Did Shiva marry Sati/Parvati at the age of 16?

Question

I recently heard that Lord Shiva married Parvati/Sati at the age of 16 but couldn’t find the proper reference for it.

Could anyone help me to crosscheck this information?

At what age did Lord Siva marry goddess Parvati/Sati?

Answer 1

No, goddess Pārvatī was not 16 years old at the time of her marriage.

If we are to go by this excerpt from the Śiva Mahā-Purāṇa 2.3.22.49-53, goddess Pārvatī was well above atleast 3000 years old, when she married god Śiva.

Chapter 48, Rudra-saṃhitā (3): Pārvatī-khaṇḍa, Śiva Purāṇa

आहारे त्यक्तपर्णाभूद्यस्माद्धिमवतः सुतः ।
तेन देवैरपर्णेति कथिता नामतः शिवा ॥ ४९ ॥

49. Since she, the daughter of Himavat, eschewed leaves from her diet she was called Aparṇā by the gods.

---

एका पादस्थिता सासीच्छिवं संस्मृत्य पार्वती ।
पंचाक्षरं जपंती च मनुं तेपे तपो महत् ॥ ५० ॥

50. Then Pārvatī performed great penance standing on one leg and remembering Śiva, she continued muttering the five-syllabled mantra.

---

चीरवल्कलसंवीता जटासंघातधारिणी ।
शिवचिंतनसंसक्ता जिगाय तपसा मुनीम् ॥ ५१ ॥

51. Clad in barks of trees, wearing matted hair and eager in the meditation of Śiva, she surpassed even sages by her penance.

---

एवं तस्यास्तपस्यन्त्या चिंतयंत्या महेश्वरम् ।
त्रीणि वर्ष सहस्राणि जग्मुः काल्यास्तपोवने ॥ ५२ ॥

52. Pārvatī thus spent three thousand years in the penance-grove performing penance and meditating on lord Śiva.

---

षष्टिवर्षसहस्राणि यत्र तेपे तपो हरः ।
तत्र क्षणमथोषित्वा चिंतयामास सा शिवा ॥ ५३ ॥

53. Remaining for a short while in the place where Śiva had performed penance for sixty thousand years, Pārvatī thought like this.

Now, this excerpt clearly says that 3000 years passed away while she was doing penance in the forest.

So basis the above excerpt, it becomes amply clear that the goddess Pārvatī must have been well over 3000 years when she married god Śiva.

---

As regards goddess Satī, she may have been roughly around 16 years of age at the time of her marriage, as per this excerpt from the Śiva Purāṇa Verse 2.2.15.9-10

Chapter 15, Satī-khaṇḍa, Śiva Purāṇa

बाल्यं व्यतीत्य सा प्राप किञ्चिद्यौवनतां सती ॥ ९ ॥
अतीव तपसांगेन सर्वांगेषु मनोहरा ॥ ९ ॥
दक्षस्तां वीक्ष्य लोकेशः प्रोद्भिन्नांतर्वयस्थिताम् ।
चिंतयामास भर्गाय कथं दास्य इमां सुताम् ॥ १० ॥

9. After passing her girlhood and reaching the state of early youth she attained beauty in every limb which blazed forth brilliantly.

10. Dakṣa, the lord of worlds, on seeing her blooming in the proper age thought within—“How shall I give my daughter to Śiva?”

English Translation by J.L. Shastri