78 Wilber Theodore Elmore 



their husbands such prowess.^ The chastity of their wives is the 

 reason for the power of the kings, but they have one sorrow; 

 they have no children. You must assume the form of a peepul* 

 tree on the bank of the tank, and I will appear as a mM.' The 

 women will certainly come to me when they bathe to ask me how 

 they may obtain children. I will advise them to embrace the 

 tree which you will become'. You must thus ruin all of these 

 women, and then their husbands will lose their strength." 



Siva consented to the plan, and all happened as arranged. 

 After the women had embraced the tree they went as usual to 

 make the pots of sand, but the pots fell to pieces. Again and 

 again they tried, but to no avail. Then in terror they went home 

 and bringing other pots they took water to make food for their 

 husbands as usual. But when the kings ate the food they lost 

 their power and were destroyed by Siva. 



After a time all of the one hundred and one wives brought 

 forth children. All were girls. Thinking that Siva was re- 

 sponsible for their being, the children went to him and asked that 

 he would provide them some way to make a living. He directed 

 them to go into the world as Saktis and torment people, who 

 would then propitiate them with food and thus support them. 

 So these Saktis are abroad in the earth, and whenever a new 

 deity appears, it is simply one of these Saktis assuming a new 

 form. 



This legend makes the Saktis to be the daughters of Siva. 

 They are more commonly said to be his wives. This is the re- 

 lationship established in the following story.® 



In the older times there was a king named Giri Razu, He had 

 sons, but although he made all kinds of offerings, no daughters 

 were born to him. For a long time he did penance to Siva, and 

 at last Siva's wife, Parvati, had compassion on him and saying 



3 This test of character is one commonly found in the Puranas. See 

 page 95. 



4 The poplar-leaved fig tree, Ficus religiosa. 



5 Otherwise spelled rusi. He is a hermit thought to have divine powers. 

 8 A story with enough similarity to have suggested this is found in the 



Devi Bhagavatam. It has not been translated into English. 



78 



