Parvathi, the daughter of the monarch of the Himalayas, was the very acme of physical beauty. In spite of this, she had to acquire the quality of Sathwa by destroying the pride in personal beauty and her native egotism through intense asceticism. She had to shine in the beauty of the spirit! The legend relates that Manmatha, the God of Love, who planned to project only the youthful charm of Parvathi for the attention of Siva, was burnt to ashes. This incident symbolises the fact that divine knowledge (vidya) cannot be gained so long as one is caught up in the coils of the ego. When one equips oneself with Vidya, pride disappears.

But, these days, conceit and pride are taken as adding charm to the knowledge required. The attraction conferred on a person by scholarship in matters relating to the objective world has to be given up; only thereafter can the genuine innate Divinity manifest itself. Then alone can the personality of the individual, which is the self, accept the divine. The ego in use is the Manmatha, "the agitator of the mind," and that has to be turned into ashes through the impact of divine vision. The divine, the Iswara, will not yield Himself to physical charm, worldly authority, muscular or intellectual or financial power. This is the inner meaning of the Manmatha episode.

Parvathi underwent extreme austerities and subjected herself (that is to say, her ego-consciousness) to sun and rain, cold and hunger, and thus transformed herself. Finally, Iswara (Siva) accepted her as half of Himself! This is the stage in spiritual advance called Saayujya (Mergence). This is the same as Moksha and Mukthi, liberation and release. In fact, Vidya involves humility, tolerance and discipline. It destroys arrogance, envy and all the related vices. Such a Vidya is the real Atmic Vidya.

Moksha means liberation. All embodied beings long for liberation from the limitation that the embodiment connotes. Every living being is perforce a Mumukshu, that is to say, an aspirant for liberation, a practitioner of renunciation. One has to be a tyagi, versed in detachment. This is the final Truth, the indisputable Truth. Those who give up their body and leave, do not take with them from here even a handful of earth. When one does not himself learn to give up, Nature teaches him, on his death, this great truth about the need and value of detachment and renunciation. So it is good to learn the lesson even before this happens. The person who learns and practises this truth is indeed blessed.