The wife of Shiva, Pārvatī, the “Daughter of the Mountain,” is an embodiment of the Great Goddess Devi. As her husband’s Shakti, she is frequently depicted in a sexual embrace with him. As is evident in the story of the birth of Ganesha, she was capable of standing up to him. Devotees of Shakti—Shaktas—would say that without his Shakti, deprived of his feminine aspect, Shiva (or any other god) is essentially nothing.