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Lord Shiva— primordial destroyer of evil,
slayer of demons,

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protector, and omniscient observer 
of the universe—

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was testing his wife’s patience.

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Historically, the union between 
Shiva and Parvati was a glorious one.

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They maintained the equilibrium 
between thought and action

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on which the well-being 
of the world depended.

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Without Parvati as the agent of energy, 
growth, and transformation on Earth,

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Shiva would become a detached observer, 
and the world would remain static.

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But together, the two formed 
a divine union known as Ardhanarishvara––

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a sacred combination

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which brought fertility and connection 
to all living things.

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For these reasons, Parvati was worshipped
far and wide

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as the mother of the natural world––

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and the essential counterpart 
to Shiva’s powers of raw creation.

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She oversaw humanity’s material comforts;

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and ensured that the Earth’s inhabitants
were bonded to each other

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physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

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Yet a rift had grown 
between these two formidable forces.

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While Parvati sustained daily life 
with care and control,

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Shiva had begun to belittle 
his wife’s essential work—

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and insisted on quarreling 
about their roles in the universe.

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He believed that Brahma, 
the Creator of the world,

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had conceived the material plane 
purely for his own fancy.

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And therefore, all material things 
were merely distractions called māyā—

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nothing but a cosmic illusion.

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For millennia Parvati 
had merely smiled knowingly

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as Shiva dismissed 
the things she nurtured.

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But upon His latest rebuke,

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she knew she had to prove 
the importance of her work

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once and for all.

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She took flight from the world,

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withdrawing her half of the cosmic energy
that kept the Earth turning.

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At her disappearance, a sudden, 
terrifying and all-encompassing scarcity

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enveloped the world in eerie silence.

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Without Parvati, 
the land became dry and barren.

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Rivers shrank 
and crops shriveled in the fields.

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Hunger descended on humanity.

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Parents struggled to console 
their starving children

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while their own stomachs rumbled.

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With nothing to eat, people no longer
gathered over heaped bowls of rice,

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but withdrew and shrank 
from the darkening world.

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To His shock and awe,

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Shiva also felt the profound emptiness
left by his wife’s absence.

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Despite His supreme power,

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He too realized that He was not immune
to the need for sustenance,

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and His yearning felt 
bottomless and unbearable.

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As Shiva despaired 
over the desolate Earth,

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He came to realize that 
the material world

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could not be so easily dismissed.

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At her husband’s epiphany,

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the compassionate Parvati 
could no longer stand by

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and watch her devotees wasting away.

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To walk among them 
and restore their health,

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she took the form of a new avatar,

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carrying a golden bowl of porridge 
and armed with a jewel-encrusted ladle.

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As word of this hopeful figure spread,

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she was worshipped as Annapurna, 
the Goddess of food.

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With the arrival of Annapurna, 
the world blossomed anew.

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People rejoiced at fertility and food, 
and communed together to give thanks.

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Some believe that Annapurna first appeared
in the sacred city of Kashi,

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or the Place of Freedom, 
on the banks of the Ganges—

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where she opened a kitchen 
to fill the bellies of the people

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until they could eat no more.

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But it was not only mere mortals 
who were served at her feast.

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Humbled at the scenes of earthly pleasure
blooming all around him,

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Lord Shiva himself approached the goddess
with an empty bowl

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and begged for food and forgiveness.

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For this reason, the supreme deity 
is sometimes portrayed as a poor beggar

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at the mercy of Annapurna;

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holding her golden bowl in her left hand,
while the right forms the abhaya mudra––

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a gesture of safety and assurance.

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With these symbols, 
this powerful avatar makes it clear

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that the material world 
is anything but an illusion.

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Rather, it is a cycle of life 
that must be sustained—

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from the feeding of open mouths 
and rumbling bellies,

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to the equilibrium of the Earth.