The story of Sandhya & her marriage with Vasishta – Shiva Purana

The story of Sandhya & her marriage with Vasishta – Shiva Purana
This is the story of Sandhya i.e., dawn and dusk. The upper half of her body became the Prataḥ Sandhya (dawn) and the lower half of her body became the Shyaṃ Sandhya (dusk). Before the sunrise, when the day breaks, the period is called Prataḥ Sandhya (dawn). It delights the Gods. When the sun has set and assumed the hue of a red lotus, the period of Shyaṃ Sandhya (dusk) sets in. It is delightful to the manes.
 
A beautiful woman was born of the mind of Brahma. She was variously called Sandhya, Divakṣanta, Sayaṃ Sandhya and Jayantika, she was very beautiful with finely shaped eyebrows capable of captivating the minds of even sages. Sandhya performed a penance on the mountain Candrbhaga, cast off her body and was reborn as Arundhati, the daughter of the excellent sage Medhatithi.
 
Arundhati performed sacred rites as guided by Vasishta, the mental son of Brahma. Vasishta advised her to meditate silently on Shiva, the sole first cause of all the worlds with the mantra ““Oṃ Namaḥ Saṃkaraya Oṃ”. Vasishta advised her to take only water in the first and second Ṣaṣṭakalas (a period of 4 hrs.) and to observe complete fast [without even taking water] in third Sastakala. The rites were to be performed at the end of each Ṣaṣṭakala. Sandhya worshipped Shiva with the mantra and performed penance as per procedure explained by Vasishta.
 
A period of four Yugas elapsed during which she continued her great penance with mind fixed and duly concentrated on Shiva. Propitiated by her penance Shiva was greatly delighted. He revealed Himself to her within and without as well as in the heaven. Shiva became visible to her in the form in which she was meditating upon him. She rejoiced much on seeing in front of her, the lord Shiva with face beaming with delight, in the same form as she was meditating on. As she remained with eyes shut, Shiva entered her heart and blessed her with divine wisdom, divine speech, and divine eyes. She thus acquired divine wisdom, divine eyes, and divine speech. Directly perceiving the lord of Durga, she eulogized the lord Shiva.
 
Sandhya said: --

1. That which has no specific form, that which can be known through perfect knowledge; that which is neither gross, nor subtle, nor high; that which is to be meditated upon by Yogis within themselves—obeisance be to Thee who art of this sort and the creator of the worlds.
2. I bow to lord Shiva, whose form is like a road to heaven, beyond the path of darkness, and who art calm, pure, changeless incomprehensible through worldly knowledge, self-illuminated and unaltered.
3. Obeisance to him whose form is solitary, pure, luminous, free from illusion, knowledge-cum-bliss, naturally un-decaying, eternal bliss, delighted at the outcome of truth and prosperity and productive of glory.
4. Obeisance to him whose form can be imagined in the nature of Vidya (Perfect Knowledge), which is different from insentient things, Sattvika in will, that which should be meditated on as the form of Atman, which is the utmost essence and which is the holiest of all sanctifying objects.
5. Obeisance to him, the Yogi whose Saguṇa form is pure, lovely, bedecked in jewels, as white and clean as camphor and which holds in its hand the desired boon, fearlessness, the trident, and the scalp.
6. Obeisance to him whose forms are the sky, the earth, the quarters, the waters, the fire, and the Eternal time.
7. Obeisance to Shiva of unmanifest form from whom unmanifest primordial nature and Puruṣa issued forth as its effect.
8. Obeisance to him who creates this universe in the form of Brahma, who sustains it in the form of Vishnu and who destroys it in the form of Rudra.
9. Obeisance to the cause of causes, to the bestower of divine nectar, wisdom, and prosperity; to the best-owner of the prosperity of all other worlds, and the luminous greatest of the great.
10. Obeisance to him, Shiva, beyond whose region no other world exists; from whose umbilical region arose the earth, the quarters, the sun, the moon, the cupid, the devas and the ether.
11. How can I adequately eulogise lord Shiva who is inexpressible by words, is incomprehensible to the mind, is the cause of the world and has no beginning, no middle, no end.
12. How can he be described by me, whose forms even Brahma and other Gods or sages of great austerity cannot describe.
13. Obeisance to him, O Lord Shiva, obeisance to Thee, O personification of penance; O Shiva, lord of the Gods, be pleased, obeisance be to Thee again and again.

Shiva said: --

1. O gentle lady, I am delighted by your great penance and this eulogy. O auspiciously intelligent woman, you can choose your boon.
2. Whatever boon seems to be useful to you and is desired by you I shall grant it to you. I am delighted by your rites.”

Sandhya said: --

1. O Lord Shiva, if I am to be favoured with the boon, if I am considered worthy of receiving a boon, let no living being, O lord of the Gods, born in this atmosphere be full of lust at the time of its nativity.
2. This is another boon chosen by me that no other woman shall become so famous in the three worlds as I have become or shall become.
3. No creation of mine shall become lustful or fall anywhere degraded. He who becomes my husband shall be my intimate friend of pure mind.
4. Any person who looks at me with lustful eyes shall lose his manliness and become a eunuch.

On hearing the words of that woman who had become freed of sin Shiva who is favourably disposed to His devotees and who was delighted at what she had said, spoke as follows. Shiva said: -

1. O lady Sandhya, listen. Your sin has been reduced to ashes. By this penance you have become pure. Whatever you have asked I grant you entirely. I am delighted by this excellent penance of yours.
2. (In all living beings) the first stage shall be infancy, the second childhood, the third youth and the fourth stage shall be old age. When the third stage in life is reached, the living beings shall become lustful. In some cases, it shall be at the end of the second stage.
3. No living being shall be lustful at the time of its nativity.
4. You will attain such a pure chastity as will not be attained by any other woman in the three worlds. Excepting your husband whoever looks at you with lustful eyes shall immediately become impotent and weak.
5. Your husband shall be one endowed with great fortune, penance and comely features. He shall live for a period of seven Kalpas along with you.
6. Thus, I have granted you all the boons requested by you. I shall tell you another incident that transpired in the previous birth.
7. That you would cast off your body in the fire has been foretold. I shall tell you the means thereof. You will certainly carry it out.
8. Let that be performed by you at the twelve-year-sacrifice of the sage Medhatithi in the blazing sacrificial fire.
9. In the ridge of this mountain, on the banks of this river Candrabhaga, Medhatithi is performing a great penance in his hermitage. You go there unobserved by the sages. Thanks to my favour, you will become his fire-born daughter.
10. If you have chosen in your mind a desirable bridegroom as your husband, you shall think of him while you consign your body into the fire.
11. Sandhya, while you were performing severe penance—which had lasted for four yugas—in the earlier part of Treta Yuga, after the Kṛta Yuga had elapsed, Dakṣa had begotten many chaste daughters who were also duly married. He gave twenty-seven of his daughters to the moon in marriage. But the moon had a special liking for only Rohini and he neglected others. Hence, the moon was cursed by Dakṣa, the redemption being, when he sees the Ether, he would find her there. At that time the Gods had come near you but since you were having your mind fixed in me, the Gods in the company of Brahma were not seen by you. The river Candrabhaga arose being created by Brahma for the redemption of the moon from the curse. It was then that Medhatithi arrived here. There is none equal to him in penance. There has never been such a person, nor will there ever be one. He has now started the sacrifice of Jyotiṣṭoma of many great rites. In that blazing sacrificial fire you shall cast off your body. You are pure now. May your other desires be also fulfilled.

 
When Shiva vanished after granting her the boons, Sandhya too went to the place where Medhatithi was performing sacrifice. She entered the sacrificial hall without being observed by anyone. Meditating on that Brahmachari Vasishta, her tutor in the mode of austerities, Sandhya thought of him as her future husband, and entered the blazing sacrificial fire unobserved by the sages.
 
The god of fire sent forth her body to the pure zone of the sun. The sun severed her body into two halves and placed the same on his own chariot for the propitiation of the Pitṛs and the Devas. The upper half of her body became the Prataḥ Sandhya (dawn) and the lower half of her body became the Shyaṃ Sandhya (dusk). Before the sunrise, when the day breaks, the period is called Prataḥ Sandhya. It delights the Gods. When the sun has set and assumed the hue of a red lotus, the period of Shyaṃ Sandhya sets in. It is delightful to the manes.

At the end of the sacrifice, the sage found his daughter in the sacrificial pit shining lustrously like heated gold. With very great delight the sage took up the daughter, as though she were a sacrificial article. He bathed her and kept her on his lap. The great sage gave her the name Arundhati. Surrounded by his disciples he celebrated the event joyously. The word Arundhati means “one who does not hinder sacred rites in any manner whatsoever”. She acquired this name which later became well-known in the three worlds.
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The divine lady grew up in the hermitage, Tapasaraṇya, on the banks of the river—Candrabhaga. When she reached her fifth year, the chaste lady sanctified the environs of the Tapasaraṇya and the river Candrabhaga, by virtue of her good qualities. Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva got her marriage celebrated with Vasiṣṭha, the son of Brahma. She secured Vasiṣṭha and bore the auspicious sons Shakti etc.
 
Reference: Shiva purana, Rudra-saṃhita, Sati Khanda, Chapter 5, 6 & 7