Lord Shiva and Parvati lived at the top of the Himalayas. Sometimes they
stayed on Mount Kailash and sometimes they stayed on another mountain named
Mandara. One day Parvati said to her consort, ?My Lord, everybody has a house.
Can we not also have a house? When the weather is hot here on the top of
the mountain, I suffer so much. You are in your trance, but I cannot enjoy
trance as you do, so I suffer unbearably. Please give me a house to live
in.?<br>
<br>
Shiva was in his own world, and he paid no attention to his wife?s request.
A few years passed by and Parvati brought up the matter once more. ?My Lord,
please let us have a house,? she begged.<br>
<br>
?I am so poor,? Shiva replied. ?How can I give you a house? Let us go and
take up our abode at the foot of a tree. There you will find shade. The tree
will protect us.?<br>
<br>
?Yes,? said Parvati, ?a tree can give us shade and shelter to some extent.
But when it rains heavily, what can a tree do? When there are hurricanes
or cyclones or monsoons, what will happen? The rain will come and destroy
everything.?<br>
<br>
?I am very, very poor. What can I do?? answered Shiva. ?Indeed, you are poor!?
responded his wife. ?But you have made so many people rich. How is it that
you have made others rich while you yourself have remained poor? They are
lucky. They can get anything they want from you because they are your devotees.
But when I want to have something for myself, you refuse me?and I am your
wife!? Parvati started weeping pitifully. Then she continued, ?I beg you,
my Lord, please provide us with a house. Otherwise, I cannot escape from
the rain. I can tolerate the heat but not the rain.?<br>
<br>
Shiva?s heart melted. He said to his wife, ?Because I am so poor, I cannot
give you a proper house. But since I have prayed and meditated for so many
years, I can do you this favour. Let us change our abode. Let us move away
from this tree on the mountaintop. We shall no longer stay on Kailash or
Mandara. We shall enter into the clouds. From now on, the clouds will be
our home. We shall remain inside them and we will not be on earth at all.
We will not touch the ground. Therefore the rain will not affect us; nothing
will affect us.?<br>
<br>
So Shiva and Parvati entered into the clouds to live. One name of Shiva is
Jimutabahin, meaning ?one who is inside the cloud.? Lord Shiva and Parvati
still live inside the clouds because Shiva could not afford to have a house.<br>
<br>
Sri Chinmoy&nbsp;