Uma

Quick Facts

About Uma

Daughter of Himavat and consort of Mahadeva. When she playfully covered his eyes from behind, the worlds went dark and a third eye opened in his forehead whose heat burned her father's mountain, until her grief made him restore it. In the Anushasana Parva it is her questioning that draws from Shiva the long exposition of the duties of the four orders, and at Skanda's investiture the god divided himself so that a form of him could come to her as well.

In Their Words

A great doubt has filled my mind, O lord of creatures. It behoves thee to resolve it.

Uma

Traits

• playful
• questioning
• devoted
• compassionate

Story Appearances

• Uma Questions ShivaThe questioner whose doubts draw out the law
• The Birth of the War-GodGoddess in the form of Swaha❧ 10 min
• The Divine ArsenalThe huntress beside the Kirata❧ 19 min

Stories Featuring Uma

28 further tales on this site name Uma, in canonical reading order.

• Swaha and the Six DisguisesThe wives who were punished for a child that was never theirsVana Parva ‧ 20 min
• The Thunderbolt and the Seizers of ChildrenWhat came out of the wound, and the bargain that followedVana Parva ‧ 21 min
• Indra Comes to GandhamadanaMatali brings Arjuna home from heaven, and the king of the gods follows him downVana Parva ‧ 11 min
• Garuda's Map of the WorldThe four directions described from a bird's backUdyoga Parva ‧ 18 min
• The Hymn Before the ConchesKrishna sends Arjuna down from the chariot to praise the goddessBhishma Parva ‧ 18 min
• Sanjaya Describes the EarthThe blind king asks what the earth is worth, and his charioteer answers with the whole of itBhishma Parva ‧ 24 min
• The One Who Walked Ahead of the ChariotArjuna finally asks who has been winning his battlesDrona Parva ‧ 17 min
• The One Who Walked Before the CarVyasa tells Arjuna whose lance was breaking the ranks in front of himDrona Parva ‧ 24 min
• How Parashurama Won Shiva's WeaponsYears of penance, a war fought with empty hands, and the arsenal that reached KarnaKarna Parva ‧ 17 min
• The Anointing of the War GodEvery god brings a gift to a six-day-old commanderShalya Parva ‧ 21 min
• The Being at the GateAshvatthama offers himself to MahadevaSauptika Parva ‧ 16 min
• The Weapon He Could Not LiftAshvatthama's bargain on the Dwaraka shoreSauptika Parva ‧ 16 min
• Ushanas the BrightHow Shukra Became the Teacher of the AsurasShanti Parva
• The Age Before KingsHow men who protected one another stopped, and what had to be writtenShanti Parva ‧ 18 min
• The Sweat That Became FeverA drop from Shiva's forehead, and the disease scattered through the worldShanti Parva ‧ 16 min
• The Sage Inside the GodHow Usanas robbed Kuvera and came out as ShukraShanti Parva ‧ 17 min
• The Son Struck From the Fire SticksA hundred years of penance, a parrot on a branch, and a child born of frictionShanti Parva ‧ 18 min
• The Curses of the RishisKrishna names the marks that Brahmanas left on gods, seas and mountainsShanti Parva ‧ 19 min
• The Sacrifice of SatiDaksha's Pride and the Wrath of ShivaShanti Parva ‧ 10 min
• The Savitri Mantra of SalutationsBhishma gives Yudhishthira the roll of names to be said at dawnAnushasana Parva ‧ 21 min
• The Names That Cleanse SinAsked what destroys sin, Bhishma answers with a litany of gods, rivers, mountains, sages and kingsAnushasana Parva ‧ 15 min
• Upamanyu's PenanceThe boy who refused every god but Shiva, and the god who came disguised as Indra to hear him do itAnushasana Parva ‧ 24 min
• Tandi and the Ten Thousand YearsA rishi meditates for a hundred centuries, sees Mahadeva, and hymns him as the end of all five roadsAnushasana Parva ‧ 20 min
• The Vow of Ten and Two YearsKrishna keeps a twelve year vow on the mountain and a fire walks out of his mouthAnushasana Parva ‧ 19 min
• How Vishnu Got the DiscusUpamanyu tells Krishna where Sudarsana came from, and Krishna climbs Himavat to ask Mahadeva for a sonAnushasana Parva ‧ 23 min
• The Child Who Stopped Indra's ArmA boy on Uma's lap holds the thunderbolt in the airAnushasana Parva ‧ 15 min
• Four Faces and a Blue ThroatUma asks her husband to account for himselfAnushasana Parva ‧ 19 min
• The Naked Priest of VaranasiHow a king outbid Indra for a brother nobody wantedAshvamedhika Parva ‧ 31 min

Character Arc

1. 1Hands Over His EyesThe universe goes sunless and the third eye opens
2. 2The Mountain SparedShe cannot bear to see Himavat burnt, and Shiva restores him
3. 3The Long QuestioningShe asks Maheshvara what duty binds each order of men

Key Relationships

• Husband➝Shiva
• Son➝Skanda
• Sister➝Goddess Ganga

Places in Uma's Story

Drawn from the stories Uma appears in.

• Mount Kailasaकैलास
• Naimisharanyaनैमिषारण्य
• Kurukshetraकुरुक्षेत्र
• Himavatहिमवत्
• Varanasi (Kashi)वाराणसी (काशी)
• Munjavatमुञ्जवत्
• Mount Meruमेरु
• Amaravatiअमरावती
• Hastinapurहस्तिनापुर
• Pandava Campपाण्डव शिविर
• Dwarakaद्वारका
• Saraswatiसरस्वती

Related Characters

Others counted among the Divine Beings.

• ❉Krishna
• ◭Hanuman
• ❧Kacha
• ≈Goddess Ganga
• ★The Eight Vasus
• ॐSage Vyasa