is a combination of the Hindi words and which means abduction and female friend respectively. According to the legend of , Parvati, incarnated as Shailaputri was the daughter of Himavat who promised her hand in marriage to Vishnu, at the suggestion of Narada. Upon hearing this, Parvati told her friend of her father's decision whereupon the friend took Parvati to the thick forest so that her father would not marry her to Vishnu against her wish.