10. Kanchanamala senses her late husband’s presence

In an age where mothers and daughters assess a prospective groom by his assets, Thatatakai and her mother are exceptions.

Firstly, does any mother have the maturity to accept a son-in-law who had realised the divine?

Parents only fear for the life of their daughters if she marries a man who is spiritually evolved.

Knowing her son-in-law is Siva himself, Kanchanamala could have asked for many material boons. But instead she also asked for the same spiritual awareness as her daughter.

The darling of mother-in-law

Having brought the seven holy seas into the city of Madurai, the Lord also explains to his mother-in-law the proper way to take a dip. The spirits naturally found on the banks of such holy waters attain the status of the forefathers and should be worshipped as such, and he explains to her the correct method of worship.

Of the five elements, water has the quality of the mind. It can change its character in a flash. Waters purify externally and internally. So worshipping the forefathers on the banks of holy waters is auspicious.

Kanchanamala performed the appropriate rights for her late husband on the banks of the holy pond. She realised the presence of her husband’s spirit within her. She realised through the grace of the god that however many births she may take, and even if she begot the Divine Mother Herself as her daughter, there were certain limitations to human life.

She also realised the ultimate truth that though her husband and she gave birth to the Divine Mother as their daughter, they were not separate from Her. Realising that she was not separate from her husband either, she also realised that she had no desire left for rebirth. Through that realisation, she and her husband attained salvation.

She, her husband, her daughter, her people, her city – everybody was one. Can a son-in-law give his mother-in-law a greater gift that this knowledge?

Om Namah Shivaya