Namaste to adi_shakthi and everyone in the group!

>colin, dear one, thanks for doing all the 'leg' work on the
>authencity of the web version of the SAti story.

I'm glad that what I wrote was of interest.

>here are some questions i want to ask all of you?
>1) what do you learn from the 'sati' story.

I think that there is more than one meaning or lesson here. How each of us
reads it depends on which character we focus on (Daksha, Shiva, or Sati
herself),I as well as on which version(s) of the story we look at, and on
our own interests and concerns.

I'll focus now on Sati herself. To understand what her response to Daksha's
yajna, I think it's necessary to look at where she is coming from -- her
life up till that point. And also at where she is going to, in her next
incarnation as Parvati.

In all versions of the story that I know of, Sati's early life is one of
great self-discipline, expressed in fasting, meditation and yogic
austerities. The point of her yoga is not renunciation of all desire, but
attainment of her desire for Shiva. According to the Kalika Purana, Shiva
is originally very averse to the idea of loving of woman. Sati does win
Shiva's love, they marry, and they are very happy together.

(I must say here that I don't find the anecodote from the Ramayana very
relevant. It may tell us how Shiva and Sati have been seen by devotees of
Rama and Sita. But I am much more interested in how they have been seen by
_their own_ devotees. So I would give much greater weight to the Shiva
Purana and the Kalika Purana.)

When Sati gives up her life, it can been seen as a continuation of her
yogic austerity. The Shiva Purana in fact says that she burned her body to
ashes 'by yogic means'. It is a remarkable act, because she not only
renouncing her own present happiness, she is also taking away (for the
present) the happiness of her beloved husband. Yet when she leaves the
world she is determined to return to it. She is going to come back as
Parvati. Again she will win the love of Lord Shiva. The difference is that
the couple will be fully accepted by Parvati's relatives.

The nuclear family, husband and kids, is not all that Sati desires. She
needs to be part of a harmonious extended family, a community based on
kinship. Daksha's position makes it impossible for her, as Sati, to realize
this aspiration. She will realize it as Parvati.

Looked at this way, the great theme of the Sati story is the _power of resolve_.

>2) should a woman defend her husband's honor at all costs?

What a woman should do depends on her values and her beliefs.

There's a conversation in _Alice in Wonderland_. Alice asks one of the
other characters (I forget who) "Which way should I go?" The character
replies: "That very much depends on where you want to get to."

>3) how does a man grieve for his beloved wife?

Do you mean "how does he" or "how should he"? In the Kalika Purana version,
Shiva's way of grieving involves destructiveness and apparent loss of
control. I would be reluctant to say a man _should_ grieve like this. Men
_do_ grieve like this very often.

However, early in the Kalika Purana version of the story, Lord Brahma makes
a very important speech to Shiva. He says that Shiva's very tranquility
could stop Shiva from fulfilling his destined role in the universe, as one
of the three great gods. He argues that Shiva needs to accept the love of a
woman and experience all kinds of emotion.

So Shiva's spectacular grieving can be seen as part of the path he is
destined to walk.

>4) finally, are these myrths or legends or cock-and bull stories?

I see myths like this as _meaningful stories_.

I take a similar view of the miraculous events described in the Christian
Bible -- Eve and the Serpent, Noah and his Ark, the Virgin Birth and the
Resurrection.

>COLIN, you are indded an asset to this cyber shrine . please keep
>sharing your views - keeps this temple pulsating with 'energy'

You are very kind. I hope this posting has not disappointed. Please tell me
now what you think about these questions.

Love,

Colin.