Double Trouble

The king and queen of Sumerkuda were staunch devotees of Shiva. Shiva was really pleased with their devotion, which was selfless and with no expectations.

One day, the king announced to his wife that, he is planning to construct a Shiva temple only for himself, wherein he only will be the priest and will serve his lord the way he wanted. Hearing this, the Rani said...what about me, even i would like to serve my lord the way i want too.  On hearing this, the king said, okay i will get two temples made side my side near our place. One will be your temple and another would be mine.

The next day, the king announced this decision to his ministers and asked the most skilled craftsmen in the kingdom to present their designs.  

Post 6 months, two grand temples which were replicas of each other were created. King and Queen were thrilled to see their wish fulfilled. Post that, both king and queen got busy with how they would like to praise their lords etc....Narada..seeing all this, came rushing to Shiva's abode and said, have you seen what your favorite devotees are doing, the king and queen have become the priests of their own temple. Shiva said, its just pure love and they are not neglecting any of their duties so let them do what they please.

Slowly, lot of ceremonies that were being held in the temples started happening at the same time and Shiva had to juggle his time between the two places...he always felt the guilt that maybe i am not doing justice to my devotees. Shiva shared his worries with his wife Parvati. Parvati said, why dont u just listen to the recordings using the time travel device. Shiva said, no no...i would like to give my fav devotees blessing at that moment itself.

Parvati knew how innocent her husband was and he will just worry about he not being able to do justice to their love. Parvati felt, she only would have to do something. She immediately called Narada and told him to keep her posted with latest developments in Sumerkuda and try to make the king and queen understand Shiva's plight.

Narada thought of an idea, he got two neighboring kings to invite the king on the same day and time.  Narada went to see the king to see what he will decide.The king was discussing with his ministers what he can do, he did not want to say no to anyone. Narada said, your deity is able to multitask between your and your wife's puja's i am sure you can also do something like this. Hearing this, the king said he is Shiva the lord, what he can do, i cannot do. Narada felt, he would have to do something else to drive the point.

After few months, Narada came rushing to Parvati and told her about the non-stop 24 hr celebrations being planned by king and queen on the occasion of Shiva Ratri...Imagining 24 hrs of non-stop celebration, Parvati felt she had to do something to put this to stop...she told Narada something in his ear, hearing which Narada smiled.

Next day, Narada went to the court, the king was thrilled to see Narada, while having lunch with Narada, King and Queen told him about their grand plan. On hearing this, Narada said, don't u know if husband and wife dont do pooja together on Shiva Ratri, Shiva is not pleased, he is after all a family man and represents an ideal household. On hearing that King and Queen got tensed and thought what they can do, as it did not feel good to neglect one temple completely after establishing the god there. Narada said, why don't you make one temple open for public and you both can do your puja together in one temple? Post marriage, you both resolved to live a single life, don't you think if you pray your favorite deity together, u will find greater joy.

On hearing this, the king and queen felt, it makes sense...instead of they thinking individually its better if they thought as one. They decided to do as suggested by Narada.

On the Shiva Ratri day, Shiva was pleased to see both of them praying together, he told Parvati, see how wise my devotees are. Parvati nodded and smiled.