The Man from the Egg Read online

  ‘I want to live forever,’ replied Taraka.

  ‘My dearest devotee, you know that such a boon is not possible. Why don’t you ask me for something else?’

  Taraka thought for some time. ‘I don’t want to die at the hands of just any man or god. If I must perish, I would rather it happened at the hands of the son of Shiva,’ he said, knowing full well that Shiva, grief-stricken by the loss of Dakshayani, was far from even the thought of marrying again. So the boon would actually make Taraka invincible and keep him safe from Yama, the god of death.

  Brahma understood Taraka’s intention. Nevertheless, he said, ‘So may it be.’

  His penance now complete, Taraka descended from the mountain and returned to his abode. Over time, he created a powerful army headed by ten cruel generals. And then he went on a rampage, conquering kingdoms, abusing living beings on earth as well as the gods above. He terrorized them all so much that everyone began praying to Lord Vishnu.

  Vishnu heard their pleas. ‘Shiva and Parvati’s son will be the cause of Taraka’s doom,’ he declared.

  Himavat or Parvatraj, the king of the Himalayas, had a wife named Menaka. The queen really wanted a daughter who would grow up to become Shiva’s consort. When Menaka heard about Dakshayani, she instinctively knew that Shiva’s wife would be reborn as her daughter. She thus decided to go into deep meditation, convinced that destiny would soon take its course.

  Menaka gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, whom she named Uma. As Uma was the daughter of Parvatraj, she was also known as Parvati, or Himani (from her father’s other name, Himavat), or Girija (meaning the daughter of the king of mountains), or Shailaja (meaning the daughter of the mountains).1

  Parvati was a charming child and unusually devoted to Shiva right from her birth. Even as an adult, she was always found either praying to Shiva or just talking about him. News of her beauty and intelligence spread far and wide. Though suitors came in hordes with the hope of winning her heart, Parvati could only think of Shiva and refused to entertain the idea of marrying anyone else.

  The devas were watching all this with great interest. They eagerly awaited the arrival of Parvati and Shiva’s son—the harbinger of Taraka’s death.

  Shiva, on the other hand, deep in meditation atop the cold Mount Kailash, remained unaware of what was going on. Much to the concern of her parents, a determined Parvati made the arduous journey to Kailash and began serving Shiva. She took care of his surroundings, brought him fruits and made garlands for him every day. She wanted to be there the moment he opened his eyes so they could marry as soon as possible.

  The gods sighed with relief and hoped that Shiva would soon awaken from his penance.

  Days, months and years passed but Shiva showed no signs of emerging from his meditation. If he did not open his eyes, he would never see Parvati, which meant that he wouldn’t marry her or have a son. And if the current state of affairs continued, Taraka’s cruel reign would be the end of everybody.

  Frustrated, the gods decided to take matters into their own hands. All the realms were in grave danger. They had to intervene and force Shiva to awaken, but who would take the risk? No one dared offer to be the one to disturb Shiva’s penance and become the target of his infamous temper. Everyone knew that when he was extremely angry, his third eye would open and immediately spew a great fire that destroyed everything in its path.

  And yet the task needed to be done.

  The gods decided to approach the diplomatic Lord Vishnu and beseech him to find a way to guarantee Shiva and Parvati’s marriage.

  ‘All right, let’s see how things turn out,’ Vishnu said with a mysterious smile.

  The Indian Cupid

  The god and goddess of eternal love, Manmatha and Rati, were a lovely couple. Their affection for each other blossomed visibly during the spring season, and their companions included flowers, buds, cuckoos, parrots, honeybees and lush green trees.

  One day, Manmatha’s father,2 Vishnu, summoned him to his abode and said, ‘I have a difficult task for you. You are the only god with the ability to wake Shiva from his stupor. Once you do that, he will open his eyes and see the beautiful Parvati. As you are the god of love, you must use the power of your gentle arrows to make him fall in love with her.’

  An alarmed Manmatha replied, ‘Dear Father, you are asking me to play with fire. Shiva is no ordinary god! He is the lord of destruction! His temper is fearsome . . . and you know what will happen if he opens his fiery third eye. Didn’t you see his Tandav Nritya after Dakshayani jumped into fire? Even you couldn’t pacify him. And Lord Brahma just about managed to calm him down before he destroyed the whole world. So how do you think I can withstand his wrath? I fear this will be the end of me. Please let me go.’

  Vishnu then said sternly, ‘Manmatha, there’s no denying that Shiva can be ferocious, but don’t forget that he is also exceptionally kind. He forgave his father-in-law and brought him back to life. He is the only god who grants boons to his devotees irrespective of the cost to himself—that’s how much his followers mean to him. Even if something unfortunate were to happen, trust me, he’ll be the first to save you. This is no ordinary task—the fate of the world rests on it.’

  But Manmatha and Rati were still hesitant.

  ‘It is your duty!’ insisted Vishnu. ‘Taraka has become such a huge menace that nobody wants to challenge him. The world is suffering, Manmatha, and if you don’t make Shiva fall in love with Parvati, he will neither marry her nor produce the son fated to bring about Taraka’s death. The asura will continue to torment every living being, and you will be the only one responsible for it!’

  Manmatha understood that he had no choice in the matter.

  He reluctantly made his way to Mount Kailash with Rati. There they saw Parvati gazing lovingly at Shiva, who was deep in meditation, unaware of her presence.

  Manmatha got to work. He called upon all of his companions for help, which included his vehicle (a parrot), a swarm of humming honeybees and Vasantha, the god of spring. Within minutes, the cold and harsh Mount Kailash was transformed into a magical land in springtime. The ice melted and streams of cool blue water began to flow melodically. The frost-covered leaves changed to a brilliant reddish green that shone in the light of the sun as the birds started chirping and singing. The air was filled with a heady fragrance as buds bloomed into brightly coloured flowers. The whole scene was perfect for some romance.

  But nothing happened. Shiva remained oblivious to his surroundings.

  Rati and Manmatha didn’t give up that easily. Being accomplished dancers, they put up an enthralling performance in front of the motionless Shiva.

  He still didn’t stir.

  Parvati, on the other hand, was enchanted by the beauty of the setting. She prayed fervently to Shiva to open his eyes.

  Days went by with no luck.

  Manmatha became increasingly restless. None of his schemes were working. As a last resort, he picked up his bow of sugar cane and five flowered arrows. Each arrow was tipped with a different kind of flower—white lotus, blue lotus, jasmine, mango blossom and a flower from the ashoka tree. These arrows were so potent that the slightest contact with any of them was enough for most to immediately fall madly in love with the nearest person.

  Manmatha shot Shiva with all five arrows at once, which gently touched the god and fell to the ground. Shiva’s eyes fluttered open. He stared ahead without blinking, his eyes burning with incandescent rage. ‘Who dares disturb my penance?’ he thought.

  And then he saw Manmatha, who smiled at him in the hope of a friendly response. As Shiva was silent, Manmatha assumed that his arrows had begun to work their magic. However, the smile on Manmatha’s face only incensed Shiva further, and so his third eye opened. It is said to be the only instance of Shiva opening his third eye.

  Manmatha was reduced to a heap of ashes within seconds. The sight of the steaming mound calmed Shiva down and he closed his third eye. Then he simply stood up and walked away, noticing ne