lord Śiva) along with the Guhyakas (Yakṣas, attendants of Kubera, the god of riches) ran away in various directions. (34)

Thus ends the fourth discourse entitled "The Self-immolation of Satī" in Book Four of the great and glorious Bhāgavata-Purāṇa, otherwise known as the Paramahamsa-Sarhhitā.
* For a clear conception of these airs, vide the foot-note below III vi. 9 (p. 175).