Why did Shiva cry and showed such grief when Sati died as he is a god and a god is free from all the Maya which is created by him?

Question

I could not understand, why Shiva showed all the worldly emotions like he cried and showed grief when Sati died, then he married Parvati and then lived with family. If he was a god and it is believed that the god has created all the maya then how come he himself got caught in it?

Some people say that he married because some Asura had a boon that he would only be killed by Shiva's son but as he is a god he could have created his own son himself as Lord Vishnu created Lakshmi from his arm!

Please clarify my doubts and connect the missing dots if there are any!

Answer 1

First of all there is no mention of Lord Shiva crying during Sati episode in the Shiva Mahapurana. However this answer suggests that Brahma Vaivarta Purana states Lord Shiva crying.

However there is no surprising thing in this. The thing related to "Cry" is one of the fundamental attribute of Lord Rudra. As I discuss in my answer here Rudra means the one who cries who makes other cry and who removes the cry of Samsara. Lord Krishna in Harivamsha Parva 2.74 states:

रुद्रो देव त्वं रुदनाद् रावणाञ्च
रोरुयमाणो द्रावणाच्चवातिदेवः ।

Lord Rudra, You are the one who cry, who makes other cry and who removes the cry of Samsara (misery of Samsara).

So, there is nothing surprising when Lord Rudra cries. Now, if someone objects that if he is God then how can he cry then we can also say 'By what authority someone can say that he can't Cry? Is he not allowed to cry? "

In any case these all are Leela of Lord.

Answer 2

Yes, If we pay attention to the Puranas, we can understand that all three guna-avatars (Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva) are transcendental to the modes of nature in which they control. Yet, they appear in the Lila (pastime) as if they are under the influence of those modes.

If we are intelligent when reading the Puranas, right away we can understand, that there is a higher purpose behind the seemingly conditioned nature of the guna-avatars.

Just as a sage's curse ultimately becomes a blessing in due course of time, so Shiva's performing penance after cutting off the head of Brahma, is ultimately meant to provide an opportunity for him show conditioned soul how to live as an ascetic and the follow the path of purification from great sins such as 'brahma-hatya' killing a Brahmana.

The difference between mortals (jivas) and Bhagavan (God) is that our illusion leads to suffering, their illusion is pastime that leads to an event that will ultimately create a benefit for humanity.

Also you should know there is different kinds of maya. For conditioned souls, we can be covered by maha maya.

For the Gods they have a different maya called yoga-maya. By this yoga maya potency enacts to make Bhagavan feel human. Such as Krishna crying when the demon Shalva created an illusion of killing Vasudev in the battle at Dvaraka.

SASTRIC EVIDENCE

Shrimad Bhagavatam (10.3.20-21): “O Lord, You appear in the pure (suklam) form of Vishnu, which is free from all contact of the material modes of nature, and You also appear in a reddish (Brahma) and blackish (Siva) form for material creation and annihilation.”

We many note here that as Lord Vishnu remains untouched by the three modes of material nature, so Brahma and Siva also remain untouched by the three modes of material nature.

That Vishnu, Brahma and Siva are above the three modes of material nature is the conclusion of Shrila Sukadeva Gosvami, who said:

Shrimad Bhagavatam (10.88.3): “Siva appears to display the qualities of all three modes of nature, although He is actually free from their influence. He is full of all potencies, and His real transcendental nature remains hidden from the perception of ordinary men.”

Shrimad Bhagavatam (10.3.50): "The Supreme Lord remains always free from the modes of nature, even though He may sometimes appear to be under their influence. "

This verse clearly explains that although the Lord may sometimes appear to be acting under the influence of the modes of passion and goodness, this is appearance only, and the Lord remains always free from the influence of the modes of nature.

Answer 3

It has been a long time since ive read this story. The version i read as a child said Lord Shiva voluntarily closed his all seeing eye to deepen his joy/ pleasure so there would be surprises and nothing would be spoiled by knowing what will happen before it happens.

This is kind of what mortals do too. We close our awareness of impermanence; we dont what our pleasure spoiled by the truth. We think this makes life more beautiful, but when we lose someone or something we love we are completely overwhelmedby the truth; the full force of our desire hits us when our fantasy/desire it will last forever is pierced with the truth of impermanence, and it throws our world into chaos.

Lord Vishnu removing parts of Sati’s body little by little is restoring Lord Shiva’s insight by freeing him of the maya of Sati’s existence.

When we close our insight into impermanence, Maya takes hold.