I had felt like I had gone to sleep myself during Mahadev’s “samadhi” phase. Sati’s death and aftermath, so brutal and final, sounding a death knell to a poignant but tragic love story, was hard to come to terms with, even if we always knew that it would happen. The power of Devon Ke Dev Mahadev is such that you become enmeshed in its fabric, unable to separate the myth of it to the extent that it makes a real impact on your innermost moods, thoughts and feelings. The trademarks of an epic, yes, but making it hard for viewers and fans to deal with their reactions as the story unfolds.
When Mahadev re-entered the picture and we saw Parvati finally grown, hope, that antidote to most negativity, burst forth. We could feel little tendrils of optimism curl through us at the thought that we may soon get our smiling Mahadev back, watch a once-again vibrant Kailash and look forward to well loved tales of the couple forever epitomised as the pinnacle of perfect love. I can now begin to overlook the occasional discrepancies in the script, casting errors and even often lacking special effects as the overall symmetry now seems to be shaping up and gelling together.
It strikes me as poetic that I am beginning to find my enchantment back with the show just as it is at that juncture in its story where we see a lot of promise not just for Mahadev and Parvati but all of mankind. The reference to Mahadev and Parvati will of course be patently obvious. We saw a grief stricken Mahadev after his unbearable separation from Sati go in to literal yogic hibernation for eons. When he awoke, there was no immediate feeling of relief or joy for long. That is because we re-obtained our Mahadev at his most stubborn and still grieving, determined this time to avoid a repeat of the previous failed marriage that beset him and Sati. Even in a few short weeks, Parvati has already had a difficult and ardous journey, with trials and tribulations at each step.
She has been rejected by the very person she exists for, in a more fundamental sense than most can imagine. She has then had to grapple with the consequences and backlash from forcibly awakening Mahadev, for whilst Indra might have been responsible for Kamdev’s untimely demise, it was Parvati who bore the brunt of a distraught Rati’s anger and consequent curse. She has had to along the way, convince her mother that she can only have one soul mate and overcome her formidable mother’s opposition to her chosen partner. Further, she had to face up to the bitter truth that the biggest obstacle for her union with the God of Gods was not just extrinsic factors, but her own human failings.
This is where I believe the hope element shines through. Parvati is divine but still trapped in a human body in a mortal realm. Even someone with her innate strength and ultimate core of being as “Shakti” needs to overcome limitations that humanity imposes on all, most particularly that elusive ego, to be able to unit with God. To me, the struggle of Parvati is not about a woman seeking to mould herself to an “ideal” wife, it is the struggle of anyone, be that male or female, to achieve the Almighty. Many will disagree and I sense that a lot of viewers have viewed the recent track at its most apparent level- the struggles of a woman to become an “appropriate” and suitable wife. To me, it goes far deeper than that, the subliminal message is and always has been, about attaining God through total devotion and ultimate surrender. That is where Sati failed as she could not divorce herself from the equation, she viewed Mahadev as her husband, he soul mate and for God, even that almost natural possessiveness, becomes a factor that prevents you from “union” with the divinity.
I take great heart in Parvati’s struggle as it gives me the message that if we try, we can all find it in us to seek God through surrender. Yes, it will be incredibly difficult and to do so, requires self-sacrifice and a total handing over of one-self to a higher being, but it is not impossible. Even more heartening for me is that realisation that should efforts fail, they will still not be in vain, as any time and strife spent to seek God, will be its own reward.
Further, I love the show for depicting humans as it does – yes, a lot of them are flawed and full of failings but then again, there are those that rise to greatness by deed, thus being eternally dear to Mahadev. We previously hated Daksha for what he did, ranted at his pride and blind prejudice that ultimately led to such disastrous end.
We loved Sati but still despaired at her human failings as we knew that these prevented her from learning the lessons Mahadev tried to teach her, thereby spelling an end to their story before it could really begin almost.
Written by
Shruti
Writers Gully