What is the story of Shiva's dice game with Parvati and what does it signify?

The Shiv Purana narrates the story of a game of dice between Shiv and Parvati.

One day the embraces of the Hindu god Shiva and his consort, Parvati, who have spent eternity rapt in lovemaking.

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They are interrupted by a sinister yogi named Narada. Narada says he can show them something that is even more delightful than love. It is a game of dice – an ancestor of today’s Parcheesi.

Intrigued by his offer, the divine couple begin to play. Each of them cheats as much as possible, but no matter how long they play, the outcome is always the same : Shiva loses and Parvati wins. Shiva may have the advantage for a round or two, but he can never win a game.

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The game of dice between Shiva and Parvati symbolises the beginning of manifestation. When Parvati takes the dice and begins to play, she separates herself from Shiva so that they become two different players thus initiating fragmentation and the creation of the phenomenal world. Shiva represents consciousness, and Parvati represents prakriti.

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At first Shiva beats Parvati, but then more is wagered and Shiva loses all his attributes to Her. After losing the game, and seemingly losing his powers, Shiva accepts the defeat with a shrug of his shoulders and withdraws into the forest to meditate. Symbolising that consciousness can detach itself from its experience and from its own contents, and withdraw into a peaceful state.

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In the forest Shiva meets Vishnu who offers to help. Afterwards Shiva wins back all he previously lost and causes Parvarti to accuse him of cheating. Vishnu reveals to Parvarti the secret of Shiva’s victories. “My spirit entered the dice. The dice moved not according to your moves but according to my wish. So neither has Shiva really won nor have you really lost. The game was an illusion; your quarrel a product of delusion.”

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Shiva tells Parvati that the world is an illusion, nature is an illusion, matter is a mirage, and even food is just maya. Parvati, mother of all material things including food, loses her temper, saying; "If I am just an illusion, let's see how you and the rest of the world get along without me," and disappears from the world. Her disappearance causes havoc in the cosmos. Time stands still and in the grip of a terrible drought, the earth becomes barren. Seeing such suffering, Parvati's heart melts and she appears at Kashi to give relief.

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Hearing of her return, Shiva presents himself to Parvati with other hungry mendicants. The Goddess feeds him, and Shiva admits that food cannot be dismissed as mere illusion as it is required to nourish the body in which resides the Atma.

Since that time, Parvati is worshipped as Annapoorna Devi, the Goddess of food and sustainer of prosperity.

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Shiva acknowledges this inseparability of source and creation and returns to Parvati. They reign again in unity but this time they are not rapt in oblivion. Now they are seated side by side representing the enlightened state of being. The game of dice is over, each of them accepts the other, needs the other. Shiva takes his rightful place in the universe with Parvati while Shiva is her within-ness, the aware-ness of every part of the universe from the smallest quantum particle to the largest galaxy. She is finally fulfilled and happy because she accepts and enjoys his sustaining love. Shiva likewise does not remove himself from her devoted adorations. There is no more seeking because there is no separation, no distancing. Lover and Beloved are one. Observer and observed are one. Experiencer and experienced are one. Awareness and object of awareness are one in constant bliss.

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She is an ever-changing, all-powerful vortex of energy. He is her center point, her lover and beholder within every vortex spinning the illusion we call matter; he is the conscious center of every vortex! Our own happiness, our enlightenment, depends of a clear understanding and experience of this dynamic. We find fulfillment when we experience the fluctuations of duality from the perspective of permanent non-dual awareness.

This corresponds with the Hindu form of religious devotion called bhakti yoga. It is the anthropomorphic way of saying that all of creation, prakriti, lovingly acknowledges the source and center, purusha; of saying that duality emerges from and is sustained in non-duality.

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