It is surprising to see that although Sati is Maa Bhavani, the wife of Lord Shankar and the mother of this world, we do not develop respect for the way her character has been portrayed so far. Sati has been presented as a normal woman who lies to her husband, does not listen to him and is stubborn, whereas we all know that she is worshipped by all and is Maa Jagdamba. Why is this so? Let us look at the reason behind this behaviour as explained very well by a saint.
Sati’s character in reality is not what you see. You can see the play in front of you on the stage but you do not know the story behind the curtains. Now listen to the character of Sati behind the curtains and your doubts towards her character will disappear.
Once, Lord Vishnu was worshipping Lord Shiv. Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiv are each other’s Lords, friends and devotees. Shiv is the name of Lord Vishnu’s heart and Vishnu is the name of Lord Shiv’s heart.
Lord Vishnu’s daily routine was that he would go to a lake, get one thousand gold lotuses, sit with a resolution and worship Lord Shiv by offering the thousand lotuses one at a time. Lord Vishnu thought, “I consider myself as Lord Shiv’s devotee but my devotion is not certified. I will be content if my Lord himself certifies that I am His devotee”.
Lord Shiv understood the desire in Lord Vishnu’s heart. Lord Shiv thought that in order to certify Lord Vishnu as His greatest devotee, it is important to test him because, if he just claims to Lord Vishnu that he is His greatest devotee, Lord Vishnu will assume that Lord Shiv is saying this to keep him happy.
So, one day, Lord Vishnu began to worship Lord Shiv as per his routine. He offered each lotus as he simultaneously chanted ‘Om Namah Shivay’. At that time, Lord Shankar vanished one lotus. On offering 999 lotuses, Lord Vishnu noticed that one lotus was missing! “Now what do I do?” thought Lord Vishnu.
“I cannot get up as per the rites of a pooja and if I do not offer the 1000th lotus, my resolution will be broken.”
As he thinks of a solution, Lord Vishnu remembered that when his devotees praise him they say that his eyes, hands and feet are all lotuses. “So, I can offer my foot; however, this will prevent me from walking to the lake every day to get a thousand lotuses and continue with pooja. In that case, I can offer my hand; but by doing so it will be difficult to remove the stem from the flowers to make them presentable for pooja.“
Eventually, Lord Vishnu decided to offer his eye as the thousandth lotus as this would not interfere with his daily worship. As soon as he did this, Lord Shiv appeared and happily declared, “You are great! You are my greatest devotee!” Lord Vishnu was filled with extreme joy on acquiring this certification.
Now, Lord Shiv thought that I am Lord Vishnu’s devotee. Lord Vishnu has received his certificate but I have not. One day, when Lord Shiv was worshipping Lord Vishnu, he requested Lord Vishnu to test and certify him as well. Lord Vishnu refused referring himself as Lord Shiv’s servant. Lord Shiv argued that we are each other’s servants, Lords and friends but Lord Vishnu did not agree. Hence, Mahadevji began to remain upset.