Why Godess Parvati was not aware of Raam as Vishnu's avatar?

Question

In Treta yuga, when Lord Vishnu took avatar as Raam, Lord Shiva was aware about this and he took avatar as Lord Hanuman.

In the Ramayana there is a part mentioned that when Raam was in forest ( for 14 years vanvas ) with Sita & Laxmana, Godess Parvati went to forest to check actually Raam is Vishnu's avatar or not ? When Raam show her, he simply said why you are alone, where is Lord Shiva ? Hearing this she got confirmed that Raam is an avatar of Lord Vishnu.

Now when she come back to Kailash, Lord Shiva asked her about examination of Raam.

Generally when Vishnu takes any avatar, it is well known among all the devi-devtas.

So in this case Why Godess Parvati was not aware that Raam is actually an avatar of Lord Vishnu while Lord Shiva was very well known about this part ?

Answer 1

The answer is Lord's maya which even overtakes gods and goddesses. However, it was not Parvati who got bewildered, it was Her previous incarnation Sati. The description is present in Ramacharitmanas and Shiva Purana (2.2.25).

When Sati saw that Shiva, the lord of all gods, was praising and revering Rama, a human prince, she got confused. So she asked Siva for the reason and He told that Rama is no one but Vishnu Himself. But Sati again thought, Vishnu is omniscient and the abode of all knowledge. So why He is searching and lamenting? But Shiva is omniscient also, so He also could not have told the untruth. Thus She got into doubt even after Shiva Himself told Her the truth. Seeing this, Shiva could know that the Lord's maya had got hold of Sati and He told Her to test it out Herself:

लाग न उर उपदेसु जदपि कहेउ सिवँ बार बहु।
बोले बिहसि महेसु हरिमाया बलु जानि जियँ।। [RCM - 1.51]

Meaning
Even if Shiva told it again and again, it made no difference to Sati. So Shiva, knowing that She has got under the influence of Vishnu maya, smilingly said... (to test out Rama Herself)

So the reason is Vishnu's maya. And the thing is, even though gods and goddesses many know that Lord Hari has taken birth as a human on earth, under the influence of maya they may even fail to recognize Him. For example, in Dwapara Yuga, Brahma also got bewildered seeing Krishna eating food with cowherd boys. So He also tried to taste Lord Krishna and asked for pardon later. Lord's maya is very powerful, even the gods can't escape from it.