Sati (Hindu goddess)

Sati is also called Dakshayani. She is a Hindu goddess of happy marriage and long life. People worship her as a form of the mother goddess Shakti. Sati was the first wife of Shiva. The second wife was Parvati, who was Sati reborn after she died.

The first stories of Sati are in the Ramayana and Mahabharata, but full details are in the Puranas. In these legends, Sati is Daksha’s favorite daughter. She marries Shiva, but her father does not agree with this. Later, Daksha holds a big fire-ritual called yajna but does not invite Sati or Shiva. Sati still goes there. Her father insults her and Shiva. To show her anger and defend her husband’s honor, Sati burns herself in the fire.^[1]

In Hindu belief, both Sati and Parvati help Shiva leave his life of being alone and join the world in creating life.^[2]

Sati’s story is important for Shaivism and Shaktism, two main groups in Hinduism. People believe that after Sati died, Shiva carried her body across the world. Her body parts fell in 51 places, and these places are now called Shakta pithas, which are holy to Hindus.

1. ↑ Kinsley, David (1998). Hindu Goddesses. Motilal Banarsidass Publ. p. 35. ISBN 978-81-208-0394-7.
2. ↑ Kinsley, David (1998). Hindu Goddesses. Motilal Banarsidass Publ. p. 38. ISBN 978-81-208-0394-7.