Parvati Maa was born in the house of Himalaya, the king of the mountains. As she grew, she made a single resolve. She decided she would marry Shiv ji and no one else. But Shiv ji was far away from the ways of the world. He sat high on the mountain in deep dhyana. His eyes were closed. He wore ash on his skin and did not look at anyone. He had sat this way since Sati left her body. He was completely detached from everything around him, feeling no hunger and hearing no voices.
Parvati Maa knew that a quiet wish in her father's house would not reach him. She left the palace. She walked away from the soft beds, the cooked food, and the servants who stood ready to help her. She went deep into the forest to do tapasya. She found a place among the trees where the ground was flat and sat down on the earth. She closed her eyes, folded her hands, and fixed her mind on Shiv ji.
The seasons turned, and she did not move. In the summer, the sun beat down on her head and the hot winds blew dust over her face. In the winter, the frost settled on her skin and the cold chilled her bones. When the monsoon came, the heavy rains poured over her, soaking her hair and turning the ground around her to mud. Through it all, she sat still. She did not seek shelter under a roof or ask for a fire to warm her hands.
For thousands of years, she kept her vrat. At first, she ate the fruits that grew in the forest. Then she stopped eating fruit and lived only on the dry leaves that fell from the trees around her. The years passed, and she gave up the leaves. She stopped taking food and water entirely. She lived on nothing but the air and her focus on Shiv ji. Her breath slowed down, and her body became as quiet as the trees.
The forest took a toll on her body. The dust of the earth settled on her skin and stayed there. The sun burned her. The lack of food and water made her thin. The dirt and the weather built up over the thousands of years of her tapasya. Her skin turned completely dark. She became a shadow in the forest, blackened by the weather and the years of waiting.
High on his mountain, Shiv ji felt the weight of her tapasya. He opened his eyes. He saw the daughter of the mountain king sitting in the forest, holding her mind steady on him. He stood up and walked down the mountain path to where she sat. He stood before her and spoke. He told her he was pleased with her devotion. He accepted her as his wife and told her the vrat was complete.
Parvati Maa opened her eyes and looked at him. Shiv ji looked back at her. He saw her thin frame. He saw the thick layer of dust and the dark colour of her skin. He saw what she had endured to bring him out of his dhyana. He felt compassion for her. He decided to wash away the marks of her long hardship before they returned to the mountain together.
Shiv ji reached up to his head. He opened his matted hair. The water of the Ganga flowed out from his locks. He directed the water over Parvati Maa. The stream poured over her head and ran down her shoulders. The water washed away the dust of the forest. It washed away the heat of the summer and the mud of the monsoon. It washed away the dark colour that had settled deep into her skin.
When the water stopped flowing, Parvati Maa stood up. The dark skin was gone entirely. She emerged with a complexion that was fair. Her skin shone white like a conch shell, like a jasmine flower, and like the moon. Shiv ji looked at her new form. Because she was so fair, he named her Mahagauri.
She stood before him wearing white clothes. A white bull came to her side for her to ride. She manifested with four arms. In one hand, she held a trishul. In another, she held a damaru. She raised her third hand to grant boons, and she held her fourth hand up to send away fear.
The Hindi vrat katha booklets tell this part of the story a different way. They say Parvati Maa and Shiv ji were already married and living together. One day, Shiv ji teased her about her dark skin and called her Kali. Parvati Maa felt deeply hurt by his words. She left their home and went to the forest to do tapasya, asking to get her fair skin back. Brahma granted her a boon and told her to bathe in the Mansarovar lake. When she stepped into the water, her dark skin separated from her and walked away as Kaushiki. Parvati Maa stepped out of the lake as Mahagauri.
Whoever listens to this katha with devotion gets the fruit of the vrat. Just as the water of the Ganga washed away the dark colour from the skin of Parvati Maa, the katha washes away all the past sins of the one who hears it. It brings a pure mind, peace, and wealth to the house. It fulfills all desires, and in the end, the listener goes to the home of Durga Maa.
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