Significance of names...... again.

[Anne <urbana@charter.net>]

No: HPFGUIDX 52960

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, Torsten <sevothtarte at g...> 
wrote:
> Megalynn wrote:
> >Parvati is a diety herself, and the wofe or consort of the diety 
> >Shiva. Since it's an art history class the teacher talked more 
about 
> >the art than the details of these Hindu figures. I do know however 
> >that Parvati and Shiva chose not to procreate and that they lived 
on 
> >the top of the mountain. Hopefully soemone knows more.
> 
> Well, this is as I know the story:\

<snip Shiva - Parvati - Ganesha myth>

Torsten said:
> Frankly, I don't consider HP-Parvati's name to be significant and 
foreshadow anything 
> related to this. Partly because I don't see anyone who resembles 
Shiva in being both 
> destroyed and savior. And we already have too many very troubled 
father-son 
> relationships...
>

Personally I think Parvati's name is just a "typical" east-Indian 
girl's name. East Indians often name their children for Hindu 
deities. I personally know two adults named for Indian deities --
Joydeb (male) and Lakshmi (female). Patil is a very common east 
Indian surname -- perhaps not as common as Gandhi, but very common 
nonetheless. (I've heard that Patil (or Patel) and Gandhi are 
essentially the "Johnson" and "Smith" of east Indian surnames.) 

If we're going to worry about what Parvati's name "means" in terms of 
HP, should we also worry about what her twin, Padma's, name means as 
well??

Anne U
(who *loves* all the mythological references in HP and should re-read 
Joseph Campbell's Hero With a Thousand Faces in light of it)