Intense devotion to one’s favourite deity is understandable, but sage Bhringi carried things too far, said K.Sambandan, in a discourse. The story goes that the sage was determined never to worship anyone, except Lord Siva. One day, he went to Kailash, Lord Siva’s divine abode. The Lord and His Consort were engaged in conversation, and did not notice the sage.
The sage would never compromise on his unwavering devotion to Lord Siva. He did not realise that Lord Siva and Parvati were to be treated with equal reverence. He wanted to circumambulate Lord Siva, without going round the Goddess. That seemed impossible, given how close the Divine Couple were seated. But there was a small gap between their heads. He decided to make use of that. So Bhringi assumed the form of a bee, and flew between the heads of the couple, so that he only circumambulated Lord Siva’s head and avoided Parvati. An angry Parvati asked Siva how She could have been ignored by His devotee. She wanted to ensure that in future anyone who worshipped Lord Siva would have to worship Her too. The Lord asked Her to do penance in Kanchipuram, and said that He would grant Her half His body, so that She and He together would form a whole. Upon completion of Her penance, the Goddess took up half His body. Siva then came to be known as Ardhanareeswara.
It is wrong to think of Lord Siva and His Consort as separate entities and worship one while neglecting the other. Can the Sun be separated from its effulgence, or a flower from its fragrance? Likewise, neither Lord Siva nor Goddess Parvati can be viewed as separate from the other, and that is made clear through the Bhringi story.
